MUST READ: Okay, in chapter 6, I forgot that they were in a different dimension and Nyx would not have known the song Whip my Hair, so please just ignore the fact that these modern songs wouldn't have been around – let's pretend that they were. Thanks for all your kind reviews! Hope you enjoy! :D
"Okay guys, here's the plan. We sneak up to the castle, Nyx singing Fade by Rhianna to make us invisible, quietly sneak up to the throne room, grab the sceptre and go," said Skulduggery. Valkyrie frowned. It wasn't going to be that easy.
"What if we run into Caelan and the reflection?" she said.
"Nyx and I can distract them long enough so that you can slip into the throne room and snatch the sceptre and, well, once we've got that we're good. Zap and both of them are gone," he said.
"Hmm, what about Mevolent? Or Vengeous?" she said, "I can get past Caelan and the reflection, maybe Baron, but Mevolent? Probably not, not to mention Vile and it's not like I can charm him back to this dimension's Skulduggery."
"That's why we are going to SNEAK," he said then moved closer and whispered in her ear, "I didn't tell you, but I've got the armour just in case."
"What? No you don't. I think I would have noticed you carrying a giant briefcase around," she said in amusement.
He tilted his head at her and pulled back his shirt revealing his white ribcage. Inside was the case containing Lord Vile's armour. She shook her head at him.
"Well aren't you just a smart cookie," she said her mouth tilted up in a half smile.
"Yes I am. I'm just brilliant. The most brilliant of them all. Attractive, smart, funny . . . just amazing. Such a nice suit, such an amazing skeletal frame. Do you want me to give you my autograph?" he said.
"Oh bloody hell, what have I done?" she muttered.
"Just made my Earth size ego a Jupiter size ego," he said happily.
"Anyway," she said looking at Nyx now who was in a giggling fit at their conversation, "Are all good with this?"
"Yep! This is going to be GREAT! We are sooooo going to kick some butt," she said bouncing up and down. Valkyrie smiled at her excitement.
"Yes we are," she said. Personally, she actually WANTED to run into Caelan and the reflection. Man she just wanted to ping pong their flopping faces. Give them the backhand and kick Caelan up his tush.
"Let's go then," said Skulduggery.
They set off toward the castle on foot, not invisible yet. Valkyrie looked around at all the houses. Most of them were cottages made of stone and mud. It looked as though there had once been a beautiful houses here, but were now burned down to nothing but ash and charred remains. She shivered. These people, mortals most likely had had lives. Children who went to school, who played in the back yard, laughed and rode their bicycles.
They walked past an old shop with a closed sign leaning against the window. There was a pole just outside the shop and hanging off it was a sign for the shop. The shop was called Sarah's Ice cream. She wondered how long it had been since anyone in this town had had ice cream.
Suddenly everything went cold, as if Dementors from Harry Potter were coming. She rubbed her hands together for warmth.
"What is it? Are you cold," he asked. Nyx silenced him with a finger to her lips. Valkyrie turned around to see what Nyx was so flustered about.
Oh no, a Sense Warden. They stayed silent as it walked past and –
Crap! She was about to sneeze. She felt it tickling her nose, itching to be let out. Valkyrie couldn't take it any longer and let out a soft, but definitely noticeable sneeze.
Skulduggery flinched at the sound and she then knew that the Sense warden knew where they were.
She then felt pain in her head. The Sense Warden was crawling around in her mind, but it wasn't that that was making her head hurt, it was Darquesse. She called feel her tendrils of darkness reaching out and prying open the corners of her mind. She felt like her brain was being ripped apart. She screamed loudly and torturedly. She expected Skulduggery to come rushing to her side but he wasn't. She looked across at him and discovered that he was in some kind of mind lock himself. He wasn't screaming but she could tell from his skull shaking and shuddering, that he was in a lot of pain. Nyx was just staring at her in horror, but then her fighting skills kicked in.
She jumped onto the pole and started swinging.
What the hell is she doing? Then, Valkyrie understood when Nyx started singing.
I came in like a wrecking ball
Nyx's body transformed into – literally, a wrecking ball. She swung down and smashed the Sense Warden and it exploded on impact. Immediately the pain stopped, and she bent over, holding her stomach and threw up all over the road. Nyx turned back into a human and immediately rushed over to her, as did Skulduggery.
"Are you okay?" Nyx said holding her hand. Valkyrie shook it off.
"I'm fine," she said but gave Skulduggery a meaningful look, "I just wasn't expecting that."
Nyx looked at her for a while but didn't say anything. She knows it's something else, she thought, but she's not prying either.
Skulduggery helped her up onto her feet and whispered in her ear, "Are you really okay?"
"Darquesse," she whispered back. He hugged her close to his body and she savoured the moment in his embrace, her body pressed against his and a moment later it was over. He turned to face Nyx, who had been awkwardly trying not to stare at Skulduggery and Valkyrie's embrace.
