The Spook's Bestiary - By Joseph Delaney Page 0,33

part of the dark magical ritual. The leaders of the three covens also signed in blood. On the next page is that curse—which I must confess did cause me a few sleepless nights.

By screeching owl, by toad and bat,

By scuttling beetle, shiny black,

We curse thy soul! We›ll take thy life!

By bloodred moon and starless sky,

By writhing bones and corpse›s sigh,

We curse thy soul! We›ll take thy life!

By slithering snake and long-tailed rat,

By mandrake root and familiar cat,

We curse thy soul! We›ll take thy life!

These words have been written in the blood of innocents.

Thus cursed you are by covens three:

You will die in a dark place, far underground,

with no friend at your side!

Darcie Malkin, Jessie Deane, & Claris Mouldheel

Many years have passed and the curse has still had no effect, but whenever my work calls me to venture underground, it always comes into my mind, and I am doubly on my guard.

Elemental Magic

At its most basic level, this form of magic is usually practiced by novice witches being trained within a clan, or unaware witches who frequent lonely places where they feel in tune with nature. The latter often sense a presence close by: unknown to them, this is an emerging elemental spirit, feeding and growing as a result of contact with a curious human mind. By focusing on the outcome she desires, the novice malevolent witch can use the power of the elemental to ill wish.

The elemental will do her bidding and exert its power against the chosen victim. Death rarely results from such a malignant partnership, but night terrors, ill health, and infestations of lice are common.

Used by skilled and experienced practitioners, elemental magic is very powerful. Fully developed elementals such as barghests and moroi are used both as guardians and killers. The latter in particular are a deadly threat in Romania, where, under the control of demons, they possess bears and attack their designated victims with terrible fury.

Familiar Magic

This is the most powerful of the three categories of magic used by the Pendle witches, although such practitioners may also use blood and bone magic from time to time. Magic of this type has tremendous and terrible potential.

The witch binds a creature to her will, at first feeding her own blood to her chosen familiar. Once it is bound to her, the blood of victims may be substituted. The creature effectively becomes an extension of the witch’s own body. It is as if she can detach her hand and have it operate at a distance. It becomes her eyes and ears. The possibilities afforded by this dreadful magic are numerous and varied, depending on what type of creature a witch chooses as her familiar. Often witches have more than one, each suited to a different purpose. A cat can be used to spy on an enemy witch or scratch out her eyes, or even kill her baby by sitting on its face and smothering it while it sleeps.

Bats and birds have the advantage of flight and can enable a witch to search for both enemies and victims. She usually chooses birds of the night, such as owls and corpse fowls.16

Cats, especially black ones, are probably the most popular familiars, and many witches choose them because of their own feline nature. Cats are quick and subtle, but also cruel: They play with their prey before devouring it.

Snakes are almost as common, not least because of their ability to kill. County snakes are not usually dangerous, but association with a witch increases the power of their jaws and endows them with a lethal venom they would not normally possess.

Toads are the least powerful of familiars, and are usually employed by very old, isolated witches (whose powers are waning and who merely want the latest gossip) and by those whose grasp of dark magic is extremely limited. However, they are the favorite familiars of water witches, well suited to the boggy terrain they inhabit, and their skin oozes a particularly virulent poison: The merest contact with it results in death.

Finally there are what we term higher-order familiars. These are entities such as demons that would normally be considered too dangerous and power-ful to be employed as familiars. Only the very strongest witches dare to attempt this, and few can carry it off. Almost inevitably there is a power struggle, and the witch may become subservient to that which she sought to control.17

Mirrors and Scrying

There are three ways in which the Pendle witches combine dark magic with the use of mirrors.

1. To communicate