The Council of Elders

For every country in which there is a magical community, there is a Council of three of the wisest and most respected sorcerers. They operate out of the Sanctuary--their base of operations, from where they pass the laws, supervise the army of Cleavers, and assign cases to the various detectives and agents they have at their disposal.

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The Hollow Men

Mindless creatures of evil who, while looking human, are merely papery, leathery shells, bloated from the inside by the foulest of gases.

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The Book of Names

A single volume that reportedly contains the three names for every living person on the planet. How the Book gathers its information, nobody knows. The Book is kept behind a mystical shield.

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Elementals

A discipline of sorcery that allows the user to manipulate the four elements of fire, water, air, and earth.

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Adepts

A separate discipline of sorcery that itself splits off into a potentially endless series of magical abilities, usually performed to inflict pain.

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The Faceless Ones

Dark gods who once ruled this world, beings of incredible power driven by cruelty and hate. They were eventually driven out of this plane of existence by the first of the human sorcerers, but they wait on the edges of what we know. Waiting to return.

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The Ancients

The first of the human sorcerers; the first mortals to discover and wield magic. Although their demise is recounted in the myths and legends of the magical communities, there is still no solid evidence to explain their disappearance.

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The War

Official records show that the last war between sorcerers lasted for more than three hundred years. It began when the sorcerer Mevolent refused to curtail his attempts to bring the Faceless Ones back into our reality. The magical communities all over the world were torn in two--those who worshipped the Faceless Ones sided with Mevolent, and those who didn't, rose up against him.

Just when you think you've saved the world! "You will kill her?" the Torment asked. Skulduggery sagged. "Yes." He hesitated, then took his gun from his jacket. "I'm sorry, Valkyrie," he said softly. "Don't talk to me," Valkyrie said. "Just do what you have to do." Valkyrie parted her tunic, and Skulduggery pointed the gun at the vest beneath. "Please forgive me," Skulduggery said, then aimed the gun at the girl and pulled the trigger. With Serpine dead, the world is safe once more. At least, that's what Valkyrie and Skulduggery think, until the notorious Baron Vengeous makes a bloody escape from prison, and dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland. With Baron Vengeous after the deadly armour of Lord Vile, and pretty much everyone out to kill Valkyrie, the daring detective duo face their biggest challenge yet. But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home!?

little girl, all alone

that afternoon Stephanie and her mother
took the fifteen-minute drive from Haggard
to Gordon’s estate. Her mum opened the
front door and stepped back.
“Owner of the house goes first,” she said with a little smile
and a bow, and Stephanie stepped inside. She wasn’t thinking
of this house as her property – the idea was too big, too silly.
Even if her parents were, technically, the custodians until she
turned eighteen, how could she own a house? How many other
twelve-year-old kids owned houses?
No, it was too silly an idea. Too far-fetched. Too crazy.
Exactly the kind of thing that Gordon would have thought
made perfect sense.
The house was big and quiet and empty as they walked
through it. Everything seemed new to her now, and Stephanie
found herself reacting differently to the furniture and carpets
and paintings. Did she like it? Did she agree with this colour or
that fabric? One thing that had to be said for Gordon, he had a
good eye. Stephanie’s mother said there was very little she would
change if she had to. Some of the paintings were a little too
unnerving for her taste maybe, but on the whole the furnishings
were elegant and understated, exuding an air of distinction that
befitted a house of this stature.
They hadn’t decided what they were going to do with the
house. Any decision was left up to Stephanie, but her parents still
had the villa to consider. Owning three houses between them
seemed a bit much. Her father had suggested selling the villa but
her mother hated the thought of letting go of a place so idyllic.
They had also talked about Stephanie’s education, and she
knew that conversation was far from over. The moment they had
left Mr Fedgewick’s office they warned her not to let all this go
to her head. Recent events, they had said, should not mean she
could stop studying, stop planning for college. She needed to be independent, they said, she needed to make it on her own.
Stephanie had let them talk, and nodded occasionally and
muttered an agreement where an agreement was appropriate.
She didn’t bother to explain that she needed college, she needed
to find her own way in the world because she knew that if she
didn’t, she’d never escape Haggard. She wasn’t about to throw
her future away simply because she had come into some money.
She and her mother spent so long looking around the
ground floor that by the time they got to the bottom of the stairs,
it was already five o’clock. With their exploring done for the day,
they locked up and walked to the car. The first few drops of rain
splattered against the windscreen as they got in. Stephanie
clicked her seatbelt closed and her mother turned the key in the
ignition.
The car spluttered a bit, groaned a little and then shut up
altogether. Stephanie’s mother looked at her.
“Uh oh.” They both got out and opened the bonnet.
“Well,” her mother said, looking at the engine, “at least
that’s still there.”
“Do you know anything about engines?” Stephanie asked.
“That’s why I have a husband, so I don’t have to. Engines
and shelves, that’s why man was invented.” Stephanie made a
mental note to learn about engines before she turned eighteen.
Her mum dug her mobile phone out of her bag and called
Stephanie’s dad, but he was busy on site and there was no way
he could get to them before nightfall. They went back inside the
house and her mother called a mechanic, and they spent three
quarters of an hour waiting for him to arrive.
The sky was grey and angry and the rain was falling hard by
the time the truck appeared around the corner. It splashed
through puddles on its way up the long drive, and Stephanie’s
mum pulled her jacket over her head and ran out to meet it.
Stephanie could see a great big dog in the cab of the truck,
looking on as the mechanic got out to examine their car. After a
few minutes, her mother ran back inside,