Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Solomon – Raven

Corrival – Pa

Warning: Very strong themes of rape and abuse

Chapter 100

Valkyrie was shaken awake that morning and almost shot out of bed in a panic.

"Calm down," Wolf said, a little smile on his lips. "It's just us. You need to get ready, Skul got a call."

She nodded, resting a hand over her hammering heart, and reached for her phone before remembering it was dead. Disappointment flooded her, but there might be time later to get another cord so she didn't think about it too much and rushed to get ready. Within ten minutes they were racing down the stairs after Crow.

The car was freezing as the heatwave had abruptly ended and it was barely past six in the morning. The Bentley hummed and shot off when Crow put his foot down but this time she was prepared and breathed deeply as Crow drove them through the little town and then back around to a motorway towards the west of Ireland.

"What was the call?" She asked Crow after a few minutes.

"A man of our suspect's description was seen by the coast," he said tightly.

"What about Raven?"

"Seen with him."

They didn't speak for the ride over, and they had to leave the car a few miles away and take a bus in to avoid being recognised. The phone call, Crow said, indicated the man was in the port with all the cargo boats and massive warehouses. There was a bustling fishermen's market in the town and they followed the crowds into a warehouse that was filled with boxes and stalls.

"There aren't enough people," Crow muttered.

Valkyrie frowned. "There are nearly two hundred people in here," she said quietly back, but he either ignored her or didn't hear and began walking. She gave Wolf a look and he could only give her a sympathetic smile. Stupid skeleton. She'd find something she could rip a new one out of. Perhaps she'd pull his jaw off.

Stewing in her anger, she followed around to the back where less people were milling and the shops had less content. The stench of fish turned Valkyrie's stomach. Wolf took her hand and gave her another smile, this time in support, and they walked much slower behind their brother. Crow began looking over the fish with a smile on his facade and fake gusto in his walk. He began questioning the sellers on their items, specifically the crabs it seemed, and Valkyrie had to look away or she was going to kick him. She squeezed Wolf's hand and it helped.

"Don't look now, but there's a man staring at you," Wolf said lowly. "Dark, tall and average over there."

She nodded and they looked over a stall for a moment before turning around on themselves and giving Valkyrie just a moment to see the staring man staring at her with the white of his eyes glowing with hatred before they were moving again.

"Has Crow noticed?" Valkyrie asked him.

"I don't know, but you need to focus Cub," he warned. "I know you're mad, and I am too, but don't let it stop the mission. We still need to save Solomon and find Signate's killer."

She nodded, taking a deep breath. He was right. She needed to focus.

They walked around a whole row of stalls to get back to Crow without too much attention, and they found him and another man hunched together in a deep conversation, and when they got nearer she saw Crow had his hand on his gun.

"Hi," Wolf said with that big smile of his.

Crow said nothing. The man he was threatening looked harsh with small scars on his face. "Skeleton," the man growled. Only half his mouth moved. "I've done nothing wrong here."

"But you are wanted for crimes in almost every other country," Crow said coldly. "A man came through this area recently with a black van. He had someone with him, a Necromancer called Solomon Wreath. If you tell me where they went, I can forget I ever saw you here."

He huffed. "But your friends won't. And who's to say I saw anything? There are lots of men in vans travelling in pairs around here. It's full of fishermen."

Crow tilted his head in a way Valkyrie knew meant he was practically looking for a fight now. "I know you know because Solomon Wreath was being dragged here unconscious and probably in cuffs, and my suspect also killed Creyfon Signate and dumped him at the Sanctuary yesterday. It's exactly the type of person that would come to someone like you to hide."

He grunted. "Bad for business to let you in."

"It'll be worse if I don't look around. I'm looking for my suspect and Solomon Wreath alone. You have my word," Crow said, taking a step towards him.

The criminal, whoever he was, didn't seem fazed. He stood quietly for a long moment, considering, and then smirked. "I won't let you in. But the girl is fine. Better for business."

Wolf tensed. "She can't go alone–"

"She's a Dead Man," the criminal half grinned, a nasty glint in his eyes. "You trained her for this, no?"

Valkyrie said nothing, knowing she was in a hard place. She didn't trust that criminal would tiny bit and didn't doubt he was full of shit, but then again, he was right in that she was trained. But if Wolf said no, chances where that it was a bad idea. "I'm not sure," she decided to say, glancing at Crow.

"You'll be fine," Crow said, nodding to the criminal.

"Crow, I don't think this is a good idea," she said a little louder, but Crow grabbed her arm and pulled her forward to stand nearer to him.

