A fit of anger overcame the Cleric, and he struggled to break Tenebrae’s grasp. Were he so inclined, Tenebrae would have found such a display of impotent fury fascinating. As it was, all he felt was disgust. He released his hold, wiping his hands on his robe as Craven stumbled away from him.

“I did what had to be done!” Craven shouted. “I did what you didn’t have the imagination to do!”

“She can’t be relied upon,” Tenebrae said. “There’s no telling when she’ll be back to full strength. There’s no telling if she ever will. She is not the Death Bringer!”

Something came at him, something dark and terrible, and it hit him and Tenebrae spun head over heels through the air. He crunched into the wall and dropped to the stone floor. Agony raced from his shoulder across his chest. A collarbone was broken. Maybe a rib. Hissing in pain, he looked over at Melancholia, standing there, the mud dripping off her.

“I am the Death Bringer,” she said calmly. “I’m the one you’ve all been waiting for.”

His vision dimmed suddenly. “No,” he whispered, and then his life was dragged from his body.

Chapter 31 - Fuel

Chapter 31
Fuel

ison Dragonclaw laid out his torture instruments on the table. Knives, saws, pliers, hammers, neatly arranged one by one. Valkyrie watched him.

When he was done, he hauled Skulduggery to his feet and shoved him against the wall, then went over to Valkyrie, did the same to her.

“You’re not so tough now, are you?” he asked, his smile revealing small teeth behind that wispy goatee. “I bet you’re really regretting the way you treated me. Now it’s my turn. Now I get to inflict some pain.”

She didn’t answer him. She barely heard him.

“We’ve not finished treating you badly,” Skulduggery said. “The moment we escape from these shackles, we’re going to do it all over again.”

“Even if escape were possible,” Dragonclaw replied, “you’d be too late. The Death Bringer is about to change the world.”

“You hope.”

“It is a scientific inevitability.”

“There’s no such thing.”

Dragonclaw stopped what he was doing, and looked round. “There is no such thing as a scientific inevitability?”

“Nope.”

“And what about, for instance, gravity? If I drop an apple, it will not fall?”

“Not necessarily.”

“You are ridiculous.”

“Just because an apple falls one hundred times out of a hundred does not mean it will fall on the one hundred and first.”

“I thought you were supposed to be a rational man.”

“I am a rational man, but haven’t you heard? I’m also insane. It gives me a unique perspective on things.”

“Here is what I am going to do,” Dragonclaw said. “I’m going to pull you apart.”

“Your High Priest doesn’t want me harmed.”

“He doesn’t want you dead. He was quite agreeable to my harming you.”