Okay, so long story short I have bitten off more than I can chew. But i will continue this and update it and eventually finish it. I have been spending a lot of time on my one shot fic, purely because it isn't a commitment. But yes. Here we go. Violence and bad language, as usual. Hope you enjoy!
As soon as Fletcher was conscious, which was after three days too many, they teleported back to the Sanctuary. Skulduggery was extremely impressed and pissed off with the situation at hand. He was impressed because it was brilliant and clever; separate them so they lose a mass amount of time. It was genius. The demons would live, Hades would drag them all down, job done. He was pissed off because they were still missing Saracen, Ghastly, Anton and Ezra and that was not okay. Skulduggery liked all his eggs in the same basket. And they weren't even close to his basket. So they were all sitting in that cursed room staring at the cursed mirrors, trying to pick out specific clues and land marks as to the other's whereabouts. It was very tricky. They weren't too worried about Saracen or Ezra, they were safe and sound. But Anton was in a little boat all by himself in the middle of the ocean, his rations running low, his skin starting to blister. And Ghastly was hiding and freezing with the two fur covered people, with their dogs. Ghastly was badly hurt by the woman with the white hair, but his companions had patched him up pretty well.
They took turns, some watching the mirrors with Kaden, who was pale and weak from using his magic too much. China had made a little device that transferred magic, so someone would put their magic in it and Kaden would take it to keep the mirrors going. While some were watching the mirrors and looking after Kaden, others researched on how exactly to defeat the demons. One thing was for certain, they weren't strong enough to do it without the other four. Which was another thing; why send Anton, Saracen and Ghastly away when Macon could have just put them back where he got them from. In essence, it was far too many mysteries and unanswered questions for Skulduggery's liking.
"We got a landmark for Bespoke!" Valkyrie shouted, bursting into the library. Skulduggery looked up from his old, dusty book, simultaneously putting a bookmark in it, shutting the book and standing up.
"How? It was all snow." Skulduggery pointed out, hastily walking to the mirror room, Valkyrie taking long strides to keep up.
"They passed a mountain, geographically unique I guess. China knew it, and it was enough for Fletcher." Valkyrie explained.
"Who is going?"
"You, me, Fletcher and Dexter."
"Is he well enough?"
"He isn't giving us much of a choice."
Skulduggery sighed at this, knowing Vex and his stubbornness all too well.
Dexter and Fletcher were hunched over a map, Lila, Kaden, China and Milo still watching the mirrors.
"You ready?" Skulduggery asked. Fletcher nodded as Dexter said yes. Neither looked close to ready, but Skulduggery kept the remark to himself. Valkyrie grabbed Skulduggery's hand, and placed a hand on Fletcher's shoulder as Fletcher placed a hand on Dexter's elbow. A moment later and a harsh, bitter wind tore at them. Valkyrie cursed.
"We didn't prepare well!" She complained, wrapping her arms around herself, her teeth already chattering.
"No. It would seem we did not." Skulduggery said quietly, enveloping them all in a bubble of air then heating it up. The snow at their feet melted and no one could see their breath anymore. Valkyrie grinned at Skulduggery, her arms dropping to her sides. They saw the tracks in the snow from the sleigh and followed them quickly. It was a blizzard outside of their perfect little bubble, and if they didn't move hastily the snow would cover the fresh tracks. After walking for what felt like ages, they came upon the sleigh and the dogs, but no sign of Ghastly and his companions.
"That's not good." Dexter said, his face flushed, a thin sheen of sweat covering his body.
"I don't see foot prints." Valkyrie pointed out.
"Surely they wouldn't just leave the dogs..." Fletcher said, staring at the furry animals as they shivered. They were still bound to the sleigh, and didn't know which way to go without their owners. Then all the questions were answered as they heard a scream.
"Stay behind us. You can't get hurt again." Skulduggery instructed Fletcher as they started to move as one. The woman with the white hair was there. Ghastly's leg was broken, the bone poking out of his ripped flesh. Dexter ran to him to cover him, his two companions laying dead beside him, their blood soaking into the snow. The white woman didn't say anything, just threw a sharp shard of ice at Dexter as he ran. Skulduggery melted it with a fire stream before it hit Dexter, Valkyrie already sending bolts of bright lightning into her. Her eyes were white, her lips were white, everything about her was snow white. She hissed as the bolts hit her, turning her attention to Valkyrie. Fletcher teleported behind Ghastly and Dexter, placing a hand on them both. Then he teleported beside Valkyrie and Skulduggery, Dexter grabbed them both. Then they were beside the dogs again and Valkyrie laid a hand on one, then they were in the sanctuary with twelve dogs and a screaming Ghastly.