"Valkyrie, you're our only shot. Either you go and find Solomon, or we lose him. You have to," then he pushed her forward and she almost fell into the criminal.

She didn't like it at all and was exceptionally mad with how Crow was treating her, but knew, at least in one way, he was right. She turned the corner behind the fish stand and was out of sight.

The criminal didn't seem to care that Valkyrie was nervous or on a mission, slowly making his way around the back of the warehouse and opening a door that should have led outside but actually only had a set of stairs going down on the other side.

She glanced at the criminal, but he was looking at her blankly. She already knew practically nothing. Might as well continue.

She descended quickly, hopping down the stairs even after the door was shut above her. A noise echoed up the thin staircase and it was only as she saw the light at the bottom that she could make out the shouts, cries, laughs, distant music and all the footsteps. Crow meant there weren't enough people upstairs because they were all down here it seemed. It was dingy and dark, and smelt like sweat, fish and alcohol. No one looked at her when she entered so she quickly went into the shadows and tried to look casual.

All she needed to do was find their suspect who they didn't have a good description of and get Raven. Then she'd make a plan. She praised herself in her head before getting on with it.

Looking around, she could see the basement or whatever this place was had several sections that made up a large hall and had a few rooms off to the side. She could only assume almost every man and woman down there with her needed arresting, so the question was, where would someone with a hostage go?

She decided to check the bar first.

The bar looked old, battered and had little craters in the wood from old bullets, but had been able to stay upright and actually kind of cool despite that. The barkeeper was a hideous man, worse than Panda, if only because his eyes said he'd taken all those scars for fun. She avoided his eye and looked over the patrons instead.

She was looking for a man, she knew, with dark hair and unknown skin. He had worn dark clothes as another clue and might still be. But there were four men of that description at the bar. She looked over the tables and saw more like that. Damn. There were private booths too but they were all open to see into and she didn't see Raven so she turned and walked passed a huddled group in the corner, but they were all taking drugs and she didn't think whoever had Raven would be getting high with a skilled fighter as a hostage.

She nearly went into the first room off the side but saw it was full of naked woman and kept going, and the next one had naked men and she walked even faster away. Good to know. Don't look there ever again even if Raven is there. He'd be fine. Probably.

Unfortunately, that didn't leave her with many places, and when she had circled the full room and glanced in every alcove, she started to lose hope. If Raven wasn't here, she couldn't identify the suspect.

A hand landed on her shoulder and she turned.

Three giant men, bigger than Bear, taller than him too, loomed over her. Two of them were leering but the one in the middle glared.

"You have been summoned," he said so deeply if felt as if her bones shook from the vibration.

She glared. "I don't answer to anyone here."

"You have been summoned," he said again, and grabbed her arm before she could make a move and she felt her magic leave her.

She stared at him as he led her to the centre where a fighting ring was. "How are you doing that?"

The man didn't answer, just kept his dull eyes staring ahead. One of the leering men behind her smacked her ass so hard she almost fell over and the dozens of watching men and women laughed.

She could feel herself breathing faster and faster, the panic setting in. "What am I summoned for?" She asked quickly.

"The master wishes for you to fight," he said, pushing a man out his way. He hit the floor, glared, and backed down when he realised who pushed him. "To the death."

"Oh my god," she muttered. How was she meant to get out of this? Could she bargain? Bribe? She just feared if she caused a fuss about fighting – to the death! – then she might be sent to that room with all the naked people. "Don't make me do this."

The man didn't answer her, just held her tightly as she tried to yank herself free from him. The more she tried, the more he made her feel weak and she had to stop. Someone else was in the ring shouting and riling up the crowd. The man held her by her hair and her eyes drooped as her protective clothes were stripped.

When she opened her eyes and all at once became aware of what was happening again, she was in just her pants and bra. They'd even taken her socks. Her hands shook when the crowd grew and the bets started being taken.

She knew how street fights worked. There was no way out for her with all these people invested because they would help stop her. It just depended on who they put in the fight with her, who she needed to kill.

Could she kill? She'd killed before. She could, but did she want to? Should she? In here it might be acceptable but if they went talking and the Sanctuary found out she killed someone in an illegal fighting ring there might be problems.

More problems if you're dead, her brain said, and she listened.

The crowd found someone for her to fight and she stood still, covered in goosebumps and shaking like a leaf, her opponent coming unseen through the crowd, getting pats on the shoulder, raising his hands in the air, pulling himself into the ring and she could see his face–

Scapegrace.

"You?" She said, looking at him. "You're meant to be in care."

He glared at her. "I'm the Killer Supreme. I will kill you in this fight and all will know to fear me!"

