The Lost Witch by Melvin Burgess

The Lost Witch by Melvin Burgess

Author:Melvin Burgess
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Andersen Press Ltd
Published: 2018-08-01T16:00:00+00:00


23

Over the course of that morning, Bea learned a great deal more about the war between the witches and the Hunt. Ever since they had invented the Rook with the aid of the traitor, Lok, the Hunt had had a huge advantage over the witches by stealing their spirits. The body, the empty husk left behind when the spirit was taken away, could be powered with other kinds of spirits – dogs, rats, frogs, other people, whatever they wanted – which gave the Hunt their servants. But the real prizes for them were the witch spirits themselves. If you captured a witch’s spirit, you captured their gift as well. Those gifts could then be handed out to Hunt members, or installed in animals and machines and used against the witches.

But it was a slow business. The Rooks were heavy and cumbersome and could only process one witch at a time. That’s why they were so keen to take Bea’s spirit. If she was as powerful as they thought she was, her spirit could be used not just to summon up the spirits of the dead, but also those of the living. With that power on their side, the Hunt would be able to steal witch souls from the living body by the dozen. What power they would have then!

Lars’s and his group’s aim was to use Bea’s power to fight back. They were going to help her develop her powers properly, so that she could summon not just when she was in danger, but when and where she wanted to. Not only that – they wanted her to learn to summon the spirits of the living as well as the dead. Once she could do that, they would be able to take back the witches they had lost to the Hunt.

‘Think of it,’ said Lars. ‘All those good people the Hunt has stolen and used their gifts against us. We can bring them back.

‘There was a time when we were honoured in the world,’ he told her. ‘There was a witch in every town, every village. People came to us to help ease the spirits of their loved ones out of the world when they died, and into it at birth. We helped them understand the world that was hidden from them. They wanted to be on good terms with us and it. Now, they don’t want to know. They mock us and try to make us look ridiculous for our beliefs, but in doing so they have cut themselves off from the spirit world. We are now on the very edge of extinction. Once there are none of us left, how will the Second World flourish then? Who will know it and love it and tend to it and see it grow? The universe will have lost its eyes and ears.

‘But with your help, Bea, we can change all that. Think of it! The lives you can restore, the families you can bring back together again. Silvis’s family! Yes – with your help we can give her back her family.



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