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Post by shadowknight on Aug 25, 2013 1:46:10 GMT
This is an example of what Valkyrie Cain can do with a little luck, good reflexes, and a level head.......while running from a couple of feral vampires. Also some feats of Skulduggery "Air-bending". (if you will permit the "Avatar: the Last Air-bender" reference.)This also has an endurance feat for Valkyrie as she falls out of a tall tree and hits every branch on the way down, yes I know this was kind of long but it was seven pages and this is the short version. She was ten paces from the intersecting corridor when the vampire emerged from a small hall up ahead. It saw her instantly. She didn't even have time to duck down.
The corridor was ten paces away. The vampire was about thirty paces beyond that....She bolted. The vampire kicked off and bounded toward her. It was going to cover the thirty paces faster than she would cover the ten.They ran straight at each other, and the vampire leaped. Stephanie(Valkyrie) dropped and slid beneath it, feeling the rushing air as it passed overhead. She came out of the slide on her feet and twisted her body, then sprinted down the intersecting corridor....
.....She heard the vampire behind her. Every corner she turned cost her precious moments, but the vampire just leaped to the outer wall and sprang diagonally to the wall beyond the corner. .....Stephanie burst through the doors to the main hall, and Skulduggery was there. launching himself at the vampire as it reached for her. They crashed backward and tumbled....She rose to the skylight too fast, and when the harness hit the top, she lost her grip.
She managed to get one hand around the edge of the skylight as her body swung wildly. Her other hand found a grip, and she gritted her teeth and pulled herself up.....She cried out and fell backward as the vampire burst through the closed section of the skylight....Stephanie didn't even have time to get to her feet before it dived at her.
She turned away, and its claws raked across her coat but didn't penetrate the material, although the impact slammed her to the roof again. The vampire overshot but spun as soon as it landed... and it's eyes locked onto hers....Neither of them made a move, then Stephanie slowly got to her hands and knees. The vampire hissed, but didn't break eye contact....The vampire was waiting for her to make a sudden move....She moved slowly. She kept her eyes open, didn't blink, didn't do any thing that might give it an excuse to resume its attack...She took her first step, to her left.
The vampire moved with her.....She forced herself to keep calm. "Easy, boy," she said softly, and the vampire snapped at the air, Its claws clicked against themselves. Even though they hadn't pierced her coat,her back was throbbing in pain. She knew that if it hadn't been for whatever material this coat was made from, that single swipe would have killed her....She froze. If it leaped from that distance, it would be on her before she know what was happening. It kept coming, slowly stalking its prey. the second skylight exploded and then every thing was happening too fast.
The vampire broke its eye lock and lunged, but Stephanie was already moving, twisting to the side as the claws lacerated the space where she had just been. The other vampire was on the roof and closing in, and Stephanie sprinted for the edge of the building and jumped. Her legs hit branches, and she flipped over and was crashing headlong into the tree and falling. She smacked from one branch to the next, each impact spinning her and making her cry out......and then the impacts went away and for a moment it was just her and the sound of rushing air, and then the ground slammed into her.
Stephanie lay on the grass trying to breath. She could see the tree.....something was falling toward her. two things, two figures, dropping from the edge of the building. The vampires hit the ground and came at her. The window to her left shattered....Skulduggery landed in front of her. He thrust his had out and the air shimmered and he caught one of the vampires, sending it hurtling back. The second one kept coming and Skulduggery threw fire at it, but it leaped, cleared the flame, and landed with both feet on Skulduggery's chest.....
....Stephanie's body started obeying her again. She got up, still struggling to breathe.....Stephanie wrapped both arms around the vampire's neck and pulled back. It hissed and flailed, and she stumbled back to avoid its claws. Skulduggery sat up and pressed his had against the vampire. The vampire shot backward as if it had been fired form a cannon. It hit the wall of the building with a sickening thwack and fell to the ground and didn't get up. Stephanie grabbed Skulduggery's arm and dragged him to his feet, and they ran for the car. P.G.'s':193-199
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Post by shadowknight on Aug 27, 2013 16:29:37 GMT
Tanith Low magic/combat feat: Beyond the silent Hollow Men,Stephanie saw Tanith sprinting forward. She ran up the wall and across the ceiling and continued running, upside down....From the ceiling, Tanith joined the attack, swinging the sword and slicing through the tops of heads. Within a matter of moments, the Hollow Men were reduced to tatters and foul smell.p.g.252
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Post by shadowknight on Aug 27, 2013 16:54:15 GMT
Endurance feat for Skulduggery: Skulduggery looked at Mr.Bliss. Mr.Bliss looked at Skulduggery. Stephanie realized that he was standing right on the edge of the cliff. Bliss put a hand on Skulduggery's chest, and before Stephanie could even shout, he shoved, and Skulduggery shot backwards over the edge and disappeared from view.....When she finally reached the bottom of the path, she looked over at the rocks.....she turned her attention to the sea, just as Skulduggery's head broke the surface of the water....he kept rising, rising straight up out of the sea until he was standing on the waves. "I'm fine," he said curtly.-p.g.(s)285/288
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Post by shadowknight on Aug 27, 2013 16:58:49 GMT
Quick jumping/hand speed feat for Mr. Bliss: Stephanie turned and ran. She glanced back, but Bliss wasn't there, and then a shadow fell across her and he dropped from the sky. She ran straight into him and stumbled back. His hand moved like an attacking snake, snatching the brooch from her grasp.-p.g.286
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Post by shadowknight on Aug 27, 2013 17:10:35 GMT
Endurance feat for Skulduggery: She looked back just in time to see the beast collide with Skulduggery. The gun flew from his hand and he hit the ground hard, and the creature closed its claws around his ankle. It stepped back and swung, lifting Skulduggery into the air and slamming him against the tunnel wall. He hit the ground with his shoulder, but the creature wasn't finished swinging, and Stephanie watched as he was thrown against the other wall. The creature roared and yanked, and Skulduggery was flung deeper int the tunnel, and the creature was left holding one skeletal leg....Run Skulduggery yelled from the tunnel, as the creature dropped the leg and came straight for her....She saw Skulduggery dragging himself along the tunnel floor and grabbing his limb, the shoe and sock still attached. He sat up, feeding the thighbone through his trouser leg until it met his hip, then twisted and tested it, bending it toward himself. He snatched he gun from the ground beside him and got up...-P.g.(s)295-297
