Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters belong to Derek Landy.
The first thing Valkyrie Cain noticed when she awoke that her neck was stiff. Her head seemed to be lying on a hard surface and from how she felt jagged edges biting into her back that she was probably somewhere full of stones. Maybe gravel. She felt uncomfortably hot and could feel layers of sweat rolling down her body. Automatically, she called upon her magic as she did to solve any problem, but when she couldn't summon any moisture to cool her down, she frowned. It wasn't unusual for her to struggle with the element of water, but for her magic to be this unreliable she must be very weak.
Valkyrie's first instinct was to call Skulduggery for help, despite something itching at her saying this was not a good idea. She tried to open her eyes, but as soon as she did stinging dark particulates swarmed her vision. Immediately, Valkyrie shut them again but she now was beginning to get worried.
Where was Skulduggery? Where was she and how did she get here? The last thing she remembered was fighting against the Brides of Blood Tears. Oh no. She had been captured, hadn't she? Valkyrie squirmed. At the best of times she hated being held captive, but these witches that she had really pissed off would probably make life hell for her.
She pulled her back up, her eyes still closed and started to fumble around for her phone. But when she couldn't find the pocket it was usually in, she remembered she must have left her phone with the black protective clothes she had abandoned at the Brides of Blood Tears' Temple.
The panic was really beginning to set in now. The world mage community was at full scale war and so her disappearance would not be a priority. No one would come and help her. She could die here. Valkyrie bit her lip and forced herself to stay calm. She attempted to vanquish all negative thoughts from her head, but however hard she tried there was still some uncertainty lingering there.
Where was Skulduggery?
She sat up and felt around. Her hand caught at a sticky liquid to the left of her. She raised her hand he noise and winced at the smell of iron. God, she didn't know whether to hope it wasn't her blood or not.
What had happened here?
Just as she was beginning feel enclosed with isolation, she heard shouting very distantly. She nearly cried out in joy. She was not alone.
"Hello?"
Valkyrie tried to shout, except the dryness of her throat caused it to come out like a croak. She scowled at tried again.
"Hello? Hello? Anyone there?"
No reply. Only the sound of the wind laughing in her face.
"Skulduggery? Skulduggery? Skulduggery?"
She shouted his name for what seemed like hours. Finally her throat was so broken and parched she could not shout any longer. She had used up all her energy shouting and soon fell into a dreamless sleep.
As the smell of smoke drifted into Valkyrie's nostrils, she twisted and turned in her sleep. The flames licked at the edges of her clothes, joking with her, as the smoke danced around her teasingly before diving into her lungs. She woke as her body began to protectively cough out the unwanted invader. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed the bright orange flame that was delighted she had woken up to play. She yelled, rolled over to quench the fire and jumped up. Valkyrie begun to run though the darkness, hands out blindly in front of her. Tears began break through the mud on her dirt-ridden face, due to the smoke irritating her eyes. She pulled her arm up across her mouth to try and prevent the black particulates from entering her lungs. The flames twirled behind her, racing to keep up. After a while she was out of the danger zone, but she suddenly cried out as she tripped over a branch and went sprawling head first to the ground. Valkyrie cursed and spat onto the pavement. Still paranoid that she could feel the heat pressing on her, she crawled forward on her aching arms and legs.
The next time she looked up, she realised that the air was now clear of soot and she could finally see her surroundings. From the amount of buildings she could see that she was in some sort of city, but she didn't recognise which one, although judging by the signs it was in Ireland. But how was she in Ireland? This certainly wasn't the Sahara Desert. What had happened in the temple of the Brides of Blood Tears?
Despite it being night, it was rare for a city street to be this quiet. Something was very wrong. The war between the Sanctuaries clearly must have escalated beyond control.
She turned around and stared, her eyes transfixed in horror at what she had been running from. In the distance, she could see trees that were dishevelled and blackened. Buildings had windows missing and others had large chunks that had been burnt away, as if there been a large explosion. The rancid smell of burnt meat filled the air and it made Valkyrie gag. She turned away, distressed over what she had seen. It didn't help that she still had a nagging feeling that she'd missed something really important.
She didn't have her phone, she had no idea where she was and she had no idea what was going on. After a while of thinking, she decided to find someone with a phone. Maybe sneak into a home, borrow a phone to call Skulduggery and then return it again. She strode forward, her pace quicker now she had a purpose.
After a few minutes of she found a home with a small window – probably from a bathroom - sticking out of side and looking out onto a garden. Valkyrie crept into the home and squeezed under the wooden gate into the garden. In the gloom she could make out a well-manicured garden with a huge apple tree at the rear.
She walked up to the window and prepared to propel herself upwards, but when she didn't move, she frowned. Perplexed, she tried again. When still nothing happened, she sighed and looked around for another way to get up.
Nearby there was a tree. It was tall, but lean and slanted over to the side of the house. Due to its thin nature, it would be a challenge to climb and even once she'd reached the top, there was a few feet to jump to the ledge and without her magic she'd probably miss it and just injure herself. Valkyrie realised she'd have to break into the house by force.
Walking up to the back door on the ground floor, she wondered why her magic had not been able to pull her up to the bathroom. She'd never had this problem before in all her six years of being involved in the magical community and she didn't like it at all. Her head felt dizzy in worry – what was wrong with her? Valkyrie tried to shrug it aside, but it kept flicking at her mind, pulling and pirouetting around her thoughts.
