Melancholia’s shadows sprang at Lord Vile, whose armour grew tendrils that intercepted each one of them. Melancholia was rising to her feet now, standing just beyond arm’s reach of Vile. Their shadows, sharp and jagged, pressed and darted and defended. More grew, and still more, pushing out of their arms and legs and torsos. They started to resemble a pair of weird insects, or crabs maybe, snapping at each other with an ever-increasing array of weapons.

Melancholia was smiling. Her blonde hair was obscuring most of her face, but she was definitely smiling, and now Valkyrie could see why. Her shadows were thickening, getting bigger, and Vile was being pushed back. He wasn’t whole, after all. He was merely the armour of Lord Vile, Skulduggery’s old Necromancer power given sentience. If Skulduggery had been in that armour, the Death Bringer would have met her match. But the armour was empty, and the Death Bringer was realising just how powerful she really was.

The shadows behind Melancholia swooped in through her body and erupted from her chest, slamming into Vile and taking him to the far end of the room. He was thrown with such force he hit the double doors and burst through, splintering the wood and ripping them from their hinges. The shadows retracted, back inside Melancholia, and she turned to Valkyrie and Skulduggery, and smiled.

“You saved my life,” she said, laughing. The darkness moved in around her, and she disappeared just as Vile lunged at her from the shadows. He grabbed nothing but air.

Skulduggery stepped in front of Valkyrie. “Stop right there,” he said.

Lord Vile, the armour, turned towards him.

“I want you gone,” Skulduggery said. “You’re a part of me, and I want you gone. I left you behind a long time ago and I have no intention of letting this continue. Your time is up.”

Vile sent a shadow crashing into him.

“Hey!” Valkyrie shouted. “Hey! What the hell are you doing?”

Four spears of shadow rose up over Vile’s head, and Valkyrie turned and ran. They shot towards her as she jumped sideways. All but one of the spears missed her. The last one glanced off the back of her jacket and spun her round as she fell.

There were shouts. The barricades had been breached. Sanctuary operatives were storming the Temple. Vile tilted his head, the same way Skulduggery did. Then the shadows swirled and he was gone.

Chapter 32 - A Bad Night in Haggard

Chapter 32
A Bad Night in Haggard

alkyrie sat hunched over on a fallen headstone, her hands in her pockets and her eyes on the ground. Around her, Cleavers and sorcerers filed in and out of the Temple. They hadn’t started bringing the bodies out yet. She didn’t want to be here when they did.