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Post by shadowknight on Aug 27, 2013 17:47:11 GMT
power/hand to hand feat for Skulduggery: Skulduggery waved his hand and the Hollow men flew back off their feet. He crashed into Serpine and the Scepter clattered to the ground. Serpine threw a punch but Skulduggery ducked under it and moved in close, his hand snaking up to Serpine's shoulder and his hip twisting into him. Serpine pitched over and hit the cavern floor hard....Skulduggery clicked his fingers. Serpine was to close to dodge the fireball; it hit him and square in the chest and enveloped him completely.....Skulduggery splayed his hand and Serpine hit the far wall and collapsed to the floor. Skulduggery put out the flames with a casual wave. Serpine lay where he was, his clothes smoldering, his flesh chard and horribly burned.-p.g.(s)304-305 This is a magically enhanced endurance/power feat for Serpine immediately after the fight above: And then, impossibly, a laugh, and Serpine sat up. "That," he said,"hurt." And as Stephanie watched, the burned flesh started to heal itself and hair regrew along the blistered scalp. Leaving not even a scar. Serpine gathered purple vapor in his palm and threw it at Skulduggery,knocking him back. The vapor became a thin, snaking tendril that darted ingo the shadow, wrapping around the Scepter and yanking it into Serpine's hand just as Stephanie reached for it.-p.g.(s)305-306
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Post by shadowknight on Aug 28, 2013 20:11:20 GMT
This section is on the 'Scepter of the Ancients'. This section will provide feats for the Scepters destructive power, Crystal that warns the welder when his/her enemies draw near, What powers the Scepter, how ownership works, and what its weakness is: A strange singing filled the Chamber, and she realized it was coming from the black crystal in the Scepter. Serpine turned as Skulduggery Pleasant stormed into the cavern......Stephanie lunged, slamming her shoulder into Serpine'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.-P.G.(s)=304/306 "Will that hold him?" Stephanie asked. "He's got the Scepter," Skulduggery said."Nothing will hold him." As if to prove his point, the floor started to crack. "Move!" Skulduggery shouted. They bolted up the stairs, and Stephanie glanced back just as the floor vanished in a soft whump of dust and air.-P.G.=307 Black lightning streaked from the doorway and the Canary Car crumbled to nothing....P.G.=308 Meritorious didn't even have time to register the betrayal before he saw Serpine striding toward them, holding the scepter/ The Elder instinctively conjured a protective shield that made the air glimmer, but when the crystal flashed, the black lightning came right through the shield like it wasn't even there. Then there was nothing....The administrator charged through a crowd outside the Olympia Theater...He had seen Meritorious explode into dust and ash, seen the black lightning strike Morwenna Crow as she tried to rush her enemies.-P.g.(s)-338/339 The Sanctuary's foyer had witnessed most of the carnage. It was littered with the dead...Some had been cut to ribbons, some were unmarked, and there were places, spread across the floor, where there was only the dust to those who had fallen before the Scepter.-P.G.-351 "You're going to have to go after the Scepter," Skulduggery whispered as they jogged through the corridor. "You can get close to it(due to Valkyrie being a direct descendant of the Ancients) ; I can't. It's not much of a plan, but sometimes simplicity is the way to go."-P.G.(s)-361/362 "What are you talking about? Tome asked, and then his tone changed suddenly, became afraid. "What are you doing? Point that thing somewhere else, Serpine I'm Warning you, point that----" There was a black flash, and silence.-P.G.-365 "Bells and whistles aside, Nefarian, he's nothing but a zombie. And so are you." Serpine shook his head. "Your last words are pathetic insults? I was hoping of more. Something profound, perhaps. Maybe a poem." He raised the Scepter....Stephanie screamed his name as Skulduggery dived. Serpine laughed and the Scepter sent out its bolt of black lighting, but Skulduggery had seized the 'Book of Names'(a book that is indestructible/can't be harmed by might or magic) and held it as a shield. The black lightning hit the Book, which disappeared in a cloud of dust. "No!" Serpine screamed. "No!"-P.G.(s)-378/379 Serpine with that grin. Skulduggery, holding his free hand out, and something moving through the air, everything moving so,so slowly. The Scepter. It was the Scepter, and then it was it in Skulduggery's gloved hand, and his fingers were tightening around it. He was raising his arm, and pointing, pointing the Scepter at Serpine, and the little crystal started to glow. It glowed dark, a pretty little darkness, and then the air cracked....Serpine's grinning face. His eyes. His smile. All those teeth. His skin, creased in savage pleasure. And now that skin was changing, and it was drying, and it was cracking, and the smile was fading, and the emerald-green eyes were losing their gleam, clouding over, and Serpine turned to dust that fell to the floor.-P.G.(s)-382/383 China shrugged her slender shoulders. "I knew you could do it without me. I had faith. Serpine?" "Dust," Skulduggery said..."How did you manage it?" "He wanted immortality, so he chose death on his own terms----a living death." China smiled. "Aha. And because the Scepter can only be wielded when its previous owner is dead, or in this case, when its owner is the living dead..." "I took it and used it on him." He held up the Scepter. "Something happened, though. There's no power in it anymore." China took it from him, turning it over in her hands. "It was fueled by his hate. Obviously, using it against him made it feed on itself. Congratulations Skulduggery you've managed to break the ultimate weapon.It's nothing but an ornament now."-P.G.(s)-384/385
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Post by shadowknight on Sept 2, 2013 13:33:58 GMT
