She'd done it! She'd rescued Skulduggery! Now everything would be back to normal... They would solve cases again and she would laugh at his jokes and gigantic ego. They would ride in the Bentley again... And... And... Valkyrie neared the portal, a smile splaying across her lips. She was less Than a few metres from the portal now. Just a few more seconds, she thought. Valkyrie glanced over her shoulder, Skulduggery was behind her, running. He tilted his skull at her. As if he was confused, suddenly he lurched forward.

"Wha-" she began but was cut short when she impacted with the ground, in the confusion she lost her grip on the skull. Valkyrie gasped and began to lift herself up, what had happened? Why had he done that? Valkyrie reached for the skull, suddenly a foot hit her. She had her jacket tied around her waist line so she felt all the pain. She screamed as her ribs splintered. Another kick landed on her torso, each one as painful as the next. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied the skull. She desperately reached out for it. Suddenly a foot came down in it, disintegrating it completely. Valkyrie gasped, rage blinding her completely. She lashed out, shadows everywhere. But the Faceless Ones just absorbed ever blow. She screamed as their sly voices hissed inside her ears.

"Your the God Killer!"

"This is your end!"

"Puny earth child."

"No, she's the God killer."

"That child?"

"Yes! And she shall pay!"

Valkyrie curled up into a ball, covering her ears as she began to sob. "Stop It! Just Stop It!" Valkyrie cried, their words were hurting more than the kicks that were being inflicted upon her. Each word sparked a fresh pain in her skull. "Please, Stop! Stop!" She could see the portal from here, she could see the green grass and the muddy sky. She could see them, the Faceless Ones getting dangerously close to it.

Just as she was about to give up a figure swooped down and grabbed her, she let herself be taken up into the red sky. Valkyrie looked up at her saviour. "Skulduggery?" She said, her whole body aching. He didn't answer, he was firmly looking straight ahead. Valkyrie followed his gaze, the portal was closing. They were closing the portal! There was only enough room for one at a time, and there wouldn't be enough space after the one person had gone through. They were getting nearer and nearer to the portal now. "Skulduggery! What are you doing?" She asked, in truth she already had a good idea about what he was planning. He was going to throw her through the portal and sacrifice himself. "No, Skul, don't do this please." She sobbed, her fists beating on his skeletal chest. "Please! No!"

"I'm sorry." He said distantly.

"Sorry? Skul! Sorry isn't good enough! Sorry is just..." Valkyrie trailed off, she sounded like a school teacher telling off her students. "You don't have to do this! Skul... We can find a way to... To..."

"Yes, maybe." He agreed, Valkyrie gasped, happiness sparking inside her. "If we had enough time, which we don't. That portal will close in a matter of seconds. We only have one shot."

"We can both get through this." She pleaded.

"No we can't, but you can." He looked at her. "Valkyrie Cain. Go live your life, go make mistakes, go have fun. Do whatever you want, I've lived 400 years and I've been a victim to evil of the world. But this is the dawn of a new era, and you have to promise me that you will go live your life, and you won't look back."

"NO! NO! Skul! You promised me , your promised me until the end... You- you promised me..." Valkyrie screamed, her throat raw.

"I did, and this is it. This is the end."

And then everything disappeared, the Faceless Ones, the red sky and Skulduggery Pleasant, the skeleton detective. All gone, as she traveled between the two dimensions she heard a soft, velvety voice whisper in her ear.

"Valkyrie Cain, you promise me this, Go back home, forget me, forget this... Please."

...

Valkyrie woke up with a gasp, she shut her eyes for a second. Her breathing steadying as she calmed herself down. It was just a dream, just a dream... She thought.

Valkyrie kicked off the bed sheets and dangled her feet off the edge of her bed, she held her head in her hands as she thought about the last couple of months.

Five months ago she attempted to bring back Skulduggery, everything had been going fine until she'd let down her guard, until she'd thought that she could start to relax. And then they were split up. It all went downhill from there, Skulduggery sacrificed himself for her. Her 'friends' gave up on her... Fletcher gave up on her... So she left, one night she packed her things and left behind her friends, her family, and her home. Valkyrie had flown to America and was now staying in a motel.

It has been five months but her friends were still looking for her. It was annoying. They just didn't get it, she wanted to be left alone. Sure, she'd come back when she was ready but... Right now. She was far from ready. She just needed to settle somewhere and they weren't letting her. Maybe she could settle with someone...

Valkyrie smiled at the thought. That would be nice. Someone to love her and care for her... But she didn't need someone to keep her safe, she didn't need protecting whatsoever. Maybe before she would have settled for someone like that. Soft. But now she needed someone strong, who would still care for her but let her fight her own battles too. The perfect man...

Suddenly there was a hurts of blue light outside her window, she jumped up. Had they found her? Was Valkyrie's first thought, she looked out the window. There was no one outside but there was a blue light coming from the woodlands opposite the motel.

Valkyrie had to check it out.

She grabbed her protective jacket, there wouldn't be enough time to get fully changed, right now pyjama trousers and T-shirt would have to do. But at least she had her jacket, that would protect her and keep her warm.

Valkyrie opened her window, she had to be quick and quiet, going down the stairs would take to long and might risk waking up the other few guests staying here. Valkyrie vaulted out the window, cushioning her decent using air. She zipped up her jacket against the cold and created a flame to guide the way and retain some warmth. January was cold, even in America.

Luckily there wasn't much of a wood to trek into, and Valkyrie soon found the source of the blue light- well, actually they were more like blue flames.

...

Please tell me If I should continue in reviews