After thirty minutes of slow progress through narrow tunnels, El wondered again why she’d volunteered to come with Newton.
Wheal Droskyn, which was the name of the tin mine at Droskyn Point in Perranporth, was one of the oldest in Cornwall, parts of it estimated to be 2,000 years old. Fortunately, the oldest workings were shallow, but that didn’t make the experience any better. The newer parts went much deeper, with shafts that dropped deep into the earth, one leading into a cave that was known to have been used for smuggling in the past.
El was dressed in jeans and boots, complete with a hard hat, for which she was very grateful. The tunnel was low in places, and they had to duck and squirm through tight passages, watching their every step. In the end only the four of them had gone in, and Newton had left two constables outside the entrance to stop anyone from following. Jethro Carter, their guide through the mines, was at the front, followed by Newton, and Moore was behind her.
El’s headlamp illuminated the stonework, some of which was stained blue from thin seams of copper deposits, although this was mined predominantly for tin. She wished she could use a witch-light, but Jethro’s presence made it impossible. Jethro had expressed disbelief that anything was hidden in here, explaining that because the oldest mines were easily accessed by the narrow path along the cliffs, many people had explored here over the years. The newer, deeper sections were sealed off on the whole. Although, he did say there were a couple of access points through narrow shafts. All of the mine workings above ground had long since been pulled down, and major shafts had been capped for safety.
They reached an intersection of tunnels and Jethro paused to pull out his map, addressing them as he did so. “The way to the left is where our particular adit accesses, but as I said, I doubt you’ll find anything there. This area has been explored countless times, and there are certainly no remnants of treasure.” He frowned at them. “I’ve been down here, admittedly years ago now, and I never saw anything, either. Unless, of course, someone hid something more recently.”
Newton shook his head. “No, I doubt that. But whether anything’s there or not, I do want to try and find where the girl could have been.”
Before they entered the mine, Newton had told Jethro some very basic information, but the lack of clarity was obviously very frustrating for him. While they talked, El extended her magic, trying to sense a supernatural presence, but so far all she could feel was cold, damp air, and the metals that were layered through the earth. In the pockets of her coat were a piece of Shadow’s fey armour and a few fey coins, for bribery purposes, but she hoped she wouldn’t have to use them. It struck her that mines would be a natural place for spriggans to be, considering the metals that were all around them.
Moore was silent, as usual, just staring around the space suspiciously. He looked as tired as Newton. Both of them had thick stubble and shadows under their eyes as if they hadn’t slept for days, and El was sure that Moore had been as affected by Inez’s death as Newton.
“Keep going left,” Newton said, finally ending their discussion, and Jethro turned and led the way again.
They passed dark entrances—crawl spaces, really, that El peered down nervously—but Jethro ignored them, leading them deeper and deeper as he explained that they had reached a newer section of the mine. The tunnels were shored up in places with huge wooden beams, but they bulged alarmingly at some points, while other areas dripped with moisture.
“You’re lucky,” he said to them as they walked. “Many newer areas are inaccessible, unless you have climbing equipment. These hills are riddled with shafts.” They entered a large cave, the deeper parts running to their right, and he took out a flare and lit it, hurling it into the darkness where it illuminated a pool of water and a dark exit at the end. “Through there are shafts filled with water. It’s treacherous. The part we’re heading to is dry.” He looked at all three of them. “Are you sure you want to go on?”
“A woman has died,” Newton said abruptly. “Yes, I do.”
They eventually reached a big, barred gate that lead to another area of the mine, and Jethro swore.
“Someone has broken the padlock.”
“What?” Newton pushed him aside.
The gate was rudimentary, set into the rock wall to block the narrow tunnel that led deeper into the earth. A chain and padlock had secured it, but it now hung loose, the chain cut cleanly through.
Newton turned to El, his expression saying everything before he nodded at Jethro. “It means we’re on the right track, then. Go on, but slowly!”
Jethro was a man in his fifties, with grey hair, a grizzled beard, and a gruff manner. He wielded a heavy, handheld torch as well as his headlamp, and he hefted the former like a weapon before heading down the passage. El glanced at Moore, but as usual he looked inscrutable and just waved El ahead of him.
