16 THE TEMPLE

      ou’re quiet,” Skulduggery said when they were back on the road.

      “I am,” Valkyrie agreed.

      “Are you in awe of me?”

      “Something like that.”

      Skulduggery nodded. “You’re in awe of me.”

      “How are you feeling?”

      “Splendid,” he replied.

      “You sure frightened him,” Valkyrie said.

      “Who, the boy? Did I?”

      “For a moment it looked like you were going to kill him.”

      “It did?”

      “It did.”

      “Fancy that,” he said.

      “You said you were unhinged.”

      “Hmm? Oh, yes, I did. Quite clever, yes? You see, if they think I have been driven mad, they will struggle to predict my actions. I become very, very dangerous to them, and hopefully, that will make Guild do what we want.”

      “And you’re not, right?” Valkyrie said cautiously. “You’re not unhinged?”

      “Oh, God, no,” he laughed. “No, I’m perfectly sane. Now then, do you want to tell me about that ring you’re wearing?”

      “Oh,” she said. “That.”

      “Solomon Wreath is teaching you Necromancy, isn’t he?”

      “I needed the extra strength to get you back,” she explained. “I’m only a trainee Elemental – I need all the help I can get, you know?”

      “And now that I’m back?”

      “Sorry?”

      “You said you needed that ring to get me back. So now that I’m here, is that it? Are you going to throw it away?”

      Valkyrie felt the cold metal around her finger and how comforting it had become lately. “If you want me to,” she said slowly.

      “What do you want to do?”

      “I don’t know.” Skulduggery didn’t say anything so she had to continue. “I suppose throwing away another set of powers, I mean, it doesn’t really make sense. It’s a weapon I need to get the job done.”

      “And being an Elemental isn’t enough to do that?”

      “When I’m powerful enough, sure, and especially with all those new things you can do, but I’m still learning. And I’ve got another few years before my magic settles, right?”

      “That’s true,” Skulduggery nodded. “You’ll probably be twenty, maybe twenty-one, before you have to choose one style over all the rest.”

      “And after that, I can’t switch?”

      He hesitated. “It’s not impossible. But it is rare.”

      “But I can keep using the ring until I’m about to settle, can’t I, and then give it back?”

      “As easy as that?”

      “Why wouldn’t it be?”

      “Strength is addictive.”

      “I can handle it.”

      “Solomon Wreath is not to be trusted.”

      “He saved my life last night.”

      Skulduggery snapped his head to her. “What happened?”

      “Uh, Crux got into my house and tried to kill me. I could have handled it. I don’t mean Wreath saved my life, but he, you know, he helped. China’s people set up a perimeter around Haggard though, so nobody magical can get in without being noticed. Except me of course.”

      “Right,” Skulduggery said, yanking the wheel sharply. “I need to have a word with Wreath.”

      Valkyrie had been to the Necromancer Temple only once before, to see her ring being forged in the shadow furnace. She had imagined, when told of the Temple, a vast building with spires and long narrow windows, of huge doors and possibly some dark and terrible towers. Her expectations were dashed when Solomon Wreath had led her through an old graveyard, to a crypt with rusted iron gates, overgrown with weeds and ivy. Beneath that crypt, however, the Temple lay – a cold and forbidding labyrinth, drenched in darkness.

      It was at this rusted gate she found herself again, standing at Skulduggery’s side. Her heart beat fast. Not from nerves, or excitement, but simply because she was in a graveyard. She could feel the tendrils of death being drawn into the ring on her finger and soaking through into her body. The thought of it made her queasy, but the sensation was…electric.

      The crypt door opened heavily and Solomon Wreath smiled at them, and said, “Suddenly there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.”

      “How unique,” Skulduggery said without enthusiasm, “a Necromancer quoting Poe.”

      Wreath’s smile grew wider. “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”

      “Shakespeare is the happy hunting ground of all minds that have lost their balance,” Skulduggery responded. “Are we going to boast about how well-read we are all day or are we going to talk?”

      “About?”

      “Valkyrie.”

      “I see. In that case, please come in.” The gate creaked open for him and they passed through. “How are you by the way? I hope that alternate dimension wasn’t too uncomfortable for you.”

      “It wasn’t all bad,” Skulduggery responded. “It gave me time to catch up on some screaming.”

      They followed Wreath down the stone steps, into the darkness.

      “I believe I have you to thank for suggesting my own skull as an Isthmus Anchor,” Skulduggery continued. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be over there.”

      “Think nothing of it.”

      “Very well.”

      Wreath laughed.

      Now they were in the dark labyrinth, passing the chambers that were carved into the walls. In some of these rooms people in black robes raised their heads, lamplight catching flashes of skin against shadow. In others the dark-robed figures were too busy with whatever they were doing to bother looking up. Up ahead, people moved quickly.

      “There seems to be a disturbance,” Skulduggery noted.

      “Nothing to concern you,” Wreath said. “One of our trinkets has gone missing. We’re trying to find it. But enough of the everyday humdrum of Temple life. You are here to talk, are you not?”

      “Valkyrie tells me she’s been taking lessons with you,” Skulduggery said, his voice loud in the cold silence.

      “Indeed she has,” Wreath responded. “Would this be a problem for you?”

      “Necromancy is a dangerous discipline. Not everyone is suited to it.”

      “Well, now,” Wreath said, smiling, “could it be that I have more faith in Valkyrie’s abilities than you do?”

      “This isn’t about ability,” Skulduggery said curtly. “This is about aptitude.”