1:20 AM, Carmelite Convent, Chester England

Rose stood outside the eastern wall of the convent with Father Barnard. Between them, they had worked out the most likely spot for the tunnel dug by the creatures to reach the surface beyond the walls. It did not take them long to discover the hole; though hidden partly by long grass, there was a scattered mound of soil, roughly where they expected. Father Barnard had brought a lamp with them, and using its light, Rose moved the mirror and lens in tandem and was soon rewarded with the image of the creatures emerging from the tunnel, the skull with them. The imps picked up the skull between them and scuttled off toward the town center.

Rose turned to Father Barnard who simply said, "Follow."

They followed the trail of the creatures, using the lamp, mirror, and lens combination, and only once had to backtrack a short way.

Rose used the combination at each junction of the trail where the creatures might have changed course, but for the most part, it ran straight into the area of the town where the shops were situated.

Rose was startled when, as she checked the mirror at a junction, she saw the creatures pause and look around them. As she watched, the creature's features flickered, and the faces of the sick children she had visited were imposed on the familiar grey visage. She looked around and saw that she was near the Watts girls' home. Was this the answer to the children's unknown illness? The imps were involved in some way.

Rose followed the creature's path as they moved off again, down an alley at the back of a row of shops she knew well. Towards the end of the row were Mr. Cooper's premises. She felt a rising anxiety for her friend. Was he also to be attacked?

As she and the priest reached the shop's back door, she checked again with the mirror and lens and they watched as the creatures climbed the steps to the door, pushed it open and entered the building.

* * *

2:00 AM, Chester Book and Print Chester, England

Rose paused with Father Barnard beside her outside the back door to Mr. Cooper's shop and watched the creatures' progress replay in the mirror.

"Whose door is this, Rose?" whispered the priest, sensing her alarm.

"It is the back entrance to Mr. Cooper's bookshop," she whispered. "He helped me to learn to read the manuscripts and lent me the books by Dee and Kelly."

Father Barnard did not comment on this piece of information but just carefully stepped up to the door. He gave it a gentle push, and it swung open. Rose joined him, and they peered into the interior together.

A faint glow could be seen at the end of the corridor before them. Rose wondered where it would be in the shop and realized it came from the basement area.

"It's coming from the basement," she whispered.

"What's down there?"

"I don't know. I have never been down to it."

They crept down the hall, the light growing stronger as they neared the end.

The door to the basement stood ajar, and from there, the light spilled into the hall.

She followed Father Barnard down the steps, which creaked slightly as they descended. Anyone below would know they were coming. The priest came to a sudden stop, and Rose bumped into him. She peered over his shoulder and cried out in horror at the scene before her.

The basement room was lit by oil lamps casting a warm glow over a bizarre sight. Mr. Cooper was stretched out on an old sofa, his shirt unbuttoned. The three grey imps were arranged around him, with one sat on him. The imps looked up at them as Rose's cry alerted them to her presence, then returned to their previous activity.

"No!" Rose's voice arose in anguish, "Get off him!" she tried to push past Father Barnard, who held her back.

The creatures seemed to be feeding on Cooper. Their mouths were against the skin of his stomach and seemed to be sucking on him.

Cooper stirred and opened his eyes, and peered at them blearily.

"What? Who's there?" his eyes focused, and he saw Rose and Father Barnard standing on the stairs.

"Oh, this is a little embarrassing. You found me receiving one of my treatments."

He brushed at the creatures, and they stopped their sucking and jumped to the back of the sofa, where they glared malevolently at the intruders. Their obsidian black eyes fixed on the intruders who had interrupted their meal.

Cooper sat up and began to button his shirt.

"Mr. Cooper, are you alright? Please get away from them. Let us help you!"

"Ah, Rose, there is nothing to fear. I have not come to any harm! No, quite the opposite, my friends here have made me well again." He smiled at the creatures and then at his visitors.

"Please introduce me to your companion, Rose."

The priest's mellow voice answered Cooper, "I am Father Barnard of the Jesuits and the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office. You may know us better as the Curia."

"Ah, the Inquisition! Yes, I see, you have powerful friends, Rose!" the last was said with venom in Cooper's voice.

