A/N: I don't own Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Lord Vile, Darquesse, Ghastly, Anton, the Death Bringer, Erskine, Saracen or the Dead Men. Victoria, Thaddeus, and Baron Von Lichgate are all my OCs though. "Rock You Like A Hurricane" is a song by Scorpions.

Somehow the Dead Men were all staying the night. Just because I had shaken my hand in annoyance. A tiny gesture really, but one Skulduggery had caught and stared hard at me for. "Your ring's bothering you." He said, then had stalked outside, gun drawn.

I had hissed in pain, no longer able to hide my reaction to the icy old sensation and Ghastly had stared at me, concerned. "This shouldn't be happening, but my ring is reacting. I chose- I shouldn't- Necromancers!" I managed, then the rest of the Dead Men were on high alert.

My heart raced and I wanted to join them but the pain was worse than anything I'd ever felt, bringing me to my knees. I waved the men off, they had Necromancers to handle. The likes of which we had never faced before. Even the Death Bringer and Lord Vile didn't make the ring hurt me this badly. I had no choice. I let go, letting my darkness flow over me and stood as Darquesse.

I shadow-walked out of the house with a sigh. Of course my powers had stayed. How couldn't they when I knew my true name? I let me senses expand, but knew our attacker or attackers were already fleeing, leaving behind a taint of the grave I disliked intently. They hadn't expected Darquesse to make an appearance. One had dropped a pendant and I picked it up with distaste, the horror slowly spread across my features. Necromancy, using shadows and to a certain extend the dead or the power fed through the Necromancer through death was one thing. Trapping the dead inside a pendant was another.

I pocketed it, my gut instincts telling me that there would be more harm than good in freeing the trapped soul. I didn't like this one bit. But as the threat was over I let my darkness retreat in time to hear the Dead Men approaching out of the night.

I glared at Skulduggery walking him away from the others. "Just where did you break into and don't lie and say it was a library. Necromancers, Skulduggery? No wonder they could kill you." He looked wounded and I sighed and went to him, holding him close.

"I'm sorry I yelled, all right? I knew you'd gotten into trouble, but honestly-" I sighed again. "We'll talk about this later, OK?" I said and he nodded. The Dead Men were looking at us curiously, but this wasn't anything I wanted them to know. So far only I and Ghastly knew and if I had to lie to protect my father, so be it.

We went back inside and everyone settled in for the night once more. Ghastly and I were on couches across from one another and I read his worried glance. I nodded. He knew as well as I did this had to do with the break in and we both highly doubted at that point that the book was on adoption. Why? I wondered as I fell asleep. Why lie to us, Skulduggery?

The next morning the cat was out of the bag, so the Sanctuary detectives could be redirected to track the Necromancers. I watched through the window as they searched for evidence, a bit annoyed that I had missed breakfast, but then so had Ghastly. Erskine had just smiled at us and told us to fend for ourselves. I felt Ghastly's hand on my shoulder. "Come on, I'll take you out to breakfast. We need to go to see Gordon and then check in at the Sanctuary to do some research as well. Lucky us." He grumbled good-naturedly, but he was smiling all the same, and he was grinning after he leaned in to kiss me briefly.

In the van he seemed a lot more relaxed. I wondered as I settled into my seat if he had meant anything when he mentioned getting married and shrugged it off mentally. I was in love with him and he knew that. But I didn't want to move too fast into something we'd both regret later either.

He looked over at me. What are you thinking about?"

"New ways to kill Skulduggery. Trust him to find a group of Necromancers and tick them off. I thought the Sanctuary got rid of them all."

Ghastly looked at me pointedly and I sighed. "All of them except me and Skulduggery, and I swear, Ghastly, I did choose and the ring did go inactive, my shadows were gone. But well, being Darquesse seems to break all the rules for me, doesn't it? Though I wonder if somehow my powers weren't reactivated when they closed in."

"You do seem to be having closer contact with the dead, Valkyrie. Perhaps this is something new for you and your shadows came back naturally. Of course we caught a break last night. Those men fled Darquesse, not the Dead Men. Personally, I'm insulted." He teased.

"You should be. I didn't even intend to do any harm, I wanted men to question at the Sanctuary. I am learning to control myself more as time goes on. Now had Lord Vile shown up, they wouldn't have had time to run." I smiled at the idea.

"Could he?" Ghastly asked and I shook my head.

