"I summoned my ka," Solomon answered simply, watching the drift of glowing blue mist intertwine within the shadows until the shadows themselves were pearlescent grey. For a moment he teetered on the edge of telling them the other part, about his name--but he was still shaken by the implications of it, and would sooner pretend it had never happened.

"The trouble with this is that I'm not sure how to unsummon it." Even as he spoke the mist was fading. There wasn't any overt shift in power; it was just as though the monster had realised it was no longer needed and faded away before Solomon could even see whether this was its true form or some kind of side-effect.

Either way, within moments the shadows were shadows, and the butterflies still resting on Skulduggery's bones were black once more.