"What brings you here at this hour, Rose, and with such august company?"

"Mr. Cooper, please, come away from those things!" Rose pleaded.

"These?" Cooper gestured at the three creatures lined up on the back of the sofa. "They mean no harm to me, they have helped me, they have reduced the growths in my belly a little longer, and they will be gone completely!"

Rose felt her senses reeling. She felt sick.

The combination of Cooper's gleeful look as he talked about the little monsters eating off of him brought her near to tears.

"Dear God in Heaven, Mr. Cooper, what are you talking about? These are the evil little beings I have seen doing such foul work about the town!" declared Rose.

"Oh, you must be mistaken, Sister Rose. These are my friends. Not that we have much of a relationship, but they have been the source of my renewed health and vitality. When Dr. Belkin could not provide a solution through medicine, I followed your lead and sought a spiritual solution."

He finished buttoning his shirt.

"When I found out I had cancer, I knew conventional means offered little promise. I had seen the ravages of this affliction on my brothers and father. I chose to take another course, and like you, I also pursued the unconventional."

"On the desk, there is an old scroll. It is a transcription of a scroll dating from the time of the Romans, an account of a verbal history from centuries before. It tells of a time when a great evil was awakened in the west, beyond the Pillars of Hercules.

The man who awakened this evil fled in fear from the anger of his people and arrived here when our ancestors were first arriving from the east when we were still connected to the mainland of Europe. The scroll tells how he set himself up as a ruler and was aided in his rule by three spirits of a small man-like appearance," he gestured at the three imps.

"I came across this scroll in a box of books and other ephemera from a house sale over the border. When I read its contents, I knew that there was a possible solution to my problem. The scroll tells how the man from the West could extend his life and cure ills with the aid of his spirits. He was known as Seithfed Mab. I don't know if that was his name or a title. More importantly, it gave me the incantation that he used to call the spirits. At the summer equinox last year, I spoke the words of the ritual, and the spirits appeared to me. Since then, I have learned to call them to me."

Rose did not know whether to be afraid of or angry at the man and the imps.

"James, please, those creatures are not helpful spirits. They are evil. They are not under your control. You and they are doing the work of the great evil you found in the scroll. It is a great demon prince who gained entry into our world and sought to rule all of us but was kept bound by magical and mystical means."

"You disappoint me, Rose; I had hoped better from you, I thought we were friends, but I see you have learned little in the last year."

Cooper gave her a wry smile, moved closer and whispered as if he didn't want the creatures to hear him,

"These little beings are completely within my control. I can summon and dispense with them as I see fit and all they desire is to dine on my affliction," he concluded.

"Those things belong to the demon Marbas! I have seen their work at the Cathedral, where they killed the Masons, I have seen them at the temple and then in the reliquary, they killed Sister Madeline!" Rose's voice was anguished. As she spoke her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh James, you have been beguiled and tricked by the promises of the demon just as others before you. I know that story Mr. Cooper, Seithfed Mab made a pact with Marbas for his brother's land, and he was given immense power; whatever he coveted would become his, only to have it later blighted and ruined. Along with the land, Seithfed Mab's soul and body were consumed by Marbas, just as Septimius the Roman and then Ostric were tricked by the demon and were consumed, why would you be any different?" pleaded Rose.

"You have never been in control; these creatures have been busy at the tasks set them by Marbas. They are taking lives, they killed the Masons, they killed Sister Madeline! Their purpose is to destroy the wards that keep Marbas in check, they are evil James! Evil!"

"Rose, why can you not understand, these little men have almost healed me. I may have used powers that the church may not approve of, but I am not alone in that am I?" he shot a sly look at Father Barnard.

"Mr. Cooper, we all have this so wrong; I shouldn't have tampered with these forces, nor should you and now we are the cause of the trouble in our beloved town," Rose sobbed.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I really don't see how? I think it's best you leave now," said Cooper.

Father Barnard spoke then, "I am afraid Mr. Cooper that we will not be able to, just forget this. People have died and more may follow. Was it you who attacked Mrs. Culpepper?"

Cooper looked at him for a moment then giggled, "the old bitch kept getting in the way of my little friends, so I had a friend of mine visit her to make the problem go away."