"Skulduggery regrets everything he ever did as Lord Vile. He doesn't even know where the armour is, and he'd refuse to put it on again, even as a last resort. You can see how fond he is of me keeping the ring."

Ghastly pulled up to a small café. "He worries about you, Valkyrie. Your becoming his daughter only made that connection and need to protect you that much stronger. Speaking of which, and this isn't my place, but he's waiting on you to call him something other than Skulduggery." Ghastly said, and I buried my face in my hands with a groan. Now I knew why he did it.

"I didn't even think of that, oh God. He must think I hate him. No wonder he got quiet for the rest of the night and wouldn't look at me. I'm just so used to calling him by his name, Ghastly."

"And maybe you aren't ready to call him dad yet?" Ghastly asked gently.

"Exactly, it just feels, well, weird."

"He'll wait. Or not." He said as my mobile started to ring. I got it out. Skulduggery.

"I'm fine, dad. We didn't wreck and there aren't men in hooded robes lurking about." I said when I answered and heard Skulduggery make a pleased sound on his end.

"I just wanted to compare notes. A quick question, Valkyrie. Did my dead senses fail me or were those Necromancers dead themselves?"

"You got that too? Oh goody. Well, we should be safe in daylight then. I got a slight vision of one of them and they aren't fit to walk in daylight unless they have protective spells. But they weren't zombies, even if they looked like it. I'll do some research." I said not wanting to say what I thought they were.

"Spit it out, what were they?" Skulduggery pressed, knowing me all too well.

"Liches. So we're safe in the daylight, I think, but only because they prefer darkness. Oh, God, I picked up the pendant for one of them last night, his phylactery, I didn't even think. Lovely, he's going to adore me. Uh, look breakfast awaits and if a really annoyed lich does manage to show up I just have to destroy it, then him."

We ran off, Skulduggery muttering something about having a fool for a daughter I chose to ignore. I smiled at Ghastly and he shook his head. "Liches aren't real, Valkyrie. You've read too many fantasy novels."

"Said the man who knows a living skeleton who stores his soul in his own bones."

"Point taken. Wait and I'll get your door for you, all right?" I nodded wondering how badly a woman had treated him at one point. Ghastly feared rejection from me even when he knew better, but then he must have trusted her too.

He helped me down and gave me a chaste kiss as best he could with his collar turned up. We sat outside under the awning, and he coaxed me into ordering more than coffee. I handed him the pendant and he cringed. It looked close to the one I wore, but you could see the soul bound inside, flitting about like a Remnant.

"Why?" He asked, handing it back.

"Same reason they do it in fantasy novels. They're almost immortal. They never eat or sleep, have zero bodily functions and little interest in procreation that we know of, though one will break the mold sometime, I'm sure. They are Necromancers, but unbelievably powerful ones. Even just one could have given us a fair match. Several? We'd need both Vile and Darquesse, and they are almost impossible to kill."

We talked as we ate and I explained that the only reason we had the phylactery, or soul house that the lich used for his soul was an accident. The chain had broken and he must not have noticed it in his retreat. But why retreat when you are almost impossible to kill and what was he after?

It turned out that when we visited Gordon he had further unpleasant news. "You're wearing the pendant of a former lich right now, Valkyrie. When they are destroyed the pendant sometimes reforms as an imbued object. If you weren't a Necromancer yourself you couldn't wear it. Sorry I didn't tell you, but somehow telling you a shambling, foul-tempered corpse was the former owner didn't seem right."

"But you have to destroy the pendant then kill them, correct?" Ghastly asked and Gordon shook his head.

"In rare cases it is the worst thing to do. While it is true the phylactery, here a necklace, contains the soul of the lich and destroying it weakens him to the point where he can be killed, if he should shadow-walk out of harm's way he could always collect the soul with a back-up receptacle, or of course kill the person who broke the container then collect his soul. Valkyrie, you did the right thing, I think this was bait, since according to what passes as law among them the lich could have claimed you as his, well-"

I frowned. "As his what?"

"As his bride. I didn't think you'd like that, but on the good side, you only had one attacker last night, they are highly territorial. He was there for you, Valkyrie, he left the pendant as bait. Here's a book you can use to learn more about them, and well, that's all I can tell you for now." I thanked uncle Gordon and we left for the Sanctuary. I didn't tell Ghastly that I'd felt the vision being given to me. The lich wanted Darquesse as his bride. So much for my theory that they couldn't procreate.

