I AWOKE FROM a nightmare, my heart pounding, and sat up in bed feeling sick. For a few moments I thought I was going to vomit, but gradually my stomach settled down.
In my dream I had been killing Alice – cutting away her thumb-bones.
At Halloween, now barely a month away, I would have to carry out this terrible ritual in the real world. It was what was expected of me. My mam wished it, for it was the only way to end the threat of the Fiend for ever.
But how could I do it? How could I kill Alice?
I lay awake, fearful of going back to sleep lest the nightmare resume. Painful thoughts continued to swirl through my head. Alice was a willing victim. She was prepared to be sacrificed. Not only that, but she had bravely ventured into the dark to retrieve the Blade of Sorrow. This was one of the hero swords – three sacred weapons to be used to destroy the Fiend; weapons that would kill her in the process.
The hero swords had been forged by the Old God Hephaestus; the first of these was the Destiny Blade, given to me by Cuchulain in Ireland. The second was called Bone Cutter, and now, if Alice had succeeded in her quest into the dark, I would possess all three.
At the moment the Fiend was bound to his dead flesh – his body impaled with silver spears in the Irish countryside; his head in a leather sack in the possession of Grimalkin, the witch assassin. She was on the run, fighting desperately to keep it from the Fiend’s servants. If they got hold of it, they would reunite head and body, and the Fiend would walk the earth once more; and the ritual could not take place.
But Alice had still not returned from the dark. Perhaps something had happened, I thought. Maybe she would never come back . . .
I was also worried about my brother James, who had gone missing. The Fiend had said that his servants had cut his throat and thrown him into a ditch. I desperately hoped he was lying but I couldn’t keep the terrible thought of it out of my head for long.
I tried to sleep again, but without success, and the night dragged on. Then, just before dawn, the mirror on my bedside table suddenly began to glow. Alice was the only one who ever contacted me using a mirror. I sat up and grabbed it, looking into the glass, hardly daring to hope. For weeks and weeks I had been waiting for word from her. I had thought that perhaps I would see her just stroll happily into the garden, the Dolorous Blade – the Blade of Sorrow – in hand. But now Alice would be able to tell me that all was well immediately.
My heart soared with happiness as she stared out of the glass at me, a faint smile on her lips. She mouthed a sentence:
‘I’m on the edge of the western garden.’
In the past I used to communicate with Alice by breathing on the glass and writing, but I had grown skilled at reading her lips. She had no difficulty at all in reading mine.
‘Wait there!’ I told her. ‘I’ll be down right away.’
I dressed quickly, then went downstairs as quietly as possible, trying not to wake the Spook. As I headed out through the back door, a thought struck me: Why hadn’t Alice come into the garden?
The sky was growing lighter in the east, and as I passed the bench where my master sometimes gave me lessons, I saw Alice waiting at the edge of the trees.
She was clothed as I had last seen her – in a dark dress that just came down below her knees, and her pointy shoes. But what cheered me most of all was the smile on her pretty face. I ran towards her and she opened her arms, her smile broadening. We hugged each other tight and rocked back and forth.
‘You’re safe! You’re safe!’ I cried. ‘I never thought I’d see you again.’
At last we broke apart and stared at each other silently for a moment or two.
‘There were times when I thought I’d never escape from the dark,’ Alice said. ‘But I did it, Tom. I got in and out safely and I have the blade. Glad to see you, I am.’
She pulled it from her pocket and held it out to me. I turned it over and over in my hands, examining it closely. It looked just like its twin, Bone Cutter: the same skelt with ruby eyes adorned the hilt, staring up at me; the skelt was a killer that hid in crevices near water before scuttling out on its eight legs to pierce its victims with its bone-tube and drain their blood.
I forced my eyes away from the blade and looked again at Alice, feeling a surge of happiness. I’d missed her so much. How could I ever have considered sacrificing her? Even the destruction of the Fiend surely couldn’t justify it. It was clear to me now that I couldn’t go through with it. Tears came to my eyes and a lump to my throat.
‘You’re brave, Alice. Nobody else could have succeeded. But I’m sorry – you did it all for nothing. I can’t go through with the ritual. I won’t sacrifice you. I wouldn’t hurt you for anything. We’ll have to find another way to put an end to the Fiend.’
‘It’s funny, Tom, but you’re the second person to tell me that my going into the dark was unnecessary. Grimalkin thinks so too.’
‘You’ve talked to Grimalkin? I haven’t seen her in over a month.’
‘Grimalkin’s been helping me. She’s found another way to destroy the Fiend – we’re working on it together. I’m hopeful, Tom. I really believe we can do it without the need for such a sacrifice. Had to come and see you and tell you, I did, but I’ve got to get back now – there’s work to do.’
I couldn’t believe that Alice was already going off again. We’d been apart for so long, and now all we’d had was a couple of minutes together. It was so disappointing. I wanted to know more about Grimalkin’s plan. How had she discovered a method that Mam had not been aware of?
‘Come back to the house for a while, please,’ I begged her. ‘Tell me what’s going on. And I’d like to know how you coped in the dark – I’m sure the Spook will have all sorts of questions to ask you too.’
But Alice shook her head firmly. ‘That ain’t possible, Tom. You see, Grimalkin’s plan makes use of seriously dark magic. It’s the only thing that’ll work. Old Gregory wouldn’t approve – you know that. He’s bound to ask me questions about what I’m up to, and I’d have to lie to him. He’s good at telling when people are lying. It’s best that I go.’
‘Then when will I see you again, Alice?’
‘Ain’t sure, but Grimalkin and I will return for sure . . . See you when we’ve succeeded.’