Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Chapter 17

When the Dead Men got their next call that could go in the 'Save the World' category, it was just past July of the next year, just as Nadia and Valkyrie were an official couple that people knew and believed were really dating each other, from Grand Mage Meritorious. They were all asked to come in immediately.

The Waxwork Museum the Sanctuary was hidden beneath was empty on the top but as soon as Crow pressed the little button to open up the wall, noise blared out at them. They looked at each other, since they were most familiar with the Sanctuary than any of the others and seemed to both agree the activity wasn't threatening but certainly wasn't normal.

They walked on down into the secret building, finding the various people jogging from one place to the other looking quite harassed about something. The administrator, appointed just two weeks previously when the other one quit due to the pressure of the job, went passed them with three phones, an earpiece, two folders, a bag of papers slowly flying everywhere and hair all over her face. "They're waiting for you," she screeched at them as she passed to some unknown place.

Valkyrie shook her head. "What's got everyone in a tizzy?"

Wolf, on her right, shrugged. "Beats me. They're in the Grand Hall then?"

"It's not a Grand Hall," Crow muttered and lead them into the new meeting room. It was grand, with new dark floorboards like the rest of the Sanctuary, wallpapered walls, thrones with steps leading up to them and a big round meeting table with three high-backed chairs to offset the feeling of equality.

"Dead Men," Meritorious greeted when they closed the door behind them. "You're missing one."

"Tanith Low is away in England on business right now," Crow said formally.

"Her mum's birthday," Valkyrie added. "Why did you call us?"

On Meritorious' right was Elder Crow, which often confused Valkyrie to have two Crow's but she came up with the names as a child so it wasn't her fault. On Meritorious' left was the new Elder, Thurid Guild, and whilst the Grand Mage and Elder Crow had come to respect her as the Dead Men's prodigy, Guild would obviously love to kick her onto the street with no memory of the Sanctuary at all except perhaps him kicking her out. As it was, he clenched his fists as soon as she spoke.

He barely glanced at her but did manage to speak right before Meritorious – which really amused Valkyrie because it really annoyed Meritorious – saying, "We have been informed that Baron Vengeous has been freed from his confinement in Russia."

Crow paused. "How?"

"Violently," Meritorious took over, giving Guild a dirty look. "As well as nineteen Cleavers and three quarters of the other staff and guards, he took out over half of the other prisoners before vanishing. That facility was the third safest in the world. There has never been a breakout, no magic should have been possible. The only positive, and I say this lightly, is that most of the prisoners he took out were some of their worst. No one will be missed out of them, at least."

Valkyrie raised her eyebrow at Crow and he answered her unspoken question. "Vengeous was one of Mevolent's Three Generals. He's not to be underestimated – dangerously fanatical, extremely intelligent and very, very powerful. If he did that without magic, I assure you he'd have razed that facility to the ground with magic."

"I had a colleague rupture just by being looked at by him," Wolf said darkly.

"Ruptured?

"All over the place," Crow nodded, turning back to the Elders. "Do we know how he got out?"

"Only sign was one wall of his cell was cracked," Meritorious said, speaking forcefully over Guild before he could interrupt again. "The cell is made of at least five metres of reinforced concrete and other stones beyond it, and though it was solid the cracks run through the whole wall."

"The prison is a closely guarded secret," Elder Crow continued. Guild clenched his fists again and Valkyrie wondered idly if it was a problem with women in positions of power he had. "Whoever helped him escape had inside knowledge. We'll be keeping an eye out for any missing or dead officials, but it is Russia's problem. They'd sooner get themselves killed than accept any help from us."

Guild nodded shortly. "He'll be coming here soon. You need to be ready for him."

"Why would he come here?" Valkyrie asked immediately.

He ground his teeth and Meritorious, with a hint of smile, answered her. "He has a long history here. He'll know he doesn't have long before he's found and will want to cause as many problems as possible, especially in revenge."

"Ah yes," Crow said suddenly. "He probably hasn't forgotten the time I threw dynamite a him. It didn't kill him, but it definitely ruined his day."

"You arrested him eighty years ago, we're relying on you doing that again," Guild said sharply.

Meritorious shook his head. "No. You are to search and destroy. That is all your orders. Do what you need to."

