In this chapter I wanted to experiment with the thought of how Vile and Skulduggery communicates. I have always imagined that since Valkyrie could talk to Darquesse, what's to say that Skulduggery cannot talk to Vile in an equivalent way? They are after all (like Valkyrie and Darquesse was) the same person, just two different personalities.
It became so quiet that you could hear a pin fall. Valkyrie and Skulduggery felt that time had stopped, and they both became stiff as statues. Skulduggery was the first of them who responded, and his words also prompted Valkyrie to wake up from her paralysis.
"Valkyrie, now listen carefully to me. Do not do anything that will annoy or enrage Elizabeth. Just take it easy and everything will work out fine. I am on track and will soon find her, I promise you. I will not abandon you, have you heard that, Valkyrie?I will find you."
Elizabeth laughed and let a shadow stroke Valkyrie's naked breast. Valkyrie had not even noticed that the blanket she had had around her had fallen and revealed her upper body. The shadow's stroke made a shiver spread along her backbone and she took a firmer grip on the phone.
"Valkyrie, are you listening to me?"Skulduggery's voice was determined, but at the same time worried, and it made Valkyrie flinch.
"Yes, I'm listening..." she whispered, looking up at Elizabeth. When she met the necromancer's gaze, she wished she had not lifted her head.
Elizabeth had a crazy look that got Valkyrie to think of a rabid dog. At the same time, there were also glimpses of joy and insight, as if Elizabeth had just come across something she had been thinking for a long time. "This is too perfect to resist..."
Before Valkyrie had reacted, Elizabeth had lifted her arms, and a sea of shadows came towards Valkyrie. Instinctively, she raised her arms in a protective gesture and shouted out of pain when the shadows clawed at her unprotected skin. She dropped the phone and could hear it bounce away on the floor while Skulduggery shouted her name, and the blood poured down alongside her arms.
The pain that occurred caused her to scream, but she did not dare to look at what damage Elizabeth's shadows had caused. Instead, she focused her eyes on Elizabeth and felt how a rage slowly but surely was building within her. She could feel how the magic within her bubbled and wanted out. There was nothing else she would rather do right now than to unleash it and tear Elizabeth into pieces.
"Yes, Valkyrie, let it out! Let me see what you can do! Let me see if you really are as terrifying as the rumours say you are!" Elizabeth smiled maniacally and let her shadows pull back so that a gap in her dress appeared in the middle of her chest. "Here I am, it is just to attack!"
"No, Valkyrie! It is a trick! She just wants to make you angry so she can get another sick reason to why she should hurt you more! Do not let her win! You are stronger than that!" Skulduggery shouted from the phone's speaker, but his voice sounded so far away. Valkyrie could pretend that his voice was only in her own head, that's how low it was.
"You will come to regret this, Elizabeth. When I am through with you nobody will be able to identify your corpse. I will wipe you out in total, both inside and outside." Valkyrie's voice was ice cold without any traces of human feelings. "I can stand feeling a little pain sometimes if I know it makes the people, I love to remain safe, but when my pain becomes part oftheirpain..." Valkyrie smiled an ice-cold smile. "Let's just say you will beg me for mercy before it's over."
Elizabeth did not answer but just kept standing there with that smile on her lips. That smile that made Valkyrie go crazy and that she would soon wipe out. She had time to think 'Wonder what Elizabeth would think of that' before she threw herself against her kidnapper with a war cry...
Skulduggery's P.O.W.
He heard the sound of a battle that was being unfold and it made him cold inside. He could not do anything to help Valkyrie since she did not hear him anymore. She was completely confined in her hatred for Elizabeth and all he could hope for was either that Valkyrie would succeed in overwhelming Elizabeth and managing in escaping or that Elizabeth would not hurt Valkyrie too much for daring to attack her.
"Valkyrie! Can you hear me?!" Skulduggery shouted, even though he knew it was futile. He started wandering back and forth in the living room while he was holding the phone pressed hard against the hole in his skull where his ears once had been. "Dammit!"
He tried to understand what was happening through the sounds that reached him on the phone, but it was not easy. Since the phone was a bit away from the fighting and the speaker function was not on, all the sounds were muted and made it difficult to understand what was happening. His frustration increased with every step he took and if nothing happened soon, he would go crazy!
You need me. Admit it, you will not be able to find her before it is too late. She will be dead within a few minutesunlessyou let me search for Elizabeth. You know I can find her.
