Whalakai: Known as a vision of what is, this is an instant of perception that comes to either a High Mage or a haizda mage. It is an epiphany, or moment of revelation, when the totality of a situation, with all the complexities that have led to it, are known to him in a flash of insight. The Kobalos believe this is a vision given to the mage by Talkus, their God Who Is Yet to Be, its purpose being to facilitate the path to his birth.
Whoskor: This is the collective name for the creatures subservient to the Kobalos who are engaged in the never-ending task of extending the city of Valkarky. They have sixteen legs, eight of which also function as arms, and are used to shape the skoya, the soft stone which they exude from their mouths.
Widdershins: A movement which is anti-clockwise or against the sun. Seen as counter to the natural order of things, it is sometimes employed by a Kobalos mage to assert his will upon the cosmos. Filled with hubris, it holds within it great risk.
Zanti: These were the first of the creatures that Grimalkin studied after creating them from the samples in the haizda mage’s tree lair back in Chipenden. Human in shape, they are extremely thin, with spindly scaled arms and legs. Their heads are covered in black scales rather than hair, and their eyes are positioned wide apart like those of a bird, which allows them to see ahead, to the side and behind them – Tom Ward
Zingi: These were the second of the creatures studied by Grimalkin. Covered in brown hair, each had six three-jointed, muscular legs. Their bodies were cylindrical and formed of three segments, each containing a heart and brain. From the first protruded what appeared to be a long, thin tusk, and beneath this was a wide mouth. They did not have eyes or noses, and must have used other senses to locate their prey. They were also able to summon prey to their presence – Tom Ward
About the Author
Joseph Delaney lives in the heart of boggart territory - his very own village has one called the Hall Knocker, which was laid to rest under the step of a house near the church. In fact, over the twelve years he has been creating the world of the County Spook, Joseph has encountered two boggarts, a ghast and a ghoul – all of which have provided ripe source material for his spine-chilling tales.
Many of the locations in the Spook’s books are based on real places in Lancashire, and the inspiration behind the stories often comes from local ghost stories and legends.
Also by Joseph Delaney
THE SPOOK’S SERIES
BOOK ONE:
THE SPOOK’S APPRENTICE
BOOK TWO:
THE SPOOK’S CURSE
BOOK THREE:
THE SPOOK’S SECRET
BOOK FOUR:
THE SPOOK’S BATTLE
BOOK FIVE:
THE SPOOK’S MISTAKE
BOOK SIX:
THE SPOOK’S SACRIFICE
BOOK SEVEN:
THE SPOOK’S NIGHTMARE
BOOK EIGHT:
THE SPOOK’S DESTINY
BOOK NINE:
SPOOK’S: I AM GRIMALKIN
BOOK TEN:
THE SPOOK’S BLOOD
BOOK ELEVEN:
SPOOK’S: SLITHER’S TALE
BOOK TWELVE:
SPOOK’S: ALICE
BOOK THIRTEEN:
THE SPOOK’S STORIES:
WITCHES
THE SPOOK’S BESTIARY
THE SEVENTH APPRENTICE
A NEW DARKNESS
THE DARK ARMY
DARK ASSASSIN
THE ARENA 13 SERIES
ARENA 13
ARENA 13: THE PREY
THE BODLEY HEAD
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The Bodley Head is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
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First published The Bodley Head, 2017
This ebook published 2017
Text copyright © Joseph Delaney, 2017
Title lettering by www.blacksheep-uk.com
Cover illustrations copyright © TwoDots, 2017
Interior illustrations copyright © David Wyatt, 2014
The moral right of the author and illustrators has been asserted
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-448-10144-3
All correspondence to:
The Bodley Head
Penguin Random House Children’s
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL k12