*****
It had been a long day. Hunter was still wearing his suit from the memorial service held for Brian Lloyd. It had been a suitably miserable day as the black-clad crowd stood about a plinth, erected to commemorate the greatest witch-hunters.
Witch-hunters had come from all over Britain, and there were even those from foreign MMCs. Hunter had always known that Brian Lloyd was special, but his personal closeness to the man had blinded him to exactly how special and respected.
A high-standing member of the Council had stood up and spoke in a monotonous tone about Mr Lloyd’s achievements and contributions. Hunter didn’t hear a word of it. He stood there, hands shoved deep in his coat pockets, a sad smile as he remembered their own toasts to him.
Later, when every softly spoken conversation was exhausted, the heartfelt (and perfunctory) toasts made, Hunter and his friends escaped back to Astley Manor.
Hunter went and locked himself in his library. It seemed wrong that they still hadn’t read through all of the papers Brian had left them, especially today. He was still sitting up in the early hours of the morning, matching information in Brian’s work to his own collection.
“Shit.” No, no, no. Hunter took a deep breath and rubbed his weary eyes, as though it could remove the revelation. Shit. Hunter jumped up, running through the sleeping house. “James!” He shouted, taking the stairs three at a time, “James!”
James came staggering out of his bedroom, just as Hunter reached the door, looking still asleep in his loose pyjamas. There was movement in the corridor as Sophie ran out, wrapping her dressing gown about her slim figure, a look of fear on her face.
Seeing her, Hunter suddenly remembered that the last time she was woken in the middle of the night had ended disastrously, and he felt a brief stab of guilt.
“Attack?” James asked, breathless.
Hunter shook his head. “Shadow.” The single word managed to break out, and Hunter took a deep breath, “Brian’s work, he was tracking the awakening of a Shadow.”
“You’re sure?” James asked, definitely awake now.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Wait, what’s a shadow?” Sophie interrupted, calmer now she knew there was no immediate danger.
“A Shadow Witch,” Hunter began, fighting down his own fear. “The most powerful witch - in a class of their own. But they are rare, near unheard of, there’s only been two in recorded history.”
“But it’s still a witch. The MMC can stop them?” Sophie asked, still not grasping the significance of the title.
Hunter shook his head. “This is magic without limits, the last Shadow Witch to gain a hold ended the Dark Ages and unleashed the chaos of the medieval witch-craze. Society crumbled through fear and witches gained positions of power, free to slaughter thousands. They turned their own hunted existence to their use, accusing and murdering innocent victims, all in the name of the good lord.”
“So this is a big deal, then.” Sophie replied flatly once Hunter had finished.
Hunter checked his watch, 3am. It was definitely important enough to wake everyone up, but he’d still be hated for it.
“James, get on the phone to the Council. Hopefully the foreign delegates haven’t left yet. Offer Astley Manor as a meeting place. I’m going downstairs, to see what my collection has to help.” No, there’d be no sleep tonight. “Ah, Sophie, you can go back to bed, if you want.”
“No, I’m awake now, I’ll help.”
Nine
The Council had done a good job at dragging witch-hunters into a meeting at such short notice. By midday Astley Manor was a hub of noise as over fifty witch-hunters of various nationalities gathered. At 2pm they all piled into the long hall, where Hunter went over all the details under the sceptical gaze of his fellow witch-hunters.
Outside the closed door, two people were left out.
“This is ridiculous, we should be in there.” Sophie spat, glaring at the door that separated them from the meeting.
James shrugged. “I’m a first gen too, we’re not permitted to attend witch-hunter meetings, except for exceptional circumstances.” Yeah, but it was still a bitch. “Besides, we know everything Hunter has to say, and he’ll tell us everything they say.”
“It’s still not as good as hearing it for ourselves. And if this isn’t an exceptional circumstance, what is?!”
They waited impatiently for a good couple of hours, hearing nothing except the odd, inarticulate shout.
“Hunter said there were two Shadow Witches.” Sophie said suddenly, making James jump. “But this morning I could only find writings on one.”
James grimaced. “Not many people know about the second, some don’t even believe she even was a Shadow. She didn’t last long and it was all hushed up. Back in the 40s. I only know ‘cos Hunter-”
James broke off and eyed Sophie carefully. “Ah, I’m sure he won’t mind me tellin’ you. His grandfather, Old George V, brought her down. Just wish we knew how. The old man’s long dead and never spoke of it to anyone.”
Just then, finally, the doors opened and the witch-hunters poured out, followed in the end by Hunter. Just one look showed how disappointed he was. Several witch-hunters hung back to share a few words of encouragement, but eventually they were all gone.
“I need a drink.” Hunter muttered and slunk off to the kitchen to retrieve the much needed bottle of whiskey, and quickly poured himself a healthy glass full.
James and Sophie waited impatiently.
“Well?” James finally asked with exasperation.
Hunter took his time replying. “They’ve decided to do nothing.”
“What?!”
Again, a pause. “Oh, they believe there’s a Shadow Witch at least. Took long enough to persuade them on that. But they have decided that there is nothing more they can do - they are just going to keep on witch hunting until the Shadow Witch makes a move.”
“Well,” Sophie said hesitantly. “That’s not too bad.”
“Hah.” Hunter grimaced, “They wouldn’t change anything: putting more witch-hunters and Council staff on the case to track the Shadow down; they could increase communication between foreign MMCs; they could plan to unite all witch-hunters or at least form a plan of action in the case of the Shadow rising up. But no, they didn’t want to take priority away from normal business!”
Hunter’s rant left James and Sophie silent.
“The MMC in general may not be willing, but you’ve got me, as much as I can do.” Sophie said with calm confidence.
“And me.” James added. “And Charlotte is gonna help too, of course.”