Requiem: Chapter Seven...
I hope you guys are still enjoyibg the story. I'm on a roll so here's the next installment :) Don't forget to favourite or leave a review if you liked it :)
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"You guys are terrible at protecting me, you know," Valkyrie mused as the front door closed behind her friend.
"How so?"
"The number one rule we had was that you and I should avoid each other."
"And then we decided chance encounters wouldn't be such a bad thing."
"And this isn't a chance encounter. This is us actively allowing Tanith to leave us alone. Did we just do something stupid?"
"I doubt it." He cocked his head. "Unless I'm wrong about my theory and this is actually indeed very dangerous."
"Are you wrong often?"
"It's a rare occurrence but it's been known to happen."
"Great. That fills me with confidence."
"I can't be right all the time," he answered with a wry smile. "I have to keep it interesting somehow."
"Sure," she answered, shaking her head as his smile widened. She took in the green eyes again. "What made you use this face again?"
"I thought about what you said and decided you were right," he answered simply. "I haven't made the decision to choose it as my permanent facade, but I felt it might be nice to try it out for a while."
"That's fair," she nodded. Silence settled around them for a minute before she spoke again. "So what do we do now?"
"The case is at a dead end and there's no way I'm taking you outside at night with the Infected after you. Not to mention you're shot in the middle of a road in the vision. There aren't any roads indoors. You'll have to make do with my sparkling conversation."
"Goon," she muttered.
"I prefer the term hilarious."
"How about egotistical?"
"I suppose it's better than being called a goon." His eyes strayed to the pile of toys on the wooden floor.
"Do you have a family?" Valkyrie asked. "You seemed like a natural with Alice."
"I had a wife and a child." His expression grew sad. "They died."
"Do you mind if I ask what happened to them?" He considered her for a short while before nodding.
"They were killed in front of me." She stifled a gasp, feeling her eyebrows rise up towards her hairline. "It was how I was trapped and eventually killed. Serpine took them and when I went to find them he killed them in front of me. In a fit of rage I grabbed a dagger laced with poison. By the time I realised, it was too late. He tortured and murdered me and that was that."
"That's...that's rough. I'm sorry that happened to you."
"It is what it is. I can't change the past and I've had a long time to come to terms with it." Valkyrie hesitated before speaking again, and he noticed. "You have more questions. Ask them."
"What if they're not easy to answer?"
"Questions about my life are rarely easy to answer," he replied softly. "But I'll try my best."
"What was that about earlier? When Tanith mentioned the Sceptre being destroyed you seemed to lose your cool. Why was it a tough time for you?"
"I was dragged through a portal into a dimension filled with Faceless Ones."
"Oh. Wow. What was that like?"
"They tortured me for a year." His fists clenched again, but his voice remained steady. "They took my bones apart repeatedly and left me to put myself back together before they came back to do it again. By the end of it I was quite insane."
"How did you get back here?"
"A long time ago a bunch of Goblins stole my head from my spine while I was meditating. I managed to find a replacement that worked well enough."
"I'm sorry, did you say you lost your head?"
"I didn't lose it, it was stolen," he answered defensively.
"What does that have to do with you escaping the Faceless Ones?"
"If the Goblins hadn't stolen it I would've been trapped. Ghastly and Tanith tracked down my original skull and used it to find me in the dimension I was trapped in. He managed to get a Teleporter to open a portal so they rescue me. It took a while for me to believe they were more than just a hallucination, but eventually I went with them."
"I can see why Tanith said it was a tough time. Were you glad to get your head back at least?"
"Of course I was. Have you seen these cheek bones?"
"You really are a goon," she answered as he chuckled, seemingly back to normal. "I'm glad you managed to get over what happened to you. I think if I'd been through the same things I'd be a different person."
"I am a different person. But that was just one horror in a long list of them," he shrugged like it was no big deal. "You learn to live with the constant threat of impending doom after a while." His smile was playful again, the haunted look in his eyes gone for the moment.
"You know, sometimes I wonder what it would've been like for me if I'd decided to dive into the magical community when I first found out about it. Maybe my future would be different."
"You don't know that your future is a certainty," Skulduggery replied. "I'm doing everything I can to figure it out before it happens, I promise. I don't want to hurt you." He tilted his head again. "Against my better judgement, I'm starting to like you."
"Same here," she answered quietly. "But if we become friends it'll just make the whole thing harder." He gave her a strange look.
"Some things are inevitable. Others are not. I don't believe your death is certain, but something tells me I was always going to cross paths with you, Valkyrie Cain." The words were gentle in the quiet room, hanging in the air between them until he looked away, distracted by his phone ringing. "Sacrament?" He tapped the speaker button.
"Skulduggery, the vision has changed again. I thought you'd like to know."
"What changed?"
"Valkyrie is no longer kneeling in front of you. There's somebody else in your place." The edge in Sacrament's voice made Valkyrie's heart pound.
