Chapter Ten

Valkyrie and Skulduggery ran through the dense forest, struggling against the overgrowing plants and finding routes that wouldn't trap them.

But no matter how fast they ran, they knew the vampire was gaining on them, and gaining fast.

Glancing behind her, and almost running into a tree, Valkyrie was aware of the vampire's proximity to her. Aine's ragged claws were inches from Valkyrie's back, giving her yet another reason to thank Ghastly for the clothes. "She's right behind us," She panted as she vaulted over a fallen log, stumbling, and regaining her balance rather ungracefully. "Got any plans?"

"Well, we could run," Skulduggery wasn't out of breath, of course. "Or we could fight a vampire in a forest. What would you rather do?"

"Can 'none of the above' be an answer?"

The vampire snarled behind her in response.

There was a tiny, moss-covered clearing in which they emerged, their feet sinking into the spongy grass. Skulduggery had no problem with it, as he barely weighed anything, but Valkyrie was struggling through it. Before she knew it, the vampire had barreled into her, knocking her down. It repeatedly tried clawing her rib cage open, failing only because of the jacket Valkyrie wore. Confused, it, made a motion that suggest it was going to her throat with its terrifyingly-sharp claws.

"Get off me!" Valkyrie spat through cringed teeth, pressing her hands against its chest and snapping her palms into it. It flung off of her, hitting the foliage outside the tiny clearing and rolling ungracefully to its feet, stumbling.

Without looking back, Valkyrie turned and continued in the direction they were running. Skulduggery had stopped ahead when he realized she wasn't following anymore. "Are you OK?"

"Fine…" Valkyrie muttered, breathing hard. "I just want to get out of here in one piece."

Skulduggery hadn't made any move to continue. "Didn't you notice anything strange about that?"

"Anything strange about a vampire that was tossed to sea coming back to life and trying to kill me? No, not at all."

His eye sockets were fixed on the vampire as it pelted after the pair. "It didn't try to bite you," Skulduggery muttered thoughtfully, as if working something out in his brain. "It didn't go for your bare skin the first chance it had, either…"

Valkyrie stopped running, but was taking a couple steps back as the vampire neared. "Maybe she didn't want to kill me just yet," She suggested quickly, making a gesture to Skulduggery that they should get moving. He ignore her, of course.

"Even she lost control of her own motives when she had turned," Skulduggery raised his palm and, before her claws made contact with his immaculately tailored suit, snapped it out at Aine, sending it flying again. He watched her stumble and fall back into the moss, tilting his skull curiously.

"So that's not Aine?" Valkyrie stopped moving back, peering at the vampire that was getting to its feet unsurely in the spotty moss. It sure looked like Aine…

Skulduggery reached into his rib cage without a word and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Valkyrie watched as he jumped after the vampire, dodged a dangerously close swipe, and almost fell back into the moss. The vampire seemed to have regained its balance and was going for Skulduggery's neck – Watching it a little closer (and not running from it), Valkyrie could see movements she wouldn't have seen in Aine's fighting styles. And it obviously didn't understand that Skulduggery wouldn't exactly be killed by just a slash to the neck.

Brushing its hand away, Skulduggery moved lightly to the side, sending the vampire into a tree. When it turned and faced him, he delivered a swift punch to its jaw, and sent Aine crumbling to the forest floor. Calmly, Skulduggery snapped the cuffs around its pale wrists and looked over at Valkyrie. "Yes. It's not Aine."

Neala let the fairy-boy take Butler off her hands, and now she was staring Caoilainn down intensely. The older Dryud had her short swords out, and was gripping the leather-bound hilts tightly. They both had a tense moment of silence before Neala spoke. "You know this isn't going to work, right?" She growled, not letting her height fall below Caoilainn's in the air. "We've beat Aine before – We can do it again. And it's not like you're any challenge…"

Caoilainn tilted her head. "Why would you say that?"

"Because you had to resort to using vampires as bodyguards,"

"And you had to resort to using humans to fetch your oh-so-dear Ena,"

"I'm giving you a warning, here." Neala snarled angrily. "If you leave now and never show your face in Ireland again, I promise I won't kill you today."