At the Sanctuary the news got only worse. The lich had indeed captured my family, and had revealed himself to the Sanctuary as the abductor. Tipstaff was nervous and I didn't blame him as the lich, who called himself Baron Von Lichgate had hinted that he was building up an army of unwilling spirits which he would unleash if I didn't comply.

I shook my head. "He's lying, Necromancers always lie. If I did go to him, even as a trick he'd manage to keep me and the souls. Wait, what am I saying? He's being romantic in a sick, twisted way, isn't he?" I asked, tilting my head at the present Baron Von Lichgate had sent to the Sanctuary for me.

A choker, made out of the hand bones of some poor soul, it was almost elegant in its design. There had been a love letter of sorts included in which Lichgate had extolled my virtues as a Necromancer and promised I would rule the world at his side.

I'd laughed but poor Ghastly had gone ash white. We retreated to his office, leaving people to check the untouched items for trace evidence. "Ghastly." I said gently. "I was joking, I have no desire to marry a lunatic who wants to end the world. Liches aren't exactly know for being trustworthy, they are Necromancers after all." I said, and he smiled faintly.

"I know, I just didn't like the part where he talked about what a skilled lover he would be. This is a fine time to admit it, Valkyrie, but I've only had one encounter and that was so terrible I never wanted it to happen again."

I went to him, wrapping my arms around him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He nodded. "I was very young, too young to recognize I wasn't loved. I'd courted her for months, thought she was serious, but- But she just wanted to see if the rest of me was as freakish as my face and to bed me. After that I shut out the world, wouldn't you?"

I held him tight, then kissed him softly. "I would. I'm so sorry that happened to you, Ghastly, but I'm not her, all right? I love and adore you. I respect you as a man and the first person to call you anything else I'm hitting, I swear to God." I ended with a growl and he smiled.

"I know you would, that's why I'm serious about you Valkyrie, I trust you. It's just that for a moment, well, I thought Lichgate might appeal to you. It is romantic, isn't it? He's massing an undead army, proposing marriage. Great, now I'm speaking in the man's favour."

I laughed. "I assure you the only thing a lich is ever after is power. He would never be content to share. He's kill me at some point to try and harness my Darquesse powers. The problem is, he's more than a match for Darquesse. Dad isn't going to like this, but I think we are going to need Lord Vile's help."

I was right, Skulduggery went through the roof at my suggestion. "Absolutely not, Valkyrie! We'll find another way. Vile would be just as likely to kill you as save you."

"Vile isn't a machine, dad. He can think, he can plan his attacks. What would he do, being darn near close to being a lich himself if he found his territory invaded and his family captured?"

"He'd go after the lich, of course." Skulduggery admitted. "But the armour is lost, Valkyrie. Truly gone."

"Not for Darquesse, and she needs Vile beside her. Think of it as a father and daughter bonding experience." I said and he laughed.

We debated on including the Dead Men and decided we needed them, and Skulduggery told us the truth at last. "I needed to find a way to bring my family back, not just as ghosts, but as flesh and blood. There is supposed to be a way, but it was lost when the Necromancers temples were destroyed or so we thought, but the book that contained the knowledge, and the knowledge on anything else you might like to know survived."

"When I was at the temple as Vile I saw the book but could never gain access to it. It is called the Book of How, a rather rubbish title but it tells you how to do everything you could ever desire to, so long as you ask the right questions. Obviously Baron Von Lichgate did not take it well when he caught me trying to steal it. You'd think two magical corpses could bond, but no, so full of hate, that man." He gave us the ghost of a smile.

Anton spoke first. "So this lich not only has your family, but he wants Darquesse as well, obviously to fuel some sort of spell the book will give him?"

Skulduggery stuffed his hands into his pockets and nodded. "That would be my guess. That he left a way to claim her, then sent her a cursed gift that would steal her lifeforce belies his overly romantic words, but then, Necromancers aren't to be trusted. Present company excluded, of course."

Anton nodded. "Well I for one am not just handing over my sister to a maniac. How do we get a hold of Vile's armour?"

I winced. "That's the bad part. It is lost because it is hidden in the, you'll love the name, Caves of Death. Few people who go in return, yadda, yadda, yadda. It is a lot like the caves below the mansion, only the creatures there can be killed by magic and the caves are always in a icy mountain somewhere. They move like your hotel, Anton."

