Chapter 1

Rufus stumbled through the dark doing his best to remain silent. His prey would hear the slightest of shuffles and losing the element of surprise would compromise him, followed by ending him painfully. The creature was close; Rufus knew it and it would not be long until its corruption was dealt with.

There was a crackle from nearby as though someone, or something, had stepped on a twig and Rufus clung to the wall. He sidled along, sticking to the shadows until he reached the corner, his breath shallow and calculated as not to alert whatever was there. He pushed his neck out to peer around the corner into the courtyard when something dripped on his head. Rufus reached into his hair running a hand through and examined what seemed to be a sticky, clear mucus.

His face contorted as Rufus shook his hand, attempting to rid himself of the foul fluid. It flicked to the ground yet he could still smell the pungent scent of rotting meat. There was a growl and Rufus' face dropped. He spun on his heel and bolted as the creature, horned and covered in scales, pounced, missing him by inches. It let out a roar and leapt, landing before Rufus who stumbled, collapsing on his backside and crawling backwards across the stones, his breath now catching in his throat and his heartbeat filling his ears.

A flash of light, a bang and something ricocheted from the beast's head. It snarled as five more bangs followed in succession, forcing it to recoil. The creature was preparing to strike at its new assailant before a roar of flames brought Rufus out of his shock and a fireball collided with the monster. It squealed as two more slammed into his side and it spread its wings, disappearing into the skies.

A man strode into view, thin and wearing the strangest of garments, striped in some sort of jacket. A hat sat upon his head the likes of which Rufus had not seen before. In his hand was a strange device, metal which the man proceeded to flick open and place 6 small shards of metal into. He held up the device and something fired into the dark. There was a screech and Rufus heard the creature crash into a tree, wailing in agony somewhere in the night. A few seconds past, the man stood holding his device in the direction of the wail before gently lowering his arm. A beat of wings, a further roar. It was still fighting, but not tonight. The roars were fading away and Rufus let out a sigh though his heartbeat still screamed in his head.

There was another crackle, the same as before and two more people materialised in front of Rufus, also in strange garb; a girl, dressed in black with long black flowing hair and a boy, wearing some baggy looking clothes with hair to rival a hedgehog.

"Nice of you to show up at last." The man spoke, his voice strong and confident.

"Hey its not my fault, Fletcher had to take a dump before we came back." Replied the girl.

"Don't go blaming me, have you ever had Clarabelle's curry? That burns on the way in and out." Said the hedgehog haired boy.

"You could have gone here, literally anywhere, there is a bush over there. Man up Fletcher."

"We'll excuse me princess, I didn't want to leave an anchor source here."

"You were afraid someone was going to scoop up your poo from behind a bush and, what, keep it safe?"

"Hey it could happ-"

The tall man cut them off. "Sorry to cut of this delightfully sophisticated conversation about the finer workings of your bodies but is anyone aware that a rather scruffy young man has been sat watching us for the past five minutes. Someone who looks way, way, out of his depth for hunting, hey kid, was that a shapeshifter?" The man turned and for the first time Rufus could see his face, or lack there of. Beneath the hat was nothing but a skull.

Rufus let out a scream, a noise he didn't know he could make anymore. Fear was replaced by a burning sensation in his cheeks which now glowed red.

"Nice one Skulduggery, can't you see he's already terrified." Snapped the girl.

"You act as though a Magi would never have seen a walking skeleton before." Replied the creature named Skulduggery

"He clearly hasn't. Also whats a Magi?"

"To you and me, an extinct kind of magic. And there's a first time for everything, he should be honoured, I am a rather fine specimen." Skulduggery straightened the brim of his hat. The girl reached a hand down. Rufus stared at it for a moment, wondering what he should do before realising she was offering to help him up. Gingerly he reached out and she pulled him up.

"Hi there, my name is Valkyrie Cain, the slob over there is Fletcher Renn and the smartly dressed, insensitive example of modesty is Skulduggery Pleasant." Valkyrie stared into Rufus' eyes, holding his hand for a bit too long. Her gaze made his stomach churn but her eyes were captivating. Rufus forced a smile as Skulduggery broke the silence

"I think what my associate is waiting for is a name from you, as well as an offer of a drink, a chance to meet your folks, a marriage proposal and one night of hot-"

"Ok moving on. But do you have a name?" Valkyrie appeared flushed. Rufus again stared blank, what was his name?

