Skulduggery Pleasant (22 page)

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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 okay. 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

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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.

She could hear something, 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 backward as he did forward.

She realized the sound she could hear was bounding footsteps. She realized this because they belonged to the dog-faced creature that was now galloping toward them at a terrible pace.

"Okay," Skulduggery said, "now I think we should run."

They turned and ran. Skulduggery fired six shots in quick succession, each one of them finding its mark, each one of them hitting the creature but not slowing it. Skulduggery

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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 a 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 he was thrown against the other wall. The creature roared and yanked, and Skulduggery was flung deeper into the tunnel, and the creature was left holding one skeletal leg.

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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 and raced away, but there was nowhere else to run, so she sprinted for the edge of the abyss and leaped.

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.

She 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

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it met his hip, then twisted and tested it, bending it toward himself. 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 him 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 onto Skulduggery's shoulder. He dropped to one knee but was up again, swinging a punch as high as he could, his fist barely grazing the

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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 backward 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 edge, his head jutting out slightly, curiously, then--

"Stephanie," he said, "that's not a vine."

"What?" Stephanie said, staring at the thing she was holding. "Then what is it?"

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"Stephanie, swing toward me," he said, urgency in his voice. "Come on now, swing toward me. Hurry!"

She kicked out, starting the swing, forward and back, each arc bigger then the last, all the time being pulled gently upward.

"Let go!" Skulduggery said, holding his arms out to catch her. She glanced below her as she swung, remembered the beast's howl as it fell, wondered if it had hit the bottom yet; and when she was at the peak of her next swing she released her grip and was in the air, falling forward, falling toward Skulduggery.

But the vine snapped out like a whip, wrapping itself around her wrist and yanking her back painfully. Skulduggery made a grab for her but missed, and Stephanie was speeding upward.

"Help me!" she screamed, feeling like her arm was about to be yanked from its socket. She heard Skulduggery curse, but she was moving too fast and there was nothing she could do to stop herself from being pulled up, and Skulduggery could only watch her vanish into the darkness above.

Chapter Twenty-two

The Scepter of the Ancients

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stephanie was pulled up to a ledge, then dragged over it. She tried tearing the tentacle from her wrist, but more slithered from the gloom, wrapping tightly around her arm. She reached back with her free hand and grabbed the ledge, but it was no use. Her fingers couldn't take the strain and she had to let go, and she started sliding across the slimy rock.

There was something up ahead, a gray mass of flesh, a growth that had spread unchecked and unchallenged in this dark little corner. The tentacles were pulling her toward its

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center, where a large mouth gaped hungrily, razor teeth dripping with viscous saliva.

Her free hand found a large stone and she grabbed it, holding the sharp edge out as she would a dagger, and she brought it down hard. The stone cut through the tentacles, and she pulled her arm free and was up, running, but more tentacles flexed and shot out. They found her legs and Stephanie hit the ground. She tried to kick out, but they tightened.

There were tentacles everywhere.

The thing, whatever it was, beat with a sickly pulse as it dragged her closer. She couldn't see any eyes. All it had was its tentacles, and that mouth. . . . Which meant it operated by its sense of touch.

Stephanie forced herself to stop struggling. Fighting against every instinct within her, she relaxed her body, and although the speed at which she was moving didn't change, she felt its grip on her loosen slightly. The other tentacles stopped their approach, but they were already too close. They'd be on her in an instant if she tried to pull away.

Stephanie lobbed the stone, and it hit a tentacle and bounced away. Sensing another

30l

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victim nearby, the remaining tentacles slithered after it, searching blindly through the shadows. Stephanie took a deep breath and reached for her ankles, waited until the grip was loosened further, and then grabbed the tentacles and ripped them away.

She got up, but instead of running away, she ran forward, toward the thing with the mouth. She leaped onto it, over its gaping maw, and her boot almost slipped on its wet, quivering flesh. She jumped, her hands catching the ledge overhead. She hauled herself up as the tentacles snapped and coiled below, their movements becoming more and more frenzied as the thing searched for its missing prey.

Stephanie didn't stop to rest. She got to her feet and hurried from the ledge into the gloom of the passage beyond. She fought off the sudden fear that she'd be lost down in these caves forever. It won't be forever, she eluded herself. If one of the monsters doesn't find me and kill me, I'll die of thirst anyway within a few days.