"I know how to find them." The soft voice spoke and I turned in disbelief, not trusting my eyes. But my family, Victoria Discord and Thaddeus had returned, and with my pendant everyone saw and heard them. Victoria marched up to Skulduggery and somehow managed to smack him in the skull and he yelped.

"A Necromancer, Skulduggery? Really? You stole from a Necromancer?" She growled. I decided then and there I liked her even more. She turned to me. "We've been released as a gesture of goodwill. He wants you to see he is serious. Luckily he isn't as sure as himself as he thinks he is. He is stealing souls of the dead to fight for him, creating an army of corpses, but the magic keeps failing for some reason. He's in the middle of experiments, it should give us enough time to find the armour."

We then discussed who we wanted to go. Skulduggery and I wanted just ourselves, but the Dead Men refused to be left behind. "You're not going into any cave alone and if you try it you're both as good as fired." Erskine growled.

I looked at all the men. "You do realize that the only way to transport the armour out is to have Lord Vile inside it at the time? " The all nodded, looking resolute. I sighed and had them gather in a tight circle.

Victoria had been able to give me a vision of the location of the caves so I let my darkness flow over me, then massed my shadows and we were gone, reappearing in the cave entrance. I walked to the edge and looked down, there was no way off the mountain without shadow-walking.

I turned to see the men shivering and felt compassion for them. I touched my own pendant and let warmth flood through my body, then willed the sensation out to them. Even Victoria and Tadpole, who had insisted on coming looked warmer and Skulduggery murmured his thanks. The men looked at me gratefully and we gathered around Skulduggery, several of us holding flames as night was falling rapidly and even the entrance was being cloaked in gloom.

"Right then. Thanks to having a partner who watches nothing but horror movies I insist we stay together at all times. No splitting up, no going off to explore as doubtless this cave is littered with traps and lures. All right?" We all nodded and he turned to me. "Can you sense it?" He asked kindly.

"Yes, and I swear we just dropped into a fantasy game. The armour itself is in the heart of the mountain across a chasm that had a razor thin bridge of rock. To get there will be hit and miss, the cave seems to be highly magical and I won't be able to shadow-walk us there though I can still call on my shadows."

We hadn't been walking long when I noticed that the ice caverns seemed to be alive. Or something in them did. I gasped and drew away from a wall as something undulated in and out and Skulduggery laughed at me. "Aww, is we afraid of a widdle ice worm?" He asked, then began to laugh harder. An ice worm came out of the wall right behind him, coiling around him, the end filled with razor sharp teeth going for his head and the stinger end seeking an area to strike.

Victoria snapped her palms out and a wave of intense heat hit the creature which squealed, then she set it on fire with a glance. I made a mental note never to anger her, but then we were surrounded and the Dead Men were locked in battle with the loathsome creatures.

I was running to defend Thaddeus who opened his jaws and breathed flame on a worm, sending it shrieking. There were grunts and curses, and although nobody had been bitten or stung the icy cold of the worms was weakening all of the men.

I thought of something so stupid it might work, and whipped out my music player even as I flung a fireball at an ice worm that had Saracen cornered. I popped in a speaker and turned it on, then hurled it down the length of the tunnel. As "Rock You Like A Hurricane" started to blast the worms all turned and crawled towards the player.

It was easy then for us to pick them off with flame and heat. I picked up the player and turned it off, shrugging at the men. "Worms are sensitive to vibration, I thought it couldn't hurt to try. Did any of you get stung or bit?"

Skulduggery and I checked everyone, but found no damage. The bite or sting of an ice worm caused lethargy to set in and the victim would then succumb to hyperthermia. After death they'd be eaten, not a fate even Darquesse would wish on people. Not anymore. Somehow I was learning compassion and as the men were tired we only walk far enough to find a stone cave where we settled in. These men were tired and hungry and although I had no idea how long we would be there I wasn't about to let them suffer.

I opened my jacket and reached into the warren of pockets Skulduggery had insisted Ghastly sew into my jacket. Magical, they let me carry as much as I wanted without feeling the weight or having unsightly bulges, and for once I was thankful for Skulduggery's vanity. Even if he did call my jacket ugly.

