The Spook's Blood (Wardstone Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF Page B

instruct you on the ritual that needs to be performed, and with those three sacred objects in your possession you will be able to destroy the Fiend for all time. I had only two but was still able to hobble him. You will complete what I began.’
    ‘I’ll do my best,’ I told her. ‘I want you to be proud of me.’
    ‘Whatever happens, Tom, I’ll always love you and be proud of you – but now we come to the really difficult part  . . .  Even if I’d had all three objects, I would still have failed – because the most important part of the ritual is the sacrifice of the person you love best on this earth. In your case it is
she
whom you most love.’
    I was appalled and opened my mouth, but no words came out. Finally I managed to speak. ‘You, Mam? I have to sacrifice
you
?’
    ‘No, Tom,’ she replied. ‘It must be a living person, and although I know you still love me, there is one now living in this world whom you care for even more.’
    ‘No, Mam!’ I cried. ‘That’s not true!’
    ‘Look into your heart, son, and you will see that it is true. Every mother must face the time when her son cares for another woman more.’
    She was telling me something that, deep down, I already knew. The full import of her words dawned on me.
    ‘No! No! You can’t mean that!’ I protested.
    ‘Yes, son, it grieves me to say so but there is no other way. In order to destroy the Fiend, you must sacrifice Alice.’

 
    ‘I MUST TAKE Alice’s life?’ I cried. ‘Is there no other means?’
    ‘It is the only way, Tom – the price that must be paid – and she must offer her life willingly. So I leave it to your own judgement when you tell her what must be done.
    ‘I faced something very similar but was unable to do it,’ Mam continued. ‘My sisters tried to persuade me to kill your father or give him to them to devour. Then, later, they begged me to use him as a sacrifice to enhance the power of my magic. Without all three sacred objects, it would not have succeeded in destroying the Fiend, but I would have increased the limitations on his power. I decided against it because there was already a spark of love between me and your father – and I saw the future: how I could give birth to you, the seventh son of a seventh son, and forge you as a weapon to destroy the Fiend.’
    Mam’s words disturbed me. She was describing me as if I were an asset, something to be used against our enemy, rather than a cherished son.
    ‘But I think you will prove to be more disciplined than I was: you have a strong sense of duty, its seed planted by your father and nurtured by John Gregory. Not only that – my powerful blood flows within your veins, along with my gifts. Use everything that I have bequeathed to you. You
must
destroy the Fiend, whatever the cost, or the consequences will be terrible. Imagine a world completely in thrall to the dark! There would be famine, disease and lawlessness. Families would be divided; brother would kill brother. The Fiend’s servants would be unchecked, preying on men, women and children, devouring their flesh and drinking their blood. And where would you be, son? You would know that it was your failure that had brought about that horror. Even worse – you would no longer care because you would have lost yourself; yielded your soul to the Fiend. All that could come to pass unless you act decisively. The people of the County and the wider world beyond need you to perform this deed. I am sure you won’t let them down – despite the cost to you personally. I’m sorry, son, but I can stay no longer. Destroy the Fiend – that’s what is important. It is your destiny! It is why you were born.’
    Mam began to fade and I called out desperately. ‘Please, Mam, don’t go yet. We need to talk some more. There’s got to be another way. This can’t be right! I can’t believe what you’re asking me to do!’
    As she faded, she changed back into the fierce lamia with the feathered wings. The last