“Do you want me to go first, Newton?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “No, but stay sharp.”
They progressed deeper, passing other passageways, and El quickly lost her way. This was terrifying. If something happened to Jethro, who was clearly very comfortable with finding his way down here, they could be lost forever.
Eventually, he called over his shoulder, “We’re nearly there. The adit runs off this tunnel.”
The tunnel widened and the roof lifted, finally bringing them to a larger area. However, when they reached it, Jethro swore again. “What the bloody hell?” He trailed off, looking dumbstruck at a hole in the rock face. “That’s new.”
“It is?” Newton asked, excited.
“Absolutely. I haven’t seen it before. Look at the edges where the stone has been broken, and the new rock fall.”
He was right. Although rocks of various sizes were strewn across the ground, some of them had edges that weren’t discoloured by age, and the border of the new hole in the wall looked fresh, too.
Jethro pointed to the dark, low tunnel to the side and crouched, shining his torch down it. “You can see daylight down there. That’s the beach. It carries water out of here. As you can see from the damp ground, it can get very wet in here. We’re lucky it’s only drizzling.”
El crouched, spying a tiny pinprick of light at the far end. This is where it happened. Jasmine was killed here.
She stood quickly, extending her magic perception, again searching for something supernatural, or the ancient magic that Avery said she’d felt, but nothing seemed out of place, and she shook her head at Newton, who watched her carefully. He nodded, directing Jethro to keep to the side, and after flashing his torch light across the ground, stuck his head through the newly-made hole. El stood next to him. Their torchlight illuminated another cave beyond, and at the far side, on a rudimentary rock shelf, were the remnants of old, wooden chests.
“Bingo,” Newton said softly.
Jethro squeezed next to them, looking in too. “Incredible. Are you telling me that those have been in there all this time?” He stepped back and examined the rock face. “I have never noticed anything abnormal about this wall.”
Newton was already clambering over the lip and stepping into the cave. El followed, her power pulsing at her fingertips, and as soon as she entered the cave, she felt it. An ancient presence that watched them. She threw out her arm to block Newton, but before she could assess what was going on, a creature exploded out of the darkness, throwing Newton against the wall and sending her rolling across the floor before something landed on her chest.
Alex groaned as he exited the kitchen of The Wayward Son, hearing Jago laughing loudly at the terrible joke he’d just told him. The other kitchen staff groaned as well, but Jago didn’t care; the worse the joke, the more he laughed. As the door swung shut behind him, Jago’s laughter was replaced by the chatter and music in the pub.
Friday lunchtime was often busy in the pub. Everyone was winding down for the weekend, and despite the grey drizzle and mist that had set in outside, everyone seemed determined to have fun. A few lights were on to alleviate the gloom, and the low music added to the atmosphere. Alex served a few customers and took some food orders, and then noting Zee was restocking the glasses, headed to his side to help.
“I hear you had an interesting night,” Zee said, absently polishing a glass.
“That’s one word for it. I take it Ash updated you?”
He nodded. “Did you know Caspian’s warehouse was attacked, too?”
“No!” Alex said, alarmed. “Anyone hurt?”
“Fortunately not. Caspian’s protection spell held.” Zee looked worried. “They seem to be scaling up their activities.”
“I agree. I just wonder what set them off in the first place. It has to be the fact that their treasure has been disturbed.”
“Seems logical,” Zee agreed. He looked across the pub. “Your ghost hunters are here.”
Alex turned to see Cassie, Ben, and Dylan take seats at the corner of the bar, and he hurried over to them. “Is everything okay?” He looked them up and down, but they didn’t seem to be injured.
“We’re fine,” Cassie assured him. “Why so worried? You’ve got a line between your eyes.”
His hand flew to his forehead. “Have I?”
She sniggered. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s not permanent.”
“I bet it will be,” he grumbled. “We’re having a nightmare at the moment.”
“So I gather,” Dylan said. He was distracted, eyeing the menu in his hand. “Let’s get a pint and some food and then we’ll tell you what we’ve found.”
Alex nodded, quickly sorting their drinks and taking their order, and then Ben lowered his voice and leaned forward. “We decided to take some general readings in the areas that have been affected by current events.”
“Newton told us.”