These next two sections will be on the 'Cleaver'(standard) and the 'White Cleaver'(evil) section 1-Clever: Two men stood guard against the far wall, hands clasped behind them, dressed entirely in gray, with long coats and some sort of helmet with a visor that covered the entire face. Each had a scythe a wicked -looking blade on a five-foot staff, strapped to his back....p.g.-145- Stephanie barged right past him, heading for the corridor. Suddenly there was a flash of gray and a Cleaver was before her, holding the blade of his scythe to her throat....Ghastly's voice was rising, becoming angry, telling the Cleaver to lower the weapon, but the Cleaver was still and silent, a statue.Stephanie could see her burnished reflection in his visor. She didn't dare move....The Administrator gave in and agreed to ask Meritorious if he would take visitors. At a nod, the Cleaver stepped away and swung the scythe down by his side and behind him, making the mere sheathing of the weapon into an art form.-p.g.(s)-235/236 "Both their uniforms and their scythes can ward off the majority of magical attacks, and there aren't many deadlier in close combat.": Close combat?" she said with a frown, "What about throwing fireballs and stuff? Are they Elementals or Adepts?" Ghastly cleared his throat. "Neither , actually Magic corrupts certain people, and Cleavers need to be seen as completely impartial, so..." "So they're not magic? At all?" "They have some magic, but it just adds to their combat abilities. They're quite strong, and berry fast."-p.g.-240- The rescue team stood by the side of the road and looked up at the wall surrounding Serpine's land. It was maybe three times as tall as Stephanie......Without a word, the Cleavers ran forward and jumped, legs tucked beneath them, cleared the top of the wall, and disappeared from view. "Show-offs," Ghastly muttered.....-p.g.(s)-243/244-
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Post by shadowknight on Sept 2, 2013 18:20:26 GMT
section 2- White Cleaver: (with additional feats of combat from Skulduggery,combat/endurance from Tanith Low, and combat/earth elemental power from Ghastly) Spoiler 1, round 1: Skulduggery wheeled, gun in hand, and every one froze. They looked at the man. His uniform, though identical in design to that of the Cleavers, was of startling white.... A moment dragged itself by, and then the White Cleaver raised his arm and pointed straight at Stephanie. "That's all we need to know," Skulduggery said, and fired, four shots to the chest and two to the head. The White Cleaver jerked with each impact, but it was clear that the bullets didn't penetrate his coat, and the two to the head ricocheted off the helmet, leaving dark scratches against the white....Tanith attacked first, feinting with a low kick, then snapping it up high. The Cleaver didn't fall for the ruse and slapped the high kick away as Ghastly attacked from behind. The Cleaver spun with a kick of his own that caught Tanith in the gut, and he ducked under the punch that Ghastly sent his way. Ghastly jabbed, his fists blurring, but the Cleaver absorbed the blows and his hand shot out, catching Ghastly in the side of the neck. Ghastly staggered, and Skulduggery thrust out his palm and the air rippled. But instead of being pushed backward the Cleaver moved through the ripples without being affected. The uniform, Stephanie thought. Unfazed, Skulduggery threw a punch that the Cleaver caught. Skulduggery was flipped over,but when he landed, he reversed the grip. His foot sneaked out, striking the Cleaver's knee, and now Skulduggery was the one doing the twisting, and the Cleaver was the one who flipped. While he was in mid-flip, however, the Cleaver hot his free hand to the ground to cartwheel back to his feet. A pause followed, and Stephanie's three friends reappraised their opponent. -p.g.(s):328-330
Spoiler 1, Round 2: Tanith took her sword from beneath her coat and slid it from its scabbard. Ghastly let his jacket slip off, and Skulduggery put away his pistol, freeing his hands....The Cleaver's answer was to reach behind him and draw his scythe...The Cleaver darted toward them before anyone could react, using the scythe like a pole vault to swing himself up, kicking both Skulduggery and Ghastly in the Chest at the same time. They went stumbling back and Tanith came in, sword flashing. The Cleaver dodged back, whirling his scythe to parry the blade. Sparks flew as the metals clashed, sword against scythe, and such was the ferocity of Tanith's assault that the Cleaver didn't notice Ghastly until it was too late. Ghastly's arms wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides, making him drop the scythe. Tanith moved in for the kill, and the Cleaver's leg blurred in a crescent, his boot heel slamming into her wrist as the neared. She hissed in pain and dropped the sword, clutching her wrist. The Cleaver rammed his heel into Ghastly's shin and whacked the back of his helmet against his nose, then kicked both legs into the air and over his head, slipping out from under Ghastly's arms,. His hands went to the ground and he continued the movement, sending both boots into Ghastly's face.Ghastly fell back and the Cleaver held the handstand for a moment, then dropped back to his feet as Skulduggery came at him. Skulduggery summoned fire and hurled two handfuls into the Cleaver. The flames didn't catch but they did throw him back, and Skulduggery threw a lightning-fast jab that he followed with a right hook....The Cleaver recovered quickly, however, and they started trading punches and kicks, elbows and knees, all the while moving around each other in an elaborate and brutal dance.... Tanith snatched her sword off the ground and grabbed Stephanie's arm. "We have to go," she said firmly, and Stephanie nodded. They ran back the way they had come. As they were passing into the office, Stephanie glanced back and saw the Cleaver spin with a kick that sent Skulduggery to the floor. In one fluid movement, the Cleaver got a toe under the staff of the scythe, flicked it up, and caught it , and then he was running after her...Tanith stood between the Cleaver and Stephanie, holding the sword in her left hand. She cradled her injured right arm by her side. The Cleaver twirled the scythe slowly. Skulduggery and Ghastly leaped through the broken window. The Cleaver turned, and ghastly crashed into him.... Ghastly slammed a punch into the Cleaver and rolled to his feet, but the Cleaver kicked out and ghastly stumbled. The scythe flashed, the staff whacked against Ghastly's jaw. He dropped to his knees...The Cleaver stepped up to Ghastly, ready to swing his scythe... He lowered his head and clenched his fists, his eyes closed. As the Cleaver swung, the ground seemed to latch onto Ghastly's knees. It spread instantly, turning his legs to concrete, then his torso, his arms his head, his entire body in the time it took the scythe to cross the space between them and when the Cleaver tried to take his head, he could only chip at the neck.-P.G.