Chapter 19

Oh my golden god. I am so sorry! I hate apologising for being late, especially because I feel like I'm ALWAYS doing it. But you deserve an apology. I don't even know how long it's been…

However, I actually have a semi-valid excuse. See, our school is a laptop school, and we do almost all our work and homework on out laptops. And say maybe there was a complete idiot*coughcough me coughcough* who lost their back-up hard drive… and their laptop hard drive melted… and it had ALL their schoolwork on it, and because they couldn't find their back-up hard drive they had to re-do everything from scratch.

So, I've been frantically trying to re-do all my school work and homework, and that has left about no time for writing or even reading fanfics :( Sorry :(

Oh, and thanks so, so, much to those people who reviewed and favourite and followed even though I hadn't updated :) You guys are the reason I write, and without your prods and reviews and reminders and begging, it would probably be another month before this came out :) So this chapter is dedicated to you :)

Btw, this story is starting to draw to the climax and the end…

They crouched on the edge. Kitty's heart was beating so hard she was sure it was about to burst out of her chest. The creature that had raised her was down there. The creature that had saved her life. Now they had to fight it? It just didn't feel right.

Crouching on the edge again? Déjà vu, thought a mind that wasn't hers. Kitty still wasn't sure how she felt about Leaf, but if he was still talking to her she wasn't going to blank him.

I guess. Sorry for throwing that vase at you by the way.

Oh no, it's fine. I'm used to having mad girls throw stuff at me.

I'm not mad!

I was talking about Valkyrie, he joked.

Kitty inwardly smiled and the paralyzing knot in her stomach began to unravel ever-so-slightly.

Valkyrie's face was pale as she held on to the ground tightly. Every muscle in her body was tense. Next to her, Skulduggery didn't really have any muscles to tense, but he was perfectly still.

Leaf tilted his head suddenly like he was listening. A moment later she heard his voice again.

Skulduggery wants to float him, Val and me down while you stay on watch up here. It's not that he thinks you can't fight, Leaf added hastily, seeing the look on her face, but he wants me to help him anticipate White's moves and he needs someone on watch. And I think he also doesn't want his daughter to get killed.

Kitty wanted to protest, but she couldn't really find fault in Skulduggery's reasoning. She didn't want to slow the group down with moaning- she hated moaning. So she just nodded and prayed that they'd come back alive.

Skulduggery held onto Leaf with one skeletal arm and circled the other around Valkyrie. The two girl's eyes met as the trio sunk over the edge of the cliff, until the earth got in the way and all Kitty could see was the top of Skulduggery's disappearing fedora.

XxXxX

Valkyrie clung silently onto Skulduggery as he descended. Her eyes were fixed on Kitty. The foreboding in those bright blue circles unsettled her, but they couldn't turn back now.

Her eyes adjusted as the air carried them into the darkness of the cavern. They landed softly by the wall. Valkyrie slipped silently into a gap in the rock, and Skulduggery helped Leaf in after her.

Valkyrie frowned. "Should we leave Leaf here?" she mouthed. Skulduggery gazed at Leaf for a moment and nodded.

You can speak through my mind, Leaf thought.

Okay, Valkyrie thought hesitantly. Speaking through some else's mind felt strange.

Whatever happens, Skulduggery said to Leaf, don't come out unless we tell you to. Clear?

If you one of you is in danger, I'm not- Leaf started to protest. Skulduggery cut in.

Going to do something stupid? Excellent, that's that sorted then.

Valkyrie peeked around the edge of the rock and nodded at Skulduggery.

He slipped out in front of her silently, seeming to almost glide along the ground even though he was crouching. She followed him, trying her best to be just as silent.

They were almost at the door to the house when it blew off its hinges and slammed both of them into the cold hard ground.

XxXxX

The chilly night air wrapped around Kitty and she shivered, hugging her arms. The silence was creeping under her skin, giving her goosebumps. It was like the world was holding its breath. Kitty was about to burst when there was a huge crash and a yell that bounced off the stone walls. It took all her self-control not to throw herself down there.

Kitty decided that she'd liked it better when there was silence.

XxXxX

The hunk of metal was pinning Valkyrie to the ground. She struggled, but she couldn't even twist her hands to push at the air.

She could see Skulduggery holding up his hand to push at the air, obviously keeping something at bay. He was carefully manoeuvring so that he was between her and the house. He took another step, and the metal blocked her limited view.

