This chapter is a little longer than the others, but I really hope you enjoy!
Ethel was sleeping, her brown hair covering her pillow when her older brother Nathanial burst through the door. He grabbed her and shook her. "Ethel! Ethel, wake up!" Her eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright. "What is it? What's the matter?" She asked.
Nathanial didn't say anything; he didn't need to. Ethel heard the crackling, the smoke burned her eyes and forced itself down her throat. She heard men laughing and yelling below. Nathanial was shoving their belongings into a bag. "Mama? Papa?" Ethel asked, throwing the covers off of herself. Nathanial shook his head as Ethel's foot fell through the floor into the flames beneath her. She shrieked as Nathanial grabbed her arms and pulled her up, throwing the bag, lifting Ezra up and jumping through the window into the water below. Ethel didn't even have time to scream. The icy water smacked her in the face, numbing her. She clutched at her brother's arm for dear life, kicking her uninjured leg to stay afloat. They both swam to the other side with difficulty, the water freezing them. Behind them, their house and family blew up into the wind with the smoke. They reached the damp grass, shaking, shivering, coughing and sputtering.
Only for a man to grab their arms. Nathanial lurched back as Ethel screamed. The man was horrendous. He was huge, for starters, the same height as Nathanial but about four times his width, muscles rippling beneath his cotton shirt. But his head was the worst. It was bald, with claw-like scars slicing down all over his face. "I can help, I promise I won't hurt you." He said, his hands heating up on their skin, drying them and warming them, erasing the horrible cold that had seeped into their bones. "We have to go, now." Ethel lurched back, running into the water, the realisation of her dead family slamming into her. Nathanial grabbed her arm, but she screeched and struggled. "You can't save them!" Nathanial yelled, the pain and agony evident in his hoarse voice. The scarred man grabbed hold of Ethel's other arm and she kicked and screamed and cried then stopped, falling to her knees. Nathanial put an arm around her as the man knelt beside them. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I won't say I understand because I don't. But you need to come with me. Don't die here and now. Come with me and avenge them, fight the evils that killed them. Okay?" The man seemed sincere, a kindness in his eyes that seemed the erase the scars and the bulking figure. He held his hand out to Ethel. The siblings paused for a moment, and then Ethel took his hand and they followed him into the night.
A couple months later, Saracen Rue found the three of them. They were walking in the forest, part of the war now, going by the names Skulduggery Pleasant and Ezra Bloom. They had weapons and were wearing black leather clothes that the not-so-scary-scary man Ghastly Bespoke had made for them. They were to sneak through the forest, finding whatever information they could to use against the enemy.
"Psst!"
Ghastly held his hand up and the two siblings stopped.
"Pssssssst!"
They looked around but couldn't see the source of the sound.
"Oh, for the God's sake." Came an irritated voice, then a man came tumbling down from the trees, right behind Skulduggery, who yelped. Ghastly swung his sword around so it pointed at the intruder's throat. The intruder rolled his eyes.
"State yourself." Ghastly commanded. The intruder sighed but he said, in a very bored voice, "Saracen Rue. I just felt you would appreciate it if I told you about the trap you were about to walk into." He said. Ghastly frowned and gestured to Skulduggery to check. Skulduggery shrugged but picked up a rock and threw it. Spikes shot up through the leaves as soon as the rock hit the leaves.
Ghastly's eyes widened and he lowered his sword, offering his hand. Saracen shook it.
"My apologies." Ghastly said, sheathing his sword. Saracen grinned in return.
And there were the originals.
Erskine and Anton came together. They were kidnapped and tortured for information of the whereabouts of the army. They didn't budge. It just so happened the four of them were assigned to bring it down. Erskine screamed as they dug the blade deeper into his side. Anton was unconscious. Skulduggery and Ezra were crouched on one side of the door, Ghastly and Saracen on the other. Ghastly held up three fingers. He lowered one, then another. He took a deep breath and lowered the last one, and they burst in. Ezra threw a small, off-aimed fire ball as Skulduggery manipulated the air and weakly shoved it against one of the odd-looking men. A woman threw a stream of something at Saracen, but Ghastly blocked it with fire. Skulduggery head butted one as Ezra ran to the prisoners. They were slower, weaker. She unshackled Erskine, who looked at her for the longest time. Even in his wounded state, he managed a small smile. He groaned as she helped him sit up, though. Saracen had the other prisoner. They left, leaving Ghastly and Skulduggery to torch the place. They went to the agreed meeting place, the clearing of trees in the forest, where they stashed food, water and bandages. Saracen and Ezra went about quickly and sufficiently bandaging the two men. "How long were you there for?" Saracen asked.
"What month is it?" Erskine asked.
"October,"
"10 months,"
"Bloody hell."
Larrakin and Hopeless came and gone, neither growing an attachment, neither staying for very long.
Dexter Vex was next.