Crow nodded, and they were dismissed. As soon as they were out, Valkyrie looked at Crow. "He still doesn't like me."

"Who, Guild? No, he really doesn't," Crow said absently.

"He doesn't like you either."

"Now that is mystifying."

"He doesn't like Elder Crow either," she pointed out.

"It seems our new Elder has a superiority complex," Snake said in a rare moment of seriousness. "I would be careful around him Val."

She nodded and Panda reverted the conversation back to the case. "Where do you expect he'd go first?"

Crow, stopping for a moment so the wall could slide open, said, "We don't need to know, nor will we likely start in the right place even if we tried. As soon as we hear of the deaths, we'll know he's here. He'll look for his old friends and new news, then I expect he'll hide away with his plans before coming to kill us."

Valkyrie nodded. "I'm glad he's a simple one."

"Yes, more and more people are like that nowadays. I sort of miss the unpredictability," Crow said wistfully.

"Is that why you keep Snake around?" Valkyrie asked with a grin.

"Hey!"

They laughed and got in the car and drove over to China's. It was rare for them to all go to the same place on Sanctuary business so when they got there and saw a few sorcerers around, they all stared and hurried out their way. Up in the library it didn't take China a moment to turn up.

"Dexter," she smiled at him. "Back so soon?"

He smirked at her but they all managed, by some miracle Valkyrie had never witnessed before, to stay professional. "I'm afraid this is Sanctuary business."

"Oh, how dull," she pouted. "I can only assume this is about one recently liberated war criminal?"

Crow nodded. "You haven't heard anything yet have you?"

She looked around and gave them another smile. "Let us talk privately."

She led them to her private apartment opposite the hall and they sat around. Since she had first met the Dead Men she had grown a few inches and had gained a lot of weight in muscle mass and through her height, mostly encouraged by competitions, the need to fight for her life and a certain person's appreciation for her strong arms and toned stomach. She was in no way muscular yet, but it was a good start. But it meant she didn't feel right sitting on anyone's lap anymore. It was tragic.

"Valkyrie, dear, how much do you know about Baron Vengeous?" China asked her

"Not much," she said. "Very dangerous, I know that much."

"Oh yes, quite fanatical," she said, smiling at her despite the conversation. Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight. "He's a fanatic follower of the Faceless Ones, and there is nothing worse than a zealot. Along with Serpine and Lord Vile, Vengeous was one of Mevolent's most trusted generals. He was assigned to their most secret operations. Have you ever heard of the Grotesquery, my dear?" Valkyrie shook her head.

"Before he was caught, Baron Vengeous was given the task of resurrecting the Faceless Ones from the remains found in a long-forgotten tomb."

Valkyrie frowned. "Is that even possible? Bringing one of them back to life after all this time? Wouldn't it have rotted or something?"

It was Wolf that answered with a shake of his head. "Bringing back a whole one was beyond his abilities."

"He took the remains and stuck them together with organs and other parts of other creatures to make a hybrid, calling it the Grotesquery," Weasel suppled.

"But he was missing two ingredients," China continued. "First, he needed a Necromancer's power to revive it and then, once it was alive, he needed something to keep it that way. When Lord Vile died, Vengeous thought he could harness Vile's power. Vile was a Necromancer, a practitioner of death magic – shadow magic. Lord Vile stored his in his armour."

"So, if Vengeous wore that amour," Valkyrie said, "he'd have all of Vile's power…"

"He died alone, and the amour was lost," Weasel said bluntly. "No one has ever seen a trace of Vile since."

Valkyrie nodded and took that in. "And what about the other ingredient? Does he know how to keep it alive?"

"Yes," Bear said, "but he has never revealed it."

"Ah. But we can stop him before he gets either of them, right?" Valkyrie said positively.

The others looked at each other. "Sure," Wolf said.

"Okay, okay, let's assume we don't. What will the, er, the Grow thing be able to do?"

"Grotesquery. And it would be able to, supposedly, summon the Faceless Ones by opening a portal," Crow explained.

Valkyrie looked at him doubtfully.

"It would have to be at full strength," Crow told her. "It can do it but that won't happen."

"How's that?"

"A heart had to be provided for it, but the only one suitable was the heart of a Cu Gaelach."

