Once again ignoring the urgency, Skulduggery knelt down and focused on pulling the rest of the bones out to fit them carefully together on the smooth stone before him. "If you want me to fly," he replied calmly, "or climb the cliffs any faster than the general pace of a snail, I need both arms. It won't take long." Manipulating air with only one hand was doable, but it wouldn't lift him more than a few feet off the ground at best, and those few feet would probably be amusingly lopsided.
He did look up when Gabe asked where the portal had opened, however. "That's not how it works," he said. "To open that portal, you need something that belongs in this reality to be over there. An Isthmus Anchor. None exist anymore, and that means there's no breach. For all intents and purposes, there never was. There used to be an Isthmus Anchor, but it's here now. Useless. I tried looking for it at first, but this place is much too..."
He paused, looking from the nearly-finished skeletal arm below him back to Gabe. "I'm rambling."
The surprise in his voice was almost as unfamiliar to Skulduggery as that fact. Was he really so rusty at basic conversation? Was even the mere possibility that Gabe might be real already dispelling his better judgment? He'd talked to hallucinations; it wasn't as if he didn't have practice. Maybe he was simply used to the one-sidedness.
He slowly stood back up, arm in hand, and gingerly stuck the whole thing back together. "I wouldn't worry," he assured Gabe, slowly flexing the fingers of his right hand. "We'll know they've spotted us when one of them screeches."
As luck would have it, an ear-splitting screech cut through the air moments later, and one of the giant black flying creatures circled back over the alley to disappear from view.
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He did look up when Gabe asked where the portal had opened, however. "That's not how it works," he said. "To open that portal, you need something that belongs in this reality to be over there. An Isthmus Anchor. None exist anymore, and that means there's no breach. For all intents and purposes, there never was. There used to be an Isthmus Anchor, but it's here now. Useless. I tried looking for it at first, but this place is much too..."
He paused, looking from the nearly-finished skeletal arm below him back to Gabe. "I'm rambling."
The surprise in his voice was almost as unfamiliar to Skulduggery as that fact. Was he really so rusty at basic conversation? Was even the mere possibility that Gabe might be real already dispelling his better judgment? He'd talked to hallucinations; it wasn't as if he didn't have practice. Maybe he was simply used to the one-sidedness.
He slowly stood back up, arm in hand, and gingerly stuck the whole thing back together. "I wouldn't worry," he assured Gabe, slowly flexing the fingers of his right hand. "We'll know they've spotted us when one of them screeches."
As luck would have it, an ear-splitting screech cut through the air moments later, and one of the giant black flying creatures circled back over the alley to disappear from view.