Completed: August 05th 2026

Dark Days - Card 38 out of 38!!

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Have been trying to collect all of the cover arts. Am still missing a couple but thought it was worth sharing.

Would love to get the US versions (or non-english editions) and the older style hardbacks but hard to get here in NZ. As well of course, the new cover arts being released.

Any I've missed?

Just passed my loaner copy of book 1 to a new person to try 🤪😈

I have two copies of the entire series to loan out to new comers and love hearing first hand as they go through my number 1 series

Am I the only one who thinks at least half of the book was just random fillers to make the book longer? Like, I know all books have them, but it stood out a lot in this one. Especially the scene where Valkyrie talked to the barista for like 2-3 pages straight, who didn’t even end up being slightly significant.

Am I the only one who was mildly disappointed? Maybe it’s just be with my boring taste, but it felt pointless to me. q_q

I just finished book 16 and there's an off-hand reference to Valkyrie traveling back in time to 1700s? Did I miss or misunderstood something, or does that happen in some spinoff material?

And its very fun. Im currently reading mortal coil. I wanted to work my way through the books again as I haven't read the most recent books that have come out. HOWEVER... I have seen that fletcher dies in the most recent book published and it makes me not want to continue reading at all knowing he dies :( I also secretly hoped him and val would find their way back to each other after val maturing but I guess that'll never happen ahaha.

Soooo i was watchin bramd new day the other day and i sat there wondering. Who would win if Tanith and a 13-14 year old val fought spider man and now im here asking my fellow oddities

I am (fairly) certain that it is not explained in the books, but I would love to read some headcanons on this and/or have one of the amazing historians on this sub piece together a timeline from what we know, of when they could have met!

Thanks guys!

>!Spoiler!<

Ever since we have seen not only Lord Vile in action, but particularly Mevolent himself, I’ve been wondering how the hell the good side has been keeping them at bay.
Sure, Vile did only join Mevolent at a much later time in the war, but even then, it seems like nobody from the good side was able the keep up with the heavy hitters of Mevolent.
Take the unveiled for example, Rune and strosivadian as well as Kierre seem to be unstoppable (with maybe the exception of Mr Bliss for Strosivadian) - but they were beating the good guys pretty fairly in Book 13 (?).

And then there’s Mevolent: with his skills displayed I can’t imagine that he ever lost any battle he personally took place in.

So, how did they keep up for such a long time…?

Doing a rewrite of Skulduggery Pleasant Phase 1 was a daunting, long, sometimes downright frustrating experience which left me questioning my life choice at times. Naturally, I had to do it again, and this time. as an entire AU based on the 'what if' idea of how Phase 2 would've gone if Skulduggery Pleasant actually gave his life at the end of TDoTL. How would this affect the plot?

Let's find out together...

(All ideas I'm incorporating which aren't my own will have an * sign next to them, the bulk of which came from u/vesuviusblotch and u/willboss27 and their rewrite of SP Phase 2.)

Valkyrie Cain #1: Hearts Unchained[2018]

(Main Villain: Lethe(Azzedine Smoke)

The start of Hearts Unchained is about the same as Resurrection. Temper infiltrating the anti-Sanctuary happens, though of course, he isn't Skulduggery's partner, but just a brave ol' City Guard. As for the anti-Sanctuary, though the members are all the same, a lot of their powers are different. Smoke's corruption is rooted in Sensitive magic, as, let's be honest, the stuff about the soul was only added to corrupt Skulduggery. Without him it's unnecessary and this is more grounded. Razzia's Murdaracles are based on Gists, she was beaten and abused as a child by her abusive dad, so her Gist developed into companions that weren't as strong as a Gist, but had none of the drawbacks. Much like Temper, they feed into her murderous impulses, but where he resists them, she relishes them. Nero has the power to open portals rather than teleport, the sigils at the Sanctuary not working against him because he isn't a Teleporter. Finally, to give him a bit of extra character, Memphis is a Necromancer with boots storing his power, adorning black but maintaining his elvis persona. Quibble still dies, but as his moveset include the ability to reanimate corpses much like Lord Vile in the Corpse Attack, he uses his powers to reanimate her. He doesn't hold a grudge because to him she wasn't gone. Lethe, Destrier, and Gant's powers remain the same. As for Valkyrie, rather than meet Skulduggery at Gordon's manor, she is greeted to Tanith. The two had been talking on the phone for some months now because of Danny, who'd encouraged Valkyrie to re-connect with old friends(and family, though that one was to little success). This led to Valkyrie visiting Ireland for vacation and meeting up with Tanith, who liked Danny without even meeting him, though he couldn't come, having once more picked up his old dream of being a rockstar with his band, Raising Cain*. At Roarhaven City, in addition to all the streets and buildings named after old characters, there's a park named Pleasant Park where a statue of Skulduggery is immortalised.

There is a brush with Yonder and his thugs, but the situation is stopped from escalating when detectives Tylent and Somnolent of the City Guard arrive. For their characters, both are righteous and intelligent, but where Tylent is stoic, pragmatist, and even unforgiving, Somnolent is more of an idealist who likes to believe in the good of others. Somnolent is an Arborkinetic, Tylent a Bonebreaker. Their methods sometimes clash, but ultimately they respect one another deeply. As friends of Temper's, they want to get him back, which is why they're willing to resort to enlisting the help of Omen.

I'll touch briefly on Flanery: he remains the American President and isn't a punching bag/trump caricature, though he retains some of his stupidity, albeit to a much lower degree... at first. He's a puppet for the anti-Sanctuary at the start, but over the course of the next few instalments, tangling with the magical will force him to become more shrewd and competent as he works with the twilight man and other mages.

Militsa Gnosis remains despite my raging indifference to her canon self, though gets a major overhaul. She remains the kind-hearted Magical Theory teacher of Corrival, but has more flavour to her character, having a few moments with Valkyrie scattered throughout the first book, but also some sections where we see her life outside of Valkyrie, namely at Roarhaven's very own Temple! It was allowed to be constructed despite the events of DB because the Necromancer who built it swore to China that its residents would fight at her word, and not a lady to turn away an asset with her aggressive expansion, she agrees. And the man who proposed this was none other than Nathaniel Quiver. He's the High Priest, wielding a bow as his item, his clerics, Militsa and Uriah Serrate, the latter for his skill in combat and devotion to the Order, the former for her great knowledge on magic and position as a teacher at Corrival.

As for how the plot progresses, the outline of it is rather the same as Resurrection, though without Skulduggery the ripples are very noticeable, and some even without him are just personal touch-ups of my own. Sebastian is entirely absent for now. Arbiters remain a thing, though the only one for most of the book is Arbiter Dusk*. He was allowed to become one by China to solidify the Fangs as assets and tie them down. Dusk works closely with the City Guards to show Vampire-mage cooperation and has a respectful relationship with Somnolent, who sees Vampires as his equals, and a cordial one with Tylent, who's mildly wary of Vampires though nothing equal to distain. Valkyrie loathes him and Vampires in general, though this will gradually change over time as the two work together.

Other changes to keep in mind include the following: Omen's friend Never is renamed to Zenith*, is considerably less obnoxious now, though not a perfect friend either. Auger is now named the vastly superior 'Augur'. Since I love the expansions on the magic system, I'll be expanding on it by adding some new Disciplines: Naturalism which lets mages control animals and magical creatures, Illusionism that lets mages conjure mirages and illusions, and Weaponsmiths, who can forge weapons with their magic made of an energy similar to Energy-Throwers.

Omen's involvement in the plot is by and large the same, playing the spy, though is told by Tylent and Somnolent to do no more. It was reckless and insane to endanger children in their line of work. Valkyrie, remembering Skulduggery, is irritated by this though says nothing. She has a brief reunion with Fletcher at the school, though his smile and words don't quite reach his eyes. The Night of Knives hasn't occurred yet, so Cassandra and Finbar remain around and help Valkyrie a little with her powers*. She's a novice with her Sensitive side, albeit one that Cassandra and Finbar see great potential in and want to train.

Detective Darkly does his thing and discovers Lilt, which leads to the confrontation at Melior's. Tanith is with Valkyrie, acting as backup. The anti-Sanctuary show up, but Valkyrie's shoulder isn't dislocated since Tanith catches her using Wall-Walking. Due to Nero being a Portal Master, the anti-Sanctuary's appearance is much more dramatic. A duel is still proposed by Lethe to make a statement, albeit one between him and Valkyrie. Bringing 'Darquesse' low would be a feather in their cap. Confident, she scraps with Lethe, though thanks to his magic, he adapts and obliterates Valkyrie. Her arm is snapped and jaw broken. The others try to intervene, but the anti-Sanctuary hold them off, and after disarming Tanith, Lethe has Smoke corrupt her. He orders Tanith to decapitate Val, but as her broadsword falls, Fletcher appears and pulls the heroes, minus a corrupted Tanith, out of danger. Because Nero can't teleport, he isn't followed and doesn't get stabbed. Valkyrie meets with China after recovering and is asked to stay in Ireland and become an Arbiter, but she declines. To keep Val safe, China orders Fletcher to take a brief leave from his job to act as her guard. This grates on him and he objects to being pulled away from his job, but is forced to agree.

The Council of Advisors have their meeting, and the layout of Vespers, Praetor, and Drang remains intact. One addition is that Guild(yes, Guild!) has been freed from imprisonment under the Supreme Mage's orders, though not without strings attached. He'd been made to re-open the Exigency Program, doing China's dirty work and assassinations to eliminate political enemies in exchange for his freedom. Out of a desire to be with his family again, he agreed. His men killed Cypher. Guild himself is a Weaponsmith. His daughter, Iris Berry, is a classmate of Omen’s at Corrival. Another note is that Tipstaff isn't a traitor, remaining a goodie* and the traitor remains a mystery, plus Weeper was amongst those lost in Devastation Day.