I handed out packets of food, the type you take camping, and although the men looked surprised they were grateful. I kept a packet for myself and looked thoughtfully at my reserve one, then at Victoria and Thaddeus. My family. I concentrated and the package became as ethereal as they were.

Victoria smiled as I sat beside her and gave her the package. "Thank you, we haven't eaten in a while, not since returning. Skulduggery said you always carry supplies on you." She said smiling.

I snorted. "What he most likely said was something like he told me. "I'm glad you carry so many supplies in the jacket, Valkyrie. My very own pack mule." Isn't that right, dad?" I asked as he settled in beside us and I swore he blushed.

Skulduggery tried to redeem himself. "I'm sure you misunderstood me, Valkyrie. I'm almost sure you did." I just smiled and tilted his hat down over his eyes. He grumbled happily and adjusted it to look at me fondly.

I'd let my shadows and darkness retreat so I could rest as we ate, and I used the downtime to consider the Dead Men. Not a single one had a problem with Lord Vile or helping him find his armour. He had after all made a brief appearance in the Sanctuary war, turning the tide in our favour.

I knew they were a large part of why I could control myself. They didn't cringe away from me when I was Darquesse. They remained my loyal brothers, willing to fight alongside of me. That has touched me. Skulduggery might have been willing to watch over a caged Darquesse for all time to protect the innocent, but these men accepted that she, well I, could be in enough control to not need a cage.

Anton caught my eye, a silent question on his face and I looked at Skulduggery who nodded. The men needed sleep and as I sensed we were relatively safe, it was as good a place as any. Ghastly took first watch with me, smiling as we settled ourselves between the entrance to the small cave and the main cavern beyond.

We looked out, and it was a truly wondrous sight. This part of the cavern was as bright as day, the ice glowing in beautiful blue and white colours. It seemed so beautiful, so peaceful that it was hard to believe more dangers were ahead. "Now it makes sense why you wanted your old jacket, you keep supplies in there. I can install some in the new coat if you like." He offered, looping a protective arm around me.

"I'd like that." I admitted. "Ghastly, are you going to be all right when Lord Vile shows up?" I asked gently and he nodded.

"Valkyrie, one thing I've figured out is that in a war everyone thinks their side is right. That's why their willing to die and go to war in the first place. Skulduggery thought that becoming Vile would help him deal with loosing your family. That he ended up on the wrong side was more a result of our side refusing to have anything to do with Necromancers than anything else."

I nodded and snuggled in deeper. "But you like me well enough?" I asked.

"I love you, Valkyrie, and you're not like other Necromancers. You had a few rough patches, but even as Darquesse you aren't like them. You don't like suffering, you're more curios than anything, I think."

"Like Kenspeckle was in building his bomb." I said with a sigh.

"Yes, that's true. But I don't think you ever really realized that after your destruction people wouldn't just get up and walk away like you could, not really."

I nodded again then sat up straighter to look into the cavern more closely. It truly was beautiful. Spires of wickedly sharp ice, sheer cliffs and chasms and luckily a band of ice and snow several feet wide we could use to skirt the dangers.

There was something about the shape of the ice that unsettled me, you could almost pick out one massive shape underneath it all, as if a giant beast made of ice and snow lay sleeping in the cavern. I looked closer. There was a shape. There seemed to be a massive head that led to a long snowy white neck. Then a giant white body and long tail.

This was no illusion, no trick of the light or my imagination. As I watched I could see that ever so slowly the beast breathed, streams of frost escaping the massive jaws. I turned to Ghastly and mouthed a single word. "Dragon."

He shook his head, but then the dragon shifted, ice-covered wings flapped as if the beast was having a nightmare and a low growl reverberated through the cavern causing small chunks of ice to fall and strike the creature.

The dragon grunted and lashed its tail, causing a stalactite of ice to break from the roof and fall, hitting the dragon in the rear leg. Although the ice didn't penetrate, the dragon awoke with a roar, that caused more ice to rain down and I felt Ghastly dragging me back into the cave and it stood, roaring furiously as more and more ice hit it.

The dragon turned towards us, his eyes baleful as he breathed frost, then blasted freezing breath in a rage, clearly blaming us for the disturbance, and it was only a shield of air that Ghastly brought up that protected us. The dragon roared its fury at being thwarted and soon the massive head was swinging down towards the entrance of the cave and I realized belatedly we were trapped.

Well there you have it! Looks like finding Vile's armour is the least of their worries.