The crowd jeered and shouted bets, money exchanging hands faster than Valkyrie could see. Child versus idiot.

She shook her head and tried to think of the fight instead. Could she get away with not killing him? Perhaps if she just knocked him out really good and gave the crowd some entertainment she'd be let free? That sounded reasonable, even by illegal fight standards. She hoped so.

Scapegrace took his top off, showing his surprisingly toned body, and they stood across from each other, waiting for it to start. He licked his lips and looked at her carefully, lining up for his fight attack, and she stood carefully upright, trying not to look as uncomfortable as she was, and got ready to defend. There was a buzz and Scapegrace jumped.

It wasn't hard to slide out his way, grab his arm, spin him and punch him in the jaw. He turned like a ballerina and she grabbed him again and threw him across the ring where he fell on his face.

The crowd made positive sounds, so she launched forwards, grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up. Surprisingly, he got his balance and tried to hit her, but she ducked and put an arm around his bare neck and flipped them so they were on the ground, body slamming him. People were jumping excitedly.

Taking a breath, she rolled, grabbed his leg and jumped up, straining under his weight and holding him on her shoulders. She slowly pulled him above her head and heard Scapegrace screaming and when the crowd held its breath she slammed him down into the bloody ring and jumped on the man, rolling them over and grabbing his arm, pulling it back between her legs and dislocating it.

His screams got the crowd shouting more and more, putting it in her favour, and she released his arm and hopped on his back, listening to him squeal like a pig when her knees rammed into his small muscles, and she lifted both his arms in the most painful way she knew, lifting and lifting until she pulled them right out the shoulder sockets and the elbow ligament was utterly destroyed.

She pulled herself off him, his arms hanging from weird angles behind his head, and looked around. They were waiting for the kill. He screamed, tears streaming down his face, and Valkyrie knew she couldn't kill an idiot of a man like Scapegrace. He was already down.

She shook her head and stood back and the crowd immediately started booing angrily. She turned and saw the person that had gotten her from the room and went to him, not knowing where else to go. She crouched. "I can't kill him," she shouted over the roar. "He's defenceless."

The man did nothing, but the one next to him, a good looking one in a suit, nodded with a strange smile and got into the ring. She backed up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we seemed to have an unwilling fighter," he said neutrally and the crowd went quiet. More people from all parts of the basement came over now this man was on stage. "What should we do with her?"

There was no answer. Not a peep.

He smiled. "Girl, what's your name?"

"Valkyrie Cain," she said. She knew they recognised it. "I'm looking for Solomon Wreath, a Necromancer we think was brought here against his will."

He hummed. "You want Solomon Wreath?" She nodded. "I know where he is."

She clenched her fist. "Where is he?"

"Not here anymore," he said, smirking and twirling for the crowd. "I can tell you if you do something for me."

"I won't kill a defenceless man."

"Who, him? No, I don't care about him. In fact, you don't have to kill anyone. How about this: if you can force someone of my choice out the box, I'll tell you what you want. If you can't, he'll kill you. What do you say?"

She hesitated. "I just have to push him out the box?"

"Yes. No magic or weapons allowed," he smiled and held his hand out. "What do you say?"

She didn't exactly have an option, especially since the magicless and weapon-less part had been taken care of by his minion for the time being. She shook on it and stood back as one of the leering men stepped forwards. He was naked and didn't care. She felt herself go pale. Killing defiantly wasn't on this man's agender.

The sick crowd loved it.

She only looked at his face and remembered what Wolf had said upstairs. Stay focused on the mission. If she got him out the box, she won. The crowd had pulled out the ropes that made the ring a ring, leaving them on just a stage.

She took a deep breath and reminded herself she was a Dead Man. She had been taught for things just like this, for attacks from several people like this at once. This wasn't actually new to her.

They stared each other out on the stage, and when the buzzer went, she was ready for him to charge. There was no way for her to get away, giving his gargantuan size, so she let him grab her and used the momentum to flip herself onto his back and lean so they both fell to the floor. He was stupidly fast and was up at the same time as her, trying to grab her and she backed up.

She timed it carefully, and just as he got to the middle of the ring, she sprang forward and jumped, kicking him in the face at lightning speed, not stopping for him to get any footing before she was hitting him, smacking his arm back with all her strength and kicking his leg. He looked as if he was going to kneel just so she couldn't get him off the stage, so she put a foot behind him and pushed.

