11. Don't waste time

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Sorry that this is a bit late! I was away and I had to finish a bit that I decided to add at the last minute!!
But to make up for it this one's longer than usual :) 

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Loud bashing on the front door drew Valkyrie's attention away from the TV. She was babysitting Alice for a day while her parents were having a well-deserved day off. Valkyrie lazily got up and moved towards the door. When she got into the hall there was bashing on the door again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Seriously there's no need to break down the door" called Valkyrie to the person outside. Valkyrie opened to door to a grime covered Adelle who was missing her coat and had shackles thrown over her shoulder. It had been a few days since she'd seen Adelle. Vile however had already shunted back and left their dimension for the second time. Lord Vile kept a low profile while still letting his whereabouts be known to the Sanctuary's agents.
"I need you to shunt me back" said Adelle urgently
"I, What? If I do that then you'll just end up back here in a shorter amount of time" said Valkyrie
"I know, and I'm sorry but this is a life or death situation" said Adelle as she ran her hand through her messy hair. "I, I might have been gone to long already"
"Well I'll see what I can do. Do you want to come in?" asked Valkyrie trying to be courteous.
"Thank you" mumbled Adelle and Valkyrie could see by her movements that she was exhausted. Adelle followed Valkyrie into the living room and slumped on the sofa. Alice drew her attention away from the puzzle she was attempting and stared at the new comer. Adelle gave Alice a nod and a gentle smile. Valkyrie dialled Fletcher's number and impatiently waited for it to connect.
"Who are you?" asked Alice
Adelle gave a tired sigh and heaved herself to the edge of the sofa. "I'm Adelle and I'm a friend of Valkyrie here"
Alice's little eyebrows pulled together, "Valk-urie" repeated Alice as she tried the foreign word.
"Stephanie" whispered Valkyrie into Adelle's ear.
Adelle quickly realized what was going on, "I mean Stephanie. Valkyrie's just her nick name" Adelle countered.
Valkyrie didn't completely trust Adelle but she appeared to be unarmed and looked unable to put up a good fight. Despite the fact that Adelle's discipline was unknown Valkyrie still held the advantage of terrain, knowledge of make shift weapon placements and the advantage in strength. But the sooner she got Alice out of the house the better.
Finally Fletcher picked up, "Hey Fletcher it's Val, I need you over at my house. Can you drop my sister off as Fergus and Beryl's house? We have an urgent situation." Said Valkyrie before Fletcher could even get a word in. Within the next few seconds there was a pop and Fletcher stepped into the living room. Adelle craned her neck to look at Fletcher.
"You have a teleporter. Neat. I know a teleporter too. He's younger though"
"Hey are you saying that I'm old?!" snapped Fletcher
Adelle gave a chuckle, "No, it's just the teleporter I know hasn't had his surge yet. Like me."
"You haven't had your surge yet?" inquired Valkyrie.
"Nah, I'm a late bloomer" said Adelle as she lifted herself off the sofa. "I'm Adelle, it's great to meet you"
"Fletcher Renn" introduced Fletcher as he shook Adelle's out stretched hand.
"By the way, do you have any chalk or crayons that I could borrow?" questioned Adelle.
"Yeah sure" said Valkyrie as she pointed to a container of chalk next to the TV. Adelle said her thanks then snatched up the container and dropped back onto the sofa.
"Hey, Al we're going to your Uncle and Auntie's place for a bit" said Fletcher and he tenderly grabbed Alice's hand then they teleported.
As soon as Fletcher disappeared Valkyrie rung China. If they were going to shunt Adelle then they would need to get everything ready. While explaining the current situation to China, Valkyrie kept an eye on Adelle. At this point Valkyrie noticed that Adelles hands were raw and scratched, it was as if she had scrapped the cuffs off her hands. Holding the chains in her lap Adelle drew a small symbol with the chalk on the inside of every cuff. Once she finished a symbol she then tap it and the cuff would click open. When all of the cuffs were open Adelle then drew a line through an etched symbol on the pair of magic binding cuffs. From Valkyrie perspective it looked as though nothing happened but Adelle however seemed satisfied with whatever the outcome was. Valkyrie moved upstairs and put China on speaker while Valkyrie swapped her regular clothes for her black ones. Slipping on her jacket Valkyrie made her way down the stairs and back in to the living room. Just in time to see a flash of yellow appeared. Fletcher was back. Valkyrie quickly finished explain the situation and told China that they would soon be at Roarheaven.
"Fletcher can you get us to Roarheaven please?" asked Valkyrie
"No problem" replied Fletcher as he held his hand out. Valkyrie grasped his hand and Adelle placed hers on his shoulder.