“Fowey, Looe, here, and Perranporth,” Dylan explained. “And we noticed something odd.”
“Odder than spirit activity?”
“Yes,” Cassie answered, sipping her cider. “We’ve calibrated our instruments, based on what we’ve learned over the last year, so that we’re more specific in our searches.”
Alex was confused. “Isn’t that counterintuitive? Won’t you fail to pick up on stuff?”
Ben shook his head, impatient. “No. We search wide and then narrow it down. And we position ourselves above towns too, which is pretty easy in a lot of Cornish coastal towns. We can set ourselves up on the hill, and take readings for the whole place.”
“Especially at night,” Dylan added, “using the thermal imaging camera.”
All three of them were looking very excited as they started explaining, and Alex was intrigued.
“We’ve been taking base readings over the last year,” Ben said, “as a matter of course, and knowing how interesting Cornwall can be, and we’ve definitely found changes.”
“Hold on!” Alex looked at them, amazed. “You took readings across Cornwall? Wasn’t that a huge amount of work?”
They all shrugged, and Cassie, said, “Sure it was. But we did it over months, more as data-gathering, really, for our website.”
Dylan’s eyes widened. “You’d be amazed at the sort of supernatural energy that’s out there. We’re going to study some of the old sites next—you know, dolmens, stone circles, remains of old forts—and put all that on our website, too.” He grinned. “We’re kind of making a map of the spookiest places in Cornwall!”
“Wow.” Alex was impressed. “That’s great advertising for you. And very useful for us!”
“Exactly,” Ben said. “So all of this work is valuable all around. Anyway, considering the recent events, we went back to the places where the deaths occurred and noticed another type of energy. Your type.”
“What do you mean, my type?” Alex asked, confused.
“Witch-type!”
“You can differentiate?”
“Sure,” Cassie nodded. “We took your readings, remember? Your energy signature is different. Well, when you do magic.”
“I guess that confirms what we suspected, especially after last night,” he told them, and quickly updated them on spotting Mariah leaving Ethan’s house.
Dylan looked pleased. “Great, so that corroborates us too, not that we really doubted that.”
“So where is our type of energy?” Alex asked.
“Well, we see it in the centres where you witches are based. The coven members, I mean,” Ben said. “Obviously there was a big cloud of magic over White Haven, but that’s gone now. Looe and Fowey are hotspots, and that’s to be expected. But,” he faltered, glancing at the others, “there’s some over Gull Island, too.”
Alex gripped the counter in alarm, and then tried to calm himself. “I guess that sort of makes sense. Reuben’s house was attacked last night, too. And he was attacked in the caves there.”
“It’s big, Alex,” Cassie said, eyeing him nervously. “The energy pouring off that place is very strong.”
Alex started to feel very uneasy. It may be an island, but there was a path running from it to Reuben’s house. Was last night’s attack the start of something bigger? He should phone Reuben, just to check on him. And then he thought of El and Newton heading down Wheal Droskyn. Unpleasant images of them lying dead and broken in a mineshaft filled his head.
“Did you see anything over Perranporth? El and Newton are there today.”
“Oh, yeah,” Dylan said, huffing. “We’ve saved the best ’til last. We saw a really old energy signature there! We even went on to the beach to check. Not too close, because of that girl’s death, but close enough. It’s enormous. Giant-sized.”
El slammed her power against the creature on her chest, sending it flying, and then lashed at it with a wave of fire, throwing it back against the rock face. She dropped the fire, but used air like a battering ram to hold it in position, and staggered to her feet. She could feel seams of metal behind the spriggan, and decided she could use it.
Her magic was particularly attuned to metals, especially after years of working them, and she reached for them now. Tendrils of tin emerged from the earth, and she fashioned them quickly into a cage, securing the spriggan in place and enhancing its prison with magic.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Moore wrestle with Jethro, trying to keep him from entering the cave. Moore couldn’t see Newton, and El heard the panic in his voice as he shouted his name. Wow. He actually spoke.
“I’m okay,” Newton shouted back. Well, groaned would be the better word. “Stay back.”
He dragged himself to his feet, and checking that El was okay, they both advanced on the furious spriggan.
“Nice reflexes,” he said to El admiringly, but without taking his eyes off the creature.
