Hi guys, thanks so much for all the support and views for the story, it means a lot. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Chapter 14
Water dripped from the dank ceiling and the air instantly felt cooler as Valkyrie entered the cave. The moist atmosphere helped her headache, and she sighed with relief as she felt the pressure on her temples ease. Slightly distracted, she was now able to look around herself and take in the cave. It was huge, and her eyes strained as it faded into the darkness. And now she realised that it was dark, too dark to see, and the darkness crept into her heart, curled up and settled there, making itself at home.
Her claustrophobia leapt into action, but she squashed it down, choosing to blank out all those bad memories of caves from the last few years. She shuddered. Skulduggery came up behind her and if he noticed the hairs on the back of her neck standing up he didn't say anything.
"If that hat is anything other than perfect at the end of the day Valkyrie, you are really in trouble." Skulduggery threatened.
Valkyrie rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, generating a spark which grew into a bright flame. The shadows went scurrying into the corners, twisting and curving as light pushed them away. She followed Skulduggery, taking a deep breathe as he walked further into the gloom.
"So, any plan? Or are we just going to wander about aimlessly?"
"Oh, my combat accessory. You still have much to learn."
Valkyrie swatted him in annoyance. "Behave yourself skeleton."
"I've said it before, and I will say it again. Plans are invented by people as a preventative measure for failure. This means they anticipate, nay, expect, to fail and as we will never fail, we have no need for a plan. All we have to do is take a stroll through the caves and look for clues."
Valkyrie nodded vaguely, but she had already blanked him out. She had learnt by now that sometimes there was no reasoning with Skulduggery.
They carried on walking and the path through the rocks grew steeper. Valkyrie started slipping, and she slowed down. Her head ached fiercely but she ignored it and carried on.
Soon the path levelled out, and they entered a huge cavern. It was circular, and had different paths branching out from it. Some were narrow, some were wide, some were steep and some meandered deeper underground, taking their time. Valkyrie's head pulsed and the cabin started to spin. She shook herself, closed her eyes and took deep breaths before opening them again. She was relieved that everything was once again still, and she wiped sweat away from her forehead.
Skulduggery, meanwhile, had stopped walking and was now staring up above him. The ceiling of the cavern was high, high enough for gloom to gather and hide the rocks above. He quietly took a bag out of his pocket and plunged his hand in, withdrawing a handful of clear, translucent powder. Valkyrie knew that this powder detected magic, and she was instantly quiet and paying attention. Skulduggery lifted his hand, scattering the powder into the air. They both watched as it drifted down to the floor, turning, as it did so, a deep shade of blood red.
Silently, Skulduggery beckoned Valkyrie over. One skeletal hand sneaked around her waist, while the other flew to his lips, warning her to keep quiet.
Before Valkyrie could blink they were shooting up straight up in the air, and she was trying hard not be sick, but thankfully they quickly slowed down as they reached the top.
Valkyrie ignored her pounding head and made the grave mistake of looking down, just as Skulduggery let her go.
She closed her eyes, preparing for the painful landing at the bottom. A minute later she opened them again, to realise she was still standing, twenty metres in the air. Skulduggery looked at her scornfully as Valkyrie's jaw dropped open.
"How are you doing this."
"Well for someone of my skill it really isn't hard to just manipulate the air for us to stand on. Really, you should be able to do it too, but you obviously haven't reached this level of brilliance yet."
Valkyrie glared.
"Anyway, be quiet Valkyrie, because more pressing matter are at hand. Or at least, they are at your hands. I don't exactly have hands. But I digress. Valkyrie, shine your bright fire onto yonder roof."
Valkyrie continued to glare, but did what she was instructed. What she saw took her breath away. Carved into the rock were the words:
"Tá mé ag teacht."
"What does that mean?"
"We'll work that out later. We just need a way to record it. Oh, I knew I had forgotten something. I meant to pack the camera."
Skulduggery sounded stressed and Valkyrie had stifle a laugh.
"Skulduggery this is 2014. I can just use the camera on my phone. Better than any of your camera collection from the Stone Age."
She could feel Skulduggery's glare as she quickly snapped some photos with her phone. But she soon forgot that as she noticed something peculiar.
She strained her eyes to see and her head once again throbbed. It was getting worse. Her vision dimmed slightly, and she fought to stay conscious.
"Skulduggery, can you see those holes in the rock? They're everywhere, tiny cracks. And look at the scratches around them. I think something has been moving in and out."
As soon as Skulduggery noticed he flew up to take a closer look, leaving Valkyrie standing on the air. He quickly flew down again, harsh, warning words tripping off his usually sharp tongue.
These words, unfortunately, were cut off by a screeching noise, and suddenly the air was full with fluttering wings and sharp fangs. Skulduggery, shocked, released control of the air Valkyrie was standing on, and she dropped fast.
She managed to cushion her landing just in time, and picked herself up, her shaky vision dimming once more. She looked up to see Skulduggery rushing down to the ground, being chased by a massive swarm of bats, with sharp, vicious looking fangs.
As soon as Skulduggery was on the ground Valkyrie threw fireball after fireball at them but the flames just fizzled out and she looked at Skulduggery in horror. These bats were obviously resistant to magic.
"I think this calls for a tactical retreat." Skulduggery grabbed her arm and ran.
The bats snapped after them, gaining speed as Valkyrie and Skulduggery sprinted down a narrow steep tunnel. The path divided and Skulduggery pulled her to the left and carried on running. Valkyrie looked behind her and cried out in fear and pain as a bat flew into her face, it's fangs piercing deep into her cheek. She out her hand to her face and felt blood, before she tripped and fell, her head thumping on a rock. Skulduggery pulled her up on her feet and half carried her along with him, using the air to push them away from the vicious bats.
Valkyrie tripped again, got up and shook her head. It was agony and she couldn't ignore the ache anymore. Blood dripped from her cheek and started to leak from her nose. Her eyelids fluttered and the last thing she saw was Skulduggery turning around and cursing as she fell to the floor, unconscious.
Skulduggery quickly gathered her up into his arms and sprinted on, the bats snapping at his heels.
One minute later though, he reached a dead end. He had made some distance in the bloodthirsty bats but was now backed into a corner. He put Valkyrie down on the ground gently and raised his hands. The rock started to crumble and fall from the roof, blocking them off from the bats, the tunnel, and their only means of escape. Skulduggery kept his arms up until the fallen rocks had completely trapped them, and then slumped, exhausted from the magic, onto the ground next to Valkyrie.
He tilted his head and looked down at his partner. Valkyrie was sweating and shaking, and as he put a hand on her forehead her realised she was burning up. Skulduggery's hat was nowhere to be seen.
He sighed and tutted. "Oh, she is in so much trouble when she wakes up."
So that's it for now but I'll try and update soon. I hope that the Gaelic was correct, not being fluent I did use google translate :/ please review to let me know what you think and if you have any ideas or scenes you want me to include for the next few chapters. Thanks!