Once they arrived Adelle looked even more on edge then before.
"Can you pick Skulduggery up?" Valkyrie asked Fletcher, he gave a nod then disappeared.
"Look before we go ahead with anything I would like to know some more information" said Valkyrie to Adelle "Why do you need to get back?"
"I don't have much time. But it's my brother. If I don't get back soon, I-if they find out that I'm gone they'll kill him" said Adelle with her voice shaking.
"Who?" pressed Valkyrie
"The members of the resistance, Serpine, whoever finds out that I'm gone." Replied Adelle
"Last time I checked you weren't with the Resistance." Said Valkyrie as Skulduggery and Fletcher appeared.
"They want to use me as a bargaining piece with Mevolent. The resistance want to launch a surprise attack when they exchange us with Mevolent tomorrow." Explained Adelle
"Why would Mevelont even agree to an exchange with you as the bargain?" questioned Skulduggery
"I'm a fugitive, and so are my brothers. But I wouldn't be surprised If Mevolent launched an ambush as well" replied Adelle as she gave a shrug.
Skulduggery gave a nod, "That wouldn't be uncommon for him." Skulduggery turned to Valkyrie "I need to talk to China first"
"Sure, let's go" said Valkyrie.

Skulduggery, China and Valkyrie had a discussion in hushed voices while Adelle fidgeting more and more. Finally it seemed that they came to a decision.
"We will send you back. However we will not send you back again unless you are actually stuck here" concluded China.
"Sure, I understand" confirmed Adelle.
"Do you have anywhere you want us to shunt you from?" asked Valkyrie
Adelle gave a location and Creyfon Signate was quickly contacted. Fletcher collected the shunter then grabbed everyone and teleported them.
They all reappeared in the middle of a large wheat field. Trees skirted the edges and there was a small hut to the east of the field.
"This looks familiar" said Adelle. "I came through here on my way to Haggard."
"All right let's go" said Valkyrie as she adjusted her jacket.
"You don't need to come. If anyone sees you they'll freak out" said Adelle
"It sounds like you need our help" said Skulduggery
"Maybe, but I have a plan, granted it's probably a bad one although it should work" answered Adelle as she shuffled her feet.
"And what would that plan be?" inquired Skulduggery
"Get in unnoticed and get my brother out" replied Adelle
"You're right it's a bad plan, although I can't say it's any better than the ones we get" commented Valkyrie with a smile.
"Are you sure you don't need our help?" Asked China
"It's not that I don't need it, it's just that you've already done so much. I can't ask you to put yourselves at risk for someone you barely know" replied Adelle
"We've save the world multiple times. Risking our lives for people we don't know is part of our job description" quipped Valkyrie
"Well, that's kinda hard to beat. But look you've helped enough you don't need to go to any more trouble." Said Adelle as she shook her hands.
"If you say so" said Skulduggery, "Well we all wish you good luck." Continued Skulduggery with a nod. Everyone else gave their good wishes and within the next few moments Crayfon dragged Adelle was back to her dimension.
"Thank you so much for your help" called Adelle over her shoulder as she started to move out of the potato field that they had shunted to.
"Just don't get yourself killed. I'd hate for my work to go to waste" replied Crayfon sounding grouchy more than anything else.


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I have a question and I'd like you guys to be honest, do you think that my work is deteriorating in quality? 
I'm terrible at judging the quality of my chapters. I mean I can tell how good they are to a degree, but you know nothing like the opinions of your readers :)
Anyway so yeah what do you think? Please tell me honestly if you think the chapters are getting worse! 

Also next chapter, ACTION!!! And the chapter after that ACTION :D I also have a very violent chapter coming up. Don't panic I will give a warning but it shouldn't be much more violent than Derek Landy's writing. 

Yep that's the 'what's to come' :D

Have a great evening and I'll hurry up and put up the flashback chapter XD (I'm doing a lot of those recently) 

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