Author's Note: I was inspired by the original book by Joseph Delaney "The Spook's Apprentice" in many parts of this story. Plus, sorry that the interaction between Malkin and William was so small [spoilers] but I want this story to develop much more than simply being a romance between them.
Chapter III
Darkness. Fire. Werewolves. Witch. Pendant. Malkin.
These are the words that occupy William's mind after his prophetic nightmare. Can there be some sense in all this madness? Or is he actually digging his own grave by following his instincts and, more importantly, that strange medallion that came to him in an even more strange way?
He notices then the first rays of the morning light. Ah, yes. Now is the time to begin his search for her. Now, that the sun can shed light upon everything that will take place, and whoever William is going to face is unable to lure him into the darkness.
He leaves his library, readies his weapons- a pouch with silver dust, some iron, salt and a silver blade- and heads for the stables. If he is going to face the darkness, he won't do it alone.
He needs the help of someone who knows this field well enough.
And that creature is Shadowless.
Shadowless is a boggart, artificially bound by William to be his servant. But, as William is a logical person and finds the conventional methods of binding a boggart barbaric, they made another agreement. Shadowless can be partially unbound as long as she, in the form of a mare, becomes William's companion. A fair enough accord for both of them.
He rides Shadowless and heads for the familiar cave under Pendle Mountain. During the journey, he reflects on last night's incidents. There is only one thing that relates the incidents to Mother Malkin, supposing she was the one who lured William into the cave; blood.
He crosses the forest, encounters the lake where she first appeared to him and, after passing the other hauntingly beautiful forest, he arrives at the clearing. He gets off Shadowless, ties her to a nearby post and goes inside the cave.
As he walks deeper and deeper into the cave he notices once again the ancient runes in the walls and ceiling.
Some of them are the same ones with those on the pendant, but there are more among them that William does not recognize.
The smell of rotting corpses hits him.
He must be close to the end of the sanctum.
He does hit a dead end but something is not right. Everything seems... dead. Literally and figuratively. The previous time he entered the cave it seemed as though whatever was inside the cave was giving its life to the whole place, it was leading William further. Now it's gone.
And then he notices it.
Just next to his right foot, a strange pattern on the ground. He takes a closer look, touches the peculiar form of it and then, unconsciously, touches the pendant hanging around his neck. "It must be some kind of key" he thinks to himself and presses the medallion to the ground. It fits like a key to a padlock. And then everything is covered by light.
Some moments later, after his eyes recover from the sudden flash, nothing is the same. Well, everything is pretty much the same, only instead of a dead end, now a path of thirteen steps lies before him, leading to a darker part of the cave, a place that no ray of sun can reach.
Determined to discover whatever lies in this cave he starts walking down the steps. In the end of the stairs, he sees an area, more like a smaller cave into the original cave, with only one object in it.
Something like a fountain or a big chalice, with a dark red, mettalic-smelling liquid in it.
Blood.
That familiar sense of stillness returns, but this time to a far greater extent. He feels paralyzed, his feet numbing. It's as if time has stopped and the darkness of the creature in the cave is trying to reach for the darkness that lies inside him. He shivers, feeling something cold touching his neck.
Dragon scales.
"Hello, William" someone whispers in his ear, almost touching him.
He turns around and he sees her. That same maiden who haunted his mind in his nightmare and at the lake. Only now, he has a better view of her, and sees all of her form.
She is as exquisitely beatiful as deadly.
The legend is true; it is Mother Malkin.
He looks down, reaches for the medallion.
"Looking for this?" He turns around to find her behind him once more, holding the pendant in front of him. "You may as well keep it, it's of no use to me... yet." She throws it at him.
"What do you want from me?"
She approaches him again, her black-as-coal eyes piercing his own as she does, and grins.
"There is darkness within you, why do you, thus, deny it?"
"You failed to answer my question."
"You came searching for me. Therefore, what do you want from me? Have you come here to kill me?"
William halts for a moment. What did he go there for? What did he expect to do to her after finding her? That's a part he hasn't thought. He never thought he would meet her in the first place.
"And you've brought your little pet with you. How sweet..."
"Why don't you kill me now?" William asks her, as he walks towards her. "What are you afraid of?"
She bursts into laughs. "There would be no point in me killing you and, besides, even if I were to kill you I do like to toy with my food first."
"And what could you possibly need that I could give to you?" William says, turning the medallion in his hands.
"You can free me."
He bursts into laughs this time, partly trying to cover the strange feeling that overwhelms him. Can it be fear?
"And why on earth would I want to free you?"
She turns and looks at him. That moment, a voice speaks into his head: "Stop refusing the darkness inside you. Let me reach it, let me set you free. And you shall find your peace by letting me free. I can already see how you lust for me."
He shakes his head, not believing what is happening. He tries to comprehend what she wants from him, what she asks of him.
But, oh, how beautiful she is...
"Isn't justice what you seek? Well, free me and you shall have your justice. I can provide it for you."
"What the hell are you talking about? If I free you I condemn every human being to death! How-"
Suddenly, he feels her tail piercing his hand, deep enough for some drops of blood to run down his hand. She snatches the medallion from him and positions it so that the blood drops on the center.
Everything is blurry and spinning now. William is falling to his knees, but he can still see the form of Malkin, whose last words to him are:
"Consider better where you place your trust. You know where to find me."
The last thing William hears before passing out is the alarming bells of the recently attacked village. Werewolf. Again.
End of Chapter