Valkyrie? Leaf asked, sounding worried. Are you okay?

Valkyrie grunted, struggling to breathe under the weight. She could hear loud crashes. I'm trapped underneath the front door, but other than that, everything's just perfect.

She could feel his worry increase. What about Skulduggery?

He's holding off-

Something crashed into the front door above her chest and the air rushed out of her lungs. The door tilted on an angle and she pulled herself out, gasping for breath.

White had his back to her, facing Skulduggery. They seemed to be having a battle of the air currents. Skulduggery was doing his best to keep flying objects away from him and throw fireballs while White chucked parts of the house at him.

Valkyrie crept up behind, hoping against hope that the noise of the battle would stop White from hearing her. She picked up a sharp piece of glass and held it like a knife. She ducked, a piece of corrugated iron- probably the roof- flying over her head. Another chunk of metal flew at her, but Skulduggery discreetly waved his hand and it changed direction.

She pulled herself over something that had probably once been a wall and crouched as low as she could. There were only a few metres between her and White, but he would see her before she could hurt him.

Her eyes met Skulduggery's sockets over White's shoulder, and she realised that they didn't need Leaf to help them understand what the other one was thinking. They never had. They understood perfectly.

Skulduggery's right hand twitched and a small tornado of debris rose off the ground, obscuring White's view.

Valkyrie saw her chance while he was distracted and jumped forward, slashing wildly with her piece of glass, opening gashes on the back of his legs.

White roared and waved a hand. The blizzard of shrapnel buried Skulduggery with a crunching of metal as White turned and grabbed Valkyrie's arm. She tried to kick out but he hit her across the cheek, so hard that her vision swum and she slumped.

He hoisted her up so that she was dangling in the air. Her thoughts were confused, blurring in her head. The world was spinning, White's face warping as spikes of pain shot through her head. What was going on?

"You're irritating," he rasped softly, less than twenty centimetres away. "I don't like that."

Cold fear flooded through her and she tried to raise her hands to defend herself, but it was too late.

An explosion of pain hit from her left side, a hot fire that scorched her ribs and made it impossible to breathe. She fell to the floor, dimly aware of Skulduggery screaming her name, but it was far away. White stood above her, a shard of glass in his hands dripping with blood. Her blood.

And then she heard the voice.

Let me out.

Her head was fuzzy with pain, and her sight was covered in spots. She gasped a rattling breath, and found herself coughing up blood. Some small part of her brain that was still functioning registered that she must have a punctured lung.

Let me out.

Darquesse pushed at the boundaries of her mind, trying to break free.

No, Valkyrie thought and pushed back as hard as she could, trying to ignore the burning pain that threated to consume her.

XxXxX

"Valkyrie! Valkyrie!" Skulduggery's voice split the night, roaring out in terror. "Valkyrie!"

Kitty scrambled to the edge and tried to look down. She could see Skulduggery, trapped underneath a pile of rubble, reaching out towards a spasming lump at White's feet. Even from here, Kitty could see that her best friend's distinctive black jacket was covered in blood.

Her heart leapt. She had to get down there, had to try to help in some way.

A little voice in her head protested. You'll die!

Kitty took a deep breath. She could hear Leaf's voice, from years ago at a soccer match, when she gotten in trouble for helping the other team because he was in it. You're too loyal to your friends, that's your problem, he had teased.

The drop here was too large to slow herself with air currents. Kitty would have to fly.

This is insane, she thought. She had been doing magic for less than a week, and she had only been in the air three times- always with someone else carrying her. Who she to think she could just step off the edge and fly?

I am Skulduggery's daughter, Kitty thought. She remembered Leaf's laughing eyes and kind smile, and held the image in her mind as she took a few steps away from the gaping drop.

Kitty ran forward and leapt.

A/N Dun-dun-dun… Next chapter coming within the week, I promise :) Maybe even today :)

Please review! I really want to know what you thought. Last chance to guess Kitty's taken name- it will be revealed next chapter :)

Anyone else read the Tanith book? It's really interesting, and I want to talk to someone who's read it :) And I think the name for Book 8 is epic! In case anyone didn't know, it's Skulduggery Pleasant: Last Stand of Dead Men.

Epic. Just epic.

I can't wait for LSODM, and could probably ramble on for ages, but I need to get back to work :(

-Saph