Skulduggery Pleasant: Death Bringer Part 50

"Why?" Melancholia asked as they moved.

"Why what?"

"You know what. Why didn't you let him kill me? Why are you doing all this for me?"

Valkyrie frowned back at her. "I don't... I don't really know. I'm sick of people dying, I suppose."

"Even your enemies?" Melancholia said. Her eyebrow rose. "That's ridiculous. The only point in having enemies is so you can defeat them, kill them, brush them aside."

"Or give them a chance to redeem themselves."

Melancholia smiled. "You honestly think I'm going to change my ways? I want to kill you. I want to kill everyone. I finally understand what death is. I understand its beauty, but I'm not stupid. I know very few people will share this view. You want to stop me from spreading the beauty of death. You think I'm the villain, don't you?"

Valkyrie shrugged as she walked. "One of them."

"And I think you're the villain for trying to stop me. I have nothing to redeem myself for, because I've done nothing wrong."

"You're something of a sociopath, then."

"No, I've just moved beyond what living people think of as important. Living is not important. It's just not. Neither is dying, for that matter. But the two of them together, this wonderful stream of existence... Wait till you see it. You'll wonder why you ever tried to stop me."

Valkyrie stopped, and turned. "See, you're talking, and in theory your words are linking up and making sense, but I still haven't a clue what you're on about. And even if you do have a deeper understanding of life and death than the rest of us, which I doubt, that's still no reason to start killing millions of people."

"I'm going to kill them because I can kill them, that's all. Lives are meaningless."

"I don't think you believe that."

Melancholia laughed. "Oh really?"

Valkyrie resumed walking. "I think, OK, for a moment, you glimpsed a great truth about life and death. Maybe your power surged in such a way that it pushed you a little further, opened your mind a little wider. OK, I can accept that. But that's not how you feel now."

"How would you know what I feel now?"

"Because you are running from Lord Vile, just like I am."

She heard Melancholia's smile fade from her voice. "I don't fear death," she said. "I just don't want the inconvenience of it right now."

"You can look at it like this, if it helps. For a few moments, your power drove you insane, made you a sociopath with glowing red eyes who wanted to kill millions of people. But you got better."

"I wasn't insane."

"You were a little."

"I think I'd feel OK about killing you."

"Don't worry," Valkyrie said, looking back, "that'll pa.s.s."

"My eyes were really glowing red?"

"Yep."

Melancholia nodded to herself. "Cool."

They walked on for another ten minutes, until Melancholia's leg buckled under her and she fell against the wall of the tunnel.

"I can't go on," she said. "I just can't."

"You're sure?" Valkyrie frowned.

"Of course I'm b.l.o.o.d.y sure."

Melancholia was pale and sweating, and her hands were shaking. Valkyrie took a leaf from her jacket pocket, and handed it over. "Chew this. It'll numb the pain."

Melancholia stared at it. "You had this? You had this in your pocket the whole time and you waited until now to give it to me?"

"It's the only one I have, and it wouldn't have lasted for the whole journey."

"I've been in agony!"

"So get chewing."

Melancholia stuffed the leaf into her mouth, and staggered back against the wall. Valkyrie sat on a pile of small rocks.

"I hate you," Melancholia said, still chewing.

"I know."

"I've never hated anyone so much."

"Is it working yet?"

"Yes," Melancholia snapped. "But I still hate you."

"You're allowed," said Valkyrie. The pile of rocks s.h.i.+fted beneath her, and when she put her hand down to steady herself, they scattered and she slid to the ground. Her first instinct was to laugh, but the rocks swarmed her, a chattering ma.s.s of legs and teeth, dozens of them. She swiped three of them off her chest, realised she was moving, they were carrying her, and she tried to gain some purchase, tried to get up, but there was nothing to hold on to.

"Help!" she shouted to Melancholia, who stood there, open-mouthed. "Help me!"

Valkyrie twisted, glanced at where the things were taking her, saw nothing but the tunnel wall with another pile of rocks at its base. That pile came alive too, and parted, revealing a dark hole, and they carried her through. She clicked her fingers, summoned a flame, saw smooth rock pa.s.sing above. The creatures, whatever they were, remained unaffected by the light. All she saw were legs and teeth beneath those rock-like sh.e.l.ls, no eyes. They didn't need eyes down here.