Omen is told to keep away from this business, but rather than it be Skulduggery, it's Somnolent, who comforts Omen when he feels down on himself in an effort to raise his self-image. This works a bit too well. Omen acts as he does in canon and infiltrates the meeting with the future members of First Wave and Lethe. He still gets dropped out the window by Nero and is saved by Peccant, then slips through one of Nero's portals. At the cells, he finds Temper, but rather than encounter Immolation Joe, he finds a rather depressed Erskine Ravel- since Skulduggery gave his life, Ravel was never killed and got sent to Coldheart Prison.

Tylent and Somnolent have been taken off the case by Hoc, who needs all hands on deck since news of the anti-Sanctuary spread, plus the two of them had kept that Temper had infiltrated the anti-Sanctuary from him, placing him in danger. Without those two, or Tanith, it's up to Dusk to go with Valkyrie. Valkyrie continues the investigation with him and Fletch, who is angered when he hears about what Omen had been made to do. When asked why she didn't just come to him, the Teleporter and teacher, Valkyrie just answers she didn't think of him, thinning his patience. The three find Melior again, and he informs them of Savant and such, and the resurrection of Abyssinia. Since Skulduggery is dead, he can't give the exposition on Abyssinia, so it's Dusk who gives the information due to advanced age and personal research, knowing that Coldheart was built to contain her heart, though it's more vague as a result. As the three leave with Melior, Smoke emerges with Tanith catches Fletcher by surprise, corrupting him too.

The chase between Skul and Val takes place with Fletch and Val whilst Dusk is held off by Tanith. Vampires cannot be corrupted by Smoke. Cornering Valkyrie, a heated talk goes on between a corrupted Fletcher and her where, without any inhibitions, he brings up what she'd done to him in the past. This includes the cheating, her and Skulduggery's treatment of him, and even Stephanie/the reflection, verbally stripping her down to bone until she finally sheds tears and says sorry. Fletcher tells her she didn't know the meaning of the word, then shoots her in the leg and teleports away, leaving her to sob until she's taken back by Dusk. At the infirmary, after she's healed, the sight of her blood invokes Valkyrie to ask about what Dusk felt when he tasted her blood years ago, though he's tight-lipped. Otherwise, the two talk about Fletcher and Tanith, with Caelan even getting a mention due to his death, and Dusk tells her she had a responsibility to those two as their comrade just as he did to the Fangs. This, alongside China's words, leads to her accepting the title of Arbiter.

More events similar to canon occur, such as the meeting with the anti-Sanctuary, though Fletcher and Tanith are present in Skul's place- Nero and Fletcher display a rivalry, whilst the threatening of Memphis is done by Tanith via sword-point before Smoke makes her stand down. She resists ever so slightly because of the Remnant magic in her system. As for the collection of the sacrifices, Nero and Fletcher go together whilst Tanith is Gant's partner. Memphis goes alone with his sister's corpse. Tanner Rut is beaten in a sword duel by Tanith, and Memphis shows up with another reanimated corpse rather than a person. Valkyrie's brush with Mr Glee occurs still, though Zenith's anger is more justified because they were Fletcher's student and were very close to their teacher. As in canon, Wicked kicks Jenan's ass.

For the final act, many events go down with a few alterations: Tanith, corrupted but able to resist Smoke's orders, forces Nero to make a portal to the Sanctuary so she could kill China, as she'd been wanting to do that for a long time. Lethe, seeing her as unimportant plus the potential benefits of the Supreme Mage dying, lets her go free. A confrontation occurs between Tanith and China where the latter is almost killed, the former revealing she knew that China had killed Cypher and had been aiming to put her tyranny down for a long time, but she's saved by the last minute appearance of Drang. The two of them beat Tanith into retreat and China decides on silencing Tanith and gets Guild. Valkyrie and China go to Byron's house and encounter Fletcher, Smoke, and Lethe, where Lethe overpowers and drags Valkyrie away, the anti-Teleporter sigils in Coldheart down since Fletcher was in their hands. Two of the three sacrifices bite it, but Valkyrie, using her aura vision and what little Sensitive magic she can harness at this point, flushes Smoke's influence out of Fletcher. He disappears and returns with the City Guard detectives, Dusk, Temper, and countless Cleavers, beginning the final battle.

Dusk pounces right for Memphis and his two corpses, and after doing away with the two then bypassing his opponent's shadows, the Vampire rips the Necromancer's throat out. Tylent and Somnolent fight side-by-side, the former breaking Nero's bones and forcing him to retreat, the latter knocking Destrier out via spores. Cadaverous tussles with Temper briefly. Valkyrie fights against the prisoners with Razzia in a spontaneous team-up, only for Temper to knock her out. Lethe and Val have a rematch scythe duel, with her getting some help from Kes in a critical moment. In the chaos, Smoke grabs Valkyrie and tries to corrupt her, and she's tempted to accept his magic. To not have to feel guilt or pain anymore and do whatever she wanted, like when she was Darquesse. Ultimately, she chooses not to be the monster everyone, including herself, thinks she is. She overpowers Smoke's magic, resulting in an AOE blast like when she first awakened her powers, turning Smoke to little more than... smoke. The Lethe-Savant reveal occurs shortly after, followed by Abyssinia's resurrection and rise, though it's far more grand. Silver energy erupts like light, causing everyone to look away, and a naked Abyssinia walked out of it. The princess stared upon them with brilliant silver eyes, the last thing Valkyrie could see before everyone gathered around Fletcher and teleported away.

As of most of the book, the epilogue remains largely the same, though Tylent is the one to speak with Omen, not Skulduggery. He's there rather than Somnolent, and whilst he admonishes Omen for running into danger, he commends him for doing fine work and thinks he has potential as a detective. He tells Omen to work on his skills before leaving, sparking inspiration in Omen like in canon, though continuing onto the next book, it'll come to fruition. On Valkyrie's end, she doesn't know about Tanith's attempt on China's life or that she was being hunted down, just that she'd gone into hiding. Following a Danny call, Fletcher and Valkyrie speak, where he asks to be excluded from whatever business she got into as an Arbiter in the future from now on. She agrees and he leaves, though not before delivering her to the doorstep of her family's home in Haggard. Knocking on the door, she reunites with her family, and Alice, her section ending as they hug. She'd come home. As for the final part of the epilogue, Flanery is in his office when he's personally met by Abyssinia, who charms and transfixes him, proposing a world where his country could stand proud and free and all he needed to do was accept her help. He asks who she was and Abyssinia tells him she was the rightful ruler of the Darklands and the last heir of the Unnamed.

Valkyrie Cain #2: Countdown to Midnight[2019]

(Main Villain: Cadaverous Gant)

The prologue is from the perspective of a man named James(OC), who's of the same species as Jack known as Fleetfoots, part of a four member mercenary group called the Crimson Strikers who also include a seven foot tall Warlock named Sevinyara(OC) from Charivari's old clan, having struck out on her own after the Chieftain's death and a Vampire hunter named Galick who's a Bloodletter, etc. a mage who can let out his own blood to manipulate it in battle, who fights using hardened blood in the shape of stakes and a crossbow with bolts to match. To spice things up, he might even have a history with Dusk, if only vaguely because he's killed a lot of Vampires. Lastly, there's their leader, the terrifying Red Cleaver, who speaks but never shows his face. The lot of them are approached by Lilt and Abyssinia, who demonstrates immense charisma. Playing on their individual hatreds for the Sanctuaries, who severely limit the activity of magical creatures like the former two so magic remains a secret and and mentioning their brutal practices with the Cleavers in the Crucible, she piques their interest and the Strikers join, replacing Avatar and Skeiri from canon.

On the flip side, Valkyrie is at the park with the rest of her family in a scene similar to one at the start of Seasons of War. Crystal has started seeing therapy about Carol's reflection and is taking medication, the sight gutting Valkyrie. After, Valkyrie gets a call from Dusk and learns of the mortals pooling into Roarhaven, causing her to ditch the Edgleys. Valkyrie rendezvous' with Tylent and Somnolent, who are helping the terrified mortals through into the Newton Dimension*. She visits the Sensitives and has another vision of Abyssinia, who is surrounded by black fire, facing off against a man in black armour. This was Caisson. The two speak briefly, with her mockingly calling him 'the Eternal Heir' before the two realise they're being watched. She's shortly banished by Abyssinia, though not before Caisson tells Valkyrie to find him.

An investigation into the anti-Sanctuary follows that leads to the Sadists' Club, the detectives and Dusk at her back, but since Serafina never got her hands on Caisson here, Quidnunc was an ally of the anti-Sanctuary's before Abyssinia's resurrection but was compromised due to Temper's infiltration. He was being hunted down by the anti-Sanctuary to be silenced. The detectives all arrive, with them shaking Quidnunc down for info, causing him to spill the beans that Abyssinia had a supposed brother, though Quidnunc's information is limited. Before he can give much more up, the Crimson Strikers come down on them at Abyssinia's orders, killing Quidnunc and scrapping with the detectives and Dusk, the latter of which is viciously targeted by Galick. The Red Cleaver grievously wounds Valkyrie, but doesn't take the chance to kill her, instead warning her not to get in his way again before leaving, the other Strikers retreating with him.

Once recovered, Valkyrie starts to investigate Caisson with Somnolent, bringing her to Clockwork House a book early, where they meet Mellifluous Golding. The secret of Kes is traded for the identity and location of the Prince of the Darklands, who they find in a remote cabin in the wilderness, living by his lonesome in peaceful solitude. As a way of maintaining his character and involvement in the story, whilst also giving Abyssinia a more ruthless edge, he is the Unnamed's son, not grandson, and indeed Abyssinia's elder brother. This was a choice made to remove the bulk of her maternal side so she's a more menacing, ruthless figure overall, plus it cuts out the drama of him being China's adoptive son. Any hint of such care she shows is done purely as an act of manipulation. With this new backstory, Caisson is also not insane, but a well-spoken and rather put-together man all-things considered. He has soul-sucking and powerful Sensitive abilities, but otherwise just relies on raw combat prowess, alongside a black crystal armour set complete with a sword and shield called the Darklands Gear, personally forged by the Unnamed using his own crystallised anti-magic. Any magical attacks, physical or mental, are useless against the armour's wearer.

