It was almost through.
“Hit it!” she shouted. “Somebody hit it!”
Ghastly stepped forward and China left the column of smoke, but tentacles burst from the Faceless One’s chest, slammed into them and tossed them back. The tentacles, made of entrails and organs, wrapped around trees and burrowed through the ground in a last-ditch effort, an effort which was destroying its host body, to save the god within.
Then Skulduggery stood, looked at the Faceless One and stepped forward, sinking into the stance. He snapped his hands against the air and the air rippled. The Faceless One hurtled back, disappearing into the portal, its flailing tentacles yanked in after it, taking branches and clumps of earth along with it. Immediately, Skulduggery whirled.
“The Grotesquery!” he shouted. “Now!”
Within the column of smoke, Fletcher slid his hands underneath the Grotesquery’s torso and heaved, and the torso rolled out of the circle. Skulduggery gestured and the air caught the torso and brought it into his hands. He grunted and stepped back and launched it into the gateway.
Now that the link was gone, the gateway started to rapidly close.
And then a tentacle slid out and wrapped around Skulduggery’s ankle.
It tugged and he fell. He clutched at the ground as he was dragged quickly back.
“Skulduggery!” Valkyrie screamed, sprinting towards him.
He looked up and reached out to her, but it was too late. He disappeared through the gateway.
“Keep it open!” Valkyrie screamed to Fletcher.
“I can’t!”
She was three steps away when the portal collapsed.
“Open it!” she yelled.
But Fletcher was standing, and through the swirling smoke she could see his stunned face. He shook his head.
“No! Fletcher, no! You’ve got to open it!”
“I don’t have the Grotesquery,” he said. “I can’t.”
China was standing, and Valkyrie ran to her, grabbed her. “Do something!”
China didn’t even look at her. Her blue eyes, so pretty, so pale, were on the empty space where she’d last seen Skulduggery. Valkyrie shoved her away, turned to Ghastly.
“Come on!” she roared.
“He’s gone,” Ghastly said, his voice dull.
“He can’t be!”
Valkyrie turned, turned again, looking for someone who knew what to do, someone who’d have a plan. She saw no one. No one knew what to do.
And then she was on her knees. There were tears running down her face and it was like a part of her had been cut out, somewhere in her belly, and her thoughts were frozen in her mind.
It was quiet. The smoke had stopped swirling, and it drifted away in the afternoon breeze. It was still, and it was peaceful, and around them were the dead bodies of friends and colleagues and enemies, and the air stank of ozone and magic.
Her parents had come home, and her dad had hugged her reflection and then gone to read the newspaper. Her mother had told the reflection all about their weekend as she unpacked. Long walks and fine food and romantic evenings. She’d asked how the reflection had got on staying with Beryl and Fergus, and the reflection had lied with accustomed ease, and said it had been fine.
Valkyrie absorbed these memories and didn’t bother examining them. She hadn’t even spoken to her parents since they’d got back – not personally. She was afraid they’d see her and instantly know something terrible had happened. She couldn’t deal with that right now. She doubted she’d have even been able to come up with a lie.
She stood in the graveyard and waited. It was raining again. It was always raining. She was getting sick of the rain.
She didn’t hear him approach, but she knew he was behind her.
“Thank you for coming,” Solomon Wreath said. “Have you spoken with Guild?”
Valkyrie turned.
“He called me into the Sanctuary last week. He said that I’m no longer a fugitive.”
“That must be nice.”
“Did you know that he’s telling everyone that the victory is all down to him and Mr Bliss? I’m sorry Bliss is dead and all, but he’s saying Skulduggery did nothing.”
“I had heard that, but the people who matter know the truth.”
“Everyone should know the truth,” she muttered.
“How is your friend? The one who was hurt?”
“She’s healing. Nothing can keep Tanith down.” Valkyrie looked at the headstones around her, then back at him. “Sorry I broke your cane.”
Wreath shrugged. “When the power was released, it flowed back into me, where it bubbled and boiled until I channelled it into something new.” He showed her a cane, identical to the last one.
“How original of you.”
He smiled. “I was very impressed with how you handled it by the way. You seem to have an instinctive grasp of Necromancy.”
“Just blind luck to be honest.”
“Nonsense. It made me wonder actually, if Elemental magic was the road you should be taking.”
“You’re saying I should be a Necromancer?”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m an Elemental.”
“You’re young. You can change your mind a hundred times before you settle on the discipline that’s right for you. Is Necromancy as elegant as Elemental magic? Perhaps not. Are Necromancers held in as high regard as Elementals? Definitely not. But as a student, you would have instant power at your fingertips, and I think you’re going to need as much power as you can get.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well, you want to get Skulduggery Pleasant back, don’t you?”
Valkyrie’s eyes narrowed. “Skulduggery’s gone.”
“Not necessarily.”
“The gateway is closed.”
“Actually, I don’t think it is.”
She shook her head. “If you’ve got something to say, just say it. I’m tired, and I want to go home.”
“What made it possible for Fletcher Renn to open the gate?”
“The Grotesquery was an Isthmus Anchor, and there’s a …” She sighed. “There’s this invisible, magical, wonderful thread that runs from an Isthmus Anchor to whatever it links to, which keeps the gate from closing for good. Fletcher used it to force the gateway open.”
“Exactly. So all you need is another Anchor.”
“The Grotesquery is gone. Skulduggery lobbed it through the portal because he didn’t want anybody opening it ever again. There are no more bits of Faceless Ones lying around.”
“It doesn’t have to be an object that links to the Faceless