“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 reflected off the rock walls and stabbed through the darkness. Strange plants and mushrooms grew, 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 two metres 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 dog-like in appearance, like a Dobermann, 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.” 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 OK with it. 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. They started backwards. She could hear something now, 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 backwards as he did forwards.
She realised the sound she could hear was bounding footsteps. She realised this because they belonged to the dog-faced creature that was now galloping towards them at a terrible pace.
“OK,” Skulduggery said, “now I think we should run.”
They turned and ran. Skulduggery fired six shots in quick succession, each one of them finding their 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 the 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 Skulduggery was thrown against the other wall. The creature roared and yanked and Skulduggery was flung back, 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 but there was nowhere else to run, so she sprinted for the edge and leaped upwards.
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.
Stephanie 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 towards him. 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 Mr Bliss 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 on to Skulduggery’s shoulders and 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 backwards 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