Fury of the Seventh Son (Book 13) Read Online Free Page B

married to the goddess Hera. Unwisely, Lamia then bore Zeus children. On discovering this, the jealous Hera slew all but one of these unfortunate infants. Driven insane by grief, Lamia began to kill children wherever she found them, so that streams and rivers ran red with their blood and the air trembled with the cries of distraught parents. At last the gods punished her by shifting her shape so that her lower body became sinuous and scaled like that of a serpent.
    Thus changed, she now turned her attentions to young men. She would call to them from a forest glade, only her beautiful head and shoulders visible above the undergrowth. Once she had lured her victim close, she wrapped her lower body around him tightly, squeezing the breath from his helpless body as her mouth fastened upon his neck until the very last drop of blood was drained.
    Lamia later had a lover called Chaemog, a spider thing that dwelled in the deepest caverns of the earth. She bore him triplets, all female, and these were the first lamia witches. On their thirteenth birthday, they quarreled with their mother and, after a terrible fight, tore off her limbs and ripped her body to pieces. They fed every bit of her, including her heart, to a herd of wild boar.
    The three lamia witches reached adulthood and became feared throughout the land. They were long-lived creatures and, by the process of parthenogenesis (needing no father), each gave birth to several children. Over centuries, the race of lamia witches began to evolve, and breeding patterns—
    â€œAre you past the third paragraph?” the Spook interrupted.
    I nodded.
    â€œThen that’s enough,” he said. “It’s a terrible tale. But according to that, Lamia was slain by her own children.”
    â€œThe information is wrong. Yes, she did quarrel with her children, but they did her no physical harm. You once told me that not everything in your Bestiary can be verified, and that some things are definitely wrong. And we make notes and corrections as we find out more, don’t we?”
    â€œThat’s true enough,” said the Spook, nodding. “Well, how did you find this out, lad?”
    â€œMam told me herself when we were in Greece. It’s true. After the terrible things she did, Mam repented and started to fight against the dark. Her greatest wish is to destroy the Fiend, but you have to realize that she isn’t just the woman you met at the farm. She has spent most of her long life as Lamia, and she is ruthless. She sacrificed herself to destroy the Ordeen. She loves me . . . but would ask me to sacrifice myself if it proved necessary. She is also willing to sacrifice Alice. She’ll do anything to destroy the Fiend. She really does want me to carry out that terrible ritual.”
    As I said this, I wondered if I’d have been brave enough to sacrifice myself if Mam had actually asked me to. Would I be as brave as Alice?
    â€œDespite all you say, I still find it hard to believe,” said the Spook. “I trust my instincts. The woman I met wouldn’t ask you to do that.”
    â€œShe’ll do anything to destroy the Fiend. She really does want me to carry out that terrible ritual.”
    As I said this, I wondered if I’d have been brave enough to sacrifice myself if Mam had actually asked me to. Would I be as courageous as Alice?
    â€œShe’s no longer the woman you knew,” I continued. “It’s as simple as that.”
    â€œWell, we’ll agree to differ, lad, but it changes little. You can’t carry out that ritual. So in that case, we need another plan. Let’s both get our thinking caps on and try to come up with some alternative method.”
    I nodded and resolved to try—though I wasn’t optimistic. How could I hope to do better than Mam, who had lived so long and knew so much about the Fiend?
    The following morning, just after dawn, I headed for the area in the western garden that we