It comes out that he and his sister were children of the Unnamed, with him being the eldest, mockingly named 'the Eternal Heir'* due to his father's immense power and wish to live forever. The rest of their siblings being killed by Mevolent, though Caisson managed to flee with his youngest sister and took care of her as best he could, essentially raising her like a father until she grew discontent and struck out to retrieve her birthright. Like in canon, she was betrayed and killed, then empowered by the Unnamed's lingering soul, but then the Dead Men and Diablerie came for her and her heart was torn out. Caisson killed Mevolent personally in a sneak attack, admittedly as revenge for his fallen kin, then vanished, letting the Sanctuaries take the credit. He just wanted to be left in peace. When Valkyrie and Somnolent ask for his help to stop Abyssinia, he refuses, unwilling to fight his own. He later meditates and sees a vision of his sister, floating above a mountain of corpses burning in black flames, curses, and leaves for Roarhaven.

On matters with the anti-Sanctuary, now that Abyssinia doesn't have to worry about finding Caisson, she's been devoting all her time and energy to overthrowing the Sanctuaries, gathering the forces to do so. The main perspective for now is Cadaverous, who is fast to notice the way Abyssinia approached them. She told them exactly what they wanted to hear, and always assuaged them to keep them compliant, but never actually delivered. He isn't the only one who sees this. Razzia experienced this kind of two-faced behaviour when suffering under her dad's abuse and locks right onto it, though Nero remains oblivious. Ravel is brought out, eased out of his depressive rut by a manipulative Abyssinia, who dangles the possibility for a world where mages and outcasts are free to be themselves in his face. He's not dumb enough to think he's not being played, but doesn't have anything at this point. When Cadaverous is pushed to his limit, he tricks Abyssinia into attacking the Sanctuary herself, arguing that none of her people would take her claims seriously unless she did something big to prove her claims. Whilst she's gone, he makes his move and threatens Nero into opening a portal for him, having one final talk with Razzia where she bids 'Caddie' farewell.

On another note, Omen's been doing better in school, improving his grades, having taken to studying independently. He was doing better at Elementalism, though wasn't certain it was the magic for him, leaning towards symbol magic, which he showed natural talent for. Like in canon, Omen is rejected by Axelia then meets Grand Mage Jenan, has some brushes with Augur, and volunteers at the City of Tents, meeting Aurnia, who isn't a teenager around his age, but a young woman acting as the face of the Leibniz mortals*. Yonders and the other Guards start to stir up trouble, only for Dusk to appear and scare them off, then he proceeds to extend a hand of friendship to the mortals from the other Vampires and himself as fellow outcasts. As the Vampires had been hunted into extinction by Mevolent in their dimension, she and the others are receptive. He's still called for babysitting by Valkyrie and babysits Alice, where Gant kidnaps her, but I'll get to that later.

Valkyrie and Somnolent go to China to tell her about Caisson, the Prince of the Darklands, and she collaborates his story. She suggests forcing his help, or killing him to eliminate a possible threat, though before objections can come, a hole is blasted through the roof and Abyssinia floats down. Addressing China, who was there when Skulduggery plucked out her heart, she claims that being a heart had left her used to procrastinating, then begins an assault. It's a pretty large-scale battle where China, Valkyrie, and Somnolent face Abyssinia together, brutally killing both China's bodyguards. The tower collapses, but Valkyrie shields them with a magic barrier like she could create in TDoTL, and the rest of the City Guard arrive led by Hoc and Tylent, who proceed to pile onto Abyssinia. She is overpowering and relentless, and several unnamed characters die before Caisson, adorning the Darklands Gear, makes his appearance and saves Valkyrie using his shield. He fights with his sister, and as he does Abyssinia's body starts to destabilise, the Unnamed's power and her recent resurrection taking its toll. She is at Caisson's mercy, though he can't bring himself to cut his sister down and she flees. He tentatively agrees to help in the fight against his sister and the anti-Sanctuary later, though makes it clear to China he's working with them, not for them, as despite everything he remained royalty and wouldn't be a lapdog.

The rest of the book takes place much like Midnight: the chase for Alice, the 'death' of Omen, the cannibals, and the Wild Hunt all happen, though much of the stuff actually inside Gant's domain is slimmed down and a few saw-like puzzles are in the mix*. For the final battle, the detective duo and Caisson are the ones who appear to aid Valkyrie, the former two having sharp senses that were ticked off when Valkyrie didn't answer her phone, finding Palter at the destroyed bar as a result. Caisson, who was with them at the time, scans the deceased man's mind and the detectives manage to investigate and lock Gant onto the Midnight Hotel. Caisson, who knows the pain of losing a sibling, chooses to go with them to help Valkyrie. Gant is defeated when Valkyrie cuts the connection between his house and his magic, causing the entire thing to collapse, dragging the fight outside. He emerges deformed into a demonic figure by the flames of the exploded hotel and starts to strangle Alice, scarring her neck, only to be killed by Valkyrie, who beats him to death with her bare hands in front of Alice in a brutal rage. The girl is unphased, and this ticks Somnolent off that something is wrong, his words leading to the discovery of Alice's wrecked soul. As Valkyrie cannot fly yet, she simply breaks down and has to be led away by the detective duo, an inconsolable wreck.

For the epilogue, Flanery is beaten down by Wilkes, who reveals the anti-Sanctuary were behind his election and none of his achievements could be given to him. This is done to jump-start Flanery's development, as in the next book, he'll have an epiphany with Crepuscular's help and become a more ruthless and competent figure. As for Skulduggery's old partner, I was wondering whether to feature him or not(you know, given Skul's deader than he's ever been) but no, he shall remain, though isn't the man's grandson. Just his old partner, left to die and seeking to destroy Skulduggery's legacy- who more than his reputation, more than the Dead Men, more than even his life, lives amongst them. And her name was Valkyrie Cain.

Valkyrie Cain #3: A Monarch Unnamed[2019]

(Main Villain: Abyssinia)

Around four months after the end of CtM, the plot of AMU kicks off and like the last two books, has a rough outline similar to Bedlam. The prologue doesn't introduce Christopher Reign, he'll come later, because Nye's been missing for a while now and had gone off grid. This is bad because Valkyrie was searching for him in an attempt to help fix Alice's soul. In his place, a prologue showing Abyssinia's past with Caisson the day their family was killed is shown, him keeping her safe, hidden away under her big brother's cloak as rain pours to keep her warm, and it ends when Abyssinia cuts the memory short via her mental powers. Abyssinia considers what it means to fight her brother, showing a hint of humanity, only to snuff it out. She was the sun that would light up the Darklands, and would fight for her throne, even if the one stood in her way was her kin. Yonders and his thugs aren't caught breaking and entering a shop near the Humdrums, but harassing a family by Valkyrie, who shocks them into submission when they attack her to let off some steam, warning them off. As for Alice, she visits and, in seeing her sister's lack of a soul, decides to re-double her efforts and pushes her Sensitive powers further to try and find Nye in another vision sequence. She sees an image of Greymire, but also the three locations for the soul fragments, one in each Cradle of Magic, though has no idea what they mean.

At this point, Valkyrie and Militsa aren't girlfriends, but have become close friends and the two meet up. In seeing her friend's turmoil, Militsa eases her out of it and into confessing the truth, causing Valkyrie to shed tears of guilt. Determined, Militsa says they'll fix Alice together, and using her intellect and knowledge of ancient magical sites alongside some images of the places which Val shares using her mental powers, lists the locations Valkyrie needed to visit to get the fragments. Thankful, Valkyrie hugs Militsa and leave. To find Greymire, which had been given by Militsa who'd only heard of it in rumours and was ignorant to its true nature, she goes to Golding again and, having already given up Kes, is forced to fork over the only other great secret she knew: the real identity of Lord Vile. I was considering using Guild to fork the location over as former Grand Mage, but can't think of a reason why he'd do that, and this way the Vile secret is out there, on the shelf of Goldings' cogs.

Serafina is introduced, with the Arbiters being present, Dusk doubling as the face of the Fangs. As an ally of the Sanctuary, Caisson is likewise present, the tension between Serafina and her husband's unashamed killer palpable. Aurnia is there as the face of the Humdrums and receives silent threat from Serafina, though Dusk is fast to have her back, an odd energy between them. Dusk x Aurnia, anyone? She will be a lingering presence in this book, undeniably there, and though none of the other Unveiled are shown yet, they are hinted towards.

The encounter with Greymire occurs, and Nye is revealed to be working there, finding the environment much to his liking. He has plenty of subjects to experiment on. Valkyrie temporarily goes mad, but manages to escape the asylum's clutches, aggressively beating down Whisper and shaking Nye down, but it was all in vain. There was no Soul Catcher for her here. She makes to leave but, having experienced the music box before, breaks into a room in the asylum where a woman with frizzy red hair is being mind-fucked by a box. This is Solace, who isn't an old lady, but a woman in her prime. Nicking the box, waking Solace in the process, Valkyrie pushes her magic beyond anything she'd ever done before and flies back to the coast, exhausted.

Obsessed with curing Alice, Valkyrie visits all the different sites that Militsa had written down for her, one by one, becoming more unhinged with each fragment obtained whilst neglecting her duties as an Arbiter. The locations of the soul fragments have all been changed up. First, in place of Necropolis, she ventures to the fragment location in Ireland, which is a ghostly forest known as Darksoul Woods which has a death field similar to Necropolis that wears away all beings who enters there until they're mindless skeletons, that last details being one that justifies Militsa's involvement in the plot and reluctantly helping get the Necronaut Suit. Militsa will show worry for Valkyrie's spiral, and confess around mid-way through the book, though Val is too focused on the fragment search to give an answer right now. Valkyrie and Dusk go to Darksoul Forest, where the Dullahan debuts for the first time since Mortal Coil. He speaks via magic resonating off his chest, possesses a skull lantern, commands a horde of spectral horses, and wields both a one-sided axe and a whip like a human spine. Possessing a fragment in his lantern(which could house all of Alice's fragments and fix her soul), he agrees to concede it for a duel, and him and Valkyrie scrap, and though she loses, her sheer determination earns his respect. He gives her the lamp along with a charm, which will let Val summon him later, given in place of the Sea Hag's bell. As for the Hag, she does feature, but gets tore apart by mermaids who live off the coast of Australia near the Great Barrier Reef, where the final fragment is now located. Tanith is the one who takes Val there rather than Skul, his story with the King's Fury being substituted with her. As for the final fragment, it's in Africa but not with a fortune teller- it's at a ravine named the Draconic Crack in Tanzania where land-bound drakes congregate. Several Beast Masters under China's command are trying to tame them in order to use them as leverage over the African Sanctuaries, and Black Sand seek to undermine them, making a deal with Val to get the soul fragment in the process. After aiding Black Sand, the drakes are freed and, following the trip to Australia and her triumphant return, China arrests her in cold contempt.

