“I needed a boost,” Melancholia said with a shrug. “A little pick-me-up. Valkyrie knows what I’m talking about, don’t you, Valkyrie? That little ring is burning so cold now, isn’t it? My whole body is burning like that. It’s intoxicating. But don’t worry – I didn’t kill all of them. There are still plenty left to fawn over me.”

“You’re under arrest,” Skulduggery said.

“Don’t be stupid. I’m going to kill you and then I’m going to save the world.”

“By killing half of it.”

“Omelettes and eggs, skeleton.”

“Give up. This will be your only warning.”

Melancholia laughed, shook her head, and as she opened her mouth to speak, Skulduggery pulled the trigger. Melancholia jerked back into a sudden cloud of darkness as gunfire filled the air and bullet casings rattled on to the floor. When the gun was empty, he dropped it and clicked his fingers, summoning flames into his hands. Valkyrie readied shadows of her own.

The cloud faded. Melancholia was still standing. “You’re sneaky,” she said. “I like you.”

Skulduggery threw a fireball but Melancholia sent the darkness to extinguish it. He pushed at the air and she staggered, sent a spear of shadows his way in return. He twisted, the spear missing him by inches. Valkyrie whipped the darkness at her but Melancholia rose on to a wave of pitch-black. Columns of dark shot out, too fast to dodge. One column struck Valkyrie, taking her off her feet. Skulduggery was hit square in the chest, and twice more as he tried to recover.

The wave lowered Melancholia to the ground, and at a gesture it turned towards Skulduggery. It crashed down on top of him, dispersing into tendrils that threw him down the corridor.

Valkyrie swept the air in around her and hurtled towards Melancholia. She almost reached her, too, but a wall of darkness appeared between them. Valkyrie hit the wall and it drank her in. She struggled, tried to pull away, but it was like quicksand. Her arms and legs were already in and she turned her head away, arching her spine. The corridor lit up with flame and suddenly she was free. She dropped to the ground while Melancholia dodged another of Skulduggery’s attacks. He had run in close, trying to get his hands on her.

Melancholia kept throwing shadows between them, but the shadows were flimsy. She was panicking, trying to give herself some room to manoeuvre. Given the space, she could send out an attack that was impossible to defend against. Skulduggery was making sure that didn’t happen, and he was using skill, determination and luck to do it. But while his skill wasn’t going to fade and his determination wasn’t going to falter, his luck was an element he had no control over.