Still uneasy, she walked up to the door, bent her right leg and threw it into the frame. It promptly gave way and she sneaked in. It seemed like a nice house, a little creepy in the dark, but it was filled with pictures of captivating art and family photos.
Pausing for a moment, she looked at one. There were five men sitting on a hill far above the landscape. Valkyrie could almost hear the trees bristling and wind blowing on her face. In some ways they looked completely different: one was clean shaven and the other had a navy blue beanie, but they all had their arms around each other, grins on their faces. Laughter was practically radiating out of the picture. Valkyrie looked at it, her expression sorrowful. She yearned to see her own her best friend. She missed his sarcasm, his laughter and his smooth voice that when she heard she knew everything was going to be okay.
She persisted down the corridor, her eyes combing around for any possible phone. At last, when she reached what looked like the kitchen she saw a small electronic device. A smile on her face, she picked it up and pressed the on button. The screen blinked on and the phone brand name flashed across the screen. Valkyrie's smile faded as a password came up but she quickly pressed all the buttons to reset it.
Around five minutes later, when it had reloaded she grabbed the phone and stole back outside again onto the street. She was thrilled to be finally able to get answers, but her gut was still insisted that something was not false. However she ignored it and dialled in Skulduggery's number. It rang five times before it was picked up.
"Hello?" came a smooth voice, "Who is this?"
All of Valkyrie's muscles relaxed. It was fine, Skulduggery was there.
"Skulduggery? Hi, it's me, Valkyrie? What happened? The last I remember was fighting those Brides of Blood Tears witches. Now suddenly I'm in a random city in Ireland that looks like it's been in a war zone?" The words came out quickly and in a jumble.
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Voices from Skulduggery's end could be heard drifting down the line. They were a blend of accents, but Valkyrie couldn't distinguish any particular voice owner.
"Skulduggery? Skulduggery? Are you still there?"
There was a few seconds before he replied.
"I'm here, Valkyrie," he said, his voice calm. "Where are you? Can you see any road signs or street signs?"
She backtracked in her mind to the end of the street she had walked up and saw the street name clearly inside her head.
"Wait, yes. It was called 'Fisher Street'."
More mutterings in the background.
"Skulduggery, who's there? Where are you?" She demanded.
"Is it a trick?" came a very faint English voice.
"Skulduggery? Skulduggery? Who's there?"
"Don't worry Valkyrie. I'll be on my way," he said, but there was an edge to his voice, one that made her tremble.
"Skulduggery? Skulduggery? I – "
But the line went dead on the other end and a soft buzzing noise replaced his voice in her ears. She began to shiver in dread. The one person she had been relying on, who she could always rely on was using the voice he usually reserved for criminals they were fighting.
Criminals they were fighting.
"Is it a trick?"
Her stomach wrenched and her limbs began to feel very hollow.
"No," she whispered.
Her knees buckled and she hit the ground with a thump. She wrapped her hands around her chest and started to shake uncontrollably as sobs wracked her body.
The jigsaw pieces had finally slotted into place and the picture it created was one of disgust, horror and shame. Valkyrie realised now that she had missed something very obvious, right from the beginning. An abnormality that should have stuck her instantaneously, from the moment she woke up completely alone.
Darquesse's voice was gone.
For the past few months, it had been becoming increasingly more distinct. At times it didn't contribute much, however she could always feel it throbbing in the back of her head, growing in presence.
NO NO NO NO NO
It was evident now, that her last memory – the temple of the Brides of Blood Tears was where she had relinquished control to Darquesse and from then to the spot she had woken up, Darquesse had been in complete control.
Valkyrie closed her eyes, brought her legs up to her body and rocked back and forward groaning as she thought of what Darquesse had done in her time as mission commander of Valkyrie's body. She thought back to the water pouring down her face as she had watched Cassandra's vision.
Her eyes opened wide in horror on what she had done to her family, then she threw her head up, her long hair flying backwards and a terrible noise stabbed the night. The screech echoed around the street filling it with the sound of stark revulsion.
A part of her brain informed her that she when Skulduggery and the other mages found her, she would probably be locked up for the rest of her life. She knew this, but the guilt was burning her up so furiously she didn't care. Anything that was coming to her, she deserved it.
Valkyrie was so disorientated by her own self-contempt, she missed the new shadow that hung over her.
"Are you just going to sit there crying all day, Valkyrie Cain?"
Valkyrie looked up, tears still cascading down from her now swollen eyes. A mesmerising woman stood, her blazing blue eyes gazing down at Valkyrie's pitiful form.
Valkyrie blinked, her mouth wide open.
"China?" she said, shocked.
"That's Grand Mage Sorrows to you," said China, a grimace on her face. "Although," she sighed, "I definitely think that title will be revoked after today."
Still completely stunned, Valkyrie said, "Grand Mage? Why? What's happening today?"
"I replaced Ravel of course. No one else was prepared for the responsibility of clearing up the mess that the international magical community was in. I, however was willing to accept the burden."
"But I still don't understand," said Valkyrie, confused. "What changes today?"
China laughed. "You of course, my dear Valkyrie."