our emotions do get the better of us." He pulled his hand back into his lap, where it began worrying a corner of the open page. "I do think you're being dreadfully hard on yourself. It wasn't your fault, you know."
Victoria nodded, managing a small smile. She knew it was, but it would be best not to argue with the only man who could help her.
"Right. Now, then." His voice slid back into a lecture tone. "As I was saying...ah yes, these creatures appear along roads most frequently, so that in itself would explain your encounter well enough. From your account, I assume they made no noise? No howling or snarling or such?" Victoria shook her head. "Right, so then we know it wasn't a skriker. They're supposed to make a dreadful din, hence the name."
"Would that have made any difference?"
"Not in the long run, I suppose, but it's always a good idea to place these sorts of encounters in as accurate a context as possible. Generalizations can be dangerous, you see. It wouldn't do to mix up a black shuck with, say, a werewolf. Quite different creatures with quite different methods for handling them, and mistaking one for the other could very well be deadly."
"So these black shucks can be killed, then?" Victoria asked, hoping to redirect his focus back to the purpose of her visit.
"This text is unclear in that regard, I'm afraid," James said. "Quite informative on the nature of their appearance and behavior, even bits on how to ward against them, but not a word on their mortality. Being spirit creatures, I suppose it's rather a moot point. It isn't as though they have physical bodies."
"I wouldn't go that far." James looked at her over his glasses. "Why? Are you hoping to hunt them for sport?"
"Not sport," she said. "Vengeance. I said as much in my letter."
"Did you?" James asked absently, returning to his book. "Perhaps you did. In any case, one thing I've found in this line of study is that very few creatures on this earth are truly indestructible."
"But you just said the black shuck is immortal because it hasn't a body."
"Mortality works differently on the spiritual plane, my dear. I almost hesitate to even use the word. It's sort of like asking how the color green would taste, if you follow me. It isn't really applicable in such cases, but we must use what limited mortal language can provide to discuss these higher matters."
Victoria bit back her reply. She wished he would simply get to answering her question, but she couldn't just say it. After a moment's consideration, she settled on a more acceptable response. "What word might be more appropriate in this case?"
The scholar's eyes explored the ceiling as he considered his answer. "Banishment, perhaps?" he said at length. "Sealing? It really depends on what your aim is. Spirit creatures may be influenced by humans, as we are part spirit ourselves. Indeed, the more unlucky ones - humans, I mean - end up as spirit creatures in many cases. Surely you've heard of ghosts and hauntings?"
"Of course," Victoria said, "but how does one deal with such encounters?"
"Via spiritual medium, most frequently," James replied. "A medium establishes contact with the spirit of the deceased and discovers why it chose to linger on the earth instead of departing for the afterlife. Should the spirit prove hostile or dangerous, a medium can work with a member of the clergy to consecrate the building against further intrusion."
"But the spirit doesn't actually die?" Victoria felt hope slipping through her fingers.
"Not in the strictest sense, perhaps, but really, what is death? Simply a change in state. If you'll pardon the example, consider your parents. When they perished in that horrible accident, their spirits were not snuffed out. They merely transitioned beyond the physical plane into a spirit realm, which most refer to as Heaven or paradise. The precise nature of that plane is not clear, though many hypothesize that it embodies an entire range of dwellings - for lack of a better term - rather than a binary system of paradise or punishment.
"When interacting with the spirit plane, therefore, it is entirely possible to prevent entities from crossing over back into this world. Just as a physical death typically signifies the cessation of exchange with the physical plane, so too does this banishment act as a sort of 'death' in that it prevents an entity from interacting with one tier of existence."