Rose was horrified at his words but still wanted to help him if she could, and she knew how her curiosity had drawn her to take more and more risks with the arcane. He was probably caught up in a similar circumstance. "You agree that there are metaphysical forces to draw on, and that like me, you have learned some control of it?"

"Obviously! I know that my study and work has produced healing results that medicine could not" argued Cooper.

"Mr. Cooper, James, you have been beside me as I journeyed to understanding my dreams; you have helped and encouraged me! You know most of what I have seen or suffered. You know I would not lie to you. Believe me when I say that you have been drawn into a trap that the demon uses to further its goal of freedom from the chains set upon it. I understand how important regaining your health and being free from pain is to you, but James, do you realize these beings you summoned are somehow tied to the lives of the children who are sick? That they somehow feed on them to live?"

Cooper laughed at her. "Oh Rose, you really have learned little, and you are far too trusting and naïve!" He turned and waved at the imps who had left the back of the sofa and were now clustered on the seat cushion behind Cooper.

"They do not feed on the children! No! They feed on me! They feed on the tumors within me. Once they have drawn off these dark cells and humours they need to get rid of them, to pass them on to others. Those children are strong, and this time, I have three recipients available rather than just two, so they will easily dissipate the illness of one old man," said Cooper.

Rose felt her knees go weak at the words of the man she thought was her mentor and friend. She felt the firm grip of Father Barnard on her elbow, holding her upright and supporting her. She could not comprehend how far into the grip of Marbas, her friend, had fallen.

"James, they are children, just children. How could you do this to them?" A memory rose to the surface of her mind.

"The Pierce children; that was you?"

"Erm, yes, it would seem so; I think that my illness was not as bad then, but of late, it has grown worse, and I needed more of my little friends to spread out the affliction. As you see this has been working much better. I am as fit as I have ever been, and only two of the children have died," boasted Cooper.

Oh, he is truly lost. "How did you learn how to do this?" asked Rose.

"The scroll, it explained how Seithfed Mab achieved his long life. It was simple to work out the required incantation to summon the spirits."

Rose stepped over to the desk. The scroll was partly unrolled. It was covered in hieroglyphics. From what Rose could see they were similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs.

"Yes, that's it and just like you set out to learn from the Exaltation of Ostric, I did the same with that scroll. It really is providential Rose, to have these teachings given to us and their secrets revealed," said Cooper.

"May I?" Rose gestured to the scroll with her hand. Cooper came over to stand next to her. His presence made her skin crawl.

"You won't be able to read it, but certainly," said Cooper as he picked up the scroll and began to turn both ends.

"Did you know? Seithfed Mab was a seventh son, just as I am a seventh son; providential, I would say!" His smile bordered on maniacal.

He put the scroll back down on the desk, and then Rose saw a skull of Ostric. "Mr. Cooper, how did that get here?" Rose pointed to the skull.

"What? I have never seen that before. I have no idea how it got into my shop." Cooper blurted, genuinely surprised. He turned to Rose with a confused look.

Rose's eyes darted from him to the creatures, for the moment still on the sofa. As Cooper lifted the skull, they leaped down from the sofa and began to close in on him and Rose.

"Your creatures, Mr. Cooper," Rose could sense his lack of understanding. Like others before him, he had been beguiled by the one who was in true control, Marbas.

The three imps made a low, throaty growl as they moved closer to Rose and Cooper.

"James!" Rose's voice was full of alarm at the creature's advance. Cooper said nothing, his expression vague and lost.

"Rose!" called Father Barnard, "We must leave. It's too dangerous!"

The imps advanced, and their whole attitude was one of aggression. Rose picked up the scroll from the desk and snatched the skull from Cooper's hands.

She dashed the stairs. Father Barnard was already halfway up them.

She heard a growl behind her and knew the imps were in pursuit.

"No!" yelled Cooper.

She had almost cleared the stairs when the imps tackled her. Rose went down hard at the top of the stairs, and the scroll and the skull flew out of her hands. She landed painfully on the top riser and step. She felt the claws of the little grey men clawing at her skirt, seeking the flesh beneath.