"Err, Mufus, Rufus. My name is Rufus Merle." That was harder than he had expected.

"A pleasure Rufus." Said Skulduggery. "Now, care to enlighten us on that rather marvellous shapeshifter you were doing such a grand job of hunting before I stepped in to heroically save the day?"

"He's a, a Magi, Alleron Gall, I should not be discussing this with- who are you? Where did you come from? What's going on for Octania's sake? What's that thing you're holding?" Skulduggery looked down to the metal device he held and slid it into a holster inside his jacket.

"So in reverse order: Don't know any Octania, we came from a place, say, somewhere over a rainbow, you know our names and this is my sparky wand of death or as boring people call it, a gun. Also yes that wasn't quite reverse order, I'm mysterious that way." Replied Skulduggery. These people were strange, Rufus thought, and that was before taking into account their clothes, accents, magic or the fact that one of them was, by all accounts, dead.

There was a screech in the distance and the group turned to gaze off into the night.

"We should get off the streets. The other Magi dislike people being out past the eighth toll. You should come with me." Rufus ushered and Skulduggery and Valkyrie followed. There was a crackle and Fletcher vanished. "You're friend, where did he-?"

"Home, for now. He'll be back to get meet us soon." said Skulduggery with what sounded like a smile in his voice, not that could tell by his face. Rufus, Valkyrie and Skulduggery moved swiftly through the city streets and Rufus was intrigued to watch their faces as they moved from the royal district to the slums. Valkyrie seemed disturbed by the shift in the grand stoneworks to the rotting woods, a look that sung on pity more than anything.

Rufus pushed the door open as silently as he could. He motioned forward with a wave of his hand to the others and gently placed a foot inside the house. Torin Merle was sat by the fire, a bottle resting in his lap. His mouth was open and from within came the rumblings of a vicious animal down a well. Rufus crept towards stairs. The snoring stopped.

"By Malak's tits why must you sneak into the house, or is tits the reason for your sneaking?" Spoke Torin, calmly and without pause. Rufus stopped dead in his tracks. Had his father opened his eyes? When he did what would he make of their guests? He spun on his heel, sweat now glistening upon his face.

"Father I can explain."

"Why you left the door open? I should hope so." Torin pushing himself up from his chair and stiffly manoeuvred to the door, pushing it shut. "Any manner of strange folk could have entered." He slid the bolts across and returned to his seat.

"Sorry Father." Before Torin could respond or question him further Rufus darted to his bedroom, slamming the door and rested his head against it. Someone cleared their throat behind him and Rufus spun on his heel. He was going to wear his shoes out before the day was through. Skulduggery and Valkyrie sat on his bed as though they had been there an age. He held a finger to his lips and scanned the room. Something was different.

"Have, have you moved my bed?" Rufus asked. Valkyrie darted a guilty look towards Skulduggery who tilted his head to the right.

"Well, I thought it would improve the flow of energy in the room." Valkyrie jammed an elbow into Skulduggery's ribs which Rufus imagined, for a skeleton, must have hurt yet he did not flinch. Skulduggery continued. "I also thought it might be a good idea to cover the hole we left in your floor."

"You did what?!" bellowed Rufus before slapping a hand over his mouth.

"We burrowed in through your floor and used your bed to stop you falling into the rather large hole we made! I thought I was doing you a gentlemanly service!" Skulduggery shouted at equal volume.

Rufus turned pale and awaited his father to burst through the door and find out what was going on. Silence. Skulduggery turned to Valkyrie. "They don't teach them much about the elements do they?" Rufus could feel it now. The air about the edge of the room was still.

"You have stopped the noise leaving the room. I have never thought of using air in that manner." It had been years since Rufus felt as though someone had bested him yet that feeling had been reoccurring this day and he did not like it one bit. Being humbled was for those who lacked the will to strive for more.

"Skulduggery, we should." Valkyrie motioned towards Rufus. The skeleton looked at her and tilted his head before turning to Rufus.

"Ah yes, I guess we should." He turned to Rufus. "So, first things first, and before your questions, where are we?"