Valkyrie tapped the stone again. “Hey. Gordon, hey, I can’t hear you.”

The image steadied. Gordon blinked. “Can you hear me now?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, good. Now what was I saying? Oh, of course. The body won’t last long. An entity of Darquesse’s power can only survive in her original form – in this case, you. She’ll burn out any temporary vessel within—”

“I know all that,” said Valkyrie. “I don’t think she’s taken possession of Stephanie yet, though. She had someone else steal the body.”

“Huh,” said Gordon. “Do you know why?”

Valkyrie hesitated. “I’m wondering if, before she hops into Stephanie, she’s going to try to do something to make sure she can possess her without burning her out.”

“Do you have any idea what that might be?”

“When I was Darquesse, I spent a lot of time collecting information on how magic works. I can’t remember most of it, and the stuff I do remember I don’t understand any more. But I remember some things. Like a story about a pool in the caves below us, where ordinary weapons were turned into God-Killers.”

Gordon nodded. “Yes, the Source Fountain, as it’s called. Anathem Mire mentioned it in the journals he kept when he went exploring.”

“Did he find this fountain?”

“He did indeed. Fascinating properties, that water, turning ordinary objects into magical items. Simply fascinating.”

Valkyrie looked at him. It took him a moment. Then his eyes widened.

“Oh, my! You think Darquesse is going to put Stephanie’s body in the fountain!”

“Why wouldn’t she? Why wouldn’t that work? It’d be like marinating the body in magical juices, right? And when it’s done marinating, she takes it out and this non-magical body is suddenly capable of absorbing whatever magic is poured into it. That’s how the fountain works, yeah? How long would it take? To marinate?”

“I don’t know,” said Gordon. “Hours, certainly.”

“Darquesse has already had it for hours.”

Gordon flickered, but his voice remained strong. “Then we have no time to waste. Whoever took the body will still have had to get it down there, past all those horribly nasty creatures. If we’re lucky, that’s delayed them. If we’re really lucky, it’s killed them. I suppose we’ll soon find out.”

“We?”

“Oh, yes,” said Gordon, putting his hands on his hips. “You really think I’m letting you go down there without me? I’ve read Anathem Mire’s journals from cover to cover. I know his maps, I know his notes, I know every short cut and every dead end off by heart. You’re taking me down there, young lady, and I will brook no argument.”

Valkyrie raised her eyebrows. “Fair enough.”

“Excellent. So what do we do now?”

“I’m going to call Skulduggery.”