“I should have been quicker.” She was annoyed with herself. She had known they would likely be attacked, and had still ended up on her back.
Newton was pre-occupied with their prisoner. “That’s an ugly little thing. Like some bloody deformed baby.” He grimaced. “So this is a spriggan!”
“It seems so,” El murmured, taking in its odd appearance.
She pulled the fey metal out of her pocket, waving it in front of the spriggan’s eyes. It immediately watched it with ill-concealed greed.
“This is yours, little man,” she said, “if you promise to behave.”
It shot her a calculating look as it grasped the bars of its cage.
“Understand me?” she asked, studying it. “Or I can do worse than pin you to the wall.” She hated to threaten it. It was like Shadow had said. It acted on instinct, but that’s what made it even more dangerous.
“Wait,” Newton said. “Do you think it can answer questions?”
“You can try.”
She continued to hold the fey armour in front of it as a reward, as Newton said, “This is yours if you tell me who came here.”
It hissed, looking at Newton malevolently, and for a second El didn’t think it either could or would answer, and then with a horribly grating voice it said, “Four humans came, three left. One death for one death.”
El and Newton glanced at each other, puzzled.
“What do you mean?” Newton asked.
It snarled and then pointed to the far end of the cave, lost in darkness. Newton flashed his torch that way, lighting up the tiny, lifeless form of another spriggan.
El felt rage build within her. Someone had killed it! Logically she knew that spriggans were violent, but still, it was sad, and it had obviously retaliated, killing Jasmine.
Newton pressed on. “Men or women?”
“Two men, two women.” It flicked its angry, beady eyes at El. “Hair like that one.”
“Blonde?” Newton asked.
“Like silver. Much power.”
“What did they take?”
“All the gold, all the gold, all the gold.” It kept repeating it over and over again in its rasping little voice, making El’s skin crawl. “Give me the fey treasure!” Its hands flexed with greed.
Newton looked balefully at El. “I doubt it can tell me anything else.”
“I have a question.” She turned to the creature. “Why are you still here?”
“More gold. More gold. More gold.”
Again it glanced nervously to the side, and in the light of Newton’s torch, they saw a few spilled coins.
“Okay,” Newton said. “We’re going to give you this, and then you leave, for good. More men are coming, and I don’t want to hurt you. And you need to take your friend.”
It looked as if it was about to argue, but it clearly understood what Newton was saying, because it nodded. El released her magic, dismantled the cage, and handed it the armour. In seconds it scampered across the ground, grabbed the other body, and disappeared through a barely there crack in the wall.
El kept her magic readied, just in case. “What now?”
“Now I get a team in here to examine every inch of this place, to see if we can find some evidence of who was here.” He shook his head, frustrated, as he looked around. “They must have found an old map with this hidden cave, and worked out how to get to it. They’re determined, I’ll give them that.”
“It has to be Mariah!”
“I agree. And I think it must be Ethan, too. Like you guys, I don’t believe in coincidences, and there are too many connections.”
“And there’s someone else. Another man.”
“He has a brother. It could be him, or maybe a colleague.” He patted El’s shoulder and gave her a weak smile. “Thank you for coming.”
“My pleasure.” She hesitated, and then said, “Well done for not wanting to kill it—even after what one of them did to Inez.”
“Yeah, well, like you said, it acts on instinct. I’ll save my revenge for those who started this whole thing.”
El smiled. “Fair enough, but I’ll hang around here, just in case.” Despite the fact that the spriggan had vanished, she didn’t want to take any chances. “If you can explain me being here.”
“The team were okay in Looe. I think the crowds put it off attacking again.”
She shrugged. “I’m here now. Let me be useful.”
“All right. I’ll think of something.”
“When are you going to interview Ethan?”
“This afternoon. I’ll leave SOCO to it here, if you’re okay with that?”
“Absolutely. Catch us up with a pint later? My treat.”
“You’re on.” He nodded to Jethro, where he stood looking at both of them wide-eyed with shock. “And you might want to glamour that one. Make it good.”
Alex stared at the three investigators. “When you say giant, do you mean just a big wave of energy?”
“No.” Dylan looked excited, the complete opposite of Alex’s feelings. “We mean an energy field in the shape of a giant was visible on the cliff top. Just briefly, and then it vanished.”