"God, you're so melodramatic… Can't you learn to have a little fun?"

"One last chance…"

"I think I'll pass."

Neala sighed irritably, as if this was a chore she was suddenly burdened with. "Fine – Whatever you say, Caoilainn." In the blink of an eye, she was in front of the younger Dryud, her short sword flashing and glinting against the sunlight. Caoilainn dodged the first swipe, but botched the second and jumped back in the air as her belly was sliced open.

Blood dripped down into the forest below them. Neala reminded herself that she had to get rid of that stench, later – She hated the smell of treasonous blood.

Going in for the kill, Neala pushed against the air with her wings and ducked under Caoilainn, twirling her weapons before driving them into the girl's back. With a grunt of conviction, she twisted the short swords and pushed them through to Caoilainn's chest, their scarlet-stained tips glinting in the sunlight.

Caoilainn should be dying. She should be falling from the air. She should be dead in a matter of seconds, but she was still in the air. Neala frowned as Caoilainn turned and smacked her out of place, sending her stumbling through the air. Clumsily falling into a stance in the air, Neala stared up at Caoilainn and watched as the girl's body started healing itself.

Immediately, Neala knew something wasn't right. She quickly sheathed her bloodied swords and pulled something that brightly reflected the setting sun out of the pocket of her coat. Handcuffs. She'd swiped them from Skulduggery while they were fighting.

She pickpocketed him when he was annoying.

Caoilainn noticed the cuffs and shot at Neala, her nails barely missing the Coterie Leader's jugular. She kicked out in frustration, hitting Neala's knee. It buckled inwards, a horrible cracking sound filling the silence. Neala grunted, and almost dropped the handcuffs. She managed to fumble and grip them, keeping the close to her chest with both hands. The little magic left in her body set to work at healing her knee, but it was barely enough to keep her going.

Furious, Neala lashed out at Caoilainn. Her hands chopped down on the sides of Caoilainn's neck. Caoilainn resisted the first attempt at being neutralized. Knowing what Neala was trying to do, she easily dodged the attack and reached for the handcuffs.

With a huff of determination, Neala ducked to the side when Caoilainn tried to attack her again, and tried to momentarily disable the girl again – This time, she aimed for the wings. Neala gripped the handcuffs by the chain between her teeth, bunched her hands into a fist, and drove them down hard onto Caoilainn's little wings. The treasonous Dryud let out a yelp of surprise and starting falling. Neala anticipated it early and was already streaking down towards the forest floor, gracefully dodging branches and leaves that were in her way.

Landing on the forest floor, Neala brushed the shoe mark off her poor knee. "I can't believe she kicked my knee in," She sighed in disappointment. "Talk about a kick below the belt…"

The sound of branches snapping told her that Caoilainn was on her way. Neala stepped to the side and put her hands on her hips as she waited for the girl to hit the ground, and, when she did, Neala chopped the sides of her neck again, this time successfully stunning her. Gripping the younger Dryud by her bleach-blond hair and violently snapping the cuffs on her wrists, Neala gave her a swift punch to the jaw – Just for good measures. Not letting go of her hair, Neala muttered darkly under her breath and ventured off to find Skulduggery, dragging the unconscious Caoilainn in the dirt and foliage behind her.

Trouble Kelp landed on the ground beside Holly Short, shooting a stiff nod at Artemis before unhooking Butler from his Moonbelt. Butler was staring at Artemis with wide eyes, his jaw locked tightly, and Artemis realized how battered and beat he must look. "Oh, don't worry, Butler," Artemis waved his old friend off airily. "We only fell through the canopy. I'll survive."

When Trouble managed to unhook Butler, the bodyguard rushed over to his charge. "Any broken bones?" He demanded immediately.

"A rib or two, I think, but it's fine… Holly unhooked me before we hit the ground, so no real damage was done."

Butler whipped around and faced Trouble. "Fix him," He growled, his voice low and cold.

Trouble pulled his visor up and looked at Butler in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Fix his ribs."

"I came here to save you from a Dryud, not heal the Mud Boy!" Trouble growled angrily.

"Fix his ribs, Trouble…" Holly called over her shoulders, her eyes fixated on the wings she was fixing.