She screamed as the digging claws hit the back of her thighs and then her lower back. Father Barnard appeared above her, his arm outstretched to help her to her feet.

He was suddenly pushed aside and, in his place, a small woman armed with a stout yew stick swung at the foremost creature on Rose's back. Rose heard the solid smack of the wood on the imp and the weight of it on her back lift off her, followed by the imp's scream of anger as it flew back down the stairs.

The two remaining creatures clawing at Rose launched themselves at the woman at the top of the stairs. As Rose stumbled to her feet the first woman was joined by another and the imps flew at them snarling. Fierce, solid and muscular, it took all the women's attention to keep the creatures from sinking their claws and teeth into them.

The women moved back from the doorway, their hands grasping the imps at arm's length to keep their teeth and claws from their throats. Father Barnard returned to the opening and offered Rose his hand. Rose grasped it and held tight as he pulled her up into the hallway. Behind her she heard an outraged shriek and knew the last imp was battling its way out of the cellar.

Rose picked up the scroll and skull that had skittered to the far wall of the hallway. Behind her she could hear the scratch of the last creature's claws on the wooden steps.

To her left the unknown women were battling with the two imps while to her right Father Barnard was trying to urge her to flee. She followed him into the small room at the back of the shop where she had spent many an hour talking with

Certainly. I'll continue from where I left off, fixing spelling and grammar:

James Cooper. In the small hearth, a dismal fire smoldered.

I may not be able to get away from these things, but Cooper is done with his dark magic, Rose thought as she threw the scroll into the embers.

Small tendrils of smoke began to arise from the scroll as the embers heated the papyrus to burning point. She felt torn between destroying the scroll and the pull of satisfying her curiosity to read its entirety. This scroll was the one that had corrupted her friend and mentor; it went into the hearth with the hope that its destruction might save him. The edges of the scroll caught faster, and flickered with flame. Maybe it was the age or the material, but the scroll produced an inordinate amount of smoke as it burned.

Rose was still holding the skull of Ostric when the third imp appeared in the room. It screeched at her as it raced toward the hearth only to be swept up by Father Barnard. He held it away from him, its arms trapped by his grasp. It squirmed and struggled, trying to reach him with its teeth and claws.

"Throw it into the fire," Rose said to the priest. He moved towards the fire, the creature struggling harder as it realized his intent. Rose stepped forward and grasped its kicking, squirming legs and together with the priest threw the imp into the slowly growing fire.

The moment the imp landed on top of the scroll, from which small flames were now licking upwards, it screamed in pain and anguish. Green flame shot up and the creature dissolved; it was simply no longer there. The flames that had been hesitant and sputtering were now burning with a ferocity to equal a blacksmith's forge as they fed on the substance of the imp. Smoke billowed beyond the capacity of the chimney to cope with it and began to fill the room. Rose and Father Barnard retreated before the smoke, which had a faint smell of rotting eggs, and into the hallway.

The women Rose had seen earlier were still battling the other two imps, each trying to find an opening to subdue the other. Rose went to the aid of the nearest woman whose hands were around the neck of the imp. Even though she was clearly squeezing tightly, the imp was still trying to gouge her with its hind claws. The claws on the creature's hands were dug into the meat of the woman's upper arms, and she was having difficulty keeping the creature at bay. Rose grabbed for its legs as the woman's arms grew weaker and the creature's jaws moved closer to her throat. As Rose grasped its ankles, the creature sunk its teeth into the woman's collarbone. She let out a shriek of pain and relaxed her grip on the creature. Rose pulled on the creature, but it only made the creature clench its teeth harder.

Rose was aware of Father Barnard passing her and his shout as he struck the creature struggling with the other woman with his fist in which was clasped a silver crucifix. That creature released its grip on the woman's right arm in which its teeth were firmly fixed and screeched as it flew down the hallway with the force of not just the blow but of the holy object in the priest's hand.

Rose could not make the imp she held let go of the woman and was having a hard time stopping its squirming form from escaping her grasp. She turned to Barnard and called for his help.

He was quickly at her side and struck the creature between the eyes with the cross he held. It shrieked in agony and as its teeth and claws relaxed their grip on the woman, Rose pulled it clear and flung it into the smoke-filled room.