"You did well," he said, "You must be really good at improvisation, to just come up with the right song in a flash."
She smiled, looking down.
"Thanks."
"I love compliments too. They make me feel warm and fuzzy," he said.
"You're a skeleton, how do you feel warm and fuzzy," Valkyrie.
"Oh shut up, way to ruin the moment Valkyrie. I imagine that I'm feeling warm and fuzzy."
"Oh . . . right. So silly of me not to know that," she said with a smile.
"Well, I think we should try and go the rest of the way invisible," Nyx said, "We don't want that to happen again."
"Yeah, but they are Sense Wardens. They don't need to see us, they sense us," said Valkyrie.
Nyx frowned, "That makes sense, but as soon as the castle is in sight, we go invisible."
"Deal."
They walked for a while then along the road and she realized then, that all the run down cottages were gone and there were now beautiful houses with green grass was neat and recently mown.
Skulduggery, who had been watching Valkyrie's curious face said, "This is where all the sorcerers live. Just goes to show the amount of equality and peace in this place, a big fat zero."
"How come you don't live here?" Valkyrie asked Nyx.
"I'm from the Resistance, I don't really want to live too close to my enemy," she said bitterly.
"Oh, right."
"And there's the castle, Skulduggery, hold my left hand and Valkyrie, hold my right."
They held hands and she looked at Nyx expectedly.
Things just ain't the same
And I'm ready for change
Go on, begone, bye bye, so long
Can't you see that you're
Fading, fading, fading, fading
Away, away, away, away
I opened up my eyes, and I finally realized
Today, today, it's too late
You're fading away
Nyx repeated the chorus of the song 'Fading' by Rhianna over and over as they walked quietly to the castle. She has a beautiful voice, Valkyrie thought, I wish I had a beautiful voice. Then she realised that it wasn't Nyx's voice. Whatever she sung, she sounded like the artist, in this case, Rhianna. She wondered what her actual voice sounded like. They were at the doors now, and Nyx was trying to sing as softly as possible. Skulduggery raised his hand over the door and it sprung open.
Now they were walking down the same corridor that she had been when she was captured by Baron Vengeous. They heard footsteps and they became deadly still. She saw who was coming and her blood went cold.
Caelan.
Skuluggery squeezed her hand with his free one. He was 10 metres away, 5, 3, 2. He was standing so close to her that she could reach out and touch him.
He smiled then and she knew he could smell her. He shot his hand forward and grabbed her shoulder, holding her in front of him. They all became visible, because Nyx had stopped her singing. She was glaring at Caelan, and if looks could kill, well, let's just say that they'd have one less problem to deal with. Skulduggery whipped out his gun and pointed it at Valkyrie, but then lowered it. He couldn't shoot Caelan without hurting Valkyrie.
"That's right, lower the gun Pleasant," he grinned smugly. He then pulled out a butcher knife from his pants and held it at Valkyrie's throat. She tried wriggling out of his grip, but it was as strong and sure as iron.
"A butcher knife? How the hell do you keep that in your pants?" she said trying to irritate him.
He pressed the knife against her skin and beads of blood erupted from her skin.
Skulduggery growled and Nyx ran at Caelan. Surprised, he let go of Valkyrie for just a second she escaped from his grasp and smacked her palm into his jaw and felt the bones break. He screamed and threw her with his vampire strength to the floor. Ow, she thought, I can't wait to see the bruises I get from this.
Meanwhile, Caelan took a swung at Nyx and she ducked swiping her legs at him, making him trip over. That was all Skulduggery needed because he came flying at Caean and pummelled him when he tried to get up. Caelan, however, was able to wriggle free and using his speed, swerved around Skulduggery, kicking at his spine. Valkyrie gasped when she heard bones break. Skulduggery did not get up. She ran at him using the air to propel herself faster and faster. She crashed into him and he was knocked off his feet. Valkyrie sat on him and smacked his face over and over. It was kind of like she was playing a game of ping pong . . . with his face. He had had enough and threw her into the wall. She kicked off from the world and ran at him again. This time though, he was prepared. He grabbed her arm and using her own momentum to betray her, twisted it behind her back while her body flung forward. Her arm popped from her shoulder and broke. Valkyrie screamed and sank to the ground right next to Skulduggery. She watched from the ground, Nyx trying to fight off Caelan by herself. She started singing but Caelan cut her off by punching her in the mouth. Nyx was cuffed and then Skulduggery and Valkyrie.
Valkyrie spat in his face when he bent down and he smiled. They were dragged to a cell in the dungeon where Valkyrie eventually gave into the pain and passed out and Skulduggery finally woke up. All three of them were huddled on the cold floor and Caelan had left to fetch his master, Mevolent. Skulduggery stroked Valkyrie's hair and wondered how the hell they were going to get out of this mess.
Oh no! Captured! Hope you enjoyed it!
P.S. Love you all!
P.P.S. Review minions!