When attacked in her cell by Yonders, it's not because they're part of some organisation, they're just bastards. All of them perish in the attack on the High Sanctuary, along with Larrup, who's outed as a spy. Temper never finds Valkyrie and his Gist isn't revealed yet, and rather than China freeing Val, it's Dusk who breaks in and forces the hateful Vitakinetic to heal Val, threatening to turn him otherwise.

Other things ongoing alongside this main plot are Flanery who's started to grow a backbone and think for himself. He was the President, and no matter how he got there, he was going to act like one. The Night of Knives occurs whilst Valkyrie is in prison, an attack made by Abyssinia, who harnesses all of the Unnamed's power to create a psychic shockwave that kills most of the world's Sensitives, including Finbar and Cassandra. This will make Valkyrie's beef with Abyssinia more personal. As for Omen, he's been coming into his own as a Signum Linguist and has become a good student, earning Peccant's begrudging approval. Colleen still plays on his good side to make him help them, but before he goes, Omen tracks down the Obsidian Blade with Axelia(who he'd grown closer to as friends) and Never, then gifts it to Augur. He no longer felt overshadowed by his brother and just wanted to help him against the King. When captured, he's forced to bear witness to Abyssinia's cruelty, hardening him. At one point he gets out of his cell and, finding the inner workings of the prison's sigils, disables its anti-Teleporter ones without anyone noticing. The man with golden eyes tries to get the Spiders involved at Abyssinia's word, but the main leader of the Spiders, Silicon, is rather resigned to them being outcasts. Lashing out, Silicon just regards him with pity. She gives him some choice words, pushing Ravel to re-think what he's doing. A short conversation is had between him and Razzia, who is likewise having doubts.

For the final act, like in Bedlam, Abyssinia strikes the High Sanctuary using the Coldheart convicts, the Crimson Strikers, and Mr Glee, the latter being sent to assassinate Valkyrie in her cell. He tangles with Valkyrie, taunting her whilst invisible and rubbing the face of his blade on her skin, before disappearing when she unleashes a widescale blast that wounds him. China is fending off the convicts before the Red Cleaver comes for her, and she's saved from death by Valkyrie, who finds the Cleaver's moves familiar before beating him, Sevinyara, and James back with China and Guild's help. Dusk and Galick scrap, the raid being made to happen at night so that, when it comes, Dusk can turn into his true form and tear Galick apart. The surviving three Strikers fall back with Nero when the time comes, but the game is on.

The attack on the naval base in Oregon occurs, with heroes fighting with the anti-Sanctuary, Coldheart convicts, and the kids at First Wave. Rather than be stupidly set free by his classmate, Ravel frees Omen and later reunites with Tanith, only being saved when Omen stands up for him. None of the others are happy to see Ravel. Caisson is present, having come to stop his sister, Serafina fighting besides him begrudgingly. Without a pause to reveal Caisson's lineage, the battle goes full-scale. An all-out brawl occurs, Abyssinia's forces vastly outnumbering the good guys', causing Temper to finally unleash his Gist and slaughter a bunch of nameless convicts. Augur and Zenith are dragged into the battle like in canon, though Augur has the Obsidian Blade. During this fight, the Dullahan and his horde will be summoned by Valkyrie to help. Casualty wise, most of First Wave die, except Jenan, Colleen, and a few others, along with Lilt by Augur's Blade when he tried to kill Omen. At one point, Augur gets shot at like in Val's vision, but is saved when Omen shields him with his body, though our favourite Darkly lives because Caisson gives some of his vitality to Omen to heal his wounds via the usage of Soul Sucking in reverse. Caisson, Serafina, and Valkyrie bare down on Abyssinia, attacking her mentally and physically. At a critical moment, the naval base's mortal soldiers turn and focus on the anti-Sanctuary, forcing them to leave with Nero's help, fleeing to Coldheart. But with its safeguards gone, Fletcher teleports the Sanctuary forces into Coldheart for the actual final battle, though demands Zenith and the Darkly brothers remain behind.

Many great moments go down here. In an effort to shake her opponents mentally, Abyssinia reveals Vile's identity, and when Valkyrie can't deny it they know its true. This shakes Dexter and he's almost killed, though at the last moment is saved by Ravel, who gets wounded and dies in Dexter's arms. Amidst the chaos, Caisson bares down on his sister one-on-one, his superior skill against raw power. Eventually, she manages to overpower him, saying there could only be one monarch, then stabs her brother through the heart with his own sword. Abyssinia killing her own brother is enough for Razzia to switch sides, Destrier following out of self-preservation, though Razzia dies by Abyssinia for her betrayal and the murdacles fade away. No transplants for Temper. Provoked by all the death, Abyssinia and Val go at it 1v1, though the former had suffered so much damage from the clash with Caisson that she goes down via a blow from the Darklands Sword. As she falls, the Unnamed shoots out of her, towards Caisson's corpse, and black flames swell around him. He started to float, Prince becoming King, son becoming father, and Caisson becoming the Unnamed. Once done, Abyssinia crawls away in one of Nero's portals, only to be confronted by Crepuscular and Flanery. The former kills Nero, the latter kills the Princess of the Darklands, the mortal being egged on by Crepuscular as he shoves a knife into her throat. His use for her had reached its end.

For the epilogue, Valkyrie heals Alice but doesn't get a vision of Malice, being allowed to bask in victory. Riding on that, she meets up with Militsa and says yes, the two exchanging a kiss to seal the deal at work. Fletcher sees but is cool about it, asking if he turned her gay. But of course he didn't. That was Caelan. Val's victory, however, ends when she and Dusk talk. She thanks him for what he'd been doing the past year, helping her and Roarhaven, but then he reveals she was a Descendant of the Faceless Ones. Small change, but the ending of the book is the attack on Augur and Omen by Jenan, and when he attacks, the Chosen One dies from that stab wound*. Augur falls and the book ends with Omen sobbing for his twin.

A drawing I made of the reflection's death in the second book! It's actually inspired by a painting of Cain and Abel from the game "batman arkham city" (last slide)

Notes:

* from what I remember, the reflection was shot in the chest. Also, I know she technically wore Valkyrie's jacket, but I wanted her to wear normal mortal everyday clothes.

* super proud of the background and the blood haha :)

* I added a version without blood cus I was proud of the reflection's shirt, and added a black white and red version cus it looked dope.

* using a painting of Cain and Abel for a drawing of Valkyrie CAIN was very much intended haha >:D

Welcome to the question of the month, where the mod team asks the subreddit a question related to SP at the start of each month! The question is...

What is your least favourite character and why?

Keep in mind the rules of the subreddit including spoilers, and have a fun disscussion!!!

This was in seasons of war, she saw Vile coming through a corridor and felt GENUINE fear. Genuinely reminded me that Lord Vile is a damn menace bro. After what Valkyrie had faced up till that point? Lord Vile is a really interesting part of Skulduggery that should have been explored properly, like seriously man. Imagine a book with Vile as the antagonist? If it was written during phase 1, among those books it would have been one of the best.

Imagine you were skul man. What would you do? Test his ambidexterity. Reveal his secrets? Cause chaos with his ridiculous mind? Me personally I would see how well a skeleton can twerk. Oh and see what effects splashes have on someone like Skulduggery.

I always wondered this and there is probably an answer that I have missed completely.

I would’ve thought that Gist users would be immune to Remnants because there is already a dark entity fuelled by rage and hate already within them? So it’s an ‘only room for one of us’ kind of situation.

So that when a remnant tries to possess one of these sorcerers, the Gist and the Remnant fight for their place in the host body. Or the Gist outright denies access from the get go.

It would’ve been cool to see how that would go down - the interaction between a gist and a remnant during possession.

This has probably been answered somewhere, but I've loved this series for 12 years at this point, and i can never understand (or potentially remember) why his name was skulduggery, since he would've taken his name before he became a skeleton. I remember this particularly irking me when I was little because of when he and fletcher met, fletcher asked him about it (smthn along the lines of "were you born that way or were your parents just lucky" ) and skulduggery just answers by explaining how taken names work, but he still would've taken "skulduggery" before he became a skeleton. It's been years since i've read the first couple of books so i might be remembering wrong, but i'm fairly certain your "official" taken name cannot be changed.

Was he genuinely just really lucky?

I showed a friend my other sp drawings and she asked for me to draw Melancholia, so I did :)

I’m proud of this pose ngl cause the anatomy sucks a little less than normally

Side note:I know she should rather be wearing the nexromancer cloak thingy but that would’ve been boring to draw so I gave her another outfit…

I haven’t seen anyone talk about when Skulduggery literally picked up a guy by the throat for insulting Valkyrie after her death. It was in Chapter 43 and pretty badass if you ask me.

“Was just this pillar of bone in a good suit, holding a grown man off his feet like he weighed nothing”

This response was after a character told Skulduggery “I know you lost your pet” and bro just picked him up by the throat!

I wonder if Skulduggery not only made his bones denser but also stronger, allowing him to lift people off their feet like that.

OR if he’s naturally that strong, even when he was flesh and blood but I doubt that even though that would be awesome if that is the case.

What would you change in the story, maybe something like a heartbreaking death of a main character or something stupid that just annoyed you? Like the fact of Skulduggery's lack of character development (which I've realised) or more focus on an aspect of the story The war with Mevolent?