He went stumbling, his height and weight giving him no advantage now, his eyes widening as he went. He seemed to know she'd somehow gotten the better of him, and grabbed at her before he fell, making her scream as his nails bit into the flesh of her breast and tore her bra off. Deep scratch marks began bleeding immediately, and she was naked in front of over a hundred people other than her pants, but he hit the floor with a thud, holding her bra triumphantly.

She breathed heavily, not wanting to cry but also really wanting to do that and turned back to the man. She didn't cover herself. That was a sign of weakness and she couldn't risk that. She wished she was back upstairs.

He smiled at her, clapping with the rest of the crowd and hopped on stage. "I think you've done it, and in record time. I'm impressed," he said, coming close. She stepped back and glared at him. "You want to know where your friend is?"

"That was the deal," she reminded him in a loud, strong voice. They all heard her.

"I know, lass, I was there. You friend is being taken to The Old Mill. You know what that is?" He asked.

"Not yet," she said, holding herself proudly.

"Then you never will," he grinned and grabbed her arm with surprising speed given his small size and the crowd roared. "Can I present to you, our newest attraction, Valkyrie Cain!"

She pulled in a gasping breath and yanked herself free of his arm, but it was barely any use. The crowd was getting up on the stage and the man she had pushed off already had a hand on her shoulder and his penis brushed against her lower back, leaving a sticking trail and she felt nauseous. She took a deep breath, held it, but the panic kept coming, and she could feel her magic returning to her, but she was shaking so much that when she clicked her fingers nothing happened anyway. She could see her eyes watering and the hyperventilation was kicking in and he grabbed her ass and half pulled her pants down–

She squeezed her eyes shut and just pushed, like with her Necromancy magic, and she heard the screams as she sent just magic, any magic inside of her that would come to her fingers, out at the crowd. Her knees shook and she fought to keep herself standing when the man grabbed her breast from behind, making her scream fearfully and the magic fell from her fingers automatically. She stared as it hit him and he turned to ash.

There was a moment of silence as the crowd accepted she had more magic than they knew and fear wouldn't keep it back, before they grinned and the death made it more than a game.

It became a competition.

She could barely breath and her knees shook violently, but could feel the magic in her and it was all she held as she ran to the stairwell and took the stairs in twos, faster than she had ever run before. Her knees give out every few jumps from how much she was panicking and the screams of the patrons below coming after her and fighting between themselves where overwhelmingly loud and she could feel herself becoming weak from fright. In the darkness she hit the door at the top and nearly fell back down, crying out and grabbing the door handle. There was a flash behind her that made her jump and the bright magic jumped out of her hands again and the door was also turned to ashes.

She fell through it.

The man that had let her into the basement was standing there already and looked down at her naked body disdainfully before stepping right over her and down into the dark. The sounds of in there was muffled out here, and the sudden change of shouting to fish mongers was disorientating. A moment later she was wrapped in Wolf's protective arms.

"Cub, what happened!?" He practically screeched, holding her tightly and hiding her breasts from the watching, smirking men.

"Th-the Old M-Mill," she stuttered, pulling in her breaths rapidly and holding her eyes open so they wouldn't cry, but also putting her head on his shoulder. "That's where they t-took him."

He shook his head. "Okay, okay, we'll deal with that in a moment. What happened to you baby?"

She shook her head and fought to pull away and managed it right in time to throw up. Dexter held her hair.

"Valkyrie," Crow said when she was wiping her mouth. Wolf pushed his shirt over her head and she willingly covered herself in it, though blood was smeared down the inside from the cuts on her breast, and it barely took a moment more for the wound to soak through the shirt. It barely covered the bottom of her crotch. She took a deep breath and looked at him with tears on her cheeks. "You said it was The Old Mill?"

She let out a laugh and hickuped as her tears tried to turn into sobs. She took a deep breath, digging her nails into her thighs painfully, and stood up even though her whole body was trembling. "I can't believe you," she whispered roughly and walked on shaking legs, blood covering her borrowed shirt, right into the crowds with just her brother on her heel.

I have plans. Many plans. At least you can be immediately satisfied with the way I killed the guy she had to push off the stage, I enjoyed that also. It took me days of writing on and off to finish this, and I'm still not 100% about it, but I decided I never will be because of the type of content, so I just went for it.

But CHAPTER 100 GUYS! So cool! I accidently made it double the length of other chapters to celebrate.

LonelyGirl702: Sorry I forgot to say anything back in the last two chapters, I kept forgetting! I'm glad you liked Crystal and Carol, I plan on having lots of fun with them later on. And yeah, I hate Myra and don't want to change her much from the books. Everyone hates her so I don't mind letting everyone know! You were the one that inspired her coming into the stories so I hope you like what I eventually do with her!