(s):330-335--------------------------------------- White Cleaver V.s Tanith Low (combat and endurance/power feats for both.) Tanith Drew her sword....The White Cleaver drew his scythe. Tanith stepped toward him .... He started spinning his scythe, and she raised an eyebrow. "Come and have a go it you think you're hard enough."He lunged, and she blocked and sprang back at him, her sword slicking through the air. He ducked back and blocked, spinning as the scythe whistled over Tanith's head. Her sword clashed with his blade and then the handle of the scythe, and his blade clashed with her sword and then the lacquered scabbard she still held in her left hand. She ducked under his guard, staying in close where she had the advantage, where he couldn't maneuver the scythe. His blocks were lightning fast but he was o the defensive, and one of her strikes would get through eventually. Her sword sliced through his side and he stumbled back, out of range. Tanith looked at the blood on his white coat and gave him a smile. Then the blood started to darken, and a black stain moved over the red. Her smile dropped, and the bleeding stopped altogether. She backed away. There was a door behind her, and she waved it open as the Cleaver advanced. The room she fell back into was filled with cages, and in these cages, men and women stood and sat. She realized instantly where she was: the Sanctuary jail. The people in these cages were the worst of the worst....The Cleaver pursued her steadily down the steps, sparks flying as their blades clashed....She blocked a strike and her bruised wrist gave way. The Cleaver took full advantage, his blade passing along her belly, drawing blood. She grimaced in pain and retreated under the Cleaver's impossibly fast onslaught, barely managing to keep up her defense. The prisoners laughed and jeered, reaching through the cage bars at her, pulling her hair, trying to scratch her. One of them snagged her coat and she spun out of it, throwing her sword and scabbard into the air as she freed her arms from the sleeves and catching them again before the Cleaver could close the gap. He swung, and she blocked with the scabbard and flicked up with the sword, but he was twisting the scythe, deflecting the strike and returning withe one of his own. She dodged back, lost her footing, and went into a backward roll as he brought the scythe down, the point of the blade striking the ground where she had just been...she turned and ran to the wall, the Cleaver right behind her. She jumped to the wall and kept going till she was upside down, and she crossed the ceiling, trading blows with the Cleaver below her. He was forced to walk backward, to defend and attack over his own head. The Cleaver slashed and missed, and she saw her chance and took it. She struck his left hand with her scabbard and his fingers opened. She dropped and flipped, landing before he could recover, and snatched the scythe from his grasp. She kicked out and he stumbled back, and she drove her sword into him...The Cleaver took a step back. She swung the scythe, burying the blade in his chest. He fell to his knees, black blood dripping onto the floor. She looked down at him, felt his eyes through his visor, looking back at her. Then his weight fell onto his haunches, his shoulders sagged, and his head lolled forward...Tanith gripped her sword and pulled it from the Cleaver's body, snatched up the scabbard, and ran for the steps..... Just as she neared the top step, however, one of the prisoners laughed. She turned and, to her horror, saw the White Cleaver standing, pulling the scythe from his chest. He can't be stopped, she said to herself....She ran the last few steps to the door. Just as she reached it, the breath went out of her. She stopped, frowning, willing her body to move, but it wouldn't listen. She looked down at he tip of the scythe that protruded through her chest. She turned, cursing herself, saw the Cleaver walking up the steps toward her. That was some throw. She almost laughed. Her right arm was numb, and her sword fell from her grip. He stepped up beside her and took hold of the scythe. He circled, moving her around, looking at her like he was observing her pain, remembering what it was like. A twist of his hands and she was forced to her knees. She gasped when he removed the weapon, saw her own blood, deep red, mice with the black blood already on the blade. Her body was shutting down. She wasn't going to be able to defend herself. He raised the scythe. Tanith looked up, ready to die, then realized that when he had circled her, he had passed through the doorway and was now standing in the corridor. She lunged, slamming the door in his visored face. She pressed her hand against it and whispered,"Withstand." The sheen spread over the door just as the Cleaver began to pound on it from the other side...Tanith tried standing, but her body couldn't take any more. She slumped to the ground. The prisoners watched from their cages with delighted eyes, and as her blood seeped through her tunic, they started whispering........... He put her height on him and half carried her, half lifted her out of the chamber and into the corridor. They passed the jail as the door opened and Tanith toppled out. She hit the ground and groaned. Stephanie looked down at her friend, at all that blood. "Tanith?" Tanith raised her head. "Oh good," she muttered. "You're alive." Skulduggery reached for her, pulled her carefully to her feet, and with an arm around each, guided them both to the foyer...The sky was beginning to brighten, the first rays of the morning sun seeping into the black "You know," Tanith said weakly, 'I still have a gigantic hole in my back" "Sorry," Skulduggery said, and helped them both toward the Bentley.-p.g.(s):354-360/383-386
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Post by silverstarcross on Oct 24, 2013 1:51:15 GMT
Actually its Mortal Coil Chapter 21, Nye, and Ch. 22, Soul Searching that shows the entire process of one of the only ways to seal the name, from Pg. 226-236 for the chapters, most of said pages include all of Nye in it. Fair to warn you that Nye is a sharp contrast to TohouFuhai from Rosario + Vampire as far as being trustworthy is concerned.
Warning: If you are busy eating, do not read until after you are done eating.
'The hand was cold to her touch. Another reached out, taking gentle hold of her wrist. Another hand then, closing around her sleeve, and another, and with every hand that held her, Valkyrie was pulled just a little closer to the open door. She put a foot on the step and rose up off the ground, and there was a sound, like a sigh, as the hands guided her inside. Valkyrie's breath left her. Her lungs filled with cold. Her breath slowed in her veins as her heart stopped beating. She no longer felt the weight of her clothes against her skin. She sat back in the seat, a dead thing now, feeling nothing, and her mind became dull. There was no warmth in the carriage. Three people sat opposite, looking at her with blank eyes. A part of her wondered briefly where all the others had gone. She had expected, after all, a carriage filled with the dead. But no, it was just these three, and that idle curiosity faded from her mind before she could ask them any questions. She looked away. She didn't care what they were wearing, or what they looked like. A man and two women, that's all she saw before she lost interest. The Carriage trundled along uneven ground. The seats were red leather, but the colour was muted. She parted the black curtain with a hand so pale it was turning blue, and she looked at her reflection in the window and saw the face of a corpse, framed by dark hair. She took her hand away, the curtain falling back into place. She sat on the red leather seat, opposite the three dead people, and the dullness in her mind became a thick and heavy blanket that suffocated her thoughts in their infancy. And time did what time did - It passed.
