Hello! I got the laptop back a while ago but wanted to write a very good chapter for you all and hopefully I have :P Thank you to everyone who reviewed and followed and were patient for this chapter and hopefully my updates will become consistent again :D I have changed the landscape a little bit. For instant there is no river near Oxford University but I put one in anyway :D
ENJOY…..

The university was massive. Valkyrie had seen many buildings in her time but this was one of the biggest. It was made of stone blocks and was full of turrets and balconies with big impressive windows. There were many different buildings and a big river running alongside it. She couldn't help but stare in wonder at it all.

"Where do we go?" She asked Sherlock.

He smiled and her and walked up to the nearest person. "Do you know where I can find Professor Kuro Ryu?"

The boy frowned deeply. "Who?"

"He's an old man, crippled." Sherlock explained.

"Oh, the crazy guy." The boy nodded and gave them the directions.

Valkyrie wasn't very happy at his crazy guy but she'd met many crazy people so she wasn't too fazed. The student's directions took them to a building near the back of the university but to a big lecture hall on one of the top levels. The room was empty of students but an old man was hunched over a desk at the front.

He didn't look up as they walked down to him.

"Excuse me sir." Sherlock coughed.

The man looked up. He looked around eighty years old, which meant he was ancient if he was a sorcerer. He had grey long hair, saggy skin, and a grey un-kept small beard but miraculously he didn't wear glasses. He grinned up at them. She was relieved he had all his teeth.

"Detective Cain, Detective Sherlock and Doctor Watson." He said lazily. "What did I do to receive such wonderful company?"

"Professor Ryu we have some important questions you need to answer immediately." Valkyrie told him and sat down.

"Oh really?" He smiled.

"Yes, you know who I am so it means you're older than you look." She smiled back at him before letting it drop. "And it means I don't have to go easier on you. The Clock of the Ancients, everything you know."

"I'm sorry to disappoint Miss Cain, but I don't know anything about it."

"That's not what you told Irene Adler." John interrupted.

"Well, you know how it is Mr Watson. A pretty girl, I was just trying to impress her." Ryu smiled crookedly. "I don't actually know anything about it."

Valkyrie felt utterly disgusted. This old man and the Adler woman… She almost shivered in revulsion. "Tell us what we want to know or I'll make you."

"Miss Cain, I believed you were different to the skeleton detective. Although I must admit I'd much rather be interrogated by you my dear."

"Tell me please?" She decided a new tactic and smiled instead. She leaned in closer so the others wouldn't hear her. "You do remember that I'm related to the ancients? It's my right to know."

Ryu's eyes light up. "Yes dear you're right." He pulled out a book and flipped to a page.

Sherlock had been walking around the room slowly but now he was looking over their shoulders at the page. The page was full of random letters and markings that Valkyrie couldn't understand.

"Some people believe that the Scepter of the Ancients was the only relic left over by the faceless ones but they were gods. They had much bigger powers than just turning things to dust." Ryu explained.

"The Faceless Ones? I don't follow." John stated frowning deeply.

"It's believed they were gods that roamed the land until a group of 'ancients' killed some of them and expelled them from our land." Sherlock told him quickly. "At least that's a very vague summary."

"Anyway it's myth that they created a clock, a clock of immense power. I believed in the story ever since I read about it as a kid and I've been trying to find it. However, when the Americans turned up with it, well, you can imagine my shock." Ryu laughed.

"And what is the story?" Valkyrie asked quickly.

"I've got a copy of it somewhere here." He got up and began looking through the bookshelves.

"And what do vampires have to do with the clock?" She questioned.

"Yes, yes. All in good time." He continued looking.

Suddenly the room was filled with the Harry Potter theme song.

Valkyrie coughed awkwardly. "Sorry, that's my phone. Hello?"

"Val, you have to get out of there." Skulduggery's voice was rushed.

"Wait, how do you know where I am?" She asked.

"Just believe me. The clock needs ancient blood." He hissed.

"I'll meet you back at the hotel."

"No wait." She hung up before he could finish.

"Umm Sherlock, John…" She trailed off and turned around. They were standing near the window, their hands held up and Ryu was pointing a shot gun at her.

"Miss Cain, if you wouldn't mind."

She held her hands up and walked over to stand with the others. Her fingers itched to summon a fireball and blast the smile of that creep's face.

"Now, no surprises. Could you please remove the cuffs from your pocket and put them on? And please don't touch the gun there or I'll shoot your friends." Ryu warned.

"Okay fine, just stay calm." She told him and started to move her right hand. She reached it slowly into her pocket and pulled out her handcuffs and reluctantly she put them on. "Now just let them go."

"Let's be honest, I was always going to kill them." He smiled at her and then pulled the trigger.

"NOOO!" Valkyrie screamed and threw herself in front of them. The impact slammed her backwards and through the window, bringing Sherlock and John with her.

The wind blew through her hair and she screamed but couldn't use her magic to slow the fall. Her magic was bound and she could do nothing but scream. She slammed into the water painfully and went under. The world was dark and silent around her. She didn't know which way was up and she couldn't use her magic, her arms were bound and her chest burned with pain.

Someone grabbed her. She kicked to help the journey and gasped for breath when they broke the surface.

Sherlock pulled her towards the shore and she was happy to let him. They all collapsed when they were finally out of the muck.

"Ireland water is much cleaner." She muttered.

"Where were you hit?" John demanded.

She sat up and everyone stared at her torso. Her jacket had been ruined. The leather had been melted slightly and bits of metal were encrusted into the fabric in a circle. She winced and shrugged the jacket off. Her white tank top was now covered with blood and ripped practically to shreds.

Her stomach was beginning to bruise painfully; it was covered in tiny cuts and blood. There were also melted bits of her top stuck to her skin.

"You should be dead." Sherlock stated.

"My jacket is, is, is…." She couldn't find the right words.

"Come on; let's get you back to the hotel." Sherlock helped her up. "That was very dangerous jumping in front of the shot gun. Your jacket might have been able to stop a normal gunshot but a shot gun?"

"It was a risk." She admitted as the two helped her walk. "But I couldn't let you two just die. It was risk an injury or let you two die."

"Thank you." Sherlock told her.

So, what did you think? Please leave a lovely review and I'll update as soon as I can :D