"Who is it?"
"I can't be sure but...it looks a lot like Lord Vile." Skulduggery clenched his fist so hard his knuckles cracked.
"Can you describe him?"
"He looks just like the paintings. Surrounded by blackness, face totally covered by a mask. He's tall, and the chest plate has a pattern on it. It looks like the Sigils used in Necromancy."
"Is the shadow still in the background?"
"Yeah. I couldn't make much else out, but whoever it is has yellow eyes."
"Is there anything else I should know?"
"Yeah. Valkyrie talks to Vile like she knows him and then the vision ends." Her stomach churned as Skulduggery thanked the Sensitive and ended the call.
"I thought Lord Vile was dead." Her words sounded strangled.
"He wants the armour," the detective said softly, his mind working overtime. "That's what he's searching for."
"The armour of Mevolent's toughest General is in Haggard? Why?"
"Because I put it there."
"Why would you do that?" He took in her confused expression with guarded eyes.
"The armour is dangerous enough on its own. With a wearer it becomes deadly. Lord Vile killed entire battlefields without a second thought. He didn't care who his enemy was as long as he had one." There was an edge to his voice that she didn't understand. "I sealed it in the caves because the creatures there feed on magic. It's in a warded box and the Caves are too dangerous for even an experienced sorcerer to go in alone." He frowns. "Requiem must be gathering the Infected to help him get through the Caves."
"If he wanted the armour all along why didn't the vision show that immediately?"
"I think he knows more than we do. If he knows what I think he does then we're in serious trouble."
"What do you think he knows?"
"I can't tell you."
"What? Why not?"
"Because I don't think it's something you're ready to hear. We need to get to the Caves."
"I can't leave Alice." He curses quietly.
"Alright. If people are still disappearing it means he hasn't made a move on the Caves yet. But at the very least he has to know where the armour is in order for the future to shift that way. When will your parents be back?"
"They said I could drop her off in the morning." She could feel her hands trembling. "Am I going to die?"
"I hope not." She smiled without humour, laughing bitterly.
"At least it isn't you that shoots me anymore." He gives her another strange look, but says nothing for a while.
"I need to see the vision myself," he says softly. "I have to be sure."
"I know a Sensitive that might be able to help us, but he isn't very good."
"Anything is better than nothing. Would he be able to get here tonight?"
"I can certainly ask." She pulled out her phone and dialled Andromeda's number. "Hi An."
"What are you calling me this late for?" She sounded sleepy.
"The vision is different. I need you to bring Jordy to my apartment right away."
"Is it bad?" she asked, snapping out of her drowsiness immediately.
"It could be. That's why we need to see it."
"I'll be there in twenty minutes." The line clicked off and Valkyrie sat back, feeling numb.
"What if this is something bigger than us? What if it's inevitable?" She could hear the panic in her words. Skulduggery turned to face her, surprising her by taking one of her hands in both of his.
"I will do everything I can to change this, Valkyrie. I promise."
"Thank you. Maybe you should bug out before you get killed though. It makes no sense for both of us to die." He laughed, but there was a bitterness to it.
"I think it's a bit late to leave you now." He let go of her hands and they sat there in silence, contemplating the implications of the return of the most powerful Necromancer Valkyrie had ever heard of. They were only startled out of their silence by a knock at the door. Skulduggery rose smoothly and tapped the defensive sigil glowing on the inside to deactivate it before stepping back to let them in.
"Val!" Andromeda rushed across the room and wrapped her arms around her friend, holding her tight. "You sounded so scared on the phone. I brought Jordy like you asked."
"Hey." The boy waved, curly brown hair falling into his eyes. "I'm ready when you are, though I can't promise much. You know how bad my Sight can be."
"Thank you," Skulduggery said. "The sooner the better in this case." Andromeda eyed him suspiciously but said nothing as Jordy held out his hand to Valkyrie and the detective.
"I can only show the vision to people I'm in physical contact with," he explained. Skulduggery nodded and took his hand at the same time as Val.
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Running. She was running again. But she was bruised and bleeding. There was a deep slash in her stomach and several more across her back. Her left arm was cradled close to her body, broken in several places. She ran on a swollen ankle and her lips were split. The stickyness on her cheek indicated she had a fresh head wound as she ran through the street. She could see clearer now. The mist was far enough away that she could make out the details of the road leading away from Gordon's estate.
She was knocked aside by the blackness, crying out as she jarred her broken arm against the tarmac. She rolled to her knees, bright spots dancing in front of her eyes. She swayed as nausea rolled over her like a wave, threatening to suck her away from consciousness. Shadows writhed around her as a figure stepped out of them to stand in front of her. He was clad in armour of the deepest black, his face obscured by a metal mask. The armor was carved with intricate symbols, and each interlocking piece was spiked and jagged looking, almost like scales as it extended up her attackers arms. Several metres behind, obscured by darkness, stood a tall man with shining yellow eyes. The fog and the gloom were too thick to make out his features.
