Skulduggery Pleasant

Chapter Twenty-one The Cave

Stephanie turned and ran.

She glanced back, but Bliss wasn't there, and then a shadow fell across her and he dropped from the sky. She ran straight into him and stumbled back. His hand moved like an attacking snake, snatching the brooch from her grasp. She landed on the seat of her jeans.

She glanced to the edge of the cliff, expecting to see Skulduggery swoop up to save her. He didn't.

Mr. Bliss slipped the brooch into his jacket.

"You're going to give it to him," Stephanie said.

"I am."

"Why?"

"He's too powerful to fight."

"But you're stronger than anyone! If you all go after him — "

"I do not gamble, Miss Cain. If we went after him, we might beat him, or he might elude us and strike at us when we least expect it. It is far too unpredictable for my liking. War should be a delicate thing. It requires precision."

Stephanie frowned. Those words. Those eyes, the palest blue . . .

"China betrayed us too," she said, understanding. "It must run in the family."

"My sister's affairs, and her motivations, are her own."

"Is she siding with Serpine as well?"

"Not to my knowledge," Mr. Bliss answered. "But then, I could be lying. That's the thing about allies and enemies — you're never quite sure which is which until the final move is made."

As he walked toward his car, she got to her feet, powerless to get the brooch back.

"We're going to stop him," she called out.

"Do what you must," Mr. Bliss said. He got into his car, and without another glance at her, he drove off down the dirt road away from the Martello Tower, heading out of town. She watched the dust kick up in his wake, then hurried down the narrow path to the bottom of the cliffs.

Please be all right, she repeated in her head. Please be all right, please be all right.

When she finally reached the bottom of the path, she looked over at the rocks, terrified that she might see him there. A fall like that would have smashed his bones to pieces. He wasn't on the rocks, however, so she turned her attention to the sea, just as Skulduggery's head broke the surface of the water.

"Skulduggery?" she called out, relief sweeping through her. "Are you all right?"

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he kept rising, rising straight up out of the sea until he was standing on the waves.

"I'm fine," he said curtly, walking to her. Stephanie had seen such peculiarities over the past few days that she was mildly surprised when anything struck her as odd anymore, but Skulduggery walking on water definitely struck her as odd. He bobbed up and down with the waves but kept his balance perfectly, and when he stepped off the water onto the path, the vapor rose from his suit and dropped back into the sea. His clothes, she noticed, were undamaged by the fall.

"So that's why Serpine didn't send anyone after us," he said sourly. "He let us go so that we'd get the key, knowing he had someone on the inside to get the key from us. That's just . . . that's just cheating."

"Do you know anyone who wouldn't betray you?" Stephanie asked as they started walking back up the path.

"Hush now."

"And thanks for letting me know that Bliss and China were brother and sister, by the. way."

"You're welcome."

"If I'd known that, I might have been able to warn you not to trust him."

"I must admit, China's treachery didn't corneas a surprise, but Mr. Bliss ... he never does anything without due consideration."

"I suppose he thinks Serpine is the winning side."

"Maybe."

"So what do we do now? We can't let Serpine find the Scepter. He'll be unstoppable."

"What do you suggest?"

"I suggest I go get my work clothes and let my reflection out of the mirror, and we follow him into the caves and get the Scepter before he does."

"That's a very good plan. We'll do that, then."

They arrived at Gordon's estate to find a gleaming silver car parked outside, and the front door once again lying in the hallway. Skulduggery led the way into the house, revolver in his hand.

Stephanie followed close behind, clad all in black. They gave the ground floor a cursory examination before moving downstairs into the cellar.

The key was in the lock and a section of the floor was open, revealing stone steps descending into the Earth. They followed these steps, sinking deeper into the gloom. They walked in near darkness for a few minutes until they came to the bottom, then walked through a narrow tunnel carved out of the rock. It was brighter down here, their way lit by dozens of small holes designed to catch the sunlight from above and cast it down into the depths.

They stepped out of the tunnel into a cave that split in two directions.