Skulduggery pulled his gloved hand over his face and moaned in frustration. He did not know what he should do. There were so many things he wanted to do. Hewantedto save Valkyrie. Hedid notwant her to get more hurt than she already had. Hewantedto keep her safe. Hewantedto kill Elizabeth with his bare hands.
Was there anything hedid notwant it was for Vile to take control. Hedid notwant Vile to get the honour of killing Elizabeth. Hedid notwant Vile to get a chance to hurt Valkyrie. But at the same time as all these thoughts went through him, he knew Vile was right. He had not managed to find Elizabeth in his usual way and soon he had no more clues or plans available.
An evil laugh filled his head, and Skulduggery clenched his hand into a fist. He knew that Vile heard his thoughts since they were the same person. It did not really make his mood any better...
"If I am going to let you come out, I have a claim."
That I will not hurt the girl. Do you think I'm stupid? The way you cringe around her, I'm surprised that no one besides me and Elizabeth has seen where your relationship is heading. That none of you have confessed how you feel for each other yet is a wonder.
It was silent for a while as if Vile thought it through. Just as Skulduggery thought he had repented; he felt how Vile nodded and so their agreement was sealed. Skulduggery had no idea if Vilecouldfind Elizabeth, but now he could not back out.
A promise was a promise.
With a deep breath, Skulduggery left the control to Vile. It did not take many seconds before shadows began to roll out of his suit and soon Skulduggery was gone and Lord Vile instead stood in his place. Vile stretched up in his full length and let his shadows examine their new surroundings. He had never been to Skulduggery's house before and found to his surprise that he liked what the skeleton had done with the place. He looked around for a while before a reminder from Skulduggery got him to once again concentrate on his mission.
Skulduggery had on several occasions used a special powder to see if magic had been used recently when he and the girl had been on a crime scene. Necromancy also left traces behind, but since it was a magic that used the power of the dead, it was only the dead or those who wielded it that was able to see it.
Vile concentrated and could quite quickly recognize the remains of the necromancy that Elizabeth had used when she kidnapped Valkyrie almost a week ago. Given that he could still divine it, Elizabeth must be extraordinarily strong, as only a strong necromancer could use so much necromancy without perishing.
Vile smiled.This could be remarkably interesting...
He went out and let himself float into the air where he stayed. He looked around and it didn't take long before he again witnessed the magic remains of the necromancy magic that Elizabeth had used when she attacked Skulduggery and shadow-walked away with the girl. Quickly, before Skulduggery would start to nag at him again, Vile followed the remains.
As he flew and came closer and closer to the core of the magic, the expectation rose within him. How long had it not been since he last had had a chance to fight someone who could compete with his own powers? Not since Darquesse anyway and that was over five years ago. Five years since he had been allowed to come out and take control...
Enjoy this while you can, because soon you will be forced to once again sit in the passenger seat, Vile.
Vile snorted at Skulduggery's comment. "As far as I remember, we never said anything about you getting back the control after I killed Elizabeth,skeleton detective. Our agreement was that I would get to kill Elizabeth as long as I didn't hurt the girl in any way."
And if you think I will let you have control for more than a second of what is necessary, you are hugely mistaken. Believe me, I know you both from the inside and the outside. I know that if I release you,no oneis safe. You will kill anyone who is against you, no matter how strong they are. You live to kill. You are my dark side that enjoys war and that I have been trying to get rid of for so many years.
Vile laughed and his shadows moved like waves along his body, as though they found Skulduggery's words hilarious. "Oh, Skulduggery. You are still the same. You think you can always be able to talk yourself out of a tricky situation. As you say, I'm a part of you and can therefore all your tricks. It will take a lot more to make me give up this. It will be interesting to see how you will try to get back the control and I hope you are aware that I will be prepared when it occurs."
Instead of producing some kind of insightful comment which Skulduggery always used to, he laughed him in the face, causing Vile to become angry. How dared the skeleton laugh at him, one of the strongest magicians ever to exist? He who, if he had only wanted it, could have killed Mevolent with a single gesture of his hand. He who would be able to wipe out all of humanity and kill the Faceless Ones if they had come back for revenge and enslave the humans because they had sent them to exile on another planet.
If you are so strong, how come you did not do any of those things when you had the chance? If you ask me, I think you boast more than you prove.
"Shut up!" Vile growled, increasing the speed as if he would be able to fly away from Skulduggery.