It was Skulduggery's birthday and they sat around a small table, crowding around with food and drink in the tavern. Ezra laughed, downing the rest of her pint. "I'll go get the next round!" She said loudly. She stumbled to the bar and ordered. She shifted and fell into the man beside her, who steadied her. She laughed again. "Thank you!" She said cheerfully. He smiled tightly in return, then turned to the barman.
"A full meal, please." He said gruffly.
"A shilling." The barman replied.
"A whole shilling?! I don't have that-"
"On me!" Ezra stated happily. "Add it to our bill, Frankie!"
"But-" Dexter tried to argue, but she stopped him.
"If you carry the tray, we call it even! What's your name?"
"Dexter… My name is Dexter."
"Great, and Frankie add another beer for my new good friend, Dexter!" She said. Frankie placed a plate of hot food on the bar and a tray of seven beers down. Dexter grabbed the tray and Ezra grabbed the plate. "This is my new friend Dexter!" Ezra said, and the men cheered because she could have said a rabbit was her new friend and they would have accepted it. They stayed up all that night, and when morning came and Ezra explained they were leaving, Dexter's eyes shifted before he asked if he could join them.
Skulduggery's wife was lovely, their son an angel. She was a nurse and he was a curly-haired little boy.
Women came and went without much fuss, love interests dwindled due to the seemingly suicidal work they had.
Years later, after they had become the number one battalion of soldiers, Skulduggery and Ezra were two of the best in contrast to their weak aim and slow hits, to begin with, Serpine got his hands on Skulduggery's wife and child, leaving a note. It was simple. Skulduggery and Ezra were to give themselves up, meeting at a complicated cave with tunnels leading out. So they went, not telling the Dead Men.
The two walked slowly and quietly, hiding their fear and nerves. They had heard the rumours and the legends. Serpine was not to be reckoned with. They saw a flickering light ahead as their own magic left them then pain erupted and coursed through them, their bodies going rigid then collapsing. Ezra was barely aware of being hoisted up, Skulduggery being dragged. They were bound tightly, their arms raised above them. They were facing each other, too far away to touch. The pain stopped and they took their time opening their eyes. Skulduggery's wife's head lay on the ground, next to her son's headless body. Skulduggery lurched, then collapsed, only managing to stay up because of the rope. A sound escaped his throat and Ezra broke down, quietly shaking. A cold laugh echoed through the dark, dank cavern. "That was amazing. I've never wanted to hear a noise again so badly in my life." He said. He was putting on a leather glove, his right hand. Serpine.
"They were innocent." Skulduggery said so quietly. Serpine shrugged.
"You're the enemy. The great Skulduggery Pleasant. His sister is… Meh. She pales in comparison to you. All she is is a pretty face. But you… You're magnificent. Cold. Hard. Ruthless. But you have three weaknesses. Two of which lay before you. You love them, undeniably. But your real weakness is your little sister, isn't it?"
Ezra looked at him with wide eyes and then turned to Skulduggery. "Remember what Ghastly said." Was all she said to her brother. Avenge me. Serpine laughed. "I'm going to kill her, then you. The Dead Men will fall apart-"
"I think you're overestimating our worth."
"-And we will win this war. We deserve to."
"What you deserve is a swift kick to the ba-"
"You can say your empty, sarcastic threats all you want. But it doesn't change your pretty sister is going to die." Serpine said. Skulduggery started mildly fidgeting with the rope, his chest rising and falling faster. He couldn't lose her too, not after the pain of his family. But he would never let that show, not to Serpine. He couldn't. Two men grabbed Ezra and untied her hands and she did try, bless, to get away but one of them slammed their fist into the side of her head. Skulduggery was tugging at the rope now, his feet kicking the dirt covered ground. He grunted but his magic was bound in this cave. Ezra was dragged to a body of water that had been hidden from them due to the small diameter of light they had, but now he could see it clearly, see the fear and resignation on his loving, optimistic sister's face. She was forced to her knees in front of the water, then someone wrapped their hand around the back of her neck and forced her down, her hands being held by two other people. Nothing happened for a minute and a half, then her legs twitched and her arms strained and she thrashed to get a breath in. But then light lit up the whole cave, a golden colour. Warmth seeped into Skulduggery and he saw her hair go from brown to gold at the top, that proceeded to travel to the tips. The people holding her disintegrated, just like that. Three neat piles of ashes lay where they stood. Ezra jerked back, drawing in a breath, water dripping from her shivering frame. Serpine growled then shoved a knife into Skulduggery's throat then his heart, then a woman stepped forward and placed a hand on Serpine and a hand on Skulduggery and then they were gone and Skulduggery was dead and Ezra was screaming and Ghastly and Anton were cursing and questioning as Dexter and Saracen calmed Ezra down as Erskine looked around the cave for anything to help their whereabouts.
Then they caught up to Valkyrie's arrival until Kaden was projecting a projection of them watching him project something. Ezra was unconscious but breathing as everyone shifted, wide-eyed, staring at where the projection was.
"Excellent. Truly excellent. Very enjoyable." Macon said.
Thank you for reading! I really, really hope you enjoyed that chapter!
