I had spoken to Alice and explained the situation and she hadn’t seemed put out. ‘It’s natural, Tom, that after all this time apart your mam would want to speak to you alone,’ she’d said. ‘It is family business, after all, ain’t it? I’ll just settle down here with Agnes. You can tell me all about it in the morning.’
Thus Alice, Agnes and Slake were somewhere in the lower part of the tower, leaving me to a lonely, excited but nervous vigil. I wondered what form Mam would take to visit me. Would she be the fierce lamia with snow-white wings like the angels of myth, or the warm understanding Mam who had cared for me as a child?
There had been another surprise. I was prepared to make an immediate start, sifting through the materials in the trunk, hoping to learn more about the ritual I must perform – how the hobbling of the Fiend could be extended to destroy him for ever. But Slake had told me that this would no longer be necessary. It seemed that with Mam’s guidance she had already done the necessary decoding and had written down the instructions to be given to me after Mam had made contact.
At first I was excited, longing to see Mam again, and couldn’t sleep. But gradually I grew weary and my head began to nod. I kept jerking awake and opening my eyes, but finally I must have fallen into a deep sleep.
Then, very suddenly, I was wide awake again, my heart thudding in my chest. The candle had gone out but there was another light – a pale, bright column – in the room beside me. Standing before me was Mam – in the shape she had assumed back in Greece just before the final battle with her terrible enemy, the Ordeen. Her cheekbones were high and sharply defined; her cruel eyes those of a predator. I felt nervous and upset, and a small cry escaped my lips as my heart began to beat more rapidly – I didn’t like seeing her in this form. She was nothing like the woman who had been a mother to me and my brothers. Her body was covered in scales very similar to Slake’s, and sharp talons sprouted from her fingers and toes, but her folded wings were exactly as I remembered them – covered in white feathers. Then, as I watched, to my relief, she began to change.
The wings shrank rapidly, withering back into the shoulders; the scales melted away, to be replaced by a long dark skirt and blouse and a green shawl. The most significant change was to the eyes: they softened, lost their cruelty and were filled with warmth; then she smiled, radiating love.
It was Mam just as she had been back on the farm; the woman who had loved my dad, raised seven sons and been the local midwife and healer. And it seemed to me that she wasn’t simply an apparition; she looked as solid a presence here as she’d ever been in our farmhouse kitchen.
Tears were running down my cheeks now, and I stepped forward to embrace her. The smile slipped from her face, she stepped backwards and held up a hand as if to ward me off. I stared at her, baffled, as my tears of joy changed to those of rejection and hurt.
Mam smiled again. ‘Dry your eyes, son,’ she said softly. ‘More than anything in the world I would love to give you a hug, but it just isn’t possible. Your spirit is still clothed in human flesh, whereas mine has a very different covering. Were we to touch, your life would be over. And you’re needed in this world. You still have much to do. Maybe even more than you realize.’
I rubbed my eyes with the backs of my hands and did my best to smile back. ‘Sorry, Mam – I understand. It’s just so good to see you again.’
‘And it’s good to see you too. But now we must get down to business. I cannot remain in this world for more than a few minutes at a time.’
‘It’s all right, Mam. Just tell me what I have to do.’
‘You now have the dagger and also, through your own endeavours, the sword in your possession. The third artefact is to be found in the dark. It is hidden right at the heart of the Fiend’s lair – under the throne within his citadel. Slake will 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.’