"Which way?" Stephanie whispered.

Skulduggery extended his arm and opened his hand. After a moment, he nodded. "A group of them, headed north."

"Are you reading the air?" Stephanie asked, frowning.

"Reading disturbances in the air, yes."

"So do we go after them?"

Skulduggery thought about this. "They don't know the exact location of the Scepter any more then we do. They simply chose that path as the place to start their search."

"So we should go the other way, hope we find it first?"

"If we can get it without Serpine even knowing we're here, we can seal the tunnel behind us and trap him while we alert the Elders."

"Then why are we standing around looking pretty?"

They took the path to their left, moving quickly but quietly. The cave system soon proved itself to be enormous, but Skulduggery assured her he could find the way back without a problem.

Here and there, the pinpricks of sunlight opened up to larger streams, which 291

reflected off the rock walls and stabbed through the darkness. Strange plants and mushrooms were growing, but Skulduggery warned her to stay away from them. Even the fungus was dangerous down here.

They had been walking for ten minutes when Stephanie saw something move ahead of them.

She touched Skulduggery's arm and pointed, and they stepped back into the shadows to watch.

The thing that lumbered into view was magnificent in its awfulness. Standing well over nine feet tall, its chest was broad and its arms were long, the forearms hugely distorted by bulging muscles. Its hands were the size of dinner plates, tipped with claws built for ripping. Its face was doglike in appearance, like a Doberman's, and it had a dirty brown mane that ran from the back of its skull and joined the long matted hair on its shoulders.

"What is it?" Stephanie whispered.

"That, my dear Valkyrie, is what we call a monster."

She looked at Skulduggery. "You don't know what it is, do you?"

"I told you what it is, it's a horrible monster. Now shut up before it comes over here and eats us."

292

They watched it disappear into an adjoining cave.

"Let's not go that way," Stephanie said.

"Good plan," Skulduggery agreed, and they hurried forward.

Their path took them to the scene of a cave-in, so they doubled back and took another route, moving into a long tunnel. Things scuttled in the shadows beside them and fluttered in the shadows above, but as long as those things didn't jump out and bite them, Stephanie was okay.

Skulduggery crouched, picking something up off the ground. A dusty chocolate-bar wrapper or, as he put it, "A clue."

Stephanie looked at him. "Gordon?"

"We're on the right track."

They set off again, scanning the ground for any further evidence that Gordon had passed this way. Unfortunately, less then five minutes later Skulduggery stopped again and turned, hand out, reading the air.

"We're being followed," he whispered.

Precisely the words Stephanie did not want to hear. She looked back the way they had come. The tunnel was long and straight, and despite the gloom, she could see a fair distance.

She saw no one behind them.

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.

Skulduggery didn't answer. He was holding both arms up — his left hand was reading the air, his right hand holding the gun.

"We should back away now," he said.

She could hear something, something echoing up to them.

"We should back away a little faster," he said.

They picked up their pace. Stephanie had to keep glancing at her feet to make sure she wasn't about to trip over anything, but Skulduggery seemed able to move as confidently backward as he did forward.

She realized the sound she could hear was bounding footsteps. She realized this because they belonged to the dog-faced creature that was now galloping toward them at a terrible pace.

"Okay," Skulduggery said, "now I think we should run."

They turned and ran. Skulduggery fired six shots in quick succession, each one of them finding its mark, each one of them hitting the creature but not slowing it. Skulduggery reloaded on the run, dropping the empty shells and slipping fresh bullets into the chambers, snapping the gun shut with a flick of the wrist. The tunnel widened, the mouth just ahead.

"Keep going," Skulduggery ordered.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," he answered, glancing behind them. "Probably something really brave."

He pulled up sharply and Stephanie shot past him, reaching the end of the tunnel and finding a vast cavern. Vines cascaded down from the darkness above, hanging over a yawning abyss before her.

