Tenebrae gave the slightest of nods. “Agonising death inflicted by merely pointing at your victim, providing he was within range. Serpine had heard about it and he wanted it. I taught him. During our lessons, we talked. He made clear his hatred of you, Skulduggery. He said you were the reason he was doing this. To be frank, I couldn’t allow that. You had such potential. I couldn’t allow this religious fanatic to kill you, so I altered what I was teaching. I added a little something. If ever this Necromancer power was used against you specifically, it wouldn’t be the end. Your soul, your being, would be for ever tied to your body. If I had known he was going to burn your corpse and reduce you to a mere skeleton, I probably would have taken that into consideration.”

Skulduggery’s voice was empty. “You brought me back?”

“No. I merely allowed for the opportunity. You brought yourself back, Skulduggery. Through sheer force of will, your soul regained its consciousness. From there, your body acted as if it were whole again, allowing you to talk, to move, to feel pain.”

“You. You did this. I’m alive today because of you.”

“Yes. Doesn’t that make you smile? Knowing you owe me everything?”

Skulduggery sagged.

“What’s wrong?” Tenebrae asked. “Were you expecting something more? Did you fool yourself into detecting a divine hand in your resurrection? Did you believe your life to have some special purpose? Sorry to disappoint you, but your life had no special purpose other than the one I had planned for you. Which, as it turned out, was a waste of everyone’s time.

“I didn’t tell anyone, of course. You were my little secret. I continued to keep an eye on you. I watched you fight on, letting your anger consume you. It was a fascinating exercise, knowing there could really only be one outcome. All I had to do was wait. I knew you were coming.”

“OK, stop,” said Valkyrie. “What the hell are you talking about? What outcome? What were you waiting for?”

“For the knock on the door,” Tenebrae said. “Necromancy killed him, Necromancy brought him back. His loved ones were dead, his life was war. His life was death. With every year that passed, he was losing more and more of the person he thought he was. With every year, he was becoming somebody else. And then he knocked on the door of a Necromancer Temple, and I knew he had come home.”

The warmth drained from Valkyrie’s face. “No.”

“He abandoned his old life. He wore armour to disguise his old form. He took a new name to kill his old self.”

“No,” Valkyrie said. “No, don’t.”

“Skulduggery Pleasant walked off the battlefield, and Lord Vile walked into my Temple.”

Chapter 29 - Who Knows What Darkness

Chapter 29
Who Knows What Darkness