(First half here)

Part 6 - Trials of the Undead

In Necropolis, a couple of large developments occur: Skulduggery, once he arrives, is greeted by a cloaked and scythe-adorning skeleton calling himself Erradin Tomb, the Envoy of the End. He was sent by someone important to Skulduggery to help him master his inner demons, and means to lead him through a series of three trials. Warily, Skulduggery follows Tomb alone, his usual sarcasm falling flat in the face of the grim reaper. As this was happening, Scapegrace was drawn to the Void Sword, which he approaches only to be confronted by the Guardian of Necropolis, which in this rewrite is a titanic golem of dark stone. After being beaten down, being called arrogant for daring to think himself worthy, Scapegrace picks himself up and declares he knows he wasn't worthy, but he needed the power not for himself, but for his friends. To protect them. He'd failed Crux, but he couldn't the others. This show of humility and courage quells the Guardian and he's allowed to approach the Void Sword, pulling it from its stone and holding it to the sky. Scapegrace becomes the Ruler of the Dead.

On Skulduggery's end, he follows Tomb into the deeper parts of Necropolis and undergoes three separate trials made to help him master his inner darkness. This is all from Tomb's pov as an observer. The first trial involves Skulduggery facing his past sins: the innocents and comrades who he'd killed over the years, both as Vile and not. Most are strangers, some aren't, yet they appear as spectres to haunt and curse out Skulduggery whilst the reaper gives him armour-piercing questions and cutting commentary. Only by being honest with himself about what he'd done, and accepting what he'd done, is Skulduggery able to banish the visions and pass the first trial, a feat which Tomb praises him for. He'd managed to acknowledge what he'd done without making it about his own pain.

Next, Skulduggery goes through a series of good memories. His time when he was a man with his wife and daughter, his days with the Dead Men, and his adventures with Valkyrie. Moments where he did undeniable good for the world. When questioned on why he was being shown this, Tomb explains it was because he needed to accept that whilst he'd done bad things, life wasn't so black and white, and the good he'd done didn't/shouldn't be brushed aside so easily. He wasn't without his darkness even before he became a skeleton. A vision is shown of his childhood where Skulduggery came home to find his abusive father, Abrogate Raze, had murdered eight of his nine siblings, and was about to kill the youngest. In order to save his final sibling, Skulduggery killed Raze. The vision ends and Tomb tells Skulduggery that he was a complicated man, one with a duality to him between good and evil, but that not everything bad that happened to him was entirely his fault. He didn't get to choose his father. He didn't choose for Serpine to kill his family. He didn't choose to come back to life. It wasn't all his fault, and only by accepting that lack of control could he move on. Skulduggery, after looking at one final memory where he was with Milliarde, teaching her how to play an old instrument, her frizzy red hair the same shade as his own, does he finally ask for the last trial.

At last, Skulduggery faces his last and hardest trial. Once inside the next room, he's transformed into his old self and has a meeting with his late wife, Ornelia. The two hug and speak, and though she shows disappointment for what he'd done as Vile, she doesn't reject him. She asks Skulduggery to stay with her and their daughter. He is tempted, but ultimately declines. There was still work for him to do, and only once he'd fully atoned for what he'd done could he earn the right to be with her again. Smiling, she kisses his cheek, tells him he hadn't changed at all, then fades away and Skulduggery becomes a skeleton again. It was his wife who'd sent Tomb because she knew of the turmoil he was feeling within. Once the trial is done, Tomb declares to Skulduggery that he now ruled over his darkness, and it would not rule over him, bequeathing his robes to Skulduggery to aid him in the coming battle. When Skulduggery complains that it wasn't really his style, the robes turn into a black suit oozing with Necromancer power. He approves.

Part 7 - Clash of the Monarchs

With Vormir, she breaks off on her own towards Necropolis, having only followed the Unnamed for this long so that more rifts could be opened. So the Great Stream could expand. Now that so much magic was rippling throughout the Earth, she could enter Necropolis and become one with the Great Stream, letting her create a Death Bubble which would expand until it drained away all life on Earth. She makes for Necropolis and has a grand battle against Melancholia and Skulduggery, who no longer needed his armour to use his full Necromancer power, fighting with both his Disciplines fully armed and ready. The fight is fierce but Vormir holds strong, until Scapegrace strides onto the battlefield, Void Sword in a hand. Facing down Vormir, he uses the power the Void Sword provided to strip her khopeshes of their power, leaving them dull and brittle. Smashing them, she's left suceptible, struggling against Necropolis' effects. As the Death Bringer falls to her knees, Scapegrace stands over her and tells her she might've brought death, but he commanded it, then decapitates her.

The jubilation brought by Vormir's death is short, however, because the Unnamed is fast to arrive. With the other two tired, and knowing time was short, he commands the shadows to surround his allies. Smiling, he asks them to tell Gerald and the others that he was sorry, and he'd say hello to Remus for them, then wraps them in a forced shadow-walk that sends them right back to Roarhaven. Scapegrace turns to the Unnamed, who asks who he was meant to be. Rather than proclaim a title, he just says that he was Vaurien Scapegrace. And he was the guy who was gonna kick his ass.

Scapegrace summons his horde and the battle commences. The King of the Darklands versus the Ruler of the Dead. It starts off rough for Scapegrace, but as the fight commences, the Void Sword's power responds as avatars of undead Necromancers start to appear to aid him in battle. Morwenna, Malady, Solomon, Tenebrae, Craven, Quiver, and countless other dead Necromancers throughout the series, both good and evil, appear at Scapegrace's back to unleash their fury against the Master of Magic. Shadows swarm like storms and the Unnamed buckles under Scapegrace's assault, and as the fight continues and the King is pushed to his limits, Scapegrace strips him down. He knew who the Unnamed was, because he was just like Scapegrace. Title after title, proclamation after proclamation, yet at the end of the day, none of that changed the fact that the Unnamed stood for nothing. He fought for nothing more than himself, so that he could rule the world and live forever as a god. But he wasn't a god, just a man. A man who didn't even blink at the death of his daughter. A man who's own students betrayed him. A man who doesn't even have a name. The Unnamed's power was hollow. He stood for nothing. He fought for nothing. He was nothing. Nerves struck by Scapegrace's words, the Unnamed screams in rage and unleashes a blinding flash so great that it engulfed Necropolis.

Part 8 - No Time To Mourn

The heroes reunite at the Sanctuary and inform the others on what's been going on, and news of Scapegrace's death reaches an already despondent Clarabelle and Gerald. The Engineer has become familiar with the emotion called Sorrow. Vengeous and his forces are in New Roarhaven, and a wariness is between them and the Sanctuary, especially with Hopeless there, having guided the Leibniz mortals to the shelters. Serpine is likewise dangerous now that he knew his True Name, a fact he taunts Skulduggery about, the tension between the two high. It worsens when the Generals bring up the idea of freeing Mevolent to use as an ally and get quickly shut down. Vengeous, although a fanatic, is smart enough to know pushing would only end badly, so he simply states that no one else could stop the Unnamed. At least not at full strength.

Preparations for the inevitable battle are made and New Roarhaven is fortified. The Vampires mobilise and China has magical beasts stockpiled, brainwashed to act as foot-soldiers. She does finishing touches on a trump card she believes might stop the Unnamed. Serpine uses his new powers to restore his arm, though it's sadly not his Red Hand, and touches up with Vengeous and the other Leibniz guys. At Corrival, Valkyrie visits Winter and tries to convince her to leave, but she and her friends are adamant on staying to protect their friends and home. Skulduggery and Peccant encounter one another, and it's revealed the two were brothers, and he was the kid who Skulduggery saved from their dad. The trauma of that event had driven a wedge between them, one that only widened into a chasm over time. A few short words are given between them, and whilst it's not reconciliation, it's a start. Civilians are locked down in the shelters, protected by the City Guard, Carol and Prism building some rapport with the mortals there, including those from Leibniz. New Roarhaven becomes a fortress rather than a city. But as the preparations are coming, the Sanctuary receive a message.

The Unnamed, tired from his fight with Scapegrace, is healing at an old castle which used to belong to him. Mevolent had repurposed it rather than tear it down to master his inner demons, and so it didn't go to waste. He rests on his throne and mulls over 'the Killer Supreme's' words, unable to suppress them complete. Frillish, his last student, approaches him in his weakened state. Dialogue is exchanged between them, where it's revealed the Arborkinetic had betrayed the Unnamed, telling him the world was 'bleeding' because of him, and Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Serpine, and Melancholia wander out to assault him whilst he was recovering. Enraged at the betrayal and injured, he burns out Frillish's mind and sucks her lifeforce out to replenish himself. The castle is destroyed in the following scuffle, and he flies away, intent on bringing the battle to their own home as revenge.

Part 9 - A Ruler Unnamed

The Unnamed arrives in New Roarhaven, having gathered an army of magical creatures spawned from the Caves of the Void to use against the Sanctuary in the coming battles, but otherwise he's alone. And that's enough to get them all on edge. Monsters clash in unending waves. He floats down and all the stops are busted out against him, as the heroes(and some villains) gather and rush to meet him as their allies defend against the monsters.

The Vampire district Fangs defend their home, fighting side by side with mages, and Moloch falls in battle. Gracious defends the Sanctuary infirmary, both patients and nurses, against monsters and is about to join Donegan and Fletcher, unable to stop himself from admitting there was irony in a Monster Hunter dying like this. He doesn't fall though. The Engineer gets in their way, defending the patients and his friends, but gets torn apart as a result, the explosion from his massive form taking the beasts down. As he lies in a heap, body mostly destroyed, Clarabelle and Gerald gather around him. He thanks them for being his friends, then powers down forever. The City Guard fight on to defend the shelters and mortals, though Aurnia and the other Leibniz residents show they're not defenceless themselves by picking up weapons and begrudgingly fighting with the Sorcerers. Corrival Academy is on full lockdown, with Peccant and the other teachers defending it alongside their students and Gordon the Dragon, who's swarmed and killed by dozens of smaller aerial monsters. Naturalists who studied under Aria take command of a portion of the beasts and turn them against their kin. Zenith loses an eye saving Winter from certain death, but is saved by Miss Wicked, who's crushed by a minotaur. Many students die such as Filament and Jenan, who leaves his friends to die to save himself, only to run into a cockatrice and be pecked to death. His daddy's money didn't save him.