Admit, you are not as strong as you think you are. You were afraid that you had misunderstood your powers and that you could die if you were not as strong as you thought.Skulduggery became silent for a few seconds, as if he were thinking about how he would continue.Believe me, I knowexactlyhow you felt back then. There is nothing wrong with wanting to back away from a fight if you think it will end badly for yourself. Don't you agree that it was for the best what happened? Who knows where we had been today if you had chosen to try to kill Mevolent.
Vile didn't want to admit it, but he knew the skeleton was right. Now afterwards he had realized that it'd been for the best for Skulduggery to become himself again instead of having let him take over fully. If he had killed Mevolent and then the rest of humanity, he wouldn't have had anyone to fight with in the end. Where would he then have found himself today? Could he have been able to move to other dimensions like Darquesse and continue with his killing, or had he forever been stuck on earth with only himself as company?
"Alright, skeleton detective, I admit. It was probably for the best what was happening. Otherwise, I had not have had the chance to be fighting against such a fine opponent like Darquesse, after all. However, I do not intend to thank you."
I did not expect that either. You are not the kind of person who thanks.
At this Vile could not help but laugh. "That is right. You know me, skeleton detective."
No reply came, but Vile could feel that Skulduggery was smiling. He looked around and noticed that during his conversation with Skulduggery he had lost track of Elizabeth's shadow magic. He stopped and turned his head in all directions but could not find anything, so he decided to sink down to the ground to hopefully find something there that could help him get on the right track again.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, Vile felt the presence of necromancy. It was everywhere around him and he understood that he must be near Elizabeth's hideaway, or at least in a place she recently had visited. He looked around but could not see anything that could tell him where Elizabeth was.
"Where are you, Elizabeth? I can feel your presence..." mumbled Vile to himself and concentrated. In front of his eyes, he could see small shadows wobbling around him as if he were standing in a pool of shadows. They all came from the same source: a large oak tree to his left.
He walked over to the tree and laid his hand against it. As soon as his hand touched it, the tree began to pulsate from all the shadows that surrounded it. Before he had time to pull back his hand, it was sucked into the tree. He tried to get it out but noticed that he was firmly stuck. He bent his knees and leaned back as he pulled his hand backwards.
Hard.
Vile managed to get out his hand a few centimetres, but then three new shadows took hold of the hand again. Soon he found himself caught in a deadly tug of war, where his only choice was to either give up and get fully caught in all the trees' shadows or fight.
He chose to fight.
The armour was pulsed by shadows and soon they fought against the foreign shadows that wanted to hurt them. Vile commanded his shadows to attack without any mercy. They cut through the shadows of the tree as if they were butter and soon enough of them had let go of his hand so that he could get it free.
In the moment he was free, he let his shadows ravage free and cut where they reached. Splinters from the tree flew all around him, and soon Vile could see the contours of a stairway that led down underground. His shadows continued to cut manically in the tree, and it did not take many minutes before the only thing left of the once majestic oak tree was a stub and a few stray branches that firmly hung on.
Vile pulled his shadows back into the armour and allowed himself a few seconds to rest. He wanted to be in perfect condition when he met Elizabeth. He also knew that there could be more traps waiting for him as he walked down the stairs. He had no idea how far down Elizabeth's hideaway was or what kind of warning system she could have installed in there.
When Vile felt ready, he started his journey down the stairs. No torches or lights were lit so he found himself walking in total darkness. This did not concern him the least since he was one with the shadows and could use them to feel his surroundings. He let his shadows stroke along the walls to determine if something were waiting for him in front, but he could not feel anything. This made him both relieved and worried. It did not have to mean anything, but at the same time something extraordinarily dangerous besides Elizabeth could be further ahead which he could not feel until it was in principle right in front of him.
He continued for a while and continued to feel his surroundings with his shadows. After a few hundred meters he saw a faint light coming from an open door. The door seemed to lead into a room with stone floors and Vile suspected that it was the room that Skulduggery had seen in the pictures and video that Elizabeth had sent to him.
At the same time as that thought arose, he felt how Skulduggery became angry. He would love to take control now when they had found what seemed to be Elizabeth's hideaway, or at least the place where she had held Valkyrie prisoner. Vile managed to keep Skulduggery back and slowly approached the door. The moment he walked into the room, the sight that hit him made him stop.
In the middle of the room stood Elizabeth. Under her the contours of the girl Valkyrie Cain could be seen, in a foetal position, nude and covered in new and old wounds. Blood had flowed from her wounds down to the floor and he heard himself whispering her name: "Valkyrie..."