She looked back just in time to see the beast collide with Skulduggery. The gun flew from his hand and he hit the ground hard, and the creature closed its claws around his ankle. It stepped back and swung, lifting Skulduggery into the air and slamming him against the tunnel wall. He hit the ground with his shoulder, but the creature wasn't finished swinging, and Stephanie watched as he was thrown against the other wall. The creature roared and yanked, and Skulduggery was flung deeper into the tunnel, and the creature was left holding one skeletal leg.

It snarled in confusion, then snapped its head up, catching Stephanie's scent.

"Run!" Skulduggery yelled from the tunnel, as the creature dropped the leg and came straight for her.

Stephanie spun on her heel and raced away, but there was nowhere else to run, so she sprinted for the edge of the abyss and leaped.

Her hands clutched at the slippery vines, desperately searching for a good grip as she started to drop. Her fingers closed around a thick vine and her whole body snapped up again, her momentum taking her forward. She glanced at the vast darkness below, felt the chilled, stale air that wafted up from the emptiness. She twisted as she swung back, just in time to raise her legs to avoid the beast's claws. It roared its displeasure at having being cheated out of its prey, swiping at her from the edge of the abyss. Her momentum took her away from it again.

She saw Skulduggery dragging himself along the tunnel floor and grabbing his limb, the shoe and sock still attached. He sat up, feeding the thighbone through his trouser leg until it met his hip, then twisted and tested it, bending it toward himself. He snatched his gun from the ground beside him and got up, leaving the tunnel and moving up behind the creature as it continued to snarl and swipe at Stephanie. She was now just hanging there, swaying slightly on the vine, her heart no longer beating in her ears.

She kept eye contact, tried to keep its attention on her, but the closer Skulduggery crept, the harder it became, until one kicked pebble caused the creature to turn.

Skulduggery splayed his hand but nothing happened, and Stephanie remembered him saying that there were creatures in these caves who fed on magic. It looked like they'd just encountered one such creature.

"Damn" was all Skulduggery said, and he charged, firing point-blank into the creature's chest and then cannoning into it, driving it back one step.

One more step, and the creature would go over.

The beast slammed a huge fist down onto Skulduggery's shoulder. He dropped to one knee but was up again, swinging a punch as high as he could, his fist barely grazing the creature's chin. He ducked under another swipe, moving like a boxer, swinging the butt of the gun against its ribs, with little effect.

Stephanie frowned and glanced at the vine she was holding. Was she moving? She looked back across as Skulduggery grabbed a handful of mane with his left hand and jumped straight up, bringing the butt of the gun down across the creature's face.

The creature bellowed and took a step back, and its foot found nothing but emptiness.

Skulduggery pushed away from it as it balanced there for a single moment, but there was nothing it could do to save itself. Skulduggery stumbled backward as the beast fell into the abyss with a terrified howl.

"Right, then," Skulduggery said as he dusted himself off. "That took care of that."

"I think I'm moving," Stephanie said as she felt herself being pulled gently up. Skulduggery stepped to the edge, his head jutting out slightly, curiously, then —

"Stephanie," he said, "that's not a vine."

"What?" Stephanie said, staring at the thing she was holding. "Then what is it?"

"Stephanie, swing toward me," he said, urgency in his voice. "Come on now, swing toward me.

Hurry!"

She kicked out, starting the swing, forward and back, each arc bigger then the last, all the time being pulled gently upward.

"Let go!" Skulduggery said, holding his arms out to catch her. She glanced below her as she swung, remembered the beast's howl as it fell, wondered if it had hit the bottom yet; and when she was at the peak of her next swing she released her grip and was in the air, falling forward, falling toward Skulduggery.

But the vine snapped out like a whip, wrapping itself around her wrist and yanking her back painfully. Skulduggery made a grab for her but missed, and Stephanie was speeding upward.

"Help me!" she screamed, feeling like her arm was about to be yanked from its socket. She heard Skulduggery curse, but she was moving too fast and there was nothing she could do to stop herself from being pulled up, and Skulduggery could only watch her vanish into the darkness above.