Wulf's Bane by Joseph Delaney

Author:Joseph Delaney [Delaney, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241416532
Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK
Published: 2021-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

The Ambush

I wanted to tell Tilda what I had created. I wanted to show off immediately. But then I recognized the sin of pride within me and decided to tell her in the morning.

Despite my tiredness, it took me a long time to fall asleep. The memory fragments of my strenuous efforts to create the tulpa kept circulating in my mind. Again, I saw the tiny but fierce creature materialize on the table. I saw it take to the air and fly in fast circles close to the ceiling.

Then there was that strange moment before it flew when I looked through two pairs of eyes and I knew that I had succeeded in splintering off a piece of my soul.

That was a really strange thing to cope with. But I’d been looking through its eyes so, although I had been worried about a tulpa’s similarity to the familiars created by witches, I knew that wasn’t the case. The creature was a wraith, something made out of just air using my imagination, and it was a part of me. That was far different to what witches did, feeding a creature and making it subservient to their will.

So I relaxed, feeling pleased with the situation.

No sooner was I asleep than I began to dream.

That dream soon turned into a nightmare.

I was looking through the eyes of the tiny creature again. I was flying high and fast above a wood. It was very dark and there were dense clouds above, blanketing the stars. Despite that, I could see everything below me. Everything glowed with a soft yellow light. My vision was so sharp that I could even count individual leaves.

I was flying very quickly and soon the wood was far behind me and I was over a patchwork of fields. Then I could smell the sea and ahead of me was the long curve of Morecambe Bay, like a giant bite taken out of the County.

I made no decisions – it was as if choices were made elsewhere – but I swooped lower and saw the Caster to Kendal canal below me. I followed it north for a while. Now I knew where I was heading for so I curved away to the left again, flying west, and passed low over the millhouse.

I could see someone walking along the marsh path heading towards Monk’s Hill. It was a big man carrying a staff. He was walking with a bad limp. It had to be Spook Johnson and as I flew nearer that was confirmed. As well as limping, he was also walking unsteadily, his shoulders swaying from side to side, and I wondered if he’d drunk too much red wine. In that case, why was he out on the marsh rather than sleeping it off?

As I closed in on Johnson, I saw him stagger and almost fall from the path. It was always slippery underfoot. He could topple at any moment.

At that instant, the dream truly became a nightmare when I saw the water witch.

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