***
Valkyrie was gazing blankly at the shoe of a fellow passenger when she became aware of the carriage slowing to a stop. She dragged her gaze upwards, to the window, but the curtains were still drawn and she felt no urge to part them now. The door to her right opened, and the three dead people left without speaking. Moving without energy, she followed them. They were in a warehouse of some sort. It was as cold here as it had been in the carriage. The Dullahan was waiting for her, and she followed him away from the others, into a room of tables. The head of a woman blinked at her from where it lay, on its side, beside a body separated from its limbs. Dead people, in various stages of dissection, hung from the walls on hooks and large iron nails. They looked at her as she passed, but made no sound. The Dullahan stopped before a creature wearing a grubby snock, its arms and legs impossibly long, hunched over a corpse on a table. It swivel-led its head as Valkyrie approached. In the gap above the surgical mask and beneath the cap, she could see the oily pallor of its skin. Its eyelids were punctured with broken bits of Black thread, and its pupils were small and yellow. It put away the knife it had been using to poke around inside the corpse, and pulled the mask down to its chin. It had a large scab where the nose ought to have been, and a mouth, like the eyes, that had once been sewn shut, but which now gaped at her with a smile like an open wound. "I've been looking forward to this," it said, its voice high-pitched and breathless. It was impossible to tell whether this creature was male or female."Do you know who I am?" Valkyrie nodded."Your name is Nye." Her voice sounded odd to her. "Indeed it is. I'm the only living thing in this place. Do you know what that makes me?" It didn't wait for an answer."It makes me better than you." Valkyrie didn't say anything. None of this mattered. Nye looked at the Dullahan, and annoyance flashed across its face. "I know, damn it. I will. Well, I'm not going to deviate, am I? I learned my lesson!" Seemingly satisfied, the Dullahan turned and walked out. "But just to be sure," Nye called after him,"if she doesn't make it, I get to keep what's left, yes?" The Dullahan didn't slow down. Once he was gone, Nye stood up straight, its head nearly brushing against the lights hanging from the ceiling. It looked at her."You're here to get your true name sealed," it said. "It isn't easy, you know. Not many people ever find out what their true name is, so people like me don't get a lot of practice doing what we have to do. What did the banshee tell you?" "She said I'd have to die," Valkyrie answered. "Which you have already done,"Nye nodded."You died in the Coach-a-Bowers, and you'll be dead until you leave this place and life returns to you. Did she say anything else?" "You'd need to operate." That open-wounded smile again."Yes. It's a delicate procedure, requiring me to carve three symbols on to your heart in an impossibly precise fashion. I would ask you if you are prepared to accept this risk, but I honestly don't care. The fact is, you're dead, and you're here, so your free will is a little compromised, isn't it? You're not thinking too clearly. Even if you changed your mind right now, I'd still go ahead with the operation and you wouldn't be able to stop me. I haven't done this in years, so I'm mildly curious to find out if I can do it without killing you forever. Undress now, please." No argument occurred to her, so Valkyrie did as she was told while Nye wiped its instruments on old rags and laid them out on a small tray. When she was done, she lay on a table and Nye strapped her wrists and ankles tight. It spat on the blade of its scalpel, and looked down at her. "The truly tragic thing about all of this,"it said,"Is that you won't feel any of the great pain I'm about to put you through." Nye pressed the tip of the scalpel to Valkyrie's shoulder and slit her skin all the way to the breastbone. Blood, with no functioning engine to pump it, trickled lazily. "This ought to be excruciating," Nye said, its voice straining with effort as it continued to cut down to her belly."If you were alive right now, you'd be screaming. Begging me to stop. I'm going to be cracking open your ribcage in a minute, so that would definitely be sore." Nye stood back, putting down the scalpel and shaking its hand loosely, like it was getting rid of a cramp."That wasn't easy,"It told her."You've got an impressive amount of muscle around the abdomen." Valkyrie didn't want to see this-didn't want to see what Nye was doing to her. She tried telling it, but she possessed no energy to speak. Nye looked into her eyes and its own eyes widened, as if It understood. "Oh, my!" it said suddenly. "Oh, you're quite right!I am being very unprofessional!" Nye took a moment to fix its surgical mask back over the lower half of its face."Hygiene is most important in the operating theater. I'm terribly sorry!" Nye peeked the flaps of skin away from the chest wall, and Valkyrie looked down at herself as her flesh came apart as easily as a zipper being undone. "Some people use an electric saw to get through the ribs," Nye continued,"But I find it somewhat unsatisfying." It held up large pruning shears, the kind Valkyrie would have found in the Garden shed at home."And these are much more effective." Valkyrie closed her eyes as Nye bent over her again. She heard a loud crack, and looked around, craning her head, seeing all the dead people on the walls around her. None of them seemed to care about what was going on. There was another crack, and when she looked back at herself, Nye was lifting her sternum away from her body. "Almost at the heart," Nye told her. "Now, I am going to have to remove it so that I can carve in some symbols, which will take a little time, but I'm fairly confident that I can reattach all the necessary arteries and such afterwards. Heart surgery isn't brain surgery, after all," It added with a chuckle. "Little medical humour for you there." It went back to work and Valkyrie lay there, knowing she should be filled with pain, yet unable to escape the dullness that had settled over her mind. Nye lifted her heart from her chest and showed it to her. "You'll forgive me if I don't make any jokes about how I've stolen your heart," It said."I've used them all up on previous patients, I'm afraid. Rest Assured, every last one of those jokes was suitably morbid and witty." Valkyrie watched her heart being placed on a tray beside the pruning shears. Nye's yellow eyes narrowed as it smiled beneath its mask. "There," It said."That wasn't so bad now, was it? I didn't drop anything. I didn't nick the kidneys or put my thump through a lung. The first part of this operation, I think you'll agree, has been a resounding success. And now its time for supper." Nye turned and walked away on its impossibly long legs, leaving Valkyrie strapped to the table.
