MANY villains and demons have threatened the peace and safety of the County: the water witches of the far north; Golgoth, the Lord of Winter, who dwells beneath the bleak southern moor of Anglezarke; Wurmalde, the incomer witch who united the Pendle clans to bring the Fiend himself through the dark portal into our world; Morgan, the necromancer, an ex-apprentice of the Spook who tried to raise Golgoth and bring a perpetual winter to the County. These are just a few of the servants of the dark that Tom Ward has had to face, and there are others whose stories are yet to be told.

But of all these, the most dangerous is the Fiend, the dark personified, and here is one more clue that points toward how the Last Apprentice series will continue.

The highest point in the County is marked by mystery.

It is said that a man died there in a great storm, while binding an evil that threatened the whole world.

Then the ice came again and, when it retreated, even the shapes of the hills and the names of the towns in the valleys were changed.

Now, at that highest point on the fells, no trace remains of what was done so long ago, but its name has endured.

They call it . . .

the Wardstone.

Does this hint at the death of Tom Ward or maybe the Spook? And is that “evil” the Fiend? Only time will tell. There are many more stories to be told before the answers are finally revealed.