Lost

We walked for about an hour and I gradually realized that we wouldn’t be going home this day either. The sound of the sea was now even fainter but it was puzzling me. It seemed to be coming from our right, not our left. Then the mist lifted and the air was clear but there were very low clouds. We could see something that we didn’t want to see.

Directly ahead of us was Churchtown, the sharp spire of the abandoned church spearing the clouds. We were right back where we’d started.

‘We’re being prevented from leaving by some kind of spell, Alice,’ Tom said. ‘Can you do anything about it?’

We came to a halt. I closed my eyes and concentrated. There was one dark spell I knew that caused confusion in the victim’s mind. It made you wander in circles, bewildered and lost. I might have been able to do something about that. But the other possibility was a spell so powerful that it could affect the weather and tides – even distort paths and make a journey from one place to another impossible.

I tried to feel what it was, then sensed the magic and recoiled. It was the second type, a spell so powerful that even at my strongest I would have had no guarantee of being able to cast it with any hope of success. And there was certainly no way I could counter it.

‘It’s too strong. I can’t help. Only one of the Old Gods can work such a powerful spell.’

‘You mean the Fiend?’ Tom asked.

‘It’s more than likely. Either the Fiend himself or someone drawing directly upon his power.’

The Last Spook Chapter 13