Ghostly wreaths of mist clung to the great stones, partially obscuring the sinister images painted all around. Black crows with outstretched wings, leering white skulls, grinning Jack o’ Lanterns; the emblems of Samhain loomed ominously. Two old women, grimy shawls clutched tightly around them, entered the Stone Circle. Black feathers and white bones hung from the branches of elder that arched over the entrance to the sacred space, brushing their whiskery faces as they shuffled beneath the archway. It was silent and eerie inside the Circle and the sisters surveyed the menacing scene with grim approval. A labyrinth delineated by smooth black stones was laid out on the soft earth. The ancient cursal pattern filled the area, and the path it marked led to the centre where a great pyre had been built. The women hobbled across to the Altar Stone, decorated with boughs of yew. A great crow painted on the stone above looked down at the black cauldron sitting on the altar, squat and baleful.

The crones lit cracked clay pipes, puffing contentedly at the stinking smoke. They both took a good swig of cloudy liquid from an old glass bottle and smacked their lips with satisfaction.

“’Twill be strange, sister, both our boys here with us tomorrow.”
“Aye, you speak right. Blessed be that Magus fetched Jackdaw home, his banishment over. My own dear son back again.”
“Things’ll change now. Magus brung him back to deal with the brat. Dark Angel didn’t want the boy up on Mooncliffe at Hunter’s Moon. But tomorrow, sister, at Samhain! Magus must have a clear path. Stop the boy interfering with the moongazy maiden. Magus needs her magic, like his father afore him with that Raven. Hah!”
They cackled hoarsely at the memory of Raven.
“Moongazy as they come but didn’t save her, did it? Nought but a pile o’ ash under the Yew! Old Heggy got it wrong there.”
They spat in unison, then knocked their pipes against the stone.
“Work to be done now, sister. Best get on with it. We need to be ready for tomorrow night, when the Angel comes a-walking in the Stone Labyrinth. When the Dark Angel comes looking for his own.”