The tunnel got narrower and her claustrophobia kicked in. She kept her arms bent, hands at her chest. Her shoulders sc.r.a.ped the tunnel walls. A sudden fear flashed through her, that she'd get jammed in here, unable to move. She let the fire go out and covered her face with her hands. She was sweating. Breathing fast. Close to panic. Her progress slowed, the creatures working to get her through. The tunnel walls were tight against her shoulders. Her arms were forced down by her sides. It was too small. The s.p.a.ce was too small. Too narrow and too low. She wanted to scream and lash out, flail and kick, but there was no room for that. She had to keep it together. She had to. She had to remain calm. She had to keep control.

The creatures were all over her. All she could hear were their scuttling legs and her own breathing. Another sound escaped her. A sob. Was she crying? No, not yet. But close. Very close.

"Please," she whispered. "Please please please please."

The creatures gave another determined shunt, and her head banged painfully off the tunnel ceiling and her shoulders jammed and she came to a sudden, jarring halt.

She was stuck.

Her arms were trapped by her sides. She could open and close her hands, and she could kick her feet a few inches, but that was all.

Valkyrie opened her eyes to complete blackness. She heard the creatures scuttling away to either side, which meant the tunnel had opened to something wider. She just had to get her shoulders through this last narrow bit, and she'd have room.

She started wriggling. She couldn't bend her knees much, but she tried her best, tried to gain a foothold and push off from it. Her fingers sc.r.a.ped the rock. Her hips squirmed as much as they could.

Her shoulders wouldn't budge, though. Nothing she was doing was moving her further on.

Closing her eyes, she forced herself to take deep breaths. Her hands were slick with sweat, and the air felt cold against her skin. She could feel the air against her feet, too, even through the boots. It was faint, very faint, but it was there, that s.p.a.ce where it all connected. All she had to do was push off from it, then fly like a torpedo from a launch tube. Easy. It was going to be easy.

Her heartbeat slowed. She took another breath. Let it out. In control again. In control.

She pushed off hard, felt the air rus.h.i.+ng around her body, felt it shoot up through the gaps and blow her hair off her face. But she didn't move. She didn't move, not one inch.

She tried to kick, banged her knee. She clawed at the rock, felt a fingernail break. The fear and panic and fury built up inside her, rose from her belly and swelled in her chest and burst from her mouth in a long, raw scream tinged with terror.

A shaft of light appeared overhead.

"Help!" she shouted. "Help! I'm down here! I'm stuck!"

She got no shout in return, save for her own echo. Another shaft of light hit the rounded wall of the small chamber. It was like a chimney, leading up, and she was at the bottom.

"Hey!" she shouted. "I need help!"

Another shaft of light, and another. Another patch of light, and another. Salvation, slowly being revealed. But it wasn't like an escape route being uncovered, with rocks and debris being cleared away from the other side. Instead, it was like there was something on this side of the escape route, slowly uncurling. Something that had been blocking it, maybe sleeping beneath it. Something that she had woken up with her screams.

Something that those rock creatures had maybe been feeding.

Chapter 56.

Panic

he could move her right shoulder slightly. She tried forcing it down, but it was just too tight. She sc.r.a.ped her left hand across her belly, fingers scrabbling for the sleeve of her right arm. She grabbed it, tugged as hard as she could. A few flecks of rock fell on to her neck as a reward. She tried again, snarling as she did so. Her shoulder popped free. She could move it now. Not much, but she could move it. She squirmed into the newfound s.p.a.ce until she could move her left shoulder. Both hands pressed against the top of the tunnel and her heels dug in. More shafts of light were revealed, and others were momentarily blocked off as whatever it was made its way down towards her. Valkyrie gritted her teeth, fingers and legs straining, and heaved herself a few inches back inside the tunnel.

Her fingers flattened, her heels dug in and she heaved. Another few inches, this time. And then another few more. Her chin was almost inside the tunnel now. Her feet kicked around until she found a good place of purchase. Heaved again.

Inch by inch, with agonising slowness, Valkyrie got her whole body back inside the tunnel. Sweat stung her eyes and she couldn't wipe it away. She kept going. She had to. She didn't know if the thing behind her had arms or tentacles, but she couldn't stop.