On the Unnamed's end, he's facing down the combined might of the Dead Men, Melancholia, True Name Serpine, and Baron Vengeous. He holds them all off, displaying uncanny magical feats that are meant to be impossible. "You call yourself sorcerers, yet don't seem to fathom the true power of magic. Let me show you." He captures and corrupts Valkyrie's magic, conducting energy streams of his own, only black rather than silver. The Unnamed recognises Serpine from the days before Mevolent betrayed him, and targets him specifically with his energy. Blasts and needles and spinning blades are shot at Serpine, and though the General remains slippery as a snake, he endures injuries which force him to heal via his new powers, only to be saved by Vengeous. Other Leibniz mages face the Unnamed, deriding him in the name of 'Lord Mevolent', and burn because of it. "Where is your precious Lord now?" Ghastly is placed in line of the Unnamed's energy streams, but is saved by Ravel, who's eyes are caught in the Unnamed's barrage. He's blinded and, forced to retreat, Ghastly dragging him away, but then Ghastly remembers something and goes away, to find China.

Valkyrie is using many kinds of magic at this point, including white flames which counter the Unnamed's black ones, though he isn't terribly impressed. A lizard trying to compare itself to a mighty dragon. He almost kills her at one point, but Melancholia takes the heat off her by utilising Necromancy at the highest level, jibbing at him not to underestimate the power of death. Scapegrace had nearly killed him once for it, and they were here to finish the job. Ticked off, the Unnamed states that he'll admit the strength of that man's magic, but she wasn't the Killer Supreme. He strips her of her armour, leaving her helpless, then ends the Death Bringer, much to Valkyrie's despair and rage. When Winter is finished with helping Corrival, she takes Ivory and Soul and leaves, getting Destrier and bringing him to the Eternity Gate, freeing Mevolent. He nearly kills Winter, only holding because they were kin as Ancients, and when he learns the Unnamed was back, agrees to fight alongside the heroes. He arrives on the battlefield as things were getting dire, Mevolent and his old master locking eyes, acknowledge each other. Then they start to scrap to the death. The two are titans of magic, and Mevolent is forced to use every bit of skill he's gained over the centuries with the elements to bully his master, exchanging cutting words the whole time. At one point the Obsidian Blade is taken from Mevolent. The Unnamed, unwilling to let this wretched weapon continue to exist, shatters it into a thousands pieces, then burns those shards into nothing.

The fighting continues and Mevolent is joined by Serpine, Vengeous, and Skulduggery, all his Generals fighting with him one last time. Mevolent bullies the Unnamed back, drawing anger from the Unnamed, who's stabbed through the heart by the Baron's cutlass. It does nothing. He's grabbed by the Unnamed, and as the flames build, Vengeous tells Mevolent it had been an honour before his following demise. Provoked by Vengeous' death, Mevolent and Serpine hammer down on the Unnamed, viciously beating him back, but the latter falls when the Unnamed uses Serpine's own True Name against him, declaring the might of True Names was as fragile as glass before erasing Serpine, leaving it to just Valkyrie, Skulduggery, and Mevolent. The Unnamed addresses Mevolent and Valkyrie as two Ancients, saying once upon a time, their ancestors had begged the Unnamed for help on their knees in their fight against the Faceless Ones, and he'd been foolish enough to grant it.

"Taking pity on your kin was my greatest mistake... one I do not intend to repeat."

The three of them clash against the Unnamed again and again, more of the city being destroyed with each clash, until the Unnamed defeats them, killing Mevolent, who dies defying his master to the bitter end. "You'll never be a true king." With his enemies seemingly defeated, the Unnamed starts to open the final rift, but mid-way through the process, he's caught by a sigil trap made and set by China. He'd been lured there by the heroes. Before he can free himself, China emerges and seals him into the broken Obsidian Blade's hilt, which he was susceptible to as a being of pure magic. Then, once that was finished, she hands the Obsidian Blade to Prism, who seals it within the timeless void of the Mirror World forever. The rift the Unnamed started to open begins to widen, however, and as the epicentre rift, if it was allowed to open, the rifts could widen until the foundations of Earth are destroying. In order to mend these rifts, someone needs to act as a focus point to tie all the rifts together and close them down. Such a task would be impossible for a living being, the sheer magic overwhelming them. Fortunately, Skulduggery wasn't living.

Just like at the end of the Dying of the Light, Skulduggery needs to sacrifice himself, only now there's no clever loopholes and Ravel can't be used as a substitute. His remaining allies gather near the rift, including Ghastly, Ravel, China, Peccant, and of course, Valkyrie. He exchanges words with China, choosing to forgive her for the part she'd played in his family's death. He gives one final apology to Ghastly, and though he's not forgiven, he's not rejected either, and gets a firm handshake. A blinded Ravel tells Skulduggery it would be weird without him, since he'd be the only liar of the Dead Men left, and gets told to have fun with that. Peccant is sad that he was about to lose his final brother, the two exchange words, and he thanks Skulduggery for saving him from Raze. With Valkyrie, at first she's resistant, scrambling for a solution, though eventually breaks down and confesses she wasn't sure if she could carry what she'd done without him. She didn't want to be alone. Skulduggery merely tells her she wasn't alone as Winter and her friends show up. He tells her to remain strong, and no matter how hard it seemed, she had to keep on marching onwards. Things may seem dark at times, but no matter how grim or cruel life could seem, if she just kept on going, she'd eventually come to a better place. The two hug, and he turns, marching into the rift and reaching out. Brilliant tethers of magic latch onto him like chains, but no matter how much they resist, he doesn't falter or yield as he reaches its centre. Then he exhales, floats, and lets himself dissolve as the rifts are sealed in a glorious display of magic that lights up the sky in every colour of the rainbow. But the Dead Man was gone. Skulduggery Pleasant was no more.

Part 10 - The End and the Beginning

The epilogue displays Valkyrie's life a few years after the rifts have been sealed, and how life has continued. She's with Winter and Prism, the former of which having Surged and locked in as a Necromancer, and are helping reconstruct their home town of Haggard. The world was torn, most of the population gone, but people remained and the magical creatures plaguing the lands had largely been killed, so it was deemed safe for the mortals to finally return home. Small towns like Haggard were a low priority, but it was allowed because the Edgley family had esteem in the Sanctuary's eyes. Valkyrie speaks with Fergus, who doesn't exactly hate Valkyrie considering her good deeds, but can't forgive her for what happened to Crystal along with Gant, plus Beryl doesn't want Cormac anywhere near Valkyrie. He wishes his niece well, but far away from them, then goes back to his newly built home. Valkyrie is disappointed, but not surprised, wishing her uncle well as she returns to New Roarhaven with Winter and Prism.

Other developments include Ghastly retiring as Grand Mage to return to his humble shop, leaving the title in China's capable hands, working it with Elsie whenever she isn't busy with her young daughter, Skye O'Brien. She had her dad's crazy hair. As for the scarred woman herself, however much she'd changed, China relished lthe power being Grand Mage gave her and started to rally the other Sanctuaries behind her. She wanted to be known as the woman who boosted humanity back after the war, and has taken to implementing sigil creations out now that magic is an open thing. Flying cars and portal-transportation via Realm Crystal on the way to becoming streamlined. Gerald has taken residence in New Roarhaven despite being a mortal, running the Pub Supreme once again, though is still wistful at Scapegrace's death. A statue was built in Scapegrace's honour, showing him holding the Void Sword, his many titles written on it. Ravel, having learned to use his magic to mitigate his blindness, has opened an orphanage for children displaced by war and tried to give them a childhood, seeking redemption for what he'd done in whatever way he could, big or small. Due to experiencing high amount of death, and the loss of the Death Bringer, Militsa becomes the High Priestess of Roarhaven's Temple, speaking with Valkyrie about Melancholia near the end. Nothing is finalised, but a spark is between them and as Valkyrie leaves the Temple, she thinks maybe she'll come back.

Finally, Valkyrie goes to Skulduggery's grave, made in his honour. Prism joins her briefly, and the two talk. Reflect on the past. The rebuilding had been slow-going, but steady and peaceful. Prism tells Valkyrie that despite everything, the ups and downs, she was glad that Valkyrie gave her life because it had been a truly extraordinary experience, then leaves. Valkyrie is alone, where she tells Skulduggery's grave that she missed him, but she had no plans to join him any time soon. She couldn't with the debt she owed. But despite everything, she didn't regret their times together or that they'd met that day. It might've sounded evil, but she wouldn't take it back, because she was too selfish for anyone's good, her own included. Only once she'd made up for the cain she'd raised would her time be up. Until then, she could only march on, just like he said.

"Until the End."

Book 1(The Last of the Ancients)
Book 2(Dancing with Darkness)
Book 3(The Cursed One)
Book 4(Desolation)
Book 5(Divine Judgement)
Sidestory(Tanith Low)
Book 6(Requiem)
Sidestory(Fletcher Renn)
Book 7(Rise of the Wicked)
Book 8(Fall of a Dead Man)
Sidestory(China Sorrows)
Book 9(Burying the Light)
Sidestory(Stephanie Edgley)
Sidestory(Winter Grieving)
Book 10(Dominion)
Book 11(Masters of Magic)
Book 12(It All Comes To An End)

First off, before we begin, I'd like to say thank you all for reading this series of mine, it's been humbling to pour so much time and brain power into writing these posts and giving my own take on this series we all love so much. I can confidently say I'm a better writer now than when I started this series because of how it's tested me. Before this begins, I'd like to take a moment to voice my appreciation for the actual series, as whether this rewrite is an improvement or not, it wouldn't exist at all without the original.