Stephanie couldn't quite believe she'd just thought that.

Pushing all fears and doubts and pessimistic-- though probably realistic--thoughts to the

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back of her mind, she slowed her pace and concentrated on finding a way back to Skulduggery. And then she saw a light.

She crept forward until she came to a balcony of rock overlooking a small cavern. She peeked down to see a half dozen Hollow Men, one of them holding a lantern. Mr. Bliss didn't appear to have accompanied this little expedition. Serpine was there, however, standing in front of a small boulder, its surface flat like a table. On this boulder was a wooden chest with a large lock. Her heart lurched. He'd found it.

She looked down. It wasn't that far to the cavern floor. She didn't have a choice. She had to try.

The Hollow Men had their backs to her, so Stephanie eased herself over the edge without being noticed and dropped to the cavern floor. The light from the lantern didn't reach this far, so the shadows enveloped her, and when one of the Hollow Men turned, its empty gaze passed right over the spot where she crouched. She waited until it had turned back before moving again.

The darkness along the edges of this cavern was so absolute, and her clothes so black, that she could creep up next to her enemies without being seen.

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She moved achingly slowly, taking only the barest of breaths. She was sure Serpine would hear her heart thundering against her rib cage, but he was preoccupied with the chest.

She watched him tap the lock with a skinless finger of his red right hand, and the mechanism rusted and snapped in an instant. He smiled as he pulled on his glove, opened the chest, and lifted the Scepter of the Ancients from within.

It was real. The ultimate weapon, the weapon with which the Ancients had defeated their gods-- it was real. The years hadn't dimmed its golden beauty, and it seemed to hum for a moment, acclimatizing itself to its new owner. The ultimate weapon, in the hands of Serpine.

"At last," she heard him whisper.

A strange singing filled the chamber, and she realized it was coming from the black crystal in the Scepter. Serpine turned as Skulduggery Pleasant stormed into the cavern.

Skulduggery waved his hand and the Hollow Men flew back off their feet. He crashed into Serpine and the Scepter clattered to the ground. Serpine threw a punch but

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Skulduggery ducked under it and moved in close, his hand snaking up to Serpine's shoulder and his hip twisting into him. Serpine pitched over and hit the cavern floor-- hard.

Stephanie crept through the murk, heading for the Scepter. The Hollow Men were starting to get up, clumping back to fight at the center of the cavern.

Skulduggery clicked his fingers. Serpine was too close to dodge the fireball; it hit him square in the chest and enveloped him completely. The Hollow Men froze as their master wheeled about, engulfed in flame. His foot hit the Scepter, and it skidded to the edge of the light.

Closer to Stephanie.

Skulduggery splayed his hand and Serpine hit the far wall and collapsed to the floor. Skulduggery put out the flames with a casual wave. Serpine lay where he was, his clothes smoldering, his flesh charred and horribly burned.

"It's over," Skulduggery said. "This is where your past catches up to you. This is where you die."

And then, impossibly, a laugh, and Serpine sat up.

"That," he said, "hurt."

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And as Stephanie watched, the burned flesh started to heal itself and hair regrew along the blistered scalp, leaving not even a scar.

Serpine gathered purple vapor in his palm and threw it at Skulduggery, knocking him back. The vapor became a thin, snaking tendril that darted into the shadows, wrapping around the Scepter and yanking it into Serpine's hand just as Stephanie reached for it. Skulduggery recovered, but he was too late to do anything. The sorcerer got to his feet, holding the Scepter, and smiled.

"I'm of two minds," Serpine said as Stephanie moved, unseen, behind him. "Should I use this to destroy you, to reduce your worthless bones to ash, or should I just leave you down here in the darkness? Leaving you here would be more satisfying in the long term, I admit, but what can I say? I crave instant satisfaction. I'm shallow like that."

Stephanie lunged, slamming her shoulder into Serpine's back just as the Scepter's crystal flashed. Black lightning zigzagged through the air, missing Skulduggery by inches and turning the rock behind him to dust. Serpine turned and grabbed her. Stephanie punched him with all her strength, but he just snarled, and then Skulduggery was there and the air