Stairs," Valkyrie said, disappointed. "Not just ordinary stairs," Skulduggery told her as he led the way down. "Magic stairs." "Really?" "Oh, yes." She followed him into the darkness. "How are they magic?" "They just are." "In what way?" "In a magicky way." She glared at the back of his head. "They aren't magic at all, are they?" "Not really.
Derek LandyOther stories tell how I eat innocent newborns, how Iโm ten feet tall, how I breathe fire and have great dragon wings. None of these are wholly accurate. I donโt have dragon wings, I donโt breathe fire, Iโm only eight feet tall and Iโve never eaten a newborn that didnโt have it coming. My name is Mevolent. Whatโs yours?
Derek LandyValkyrie, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your friend is most likely dead.โ โOf course heโs dead. Heโs a skeleton.
Derek LandyValkyrie dialed Skulduggery's number and he picked up. 'Hey,' she said, 'It's me.' Skulduggery paused. 'No it's not. If it were me, then I'd be talking to myself, and I don't do that any more. I certainly don't RING myself. That's one of the first signs of madness, and if it's not, it should be.' She sighed. 'Are you finished talking nonsense?' 'I haven't talked nonsense all morning. I miss it.
Derek LandyHe'd once known a man who said that life hinged on the moment, that everything changed in the blink of an eye. Tesseract knew the truth of that as well as anybody. It was in those moments that he struck, after all, snatching people's lives away. He'd always known that it was only a matter of time before one of those moment's worked against him.
Derek Landy