***
Nye returned an hour later and put Valkyrie's heart in a vice. She watched the vice being tightened, and a part of her mind started to scream, fearing the heart would burst. Nye's hand came away from the Vice and she relaxed, settling back into the dullness that death brought. Nye spoke to her while It held a scalpel over a flame, telling her about past glories, about the life it had outside these rooms. The words meant nothing to Valkyrie, forgotten as soon as they reached her ears. Nye hunched over the Vice and gently pressed the red-hot scalpel against her heart. A book lay open beside it, and before every stroke of the scalpel, Nye would consult the pages, measuring the length and breadth of the symbols detailed within, calculating depth. The Scalpel went from her heart back to the flame, then to her heart. Again and again, this process was repeated. Slight trails of smoke rose from the lines being carved. Valkyrie could hear the soft sizzle of the meat. An hour, it took Nye, to complete the first symbol. The second one, a simpler pattern, took half that time, but the third one took twice as long. "Once the heart is back inside you," Nye said, yellow eyes fixed on its work,"And once it begins beating again, these symbols will inhabit you. Do you understand me? Do you understand anything I'm saying? The dead here are so dim-witted." Valkyrie grunted. "Oh, good, you can understand me. When you walk out of here, you will own your true name, instead of your true name owning you. Armed with this Knowledge, you can do great things. You can be the greatest sorcerer this world has ever seen." Nye glanced at her."Or you could be the most terrible." The door opened, and Nye's eyes returned to the heart as the Dullahan strode in. "Almost finished!" Nye called."I can't be rushed on things like this, you know! One wrong stroke, one part of a symbol too thin or too thick or too deep or too shallow , and it's not going to work! I am a professional and I must not be hurried!" The Dullahand stood still, and Nye straightened up, uncoiling Its long body."Oh," It said, in response to whatever the Dullahand was silently saying."Of course. No, no, I completely understand. Your duties take you elsewhere. You are a busy man, after all. Have no fear, When the operation is complete, I shall send this girl on her way, back to the land of the living. Of course not. I wouldn't dream of such a... Now, listen, as I've said before, those experiments are over, and you know that. That part of my life is behind me. I realize now that I was misguided and... I learned my lesson. Yes. Well, if you can't trust a Surgeon, who can you trust?" Nye listened for another moment, then nodded gravely, and the Dullahan turned and strode out. The door closed behind him. Nye returned its attention to the heart, and didn't speak for fifteen minutes. Finally, it straightened up again. "Done," it said."And a splendid piece of work it is too, if I do say so." It took out the heart from the Vice, and showed it to Valkyrie. "You see the precision?" It said."See the Craftsmanship? China Sorrows herself could not have constructed these symbols any better. A Work of art, don't you agree?"'
Some time after that, Nye decided to violate both the content and spirit of his word after that. The Process of The Surgery to Seal the True Name, from Ch. 21-22 of Mortal Coil, spoilers if you didn't get a copy of the novel yet. Let's just say this might be the start of where Mere Post-Dark Days Valkyrie Cain ends and where Post-Deathbringer Valkyrie Cain onwards may happen.
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Post by silverstarcross on Oct 24, 2013 2:16:17 GMT
*Spoilers for Ch. 24 of Mortal Coil, by Derek Landy, which starts at Pg. 245 for chapter but not the exact page where the quote begins* Chapter 24 of Mortal Coil, The Dead Girl, starts where the rest of Ch. 22 left off, but I'm gonna just skip to the quotes that cut to the chase when Val's had enough and she wants out, and when she's in the condition she was in Ch 21-22 when she met Nye. Keep in mind that Elemental Magic did Jack$hit in helping her at all, and sometime before that the only way she could have gotten herself out of the straps was through sheer Resolve and the fact she's Stubborn.
'...Valkyrie pushed herself up and reached out, but Elemental Magic was still closed off to her. A thought flashed into her mind, and she plunged her hand into her jacket pocket, sliding the ring on to her finger. Shadows coiled around her, and a grave wave of darkness smashed into Nye and took it off its feet. The surgeon squealed in fear and Valkyrie slammed the wave to the floor. Nye struck the hard ground and bounced slightly. Valkyrie went to walk towards It, but, like an eager servant, the shadows swept her up. She touched down beside Nye and It scrambled up, tried to run. She was vaguely aware of an intent, to simply stop him from feeling, and then suddenly the shadows wrapped themselves around Nye's right leg, its long right leg, and wrenched. Nye screamed as its leg snapped in a dozen places, and It fell to the ground. "Please!" It called."You don't know what you're doing!" The Shadows played with Valkyrie's hair. "That's Necromancy!" Nye yelled. "But you're dead! It's Death magic wielded by a dead person - you don't know what you're doing! You can't control it - you're not strong enough! Please don't kill me!" "Fix me," Valkyrie said. "I will!" Nye cried, tears streaming down its face. "But my leg is broken! Let me mend it and then I'll-" "Fix me now," Valkyrie said without emotion."Or I'll let the Shadows kill you." Nye nodded quickly."Yes, Yes, of course. Just get you back to the table and-" "No straps,"Said Valkyrie."Nothing tying me down. You do this or you die."
Pg. 255-256 Wielding Death Magic even when she's dead.
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Post by silverstarcross on Oct 28, 2013 10:55:20 GMT
*Spoilers for after Ch. 24 of Mortal Coil by Derek Landy, this time at least a few hundred pages after Pg. 245 like at the 400s or so. You've been warned, read at your own risks* Mortal Coil, pg. 458-459
'She reached out, allowing the coldness of the black ring to spread through her fingertips. The shadows swirled and rose like a dark mist. The noise gradually died down, as the possessed swiped at the mist, expecting an attack. When none came, they looked around, confused. Valkyrie felt the shadows drift between them, and concentrated on spreading it out further. She opened her eyes, saw them all looking at her.'