She had more s.p.a.ce now. She could heave herself a greater distance.

There was a sound above her. She cracked open an eye against the sweat, saw a blurry shape filling the tunnel behind her head.

She didn't waste her breath cursing. She just went faster, splintering another nail, banging her head. More s.p.a.ce above. She squeezed one hand past her face, wiping her eyes as she did so, grunting in exertion. Finally, it broke through, and then she did the other. It got stuck halfway and Valkyrie suddenly started crying. She twisted and squirmed, felt the rock rip the skin on the back of her hand as it burst through to join the other. Now both hands were over her head, and she felt the air, felt the creature closing in, and she pushed.

She shot away from the creature, yelling in pain. Her jacket rode up over her chest, leaving her back bare against the sharp rocks beneath. She stopped and screamed, but didn't let herself pause. She pushed again, cracking her head against the wall, feeling the skin rip all the way up her back.

She had s.p.a.ce now, s.p.a.ce to hug herself, s.p.a.ce to bend her legs and raise her head. The exit was in sight.

"Melancholia!" she shouted. "Hey!"

There was no movement out there in the larger tunnel, and Valkyrie screamed her curses. She brought her legs in towards her, twisted sideways, cursing and grunting and sobbing, and managed to turn her body so that she could crawl the rest of the way.

She got out, got to her hands and knees, tried to stand, but she was trembling so much she collapsed. All she wanted to do was stay curled up like this. But she couldn't stop. She couldn't even rest. She opened her eyes, looked around. Melancholia wasn't even there to help her up.

Her hands were cut raw, fingernails on both hands cracked and broken. The back of her jacket was soaked with blood. Every movement made her whimper.

She got up. At least her legs were OK. She could still run.

Holding her hands close to her chest, her fingers curled protectively, Valkyrie hurried on. Melancholia wouldn't have been able to get that far, not with how badly she was limping. Valkyrie didn't know what she was going to do when she caught up with her. Melancholia hadn't even helped. She'd just stood there while Valkyrie was carried away. Valkyrie had half a mind to throw her to Vile and run on without her.

Valkyrie faltered when she heard a roar up ahead. Grimacing, she sneaked to the end of the tunnel, peeked round.

Melancholia was trying to climb to a higher ledge while three rat-monkeys attacked Lord Vile.

Valkyrie looked closer, trying to come up with a better description than rat-monkey. But no, rat-monkey was exactly what they were. They were humanoid, as tall as she was, covered in patches of dirty brown fur. Their faces were long and their mouths were small but packed with sharp teeth. Vile threw shadows, but they dissipated on impact. The rat-monkeys leaped on him, shrieking, bringing him down.

Above it all, Melancholia was halfway to the ledge.

Vile kicked the first rat-monkey away, slammed an elbow into the second. The third fell on him and they rolled. The rat-monkey was up first, dancing and chattering. Vile got to his feet, lunging, his hands closing around the creature's throat. The rat-monkey squawked, its hands and feet flailing as Vile's arms straightened and he lifted. They may have been immune to magic, but Vile had hundreds of ways to take a life. Even from where she stood, Valkyrie heard the snap of the creature's neck, and then Vile threw it to one side and turned to face the other two.

They snarled and shrieked their rage. Vile sent a shadow up to the ceiling. It wrapped around a stalact.i.te and snapped it off, then swooped down and drove it through the smaller rat-monkey's chest.

The remaining creature howled in anguish and went straight for Vile. It leaped for him but he moved, got behind it, wrapped an arm around its neck. He held it struggling against him while he strangled it, then let it fall.

Vile nudged the creature with his foot, while a shadow rose through the air after Melancholia. It lazily wrapped around her ankle and tugged, and she fell to the cavern floor, cursing. Vile lost interest in the rat-monkey, strode over to Melancholia as she did her best to stand.

"Stay away from me!" she roared.

Valkyrie took a breath, and sprinted from cover.

Melancholia tried to sweep Vile away in a wave of shadows, but something went wrong and she cried out, fell to her knees. Darkness pulsed through her skin.

Vile shadow-walked to her side, but just as he reappeared, the darkness pulsed again and he was gone.

Valkyrie skidded to a halt. "Where'd he go?"

"Thought you were dead," Melancholia murmured.