"Why don't you?" Trouble hissed indigently. "You're the one who wanted to be here in the first place!"

Holly still didn't look up. "Because I need to save what magic I have left. I'm running low, and I don't know how much longer the Mud Boy is going to need my help."

Trouble stared at everyone in awe – Even Artemis, who was watching the fairy curiously, his brow knitted together and his lips jutting out thoughtfully. The LEP soldier looked like he wanted to argue. His mouth opened, then quickly snapped shut and he sighed irritably. He reluctantly stepped forward and pressed his palms against Artemis' chest. Seconds later, faint lines of electricity snapped across the surface of his hands, and Artemis could feel a warmth in his chest and his legs as his wounds healed.

Not long after, Trouble pulled his hands away and shot a sour glare at Holly. "Need anything else?" He growled dryly.

"Nope. Thanks for the help, Trouble…" Holly was closing the back of her wings. "You can go whenever you want."

"Frond stop me…" Trouble muttered under his breath, and sighed loudly. Hesitantly and grudgingly, he added: "If you people need any more help…" He awkwardly gestured to Holly, who was now on her feet and strapping her wings back on. "Just… call for me. I know you're dealing with Dryud's, and they're a tricky bunch. I can bring reinforcements."

"Yes, thank you for that, Trouble." Holly rolled her eyes. "Go back to the Lower Elements, now? No need for you to get killed, too."

Glaring at her once more, Trouble flicked his visor over his face, his wings starting up. Heartbeats later, he disappeared and Artemis knew that he was probably gone within seconds.

Butler looked back at Artemis. "OK… Now what?"

"I'm not sure," Artemis untied the makeshift bandages that were on his leg and thigh. "It might be a good idea to go find Mr. Pleasant and his partner." He let the bandages fall to the ground. "And it would probably be an even better idea to leave this forest altogether before it gets dark. I haven't a clue in the foggiest where that vampire could be, and I really don't want to run into it."

Holly properly strapped her wings on and tested to see if they were working. Satisfied, she looked over at Artemis and Butler. "Then let's get back into the air."

Skulduggery Pleasant was leaning against a refurbished 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental. It was a beauty of a car, not a scratch on it. Artemis stared at this car in awe, ignoring Valkyrie and the detective, and abandoning Butler and Holly for it. He didn't dare touch its polished shell, but he admired it closely. He didn't even notice the vampire in handcuffs that was on the ground beside the car.

"Do you like it?" Skulduggery asked as Artemis passed him for the second time.

Artemis nodded and quickly snapped out of his dazed, almost tripping over the vampire. He looked down at it and stumbled back in surprise. "Not to alarm you people," Artemis said slowly. "But there's a handcuffed vampire here…"

"Turns out that's not even a vampire," Valkyrie said casually. "We're going to take it back to the Sanctuary to keep it under lock down."

"Where's Caoilainn?" Skulduggery asked the group.

Holly shrugged. "We kind of lost track of her with all the crashing and hurting and pain that just happened."

"So none of you know where she is?"

"I last saw her with Neala," Butler chimed in awkwardly.

"Damnit," Vakyrie sighed from behind Skulduggery. To the detective, she said: "They could be anywhere by now."

"Do you think Neala can handle Caoilainn alone?" Artemis asked.

"She should be fine," Skulduggery turned to his car, pulling keys out of his pocket and unlocking the doors with the press of a button. "In the meanwhile, we need to get Aine, or whoever this is, to the Sanctuary before it wakes up." He fixed his eye sockets on Artemis. "Are you going to ride with us, or are you staying with your friend?"

"Why?" Artemis asked almost coldly. "So you can hand me into the magical authorities at the Sanctuary?"

"No-oo…" Skulduggery said slowly, dipping his head for emphasis.

"I really don't believe you."

"Fine. Follow us to the boundaries of Roarhaven and wait for us." He turned to Valkyrie. "You have to sit in the back of the Bentley." Skulduggery nodded to the vampire, which was stirring. "It gets shotgun."

Valkyrie glared before stalking to her side of the car, opening the backseat door, and sat down heavily, slamming the door shut. After a moment, Skulduggery looked over at Artemis. "She's just upset because she almost died," He said cheerily.