"I'm sorry?"

"Cu na Gaelai Duibhi," Wolf took over. "You should know what that is."

"It means… it's Hound of the Black Moon?" She said uncertainly. They had been teaching her Irish after she'd asked them to test her on her Irish for school and some of the teacher's materials for them had been wrong. Crow had even written to the school. Long rants had been had about how the education system was bad, slowly getting more dramatic until Tanith was giggling about tearing down the system. Though, it didn't feel as if Tanith needed much encouragement to hate anything government-like.

"Exactly," China said. "They're terrible creatures, ruthless and savage, things that are virtuously extinct now."

"Ruthless savage things that are only ruthlessly savage for one night every few years, at a lunar eclipse. So no matter how much power Vengeous pumps into that thing, the Grotesquery will not be strong enough to open a portal until the Earth, moon and sun line up–"

"It's in two nights Skul," Saracen said.

Crow sagged. "Well that's just dandy."

It was getting close to dinner when they left China's apartment and they drove back to the mansion. It was not often they were all sleeping in the mansion as they did have other work to do. Bear could only leave the hotel for so long, Ghastly had a full time business to run and people to please, Tanith was working on her citizenship but until it went through she could not be in Ireland all the time and occasionally, though usually only for a week or two at a time, Snake, Wolf and Weasel would go off for a little adventure with their other friends. Always, though, she had Crow with her and she could call her other friends all the time. On the car ride home, her friends cancelled their other plans and made space for the next week to deal with Vengeous.

When they got home, Valkyrie ran up the stairs to talk to Nadia.

It rang for a few moments and then she answered. "Hey Val."

"Hi," Valkyrie said, smiling at the sound of her voice. "Are you free for a little bit?"

"Always for you," she said cheekily, and Valkyrie heard her close her bedroom door through the phone. "What's up?"

"It's Sanctuary stuff," she said, sitting on the ottoman/sofa at the end of her bed. "Do you know about Vengeous?"

Nadia did not know much about him, so Valkyrie filled her in on the bare minimum, not allowed to reveal everything on an ongoing case for her protection which Nadia already knew. At the end Nadia was quiet.

"What are you thinking?" Valkyrie asked.

"Where do you think he'd get a Hound of the Black Moon?" She asked.

"I don't know. I'll have to ask Gordon," she said.

"It sounds really dangerous," she said quietly. "You'll be alright, won't you?"

"You know I'll do my best. Just stay away from the magical communities for a while. Stay quiet. It'll be over in a few days regardless, okay? If I tell you to run, just make sure you do that."

"How?"

"Your parents will get you out if you tell them what I told you. You'll be fine, even if they don't let us see each other again over it," she said comfortingly. "Trust me. Other than Tanith, we're all here and I bet Tanith is coming in soon to help. They'll be eight of us, the whole Sanctuary and all of the Dead Men's friends. We won't let the Faceless be summoned, won't even let the Grossy get up."

She snorted a laugh and Valkyrie grinned. "I suppose your right. So, have you got your outfit for tomorrow night?"

Valkyrie sagged. "Oh yeah. The reunion. I suppose so. I'll just throw anything on."

She could almost feel Nadia's frown. "No, you have to dress up. Do you have a dress that fits you?"

Valkyrie went into her wardrobe and started looking around in the piles of mess for something. She found, after much telling off from Nadia to sort out the wardrobe, a dress that was a little short but still long enough some of her more protective friends would not be uncomfortable, nor would any gross relatives make comments. That would do, and she put it on her door handle ready.

"I look forwards to seeing you again," Nadia said sweetly.

"Me too. It'll be fun," she said. "But keep in mind we might not be able to go. If this thing with Vengeous is too much…"

"Yeah, I know. But I want to see you so you better make sure everything's fine for tomorrow night."

Valkyrie grinned. "And what will I get if I do?"

Nadia laughed. "You'll only know if you do it."

Hehehe yay. They are getting so cute! I'm writing ahead as I've said before so when I edit it hurts to hold back on my cute stuff but we're getting there! She's only thirteen! And I need to write more Gordon, I know, and I need to do my assignments, I know, but what can you do? Send me reviews to keep me going! I love them :)