Blood jar

‘Leave him be!’ she cried. ‘He’s mine. Tom belongs to me! Get you gone! You can’t stay in this place!’

At those words the Fiend let out a terrible bellow of rage. For a moment I thought he might reach down and crush us both. His anger surged towards me with palpable force. I was blown backwards off my feet into the mud and I heard the trees on the slope behind me crack and splinter. Then the wind seemed to reverse direction and he simply vanished.

There was utter silence. All I could hear was my own breathing, the beating of my heart and the gurgle of the river.

Then by the light of the lantern, I saw what I was holding in my left hand.

The blood jar.

B6 C18