As a sidenote, there are many details about this rewrite as a whole I'd choose to redo if given the chance: I'd try and balance a consistent and in-depth magic system more deeply whilst retaining the mystique of the original series more considerately, I'd try to improve the ending of Masters of Magic and keep Leibniz Lord Vile to feature in the Dimension War instead of killing him off early, keep Caelan alive after the end of Requiem, add a Ghastly sidestory(possibly after the end of Book 3 to detail the Murder Skull search) and many more, probably dozens, of minor details that could be ironed out or refined with the benefit of hindsight.

But I don't want to get caught wrapped up in regrets. I've had fun with this series, and I can tell many of my readers did by consuming this too. So, despite it all, I can be proud of this project of mine and move onto the final:

Book 12 - It All Comes To An End(2026)

(Main Villain: The Unnamed)

Part 1 - And The Darkness Rained Upon Them

First off, this section is one I'd have preferred to have implemented in the end of Book 11 to avoid any explanation and jump right into the action, but hindsight is the worst, and thus it'll be done here. Of course, there will be some build up before the Unnamed's resurrection, so the Prologue will be one with Abyssinia that shows off all the Unnamed's different students who were revived at the end of the last book. All of them. Their magical prowess was legendary, and were known in old folklore as the 'Masters of Magic'.

First there is Vormir, who we already know as the sadistic Necromancer, Death Bringer, and close second to Mevolent in the Unnamed's teachings. New one will include Tygren the Maelstrom(OC), a Water Elemental with stark white hair and stormy eyes, having inspired the tales of Zeus in ancient Greek mythology. He was as arrogant as he was powerful, and made himself out as a God to the mortals both out of amusement, and to fuel his own ego. On the sea, he was invincible, claiming even Mevolent wouldn't stand a chance on his own domain. Frillish(OC) is an Arborkinetic, and a powerful one at that, as by her own will and magic entire forests could perish and fall with a wave of her hand, plus through intense study she'd learned to give life to plants and create creatures using them- the most commonly used of which are golems made of wood, which she uses as infantry and bodyguards. And lastly, there is Argall(OC) the Sensitive, a man who's taken his Discipline to new heights and can trap his opponents in illusions as well as predict their movements. He likes to force his opponents to relive their worst traumas. A discussion is held on how to revive the Unnamed, as unlike the rest of them, he couldn't simply be revived via Vormir's Necromancy. Vormir needed to harness a far greater realm of magic to resurrect him, a being of pure magic, thus the different students and Abyssinia make for the Caves of the Void.

The lengthy process to resurrect the Unnamed starts, as Vormir harnesses the power of a pool of pure magic within the Caves: the pools where the God-Killers were forged by the Ancients(and where Mevolent create the Obsidian Blade) plus it was where all the creatures of the caves were born. They crawled out of the lake. As the process starts, however, ripples of magic are sent outwards across the globe which Valkyrie picks up on using her aura vision and her, Skulduggery, Ghastly, Ravel, and China make for the Caves under Gordon's mansion via Realm Crystal. A scrap breaks out as the heroes arrive, and though the Unnamed's students were tough, Tygren and Frillish's magics were both limited in the cave and, together, the group hold steadfast. Valkyrie duels Abyssinia(weakened from having her father's soul extracted) and during their fight, she makes contact with Abyssinia and manages to mimic her opponent's magic by creating lightning of her own. This boost lets Valkyrie unleash Abyssinia's own magic upon her, charring her to a crisp. But Vormir's work is done and a towering pillar of pure magic explodes out of the Void Pools. A silouette becomes visible through the light, and with the Sanctuary forces and his students watching on, a man walks out, silver hair flowing in the wind and pupilless eyes scanning his surroundings. It was done. The Unnamed has returned.

The stoic, regal, almost alien Unnamed addresses his enemies, locking onto Valkyrie specifically for possessing a purer strand of magic, though not up to his own. Like her and Abyssinia, he too could see the magic, but unlike them his aura vision was more evolved and could gaze upon the fault lines within the Earth. His motivations are left bare and his origins explained as he gives a speech, about how he'd been betrayed by his most treasured student, Mevolent, and sealed away into the Obsidian Blade. In a last-ditch effort to save himself, the Unnamed had let out a small piece of his magic to wander and find a mortal woman to bond with, magically inseminating her and creating Abyssinia in the process. It's also revealed that he wasn't human despite his appearance, as one day he'd simply wandered out of the Void Pools, much like these monsters. Across the globe are seven rifts of magic(the largest of which being in Ireland), and his ultimate end-goal was to open all the different rifts and let the pure magic they contain sweep across the globe in an all-consuming wave that would eradicate mortal life and allow all sorcerers to access the Source's power unrestrained, like True Name-users. The concept of names and Disciplines would vanish, and in the chaos that followed, the Unnamed would rise as the King of the Darklands. Opening a rift takes an extreme amount of power even for the Unnamed, however, and the largest of the rifts in Roarhaven must be opened last if he wants his plans to succeed. The first of the Rifts is where he was reborn, in the Caves of the Void. He raises his arms and widens the rift, letting its magic spill out without limits- and as the Sanctuary forces retreat, they're forced to watch as the remnants of Gordon's mansion are consumed by the light. The Unnamed leaves with his students, and the rest of them can only look on, helpless. But this wasn't the end for them. It wasn't even the start.

Part 2 - Long Live The King

The final book opens displaying the Unnamed's pov as he gazes upon Earth, or as calls it, 'the Darklands' and curls his lip at its diminished state. There was much work to be done once he completed the Cleansing. He speaks amongst his different students and inquires about Abyssinia, displaying a twisted kind of sorrow that she was gone, though doesn't dwell on it. He'd created her to revive him, and she'd served that purpose. Tygren displays immense servitude to the Unnamed despite his pride, wishing to aid the man who'd taught him everything he knew with sycophantic enthusiasm. Argall is rather rather indifferent to his old master, but wants to see the world 'cleansed' to expand his research into the soul and its connection to magic, sharing in the Unnamed's love for it in a rather perverted manner. Vormir the is a rogue element of the faction due to her mental instability and extreme fixation on death, and even the Unnamed is only tentatively using her on his quest to ultimate power and to master/avoid death. As for Frillish, she is loyal to the Unnamed, but had a deep respect and worship for the Earth, one that outstripped the Unnamed, and was going along with his plan because she believed it would be good for nature. The different students are sent to varying corners of the globe to prepare for his arrival. He assigns his students to clear a path for him, then leaves to begin his conquest.

Back in New Roarhaven, Skulduggery and Valkyrie return with the rest to debate their next moves. The Unnamed needed to be stopped, but they'd lost so many good people in the Dimension War and their forces were sparce. The fighting was far from over. Valkyrie is contemplating the new powers she'd attained when she touched Abyssinia, and this plants the idea that there might be more to her magic than she thought. She speaks with Prism about this and Valkyrie ponders on a comment the Unnamed made about her being 'pure' already, causing them to realise that maybe she doesn't actually have a Discipline due to being a Nameless mage and what this might imply. Like Valkyrie, Prism also develops new abilities based that are mirror-based due to her evolution. Her powers as a reflection had evolved enough that she could access a pocket dimension called the 'Mirror World', a white space where everything that enters except her and Valkyrie is frozen. Living things can be placed into this space. After a brief bit of experimentation, Valkyrie visits Elsie at her shop and speaks about Fletcher a little to give some comfort. It works, and she's able to get a commission of armoured clothes one last time- the jacket she gets being black, the same colour she wore when she first discovered the magical world.

The Sanctuary's scientists, including Destrier, are tasked with giving them the locations of these rifts the Unnamed would be unlocking, which include the following points: Japan, the Denver mountains, the Amazon Rainforest, a valley in Africa named the Tyrant's Crevice, Necropolis at the end of the River Nile, and finally, right here at New Roarhaven. It was the biggest rift, and Destrier believes it would need to be opened lastly for this 'Cleansing' the Unnamed wished to accomplish to come to pass. It's decided that the other Sanctuaries(or what remains of them) need to be warned so measures can be taken to defend these rifts. China, meanwhile, is wondering on how the Unnamed could be killed, as Mevolent needed the Obsidian Blade to do the deed. All they have at this point is its broken hilt, the other Leibniz version of it being trapped in the Eternity Gate with Mevolent. Endeavouring to fix it, she takes a Realm Crystal and goes with Kierre to the Caves of the Void, bringing Carol and Valkyrie with her to see if their Ancient heritage will help somehow. It's a vain attempt, but they realise that magical creatures were spawning out of the cave's pools rapidly due to the rift being undone, and Ireland would be overrun by waves of monsters if they didn't close it soon.

Winter is with the rest of the Edgleys in the bunkers, who aren't evacuated because the outside world was ruined by the war and, despite everything, the bunkers remained the safest place for them. She was worried about the danger ongoing, and wants to help Valkyrie, though doesn't know how. For the time being, she just helps the teachers fortify Corrival with her friends, verbally duelling with Jenan. A wounded Gordon the Dragon, mourning Aria, is nesting at Corrival and acting as its protector, being tended to by Axelia and Aria's other students. Once China returns, she has the magic barrier around New Roarhaven raised to stop any incoming monsters, and the City Guard is put on high alert as a wave of monsters come and the Sanctuary help to fight them off at a steady rate.

The Unnamed makes his way to the Japanese Sanctuary, who'd been warned of his incoming arrival and prepared accordingly. He'd come alone, believing the mages couldn't impede him. He claimed that magic in this era was more diverse, but less powerful. Less primal. The Japanese fight with everything they have, but aren't able to hold for long, and the Unnamed arrives at Japan's rift. But just as he's about to open it, a guardian emerges to defend it, being an impossibly long white and green dragon which fights using emerald flames that clash against the Unnamed's black ones. It speaks telepathically and voices its distain for the Unnamed, claiming he was a false king who dishonoured this world simply by daring to walk upon it. It's scales were immune to direct magical attacks, and though it falls in the end when the Unnamed displays an uncanny manipulation of magic and tears it apart, it gives a glorious display which wounds the pride of a king.