The two women had sunk to the floor, their wounds trickling blood, their pain obvious. The creature returned to view from the room, its eyes now glowing red with an inner fire. From behind them came a growl as the imp Barnard had first struck moved towards them.

The door to the alleyway opened wider and Mrs. Weber stepped into the hall. She was speaking in a language that Rose did not fully understand; some words she recognized, but for the most part, the language was new to her. Mrs. Weber threw out her hands wide as she finished speaking and both imps turned to look at her.

From out of the smoke that had begun to fill the hallway but was now being pushed back by the draught from the open back door, emerged the wolf of Rose's dreams.

The animal was enormous, as tall as a pony, and around its black-furred form a faint blue nimbus shimmered. Its jaws closed on the head of the first imp and with a quick flick of its head, the imp fell limp as its neck broke. It dropped the imp and brushed past Rose and the priest, and its jaws closed on the head of the second imp as it made for the cellar steps in an attempt to flee. There was a loud crunch and that imp too hung limp in its jaws.

It turned to look at them, its golden-eyed gaze steady and knowing. It padded past them back to the room from which it had emerged and dropped its burden next to the first body. It then closed its mouth around the two imps and stepped into the smoke. The smoke was drawn after it and the air cleared. Rose and Father Barnard got to the doorway just in time to see the wolf step into the flames in the fireplace and fade from view. The smoke, flames, scroll, and imps disappeared along with the wolf as if they had never been.

Mrs. Weber spoke from behind them. "You have been privileged to see the Mother."

They turned to her and Rose opened her mouth to question her when a shriek of despair came from the cellar.

Mr. Cooper, she had forgotten him. She pushed past Mrs. Weber and hurried down the steps to the room below.

She could not help the cry of shock that escaped her lips at the sight of Mr. Cooper. Her friend and mentor was sprawled on the couch, mouth twisted in a rictus of pain, eyes staring and unseeing. His shirt had torn open as his stomach had expanded and was now bloated with knobs of growths beneath the taut skin as if he was nine months pregnant.

Rose turned away then sadly made her way up the steps.

In the hallway, Mrs. Weber and Father Barnard were attending to the wounds of the two injured women. The bleeding was slowing but they were both clearly in pain and in need of medical assistance.

Rose's mind was full of questions for Mrs. Weber, but it was she who spoke first.

"Rose, be a dear and go to the corner of the street. You should find Mrs. Belkin there. We have need of her skills and knowledge." Rose was not surprised to find out that the doctor's wife also had the necessary understanding of medicine to be able to help the injured women.

Mrs. Belkin was indeed concealed in the shadows at the corner of the street, and they swiftly returned to the bookshop where the doctor's wife immediately began treating the worst of the wounds with salves and bandages she took from the satchel with her.

Father Barnard came and stood next to Rose, his aid no longer needed.

"I assume that is the relic?" he nodded to the skull clasped tightly in Rose's arms.

"What of Cooper?"

Rose grimaced as she replied. "He is dead. His cancer returned to his body as those creatures died. I think we shall find the children returned to good health again in the morning."

Mrs. Weber joined them, and Rose asked the question foremost in her mind.

"I am most grateful for your help, Mrs. Weber, but how did you and the others know where to come?"

Mrs. Weber gave a little laugh. "Rose, the entire sisterhood has been on the lookout for you since the attack on Glynnis. We were unsure if you were behind it; you were the last person to speak to her. We know that much from Haines.

When you left the convent tonight, we followed you. I must say you led us on a merry dance through town. We had a difficult time remaining unseen.

We were fortunate that the Morrighan responded so quickly to my prayer. She must have been close to our world already."

"The Morrighan?" queried Father Barnard.

"The wolf. It was that aspect the Mother chose to use," Mrs. Weber said.

The priest nodded but said no more.

"How is Mrs. Culpepper?" asked Rose.

"She will recover in time. I fear she may never be her true self again, and we will need to choose a new leader, but she will live!"

"Now, you should get away from here, both of you. We have things under control."

"What about Mr. Cooper?"

"He was an ailing old man; his time had come!"