Pleasantly Raising Cain

Girl on Fire (Part 5)

The great Skeleton Detective, the sorcerer who was feared by almost every villain in the world, was broken...

Tears were streaming down Tanith's cheeks as the coffin was lowered into the ground. She watched as Skulduggery took one look at it, and dropped to his knees again. She had never seen him this broken before.
Ghastly stood beside her, and Ravel, Saracen, Dexter, Anton, Synecdoche and a lot of other Mages were gathered around the place, for the burial of Valkyrie Cain. Tanith hugged Ghastly and sobbed violently as the dirt was filled in on the grave.

Skulduggery ran his fingers across the headstone. It read:

                       Valkyrie Cain
                  (Stephanie Edgley)
               
                Much loved partner,
                friend and daughter.

               Will be sorely missed.

It couldn't be real. Valkyrie couldn't just die and leave them all like this! Everyone was in tears, even Anton Shudder's eyes were watering. But Skulduggery, well, to put it lightly,
Skulduggery was a complete mess. Valkyrie had been the only thing keeping him going in life, his light in the dark, his shining star. Now, she was gone. Taken from them. Oh, Sanguine and Dusk were going to pay. Tanith wouldn't be surprised if there was a break in at the Gaol and two prisoners were found dead. She wouldn't blame Skul, she was angry and upset too.

Erskine on the other hand, was going to kill Madame Mist as well. If she hadn't sent them on that stupid case, Valkyrie would've still been alive. At least, that was Erskine's view on things at the moment. He could tell that everyone else felt the same way too. And the sickest thing that irked him the most, was the Mist wasn't even at Valkyrie's funeral. She couldn't even be bothered to at least try and make it up to Skulduggery! Ravel shook his head and watched as Skulduggery sobbed next to the grave. Ravel had never seen him so broken since his wife and child had been murdered before his very eyes.

*******

After the burial was complete, some people left, while Tanith, Ghastly, Ravel and Skulduggery stayed, and no one spoke. No one cried anymore. They were all grieving silently. Tanith's blonde hair blew around her tear stained face, and Skulduggery still hadn't moved from his position beside the grave. It broke Tanith's heart in more ways than one. His best friend was dead. Her best friend was dead. Her little sister was dead, gone. At the moment, Tanith didn't feel anything, just a numb, emptiness. And she couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't cry. She could tell that the others felt exactly like she did.

She watched Skulduggery finally stand up. His head was down, and he had lost his usual grace and confidence. She really felt for him.

"I'm so sorry Skul," she whispered, fighting back more tears.

Skulduggery didn't answer. Tanith clung to Ghastly and waited for another few minutes. It was getting cold now, and her leather wasn't the best for keeping her warm. She started rubbing her arms and looked around. It was also getting dark, the sun was setting. She turned to face Ghastly, and froze. Her jaw dropped and she gasped. Valkyrie Cain stood behind them all, her hands in her pockets, with a smile on her face.

"Hey guys," she said loudly, the wind blowing her dark hair around her face, making her look scary. "Miss me?"