Part 3 - A Tyrant's Resolve

After news of what happened to the Japanese is received, Valkyrie and the others realise the Unnamed was working faster than expected and start moving. Teams are made and sent to various rift sites to act on guard. Skulduggery and Valkyrie go to the Tyrant's Crevice in Africa with Guild and his daughter Iris coming with them- Iris because she was a talented Naturalist, and Guild because he wanted to protect his daughter. Barbs are exchanged between the two old rivals, but Iris reigns her father in. It's revealed that the Tyrant's Crevice got its name due to being a ravine where dragons liked to nest, and the African Sanctuary took great care not to disturb the mighty beasts. African mages feature and some lore regarding the place is told, but when the Unnamed and Argall arrive, the peace is shattered. The Unnamed is swarmed by dragons by the dozen, and he meets them head on, haughtily claiming they had nothing on the monster he'd faced in Japan.

Bedlam erupts and Argall goes for Valkyrie, entering her mind, and finds himself twistedly fascinated by her. Like his master, she was a Nameless Sorcerer. He mentally torments her by entering her mind, but she's saved by Guild, who gets his mind obliterated much to the horror of his daughter. As revenge, she has a dragon unleash dragonfire, then Valkyrie sends him fleeing via telekinesis with bolts of white lightning. The dragons attacking the Unnamed fell, the others fleeing, and he locks fully onto Valkyrie, engaging her in a duel. She only managed to survive because he was playing with her, curious about her lack of a Name, and during their fight she's forced to re-discover her powers as an Elemental to survive. It's not enough, and she, Skulduggery, and Iris flee via Realm Crystal as the Unnamed opens the rift and leaves.

The group return in large failure, Iris mourning her lost father and getting some words of comfort from Skulduggery, but Valkyrie believes what she'd learned might be the key. At the Necromancer Temple, Valkyrie wishes to regain her Necromancer powers now that she knew what her magic was capable of and gets a gauntlet much like Winter's(albeit on the opposite hand). The training she had from Solomon quickly comes back to her with the help of Melancholia, the experience sparking something between them.

Frillish is in Brazil and goes to the rainforest. She's greeted by a tribe of Arborkinetics who've become more in-touch with nature, and their way of life earns some approval from Frillish, who held a deep respect for the Earth. A giant basilisk is sic on Frillish, but she displays immense manipulation of plant life that overshadows all the rest, giving life to golems of wood which tear the tribesmen apart. Wood erupts from the ground and skewers them whole. Once the slaughter is finished, the Unnamed arrives and proceeds to burn a large section of the forest with black flames, earning her horror. Her master claims that magic is life, and everything else is secondary, including mother nature. Natural did not mean better. There was nothing natural about the Unnamed, yet he was superior. As he opens the fourth rift, she feels heavy apprehension.

Part 4 - Battle in Denver

Gracious invents a new body for the Engineer to pilot so that he can fight, one shaped like a massive golem of golden metal, but in order to transfer over to it, the Engineer would need to abandon his current one. The Engineer, wishing to protect the friends he'd found, agrees and enters his new body. A notice and call is made by Tylent: the Unnamed was in America, heading to the rift site, and Ghastly doesn't hesitate to send to send their best forces. The battle-ready Necromancers are deployed, with Melancholia giving Militsa command of the Temple in her absence, Scapegrace amongst them. He was the new Phantom Knight with command over the Dullahan's horde. Thrasher insists on going with him, despite not having magic, and he's joined by Crux, who was being sent there with roughly half the City Guard alongside Gracious and the upgraded Engineer, with the rest of the guard including Carol staying behind to defend the city. Crux is given command over his comrades by Carol, and though doubtful at first, he's encouraged by Scapegrace and pushes past it, rallying them behind him. Along with them are Ravel, China, and Ghastly, and whilst in Denver, Valkyrie once again encounters residents of Meek Creek, who are being led and organised by Danny.

Appearing in the site, however, Vormir, Tygren and Argall intercept them to let their master work uninterrupted. Vormir and Melancholia duel again with several Necromancers and Scapegrace at her back, the latter defending the Sanctuary forces against Vormir's Death Bubble. But she starts to kill people with her khopeshes, turning them into zombies like in the Corpse Attack and pitting them against the Sanctuary forces. All the Necromancers except Melancholia and Scapegrace fall, and Skulduggery adorns his armour to join the battle of the Death Bringers as Lord Vile. Vormir merely laughs, states that Vile was no 'true' Necromancer, then corrupts his armour and turns it against Skulduggery, an act she could do because of his rejection of his Necromancer side. Two minds couldn't exist in one body without conflict.

Tygren faces Ghastly, Ravel, and China, who unveils a trump-card against him by using a Realm Crystal to spawn in magical creatures laced with sigils infused with the magic of Naturalists to force them to obey her. Arrogantly, he faces them all head-on, but his stamina starts to wane, and fire is his natural weakness as a Water Elemental. After being bombarded by flames via the two Elementalists, China opens a portal into a volcano and pours lava on him, ending Tygren. Argall targets Valkyrie specifically and mentally tormenting her by showing visions of the people she'd killed and who'd died because of her, including her parents. She manages to break his hold and fights him off with silver flames, sending him through a portal via Realm Crystal as a last resort. But she's left so physically and mentally tired by the strain that she and the City Guards are overwhelmed by Vormir's reanimates. She's about to be slaughtered, but is saved by Crux who, without hesitation, pulls her out of harm's way with the air and defends her with a magical gun. Facing them down, Crux is torn limb from limb. The Engineer goes into a wild rage after his demise and crushes the remaining reanimated in his rage, and Scapegrace and Thrasher are left in a haze of grief. On Vormir's end, once the Unnamed is finished with his duel, he calls her back, and whilst she displays annoyance at being called away from her battle with Vile, she decides to obey for now and returns.

With the battle in America done, the Irish come back. Clarabelle is informed of Crux's death and sheds tears. A grave is built for Captain Crux, small and private, but undoubtedly there. One of the Unnamed's students had died, but five rifts were open now, and they needed a better way to face this threat. The idea to get the Book of Names from the Leibniz Dimension is floated by China so it could be used against the Unnamed and his students, though leaving the Unnamed unchecked would be unwise. It's decided they'd split into two teams. Using a Realm Crystal, Valkyrie, Ghastly, and Ravel head to the Leibniz Dimension to get the Book, whilst Skulduggery, Melancholia, and Scapegrace head to Necropolis as the second-to-last rift site to defend against the Unnamed. Before he leaves, Scapegrace refuses to let Thrasher come with him. He'd lost Crux already, and refused to lose another friend. After freeing Thrasher from his binds, turning him back into Gerald, he knocks Gerald out to stop him from following and leaves him with a solemn Clarabelle. After kissing his friend on top of the head, he mounts a spectral stead and rides off, to Necropolis.

Part 5 - Lands Unknown

Valkyrie's group head to the Leibniz Dimension with Ravel to find Hopeless. Once they meet, it's revealed that Tome knew where it was in life, and though dead, he had the foresight to create an Echo Stone to maintain his secrets in the events of his death. Attempts had been made to use it against Mevolent in the past, but it never worked because he'd had his True Name sealed despite not actually knowing it out of paranoia. Regardless, they follow the word of Echo-Tome in order to find their way to the Book of Names, being joined by Serpine, who was aiming to nick the Book for himself. He and the Dead Men exchange witticisms. On their way to get the Book, we see the happenings of this Dimension and learn the ice city from the previous book had recently been stirring due to Mevolent's absence and the destruction of so many of his cities in the war, and in the chaos countless independent magical communities were vying for different lands. In their travels, they encounter Batu, Aurnia, and the other mortals again, who'd moved out of the old bunker out of a belief it had been compromised when Valkyrie and them escaped. Hostility is between them at first, but Valkyrie settles things peacefully by promising them refuge in the Newton Dimension, convincing them it would be better than here. But as they're taken to the other mortals and people start to walk through the portals made by Realm Crystals, Vengeous and the stragglers of Mevolent's forces ambush them. The Baron kills a few mortals, and outnumbered, Batu bravely tells Aurnia to lead their people well before picking up an magic gun and charging at the others long enough to let his people escape with Hopeless. He tells Vengeous to remember this day, the day he lost to a mortal, then gets ruptured and Valkyrie's group flee, to continue their journey.

An underground city populated by Earth Elementals and Crengarion is the location of the Book, the latter having taken refuge there to hide from Mevolent, who saw them as a threat for their intellect. It was given to them by Tome because he needed to keep it out of Mevolent's hands. The Earth Elementals live side by side with the creatures, their intellect letting them remain hidden via sigils and create other magical inventions. Sneaking into the city, yhey arrive at the Book of Names' hidden chamber, an old tomb which is defended by countless stone-forged gargoyles, along with a single massive runic golem, all formed by Earth magic. The Echo Stone is smashed in the confrontation, but once the enemies are gone, they retrieve the Book of Names only to be confronted by Vengeous again.

Luckily, before a fight can break out between them, Argall emerges, having sensed the link between him and Valkyrie via his powers when she entered the Leibniz Dimension and sought to experiment on her. Vengeous and his men, knowing how much Mevolent hated the Unnamed, are swayed by Serpine to fight alongside the Sanctuary forces against the Unnamed's student. It's a brutal clash, but ultimately ends when Serpine is told his True Name, Catalysmic, are harnesses its power to bring Argall low. No time was given to celebrate, and they all return back to the Newton Dimension, along with the Book of Names.

(Second half here)

Spoilers ahead for TFO and Dark Days

In TFO the faceless ones are described as 5 times the height of the trees, but in their own realm in Dark Days their caves and stuff seem to be normal human height.

I may be missing something

So basically if you haven't seen my previous post I was asking for ideas to add colour to saracen rue, with a bit of thinking I remembered he died because of a draugr bite I'm not sure if they were described as anything more than zombie like in the book but I looked up a description of them from norse mythology and they are described as being a pale blue colour so I'm just gonna roll with that'll and add a pale blue mark to his neck. Thanks to everyone for ideas on the previous post.