Lord Vile towered over her, looking down at his catch. The figure in the background waved his hand and she flinched as a tendril of shadow forced her to look up at Vile, pushing at her chin. A second tendril crept to her throat, the blackness sharpening and solidifying in a second. Tears mixed with the blood on her cheeks. In a voice filled with pain and something else she couldn't place, she spoke to him.
"I forgive you." The figure in the background waved his hand again and the shadow recoiled, ready to stab her through the neck. As it zipped towards her throat the world around her faded to nothing.
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Valkyrie gagged as she was pulled roughly away from the vision, the image of the shadowy blade and the look on her face burned into her eyelids. What scared her was how clear it was. It must be close. How had it changed so drastically and so quickly? And where was Skulduggery in it?
"Val, are you alright?" Andromeda grabbed her hands, but she was looking at the detective. He stared back at her with wide eyes.
"Was it him? Was it Lord Vile?"
"I'm afraid it was," he answered softly. He seemed shaken. "We need to get to the Caves as soon as we can."
"That's the clearest vision I've ever had," Jordy said quietly. He was pale and his lips were trembling.
"And that is exactly why we need to hurry."
"Skulduggery, I can't leave Alice here."
"I know. You could stay here with your friends and I'll go."
"Whoa now, we aren't fighters. We can't protect anyone against the Infected if they come for her," Andromeda answered. "Did you not see me be the one to lead that girl to safety while Valkyrie took care of the fighting? And my brother has never thrown a punch in his life."
"She's right," Jordy piped up.
"Just leave us to babysit and get your butts back here alive before it's time to drop Alice home. She knows us so she won't be worried in the morning."
"I don't know if we'll manage to get back at all," the detective answered doubtfully.
"This situation calls for a last minute fight to save the world from the return of Lord Vile, all while keeping magic away from the mortals, and there's an imminent deadline to work to," Valkyrie said. "Isn't saving the world what you do?" She smiled, showing a confidence she didn't feel.
"I suppose it is." His faint smile was one of admiration. "I'll call Tanith and Ghastly. It won't hurt to have Fletcher with us on this one either."
"Fletcher?"
"He's a Teleporter." He pulled out his phone to call Tanith. "I'm sorry to interrupt but it's urgent. We need you and Ghastly to get Fletcher and get to Gordon's house as quickly as you can. Requiem is going after the armour." He didn't wait for a response, ending the call and turning to Valkyrie. "Do you have anything at all that you could wear to protect you better than a hoodie and a pair of jeans?"
"Not really. I have a leather jacket but that's about it."
"Get it. You're going to need all the help you can get." Valkyrie nodded and hurried to her bedroom, tugging off her hoodie and switching her vest for a long sleeved shirt before tugging the jacket over her shoulders. She switched her trainers for a pair of heavy boots before glancing at the black quarterstaff leaning by the window. She shrugged and grabbed it, splitting it into its two pieces and shoving it into the holders on the strap designed to fasten it to her back. She tugged on the strap, feeling the crossed leather settle against her shoulder blades as she left the room.
"Right, I'm ready. Let's go." Skulduggery nodded in approval and turned to the door. "There's food in the fridge for Alice if she wakes up before we get back. Put her DVD on and give her some toys and she'll be fine for a while. I'll come back as soon as I can." Andromeda squeezed her hands.
"Good luck. If anybody can change the future it's you."
"Be careful," Jordy added. She nodded and ran out after Skulduggery, climbing into the passenger side of the Bentley as he pulled away and sped towards the mansion.
"No matter what happens, you fight for your life tonight. The armour is dangerous even without Requiem getting his hands on it. If Lord Vile is brought out and you see an opening to leave, you run. No matter what. Do you understand?"
"I understand." She hesitated. "If it does go bad and I do die, I want to say thank you now. While I can."
"For what?"
"For killing the man that killed my uncle. For fixing the cradle. For looking out for me, everything. I appreciate it all."
"You've already thanked me for that," he answered gently.
"I want to thank you again. And I want to say that I've stopped wanting to hide in the mortal world. I haven't felt this way in my entire life. Quitting my job to protect my family from the Infected felt like the right thing to do. Meeting you felt right. If I live through this and the vision doesn't come true I want to become an Arbiter. Do you think you could help me?" He thought for a moment.
"I've been looking for a new partner for a while. If we survive this then the job is yours."
"Thank you."
"My pleasure." When they reached the turn off to the mansion he tapped his collar bones and let the facade flow away, revealing the gleaming skull. Valkyrie didn't mind the facade, but something about seeing him as himself made her relax.
"Why did you remove the facade?" she asked as he pulled to a stop outside her old home.
"It gets a bit stifling. I prefer to fight freely." His head dipped. "And I don't doubt that we'll be fighting tonight."
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