So here is the next instalment-sorry I haven't updated in a few days. The next update will come soon. In the meantime please read and review, I would really appreciate the feedback!
Chapter 6
Valkyrie's eyelids fluttered, and she groaned. Every part of her was sore. Her nose felt swollen and achy, and she could feel blood still trickling down her cheek. As she tried to sit up, her head banged against a hard surface. Her eyes strained into the gloom and she realised she was in a car boot. She strained to move her arms, but her wrists were shackled behind her back. Her claustrophobia kicked in, and she fought against the panic rising inside her. That wouldn't help.
Valkyrie tried to reach for her magic, but although she could feel it in her mind, she was unable to use it. The shackles were bound and she was powerless. She tried to calm herself, taking deep breaths and thinking positive thoughts. Skulduggery will come after me, she told herself. Or I will get myself out of this mess. With this in mind, she tried to relax her battered body, and she soon drifted back into unconsciousness.
When Valkyrie at last woke up, she found herself tied to a chair in a large bare room, thin shackles securing her ankles to the cold stone floor. Again, the shackles were bound, and Valkyrie hated it. Not being able to use her magic was irritating, like having an itch you couldn't scratch.
She leaned back in her chair and waited, knowing there was nothing she could do.
She didn't have to wait long. A short man with green eyes walked in, followed by none other than Tanith Low. They both sat down in chairs in front of her. Valkyrie glared.
"I thought you were on our side. You don't have to do this, Tanith. Come back to us. We can help get the remnant out of you." Even as she said this she knew it was a lost cause, but Tanith had fought in the war with them, and Valkyrie would have been lying if she said she hadn't got used to having her old friend around again.
"The only side I'm on is my own, you know that," Tanith replied with an impish grin. "And I'd prefer to keep how I am if you don't mind. I prefer life now it isn't just centred around you and Skulduggery.
Valkyrie turned away, holding back the grief, crafting it into a hard ball of anger and resilience in her mind. Tears had no place in her predicament, but anger was a feeling she could use. She glared at Tanith.
The man with the green eyes spoke up, interrupting Valkyrie's death stare. His harsh voice grated and as he spoke, shivers ran up Valkyrie's spine. She didn't recognise him, and above everything, this worried her.
"Miss Cain, we have a problem," he explained. "A rather unique problem. You see, even as we speak you and Darquesse are fighting a battle in your mind. The winner will take control, the loser will be suppressed. And unbelievably, it seems you are winning. Darquesse is losing more and more ground.
Seeing Valkyrie's nervous head shake denying what he had just said bought a smile to his pale lips.
"Now, now, Miss Cain, don't insult my intelligence. We both know what I've just said is true." His voice hardened. "And I can't allow it to happen."
"You see, I think you have more control over this situation than you think. The remnants tried to force you to become Darquesse, but that didn't go quite how they wanted. And I think they were going about it the wrong way. I think you'll change back without my help."
"I will never become the monster who kills the world."
Tanith sniggered, and the man with the green eyes tilted his head in an amused way. An image of Skulduggery doing the same thing flitted across Valkyrie's mind.
"When I say, without my help, I really meant, with a bit of persuasion. If we push you far enough, Darquesse will emerge."
Valkyrie paled. She wasn't sure, but what the man with the green eyes was proposing sounded reasonable. He noticed her fear and smiled.
"Well, should we begin?"
Tanith grinned an evil grin as the man with the green eyes twisted his fingers and Valkyrie started to scream.