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Back Resurrection Save as PDF
Chapters (81)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Contents
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. 54
  60. 55
  61. 56
  62. 57
  63. 58
  64. 59
  65. 60
  66. 61
  67. 62
  68. 63
  69. 64
  70. 65
  71. 66
  72. 67
  73. 68
  74. 69
  75. 70
  76. 71
  77. Glossary
  78. Dramatis Personae
  79. Keep Reading …
  80. The Skulduggery Pleasant series
  81. About the Publisher

Collup screamed so suddenly it made Valkyrie jerk in her clasps. Orange light spilled from the nozzle at his chest, filling the tube with its violent splendour, the sigils burning brightly now, straining to contain the power coursing through it. Collup’s screams turned to a long, agonised howl as his skin dried and wrinkled while Valkyrie watched, and his body hollowed out and his bones snapped in their confinements. His life force flowed through the hose and filled the Soul Catcher and when it was done Melior lifted his hand and the hose went dark and Collup’s head lolled forward.

His right hand trembling a few centimetres above the Soul Catcher, Melior moved his left to the heart on the table. With a look on his face like he was being forced to plunge his hand into boiling water, he took a deep breath and once again placed his hand on the churning sphere. He jerked upright as the energy passed through his body and out from his fingertips.

The heart soaked it up, soaked up every last bit of it, and when the Soul Catcher was empty Melior took his hands away. He stepped back, pale and exhausted, watching the heart.

The heart lay on the table.

Lethe looked at Melior. Melior kept looking at the heart.

And then it began to beat.

63

It was no longer small and dry. The heart was larger now, and it glistened, and it beat faster. Stronger.

It sprouted its first artery.

It happened quickly after that. The arteries grew, were joined by thickening veins, linked to capillaries that spread outwards, that grew pieces of meat, and from those pieces organs formed, lungs and kidneys and now bone, a spinal cord growing right there on the table, a nervous system being birthed, maturing, and Valkyrie saw nerve clusters and vertebrae and a mass of cells becoming a brain. Around that brain a skull was forming, while elsewhere there were ribs curling protectively around the organs and meat covering the ribs and she saw clavicles and a humerus and a pelvic bone and femurs, it was growing legs, and the meat was spreading and the veins were spreading and then it all slowed down.

“Well done, Richard,” said Lethe, examining the half-thing that lay on the table. “Well done.”

“I can hear her,” Cadaverous said. “I can hear her louder than ever. Clearer.”

Razzia giggled, tapping her head, listening to the voice. “She wants more,” she said.

Memphis disconnected the first hose from the tripod and attached the second.

Tanner Rut looked at Valkyrie, but there was nothing either of them could say. They both stared at Collup’s corpse as Memphis climbed the hydraulic arm. Rut closed his eyes as Memphis reached him.

“This won’t hurt a bit,” Memphis said, grinning, as he inserted the nozzle into the curved plate. He locked it.