Valkyrie can use the Shadows for Area of Effect abilities as well for Mad multi-targeting skills. Chapter 50 of Mortal Coil, MacGillyCuddy's Reeks, shows a vital development worth recalling since for the first time, Valkyrie Cain becomes Darquesse, but sometime before that is also integral as well.
'Her surroundings were quite beautiful- a snow-covered mountain, layers of mist rising from the valleys, a pale blue sky. They had passed a lake on the way here, and the roads were narrow and winding, occasionally edged with low stone walls. Altogether very pretty, with the effect only ruined by the two thousand black-veined people waiting for her when she was pulled out of the van. China marched her to a small hill in the middle of the clearing, all the remnants gathered round in their hijacked bodies. China removed the shackles from Valkyrie's wrists. Anton Shudder and Tesseract joined them on the hill. The crowd was silent. "Valkyrie Cain," Tesseract said,"I am very glad I didn't kill you. What a mistake that would have been. I would have robbed us of our savior." "Let me go," Valkyrie said. "If I'm your saviour, then do as I command. Let me go." "You're not our saviour. Not yet. Bit with a little help from us, you soon will be." "I don't know what you expect me to say. Do you think I'm just going to agree to all this? I'm not going to hurt innocent people." "If we torture you enough," Said Tesseract,"You'll do anything we tell you to." Valkyrie said nothing. "I'm the one who saw you. I saw you through the eyes of Finbar Wrong, laying waste to the world. That's all we want. We want a dead world, where we are free, where we don't have to hide in flesh suits. You give us that world. From the moment I saw you I knew we had to help, to guide you on your path. Now, I am not so sure I was right." "So you're going to let me go?" There was a ripple of laughter in the crowd. "No," Tesseract said."You see, we have been talking, all of us, and we wonder if we are taking the correct approach. It was China who thought of it, actually." China smiled. "We're friends, aren't we, Valkyrie?That's what you said. And because we're friends, because I know you so well, I can see that it would take a lot to make you hurt the people you love." "I'm not Darquesse," Valkyrie blurted."I've changed all that. That future doesn't happen any more." "How can you be so sure?" Asked China. "I've sealed my name." "Ah, I see. So you think the only reason you kill everyone is because someone is forcing you to, yes?" "Of course. Why else would I do it?" "Because you want to, perhaps? Because something happens, something so awful that it drives you to the edge, and the only way out you can see is if everybody dies?" "That's insane." "All kinds of people want to kill the world, Valkyrie." "Not me." "Not yet." China laughed."But I agree with you. I don't think you have it in you. So I came up with an alternative. What if, Valkyrie, what you say is true? What if you would never do this? What if, in fact, it isn't even you?" "What?" "I think Darquesse is like us, you see. I think Darquesse has a Remnant inside her." Valkyrie shrank back."No." "I think in order for our messiah to come out, one of us is going to have to bond with you." "No." "And we already have a Volunteer," China said with a smile. Fletcher appeared at China's side."I love you," he said to Valkyrie."And now I'm going to be you." Hands grabbed her and she struggled against them, but there were too many. Her head was pulled back and there were fingers in her mouth. She bit down and tasted blood, heard a howl of pain, but her jaws were forced apart and she saw it, The Remnant, darting from Fletcher's mouth as he dropped to the ground, Unconscious. The Remnant latched on to her face and it was cold. The hands released her and Valkyrie staggered back, lost her footing. She fell, rolled down the small hill, all the while trying to pull the darkness away from her. She felt it slither down into her throat. Her hands clutched at her chest as the Remnant dissipated within her. Tendrils of cold slithered through her body and pierced her brain. Something burst within her mind and the fear went away, and Darquesse stood. The others were watching her expectantly, eyes filled with hope and hunger, mouths twisted in smiles. Ghastly was the first to step forward."My Lady?" he asked, voice shaking. When Ghastly had been Ghastly, before the Remnant shared his being, he had been a good man. Darquesse remembered their first meeting, when he had told her that Magic wasn't a game, and that she should walk away and leave this behind her. He had said those words for her own good, but of course she hadn't listened. This was a path she had always been meant to walk. Destiny? She didn't believe in it. But she had seen into the future and they had seen herself burn the world. And that, she believed in. She took her eyes off the people around her and looked at the world. The mountains and the snow, and the rocks and the sky. She tasted the air. Why would she want to destroy all this? What was it that could drive her to annihilate an entire planet? And what would she do, once everyone and everything was dead? Who would there be to talk to? Darquesse smiled at the questions she found herself asking. No doubt, when the time came, she would fully understand why she was killing everything. When the time came, she was sure it would all make perfect sense. "Lady Darquesse," Someone said, barging through the crowd to throw himself at her feet. His left arm was in a sling. "I am yours to command. You have given me purpose. You have given me a reason to exist. What is your will?" He looked up at her, tears in his eyes. She kicked him under the chin, marvelling at her strength. His jaw splintered instantly, but her boot continued upwards and his head came apart around it. Some important piece of him, possibly his brain, shot into the sky like a football. His body crumpled and she laughed and turned to the others. The shock over what she had just done made some of them step back, but there were plenty of others who were laughing along with her, and there were a few who actually applauded. She despised them all. She leaped for the nearest one, a sorcerer she had once spoken to in the old Sanctuary. Her fingers closed around his throat and she tore out his windpipe. The woman beside him clapped, and Darquesse put her first through the woman's chest, then flung the body behind her. The laughter was dying. No one was cheering anymore. Darquesse swept through them, their screams like a lullaby, making her smile. As she moved, she could sense the Remnant inside her. She could sense its presence and its confusion. This was not how it was meant to be. It had slithered its way inside and opened her up, allowed Darquesse to surface. But they had not, as the Remnant had expected, become one pure being. They were still too separate entities, and she felt its fear and it brought a chuckle to her lips. Her soul was sealed, Nye had seen to that. It was hers, and hers alone. All the Remnant had managed to do was break down some walls between Valkyrie Cain and the source of her magic. It may have tainted something along the