Le Début |Skulduggery Pleasant

Chapter 22: The Sceptre of the Ancients

Belle Èclipse's POV:

I felt Nefarian's lips against mine. It took me a couple seconds to realise that I wasn't kissing him back, so I quickly began to move my lips against his. I put my hands on his shoulders and kissed him with as much passion as I could possibly muster for the man I hated the most. We pulled away from each other and we both smiled, mine being fake and his being oddly real. 

He turned away from me and walked towards the Sceptre which was in the middle of the room. I quickly glanced up at the ledge and saw Valkyrie looking over, looking slightly scared. We made eye contact for a brief second before I quickly looked away. I didn't want her to see me act this way.

I watched him tap the lock with a skinless finger of his red right hand, and the mechanism rusted and snapped in an instant. He smiled as he pulled on his glove, opened the chest, and lifted the Scepter of the Ancients from within.

"At last," Nefarian muttered.

A strange singing filled the chamber and I realized it was coming from the black crystal in the Scepter. Nefarian and I turned as Skulduggery Pleasant stormed into the cavern.

Skulduggery waved his hand and the Hollow Men flew back off their feet. He crashed into Nefarian and the Scepter clattered to the ground. Nefarian threw a punch but Skulduggery ducked under it and moved in close, his hand snaking up to Nefarian's shoulder and his hip twisting into him. Nefarian pitched over and hit the cavern floor—hard.

I looked to the Sceptre and quickly went towards it, trying to grab it, before I could, the purple tendrils from Nefarian's hand wrapped around it and pulled it towards him. Before it could reach him, however, Skulduggery punched him, causing the Sceptre to fly closer to the edge of the light.

Skulduggery clicked his fingers. Nefarian was too close to dodge the fireball; it hit him square in the chest and enveloped him completely. The hollow men froze as their master wheeled about, engulfed in flame. His foot hit the Scepter, and it skidded to the edge of the light. I froze and watched as he stood there, enveloped in flames.

Skulduggery splayed his hand and Nefarian hit the far wall and collapsed to the floor. Skulduggery put out the flames with a casual wave. Nefarian lay where he was, his clothes smouldering, his flesh charred and horribly burned.

"It's over," Skulduggery said. "This is where your past catches up with you. This is where you die."

And then, impossibly, a laugh and Nefarian sat up.

"That," He said, "hurt."

And as I watched, the burned flesh started to heal itself and hair regrew along the blistered scalp, leaving not even a scar.

"What have you done, Nefarian?" I asked in a whisper, eyes wide.

Nefarian gathered purple vapour in his palm and threw it at Skulduggery, knocking him back. The vapour became a thin, snaking tendril that darted into the shadows, wrapping around the Scepter and yanking it into Nefarian's hand just as Valkyrie reached for it. Skulduggery recovered, but he was too late to do anything. The sorcerer got to his feet, holding the Scepter, and smiled.

"I'm of two minds," Nefarian said. "Should I use this to destroy you, to reduce your worthless bones to ash, or should I just leave you down here in the darkness? Leaving you here would be more satisfying in the long term, I admit, but what can I say? I crave instant satisfaction. I'm shallow like that."

Valkyrie lunged, slamming her shoulder into Nefarian's back just as the Scepter's crystal flashed. Black lightning zigzagged through the air, missing Skulduggery by inches and turning the rock behind him to dust. Nefarian turned and grabbed her. Valkyrie punched him with all her strength, but he just snarled, and then I went up to him and kicked the back off his kneecaps, causing him to let go of Valkyrie and look at me.

He glared at me. "You love me, huh?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I'm an excellent actress," I punched him and then kicked his stomach. Nefarian went sliding across the cavern floor, but he was still clutching the Scepter.

Skulduggery waved at the hollow men and they hurtled backward. Skulduggery grabbed Valkyrie's wrist and dragged her out. Skulduggery sprinted so fast that she just allowed herself to be carried along in his wake.

I looked back to Nefarian as he stood up. "I'm sorry, Nefarian. If only you had have been a better person. I could've truly loved you."

"Belle-" He started, but I didn't let him finish as I teleported to Gordon's cellar before he could.

As I got there, Skulduggery and Valkyrie ran in and closed the door behind them.

"Do you think that will stop him?" Valkyrie asked.

I scoffed slightly. "He has the most powerful and most ancient weapon of all time. I don't think that a door is going to stop him."

As if to prove my point the floor began to crack.

"Move!" Skulduggery shouted.

We quickly bolted up the stairs, Valkyrie and I glancing back just in time to see the floor disappear within a whump of dust. We got out of the house and Valkyrie began to run ahead of Skulduggery and me. We began fighting off the hollow men and one got past us and to Valkyrie. She handled it pretty well by tearing off its face and letting it deflate. Another one got through and Skulduggery tackled it to the ground.

Tanith was suddenly there, helping me with fighting off the hollow men with our swords and me occasionally shooting a couple of them. Black lightning streaked from the doorway and the Canary Car crumbled to nothing, and Nefarian stalked out of the house. Skulduggery began hurling fireballs at Nefarian, he waved the first one away but had to dodge to avoid the others.

A car pulled up and the door opened. Tanith ran up to Valkyrie and pushed her in, getting in behind her. Skulduggery hurled one last fireball before he jumped in through the window. The door closed and the car drove away.

Skulduggery Pleasant's POV:

I looked around the inside of the car and realised that Belle wasn't in there with us. I turned my head sharply towards China. "You left Belle there?"

She scoffed slightly. "Oh, please. Don't you trust Belle? She's a very talented teleporter. I'm sure that one of her many skill sets would be teleporting into moving cars."

"She's right you know, Skulduggery. You really should have more faith in me," I heard Belle say.

I whipped my head around to look at her and my mind was instantly relieved and my posture slumped a little bit. I hugged her. "Don't do that again."

Belle tensed slightly when I hugged her but hugged me back anyway. Why did she tense up? She never has before...