The Caves of the Void...

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"Tell me again why we're in here?" Valkyrie complained. She and Skulduggery were trudging through the caves under the Edgley mansion, listening carefully for any creatures.

"As I've told you four times already, one of the tunnels has collapsed and there is a hole big enough for the creatures to get out of." Skulduggery looked sharp in a suit of deep navy. It was one of Valkyrie's favourites and it was offset nicely against his crisp white shirt and black tie.

"And what's the reason for us being in here instead of closing it from outside?"

"We don't know where it is from outside. The caves stretch for miles and half of the land they travel under is covered by trees." The light from the surface bounced off his gleaming skull as it filtered through the tiny shafts in the ceiling.

"Can't you just fly over and look for a hole?"

"What part of half the land is covered in trees is too difficult for you to grasp?" he asked, his empty eye sockets fixing on her. His gloved hand was outstretched as he read the air, his gun loaded and drawn in his other hand.

"Can't you use the air? You said you mastered elemental magic all those years ago in the Faceless Ones' dimension. Finding a hole in the ground shouldn't be too hard."

"Have you mastered elemental magic?" he asked.

"...No."

"Then be quiet." She scowled.

"How come we haven't run into any of the creatures in here yet?" she asked.

"I thought we agreed you were being quiet."

"You agreed it. I did no such thing."

"You never respect my authority."

"You don't have any authority. We're partners and I'm an adult. You're not my guardian."

"Are you? Because you're pouting like a child."

"Did you bring me here just to insult me?" she muttered.

"Why on earth would I choose this place just to insult you? I could insult you in the car and be much more comfortable."

"You haven't said one nice thing to me today."

"Compliments are for your romantic partners to give you. I am here to be brutally honest."

"I don't have a romantic partner so I'm having to make do with your conversation, unfortunately." She frowned. "Say something nice to me. I'm feeling fragile." His head tilted and he paused in his walking.

"Are you really feeling fragile or are you just saying that to make me pay you a compliment?" he asked. His tone was semi-serious and she knew he was thinking back to the times she'd depending on the music box for comfort.

"A little from column A, a little from column B," she admitted. "I still have some bad days."

"Alright. A compliment." He tapped a gloved finger against his chin thoughtfully. "You have a wonderful partner."

"That's a compliment for you." She folded her arms across her chest. He nodded and cocked his head to the side, watching her silently.

"You look beautiful today." She blinked, surprised by his sincerity. She thought he might be joking but as she took in his posture and the angle of his head she realised he wasn't. Her eyebrows rose.

"...Thanks."

"Was that good enough?" he asked.

"Yeah, actually. I feel all warm inside."

"That's probably the most ridiculous thing you've said today."

"Aaaaand he's back," she said, rolling her eyes. They started walking.

"Are you not even going to try to read the air?" he asked.

"That's what I have you for."

"You'll never get any better if you keep relying on me."

"You know I can do it."

"Practice makes perfect." She sighed and stuck her arm out, feeling the spaces where everything connected and then searching beyond them for disturbances. She had to concentrate so the conversation died down.

"There's something up ahead," Skulduggery said softly. She searched for what he was sensing and she found it. It was big and it was fast and it was coming towards them. "Run." They turned and ran back the way they came, but she could hear the snarls and the scrape of claws on rock as the creature gained on them.

"I hate it down here," she snapped as they sprinted away from the beast. They managed twenty more feet before Skulduggery sensed the air shift and shoved her out of the way. The creature slammed heavily into his back and Valkyrie heard a crack as his skull struck the stone. The sound made her feel sick to her stomach even as her knees scraped the ground and the air was knocked out of her as she collided with the wall. She scrambled to her feet, dazed by the impact, and saw her partner on the ground, not moving beneath the monster. His gun had been knocked from his hand and it lay four feet away from her. She crept forwards.

The monster sensed movement and its head whipped round as it snarled. She snatched up the gun and backed away, thumbing the hammer back and levelling it at the creature's eye. It growled and started to advance. Her hands were shaking and Skulduggery was still on the ground. If she missed she was dead. If she tried to run she was dead. She had to make the shot.

It leapt and she fired until the chamber was empty. It howled and let out a strangled cry as its head was peppered with bullet holes. Valkyrie watched in shock as it shuddered and collapsed in a heap at her feet.

She lurched towards Skulduggery on numb legs, not feeling the ache in her knees or the blood on her trousers. She didn't notice the crack in her collar bone where she'd hit the wall or the abrasions left by the rough rock grazing her skin. Her heart felt lodged in her throat as she crouched down beside her partner and nudged him. He didn't move. A long, thin crack ran from the top of his skull down to his cheekbone, a smaller crack spidering off it towards his eye socket.

"Skulduggery?" He still didn't answer. She felt hot tears prick her eyes as she shook him. She didn't know what would happen to him if he died. Would his bones fall apart? Would he become nothing more than a heap of hard shapes in a suit? "Wake up, dammit." She hoped because he didn't fall apart that it meant he was alive.

She moved him away from the dead monster, pulling his body to the edge of the tunnel where a small outcropping of rock would conceal them from anything approaching. She took his gun and slipped it back into the holster inside his jacket. She grabbed his hat from the ground and hooked her hands under his arms as she sat down, shifting him so that the back of his skull rested against her chest, one leg at either side of him. She set the hat on the ground beside her and put her arms around his shoulders, willing him to wake up.

"I went to another dimension to get you," she said, her voice thick with tears. "Don't you dare die on me now, you stupid skeleton." She got no answer and the tears spilled over, dripping down her cheeks. She couldn't leave without closing the hole. She couldn't leave Skulduggery behind either. "Please, Skul. You've been through so much worse than this. Please don't leave me." A gloved hand reached up to touch her arm.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said softly. He sounded groggy but the flood of relief that Valkyrie felt made her sob. She buried her face in his shoulder, not caring that it wasn't soft or warm.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," she scolded. She thought he might laugh. Instead he shifted until he was kneeling in front of her, and then he drew her into a tight hug.

"I'll try my best."

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