Oh wow! So I did not mean to write a whole chapter about Valkyrie being ill, but I guess it just turned out that way. I'm injured right now, so maybe I'm feeling that frustration of not being able to do anything? Anyway, I hope you enjoy, please review (thanks to DeadGirl19 for being so kind) and let me know what you think and if you have any improvements or hints about how you want the story to go. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 13

Sunlight filtered through the tree hollow, bathing Skulduggery in golden light. It played around his skull, casting shadows in his eye sockets and flickering over his bones. Tiny dust particles streamed around the still, meditating skeleton. Valkyrie, with her head still in Skulduggery's lap and the sun shining right into her eyes, woke up and winced. Her head was pounding and she felt dizzy. She slowly sat up, trying not to disturb Skulduggery.

The movement caused her head to pulse painfully, and bile rose up in her throat.

"Oh god," she muttered. Her stomach flipped and she stuck her head outside the tree, just in time before she was violently sick. When she was done she lay back in the hollow and tried to breath deeply. She felt sweaty and hot. Woken by the movement, Skulduggery jerked into consciousness and tilted his skull.

"Valkyrie, you look awful."

"Jesus Christ, thanks..." She couldn't even finish her sentence before she retched again, groaned and stuck her head out of the tree once more. Skulduggery leapt into action, holding her hair out of her flushed face and rubbing her back while she vomited. Once last night's mangoes were all gone, he helped her lay back down before giving her some water. Trying to get the taste of sick out of her mouth, Valkyrie took a few gulps, and although her stomach tried to complain, she managed to keep it down. Meanwhile Skulduggery, all jokes aside, was looking serious.

"Do you think it was the mangoes? Oh god I'm so sorry Valkyrie."

She shook her head, closing her eyes against the onslaught of dizziness that followed.

"It's not the mangoes, don't worry, this isn't your fault. I've been ill from bad fruit before, remember? This feels nothing like that."

Skulduggery had to smile at that one, remembering the day when Valkyrie had been hungry and Saracen and Dexter had gone to find her food. They came back with about a dozen apples they'd picked from a nearby tree. Valkyrie had eaten all of them, enjoyed five minutes of fullness before spending the next week on a drip in hospital. Someone had failed to notice that they were in fact, poisonous apples. Valkyrie had not been impressed. But watching Valkyrie turn green and fight to stop being sick made the funny memory fade from Skulduggery's mind, and instead he looked at her, concerned.

"I don't know what it is, Skulduggery, but it's not the mangoes. I don't know, it may just be a bug. I'm sure I'll be fine." Valkyrie tried to sit up, to emphasise her words, but Skulduggery pushed her down, still worried.

He wracked his brain for an answer. "It can't be a bug. Whenever you see Kenspeckle, which is often enough, he gives you vaccinations, so knowing him it's probably impossible for you to even get ill at all."

Skulduggery was silent for a moment, then he spoke hesitantly. "It's not your surge, is it? That's the only thing I can think of which would explain the headaches and the sickness. Some surges can be painful, and many people do get ill."

"It can't be, Skulduggery. Kenspeckle did some tests when I asked a few months ago. My surge isn't going to happen for another three months, I even have the dates in my diary. There's no way it could have happened early, Kenspeckle said his tests were infallible." But Valkyrie sounded doubtful.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, with Valkyrie fighting the urge to be sick again, and Skulduggery keeping his cool hand on her forehead to try to make her feel better.

"Right, let's get going," Valkyrie exclaimed suddenly. She sat up suddenly, turned a slight shade of green and winced as her head pounced, but soldiered on. Her limbs felt stiff and heavy.

Skulduggery stopped her, putting his hands on both of her wrists and holding them still as she tried to stand up.

"Valkyrie,you're not going anywhere. You're obviously ill and there is no way we're going to spend the rest of the day creeping around in a network of dangerous caves. We'll do it tomorrow, meanwhile you have to rest and recover." His tone changed slightly, and lightened, as if suppressing a smile. "Plus Ghastly would kill me if he found out we'd gone to look for clues and see some caves right after you'd been ill, you know how protective he is of you."

Valkyrie strained to escape from Skulduggery's vicelike grip, but his bones were now chains around her wrists, and she was too weak anyway. She slowly sat back down, plotting her escape. Chine had told her this was urgent, and some stupid headache didn't matter in the whole scheme of things, given the whole Unnamed threat.

Her fevered mind started reminiscing, and she remembered her first case with Skulduggery. Serpine and the Sceptre of the Ancients. Her mind flicked back to that fateful day, where Skulduggery had saved her from a bad guy, and she had taken his hat hostage until he took her with him on the case to solve her uncle's murder...hang on? She took his hat hostage?

Even with her head pounding, she had to suppress a laugh. Forcing Skulduggery to do something was easy, and the way to his heart would always be his hat.

Ten minutes later, after Valkyrie's tactical offensive on Skulduggery's hat, they were both stood on the floor of the rainforest. Valkyrie was wearing the hat on a jaunty angle and trying very hard not to be sick, while Skulduggery was now just desperate that if she was sick, it wouldn't be in his favourite hat.

"You'd better give that hat back and get back in the tree, Valkyrie," Skulduggery threatened. "I have no wish to be beaten up by Ghastly and Anton, both of who will happily throw a few punches if they realise I made you work when you're obviously ill."

"Skulduggery, what am I going to do up in that tree? Feel sorry for myself? I don't think I'm going to feel well any time soon, so it's better that I just distract myself and get on with the job."

"Valkyrie, if we go in now I'll be so distracted and worried that you'll be sick in my hat I'd probably miss a clue if it slapped me in the face."

Valkyrie sighed. "Look, China didn't tell you because she knew you wouldn't let me come, but she's heard more vague rumours. Apparently the return of the Unnamed could be something to do with my kidnapping. She didn't tell me much, but this is much more important than anything right now. So snap out of it, stop worrying, and get over yourself. If you get beaten up by Ghastly and Anton, that's fine by me. And I'll keep your hat, I think I like it." Valkyrie then walked off towards the mouth of the cave.

"When are you going to start respecting my authority!?" Skulduggery shouted after her.

Valkyrie smiled and shook her head at him, wincing as she did. She didn't even grace that question with an answer: it had been pretty clear from the start that if there was one thing Valkyrie didn't do, it was respect authority.