way, Darquesse couldn't be entirely sure. Not that it mattered. It was Darquesse who was in control here. The Remnant wanted to get out. It was trying to bring itself back together and crawl out of her, but Darquesse wouldn't allow it. She kept it where it was, isolating it, draining its Malevolence to add to the magic that was pumping through her body. The sorcerers were attacking her now, trying to subdue her, trying to save themselves. She used the air to fling three of them upwards, then sent three spears of shadows after them. Hands seized her from behind, trying to choke her. She poured darkness through her skin into his, and the man shrieked and fell back, his hands melting away to stumps. A stream of energy sizzled to her and she caught it in her palm, countered its effects without even knowing how she was doing it, and threw it back. The stream hit its owner, and its owner split apart in a fine red mist. She crushed the skull of a handsome man and tossed him away from her. His body spiralled over the angry crowd. Things were not going as they had planned. Darquesse clicked her fingers and flame enveloped her. Her skin and hair and clothes all burned, fiercely and brightly, but the fire didn't damage her. People scrambled to get away. She held out a hand and fire leaped at them. They rolled and writhed and screamed. She laughed. A man tried to run. Tesseract caught him by the throat. "You run from your saviour, you ungrateful wretch?" "She's killing us," the man gasped. "This is what we call warming up." Tesseract shoved him back."Darquesse, please accept my apologies. Kill as many as you like. When you are ready to begin the decimation of the world, please no that we will be ready to serve, to help in any way." Darquesse used the fire to kill the man who had run, then let the flame go out and stalked towards Tesseract, wondering how long he would stay faithful once she started pulling out his spine. But then the ground started to crack, and Skulduggery Pleasant and Tanith Low burst up in a shower of dirt and rock. Billy-Ray Sanguine collapsed behind them and didn't move. "Valkyrie," Skulduggery said."Stop this." Darquesse looked at him, then looked at Tanith. Tanith looked scared, and shocked, and upset, and worried. She held her sword like she was ready to use it on anyone who got close. Darquesse could see her own reflection in the blade. A pretty girl with a scar in her cheek, sixteen years old and dark-haired. Her pale face splattered with other people's blood. Her eyes, dark-ringed. Is this what they all saw, she wondered, or did they see something else? Something magnificent and terrible? Something monstrous? "Valkyrie," Skulduggery said. She looked back at him. "You're not yourself. Do you understand me? You're confused. You are Valkyrie Cain. You are not Darquesse." "You cannot change who she is," Tesseract said from behind him. "Shut up," Skulduggery said without looking around. "Valkyrie. Listen to my voice. I'm your friend. I'm your partner. I promised you I'd help you with this and I intend to. You don't want this to happen, I know you don't." A man lunged at Tanith and Darquesse gestured, took his head off with a shadow. "Val," Tanith said, her voice shaking."Please. It's me. It's us. You don't want to hurt anyone. Come back to us." "I could kill you," Darquesse said. She didn't have to talk loudly to be heard."I could reach out, take hold of your face and squeeze, turn your head to mush. In your last few seconds of life, what would you think of me? Would you still love me? What about you, Skulduggery? I could kill you just as easily." "You're not going to kill me, Valkyrie." "Valkyrie is gone." "No, she's not," Skulduggery said."I'm talking to her." Darquesse shook her head."You don't understand." "I understand perfectly. Darquesse isn't a separate entity. She isn't another person. She's you. If you make the wrong choices, if you stop loving the people who love you, if you allow the world to twist and turn and change you, then yes, the future we've seen will come to pass. But if you fight, and if you kick, and struggle, and refuse to give in to the apathy, or the anger, or the hopelessness, then you'll change the future, and you'll walk your own path. And I'll be right there beside you, Valkyrie. I'll always be beside you." She felt the Remnant inside her, its anguish, and she grew tired of playing with it. It had come into her so eagerly, impatient to share her being and help her fulfill the fate that the psychics had foreseen. But now it understood that there would be no sharing. The Remnant's presence was merely offering her a peak at what was to come - but she would get there on her own. She didn't need any help. It squirmed and fought and its screams filled her head, and when she was done enjoying it all, she flooded her body with heat, and the heat burned away the cold that the Remnant had brought. She purged it from her body, and purged it from her mind, and then it was gone. And with it, for the moment, went the bad thoughts and the emptiness. Valkyrie's legs folded beneath her and Skulduggery darted forward to keep her from falling. "Thanks," she mumbled, as the crowd surged around her. "No problem," Skulduggery said softly, then pressed his gun into her temple and said loudly,"Any of you take even one more step and Valkyrie dies."'
Pg. 499-509
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Post by silverstarcross on Oct 28, 2013 11:09:22 GMT
*Spoilers for Mortal Coil, Ch. 42, fair you be warned now* Mortal Coil ch. 42, The Lesson Begins, pg. 416-417
'... Gordon smiled gratefully, then the Bentley went over a bump, and his face disappeared into the backseat. He had to lean forward to be visible again. The whole thing made Fletcher quite queasy. "Instead of focusing on the distance traveled," Gordon said,"Think of it like this, you're not the one moving." "I'm not?" "You're using your power to stay totally still, and the world moves around you until you are exactly where you want to be." "Uh..." "It's like me, right now. I'm teethered to the Echo Stone, and the Echo Stone is moving, but I'm not. The world is moving around me. And Occasionally through me. For you, Fletcher, Existence itself rotates and pivots according to your will. I'm sure someone of your self-esteem has no problem with the notion that the universe revolves around them, am I correct?" "I think that all the time." Gordon smiled."I know the feeling well. Emmett used to say that he let the world do the traveling while he stayed in the same place. He focused on where he wanted the world to stop, and that's all he did. He didn't burden himself with thoughts of distance, or how many people he was taking with him, or how big a cargo he was transporting. He saw his destination as a clear point in a whirlwind, and he let it come to him. Do you understand?" "I...I think so." "That's good. Understanding is the first step. Acceptance is the second. Once you accepted this as fact, the possibilities are endless."'
While Fletcher was trying to master how to get 2000+ people in one vital destination, its an ability that professional Teleporters may learn.
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