The Way of Wyrd by Brian Bates Read Free Book Online

God, longed for the wilderness and lived there. These hermits lived in lands which men would not occupy because of the accursed spirits which infested such wastelands. Sometimes, Eappa said, these men of our Lord were visited in the quiet of the night by great multitudes of such devils. They were terrible in appearance: they had huge heads, long necks and scraggy faces, with shaggy ears, crooked noses, cruel eyes and foul mouths Eappa said their teeth were like wolf fangs and their throats filled with flame.
    I remembered the tale of one holy hermit who, in the night, suddenly heard the bellowing of various wild beasts and shortly afterwards saw the shapes of all manner of creatures coming towards him, and could hear the howling of wolves, croaking of ravens and grunting of pigs all around him. The servant of our Lord armed himself with the weapon of Christ’s crucifix and, clasping it in his hand, he scorned the threats of the demons, shouting at them; immediately all the accursed spirits had fled away.
    The words he had used, taught to us by Eappa, rang clearly in my memory: ‘Oh you wretched, perverse spirits, your power is seen and your might is made known. Now, wretches, you take on the form of wild beasts, and birds and serpents, you who formerly exalted yourselves when you aspired to be equal to God. Now I command you in the name of the eternal Lord, who made you and flung you from the height of Heaven, to cease from this disturbance!’
    I heard my voice ringing around the clearing and I realized that I had been shouting the prayer with all my might. I sat still and listened but there was no sound save for the distant hooting of an owl. I felt stronger and anger began to well up inside me. I glared into the looming forest and defiantly hurled another prayer against the phantoms, figments of my nightmare: ‘Woe to you, children of darkness. You are dust and ashes and cinders. I am here and ready and await the will of my Lord; why should you frighten me with your false threats?’ The forest shadows shrank back and the moon seemed to beam approvingly. I reached inside my tunic and slipped the crucifix around my neck. It was heavy and solid and I knew it would keep me safe from pagan demons, just as it had more worthy servants than I.
    Determinedly, I buckled on my cloak, looped the bag over my shoulder and turned to walk from the clearing to pursue my Mission.
    As soon as I took a step, however, I cried out in pain. With a sense of dread I recalled my damaged ankle, injured in my flight from the nightmare horse-head demon. The phantoms crept back around me like a cold, clammy mist and what I had dismissed as a dream now prowled through the night, seething with the danger of daytime demons. But I had made up my mind. The Lord had sustained me so far and would protect me again. Setting my face towards the hills, I took a deep breath and walked slowly into the mist.

Tales of Pagan Powers
    I HOBBLED out of the forest and back up the hillside. At the summit I collapsed, nursing my ankle until the pain eased. To the West, across the moonlit landscape, the ravine lay in darkness; on the Eastern horizon, thunderclouds rolled through the grey sky like raiding ships sneaking silently up on the moon.
    Eventually I got to my feet and trudged northward along the hilltop, accompanied only by the soft hiss of the wind. Suddenly I stopped, staring intently into the distance: a long bow-shot ahead, against a boulder bordering the track, slumped the figure of a man who was apparently sleeping. Immediately I suspected an ambush and dropped to a crouch, anxiously scanning the shrubbery on either side of the track for a hidden accomplice. But the vegetation consisted of grass and low scrub; apart from the rock there was nowhere a robber could hide. Just then, without warning, a cloud sailed across the moon and the figure disappeared into shadow. I peered intently at the boulder thinking, hoping, that the man was a figment of my