“A giant? An actual giant!”
“Yes,” Ben nodded, also grinning. “That piece of footage may actually get us on the news. It must have something to do with those spriggan-creatures you mentioned.”
“Fuck it! El and Newton are there today.” Alex tried to be logical. They knew this might happen, but at least Alex had faced a spriggan with another witch. Alex reached for his phone, anxiously watched by his three friends who no longer looked so excited, and called El and then Newton. Neither of them answered. “Crap.”
“But they’re down a mine, right?” Dylan pointed out. “They wouldn’t get the call, anyway.”
At that point, Avery walked in and sat on a stool, her broad smile disappearing as she looked at their expressions. “What’s going on?”
Alex quickly updated her, half expecting to see Avery race out of there, but she nodded calmly instead.
“She’ll be okay,” she reassured him. “Shadow popped into the shop this morning with a tip and a present—fey metal and coins. She gave them to El. They worked well as bribery, apparently, when she and Gabe found the one at Looe.”
“Yeah, but you have to get it to stop bashing your brains in first!” Alex reminded her. “You’re very blasé about this. Inez died because of one of those!”
“I haven’t forgotten that,” she said, infuriatingly calm. “But El is forewarned, and we weren’t. She’ll be okay. Can I have a wine, please?”
He shot her an annoyed look and then grabbed a glass, wishing he could have a pint, too. “When did you get so Zen all of a sudden?” he asked as he poured her drink. “That’s normally my job.”
“Of course I’m worried, but I trust El. She’s a strong witch.”
“Agreed,” Cassie chimed in. “Sorry we alarmed you, Alex.” She told Avery what they’d seen on the Perranporth cliff top, stunning her into momentary silence.
Avery took a large sip of wine as if to fortify herself, and when she finally spoke, she said, “Proof of giants! That’s amazing. Actual Cornish giants! Just that one, or are there more?”
“Isn’t one enough?” Alex asked. What was the matter with them all?
“Only one so far,” Ben answered. “But now that we’ve seen one, I think we should check other areas that folklore tell us had giants. Their spirits could still be there, striding the landscape.”
Alex groaned. “They could be, but I really hope you don’t find any more, and that this little spate of attacks has been stirred up by these events.” He studied Ben, Cassie, and Dylan’s faces, each one pleased with their success, and felt bad that he couldn’t be more enthusiastic. He knew they were upset about the recent deaths, they weren’t monsters, but he also understood how important this was to them. “You didn’t see one in Fowey or Looe?”
“No, just Perranporth,” Dylan said. “But, like we said, it vanished in seconds. We could have missed the others.”
Cassie looked apologetic. “Sorry, but just because we’ve seen it won’t make things worse.”
“Of course it won’t, and it is amazing,” Avery said, shooting Alex a warning look that told him to be nicer. “I can’t wait to tell Dan and Sally. In fact, you must bring your footage to show us. We really should all see it, too!”
“That’s partly why we’re here,” Ben said. “To see if we can arrange a time.”
Avery nodded. “I think we’re heading to Reuben’s tonight. I’ll check. You should come if you’re free. Just be aware that they’re under a lockdown up there, all sealed up with protection spells.”
All three nodded immediately.
“Just check with Reuben, and we’ll be there,” Ben agreed.
“So, Avery,” Alex said, “did you have success this morning?”
Her face fell. “No. A complete bust at St Catherine’s Castle, as expected. But the good news is that everything seemed settled up there. No weird findings or magical happenings. I thought I’d pop in, have some lunch, and then head back to the shop. But I have another suggestion for tonight. I think you should scry to watch Mariah. We’re on the back foot on all this, and I’m sick of it. We need to get ahead.”
Alex nodded. “All right. That’s probably a good idea.”
He paused when Anna approached carrying a couple of bowls of fries, and she placed them on the counter with a cheery, “Here you go, guys,” before heading back to the kitchen.
Dylan reached for a chip. “I’ve just thought of something else we should do, too. Set the camera up to point at Gull Island again. That could prove very interesting!”
“Excellent,” Avery said, reaching for her phone. “I’ll ring Reuben and organise it all.”