Gonna try and do, like, a timeline. Dead Men through the centuries type thing. It isn't following the books, or even my own kinda interpretation of events in the other stories I did, just stand alones really! Hope you enjoy!
The bitter winter wind tore through Skulduggery Pleasant. He pulled his scarf tighter around his neck in a futile attempt to keep the cold out. He walked through the bustling cobbled streets with his head down. This was, after all, a mortal town. He had yet to go to a Sorcerer town. The whole idea and concept left him baffled, but an awful lot of things left him baffled these days. He had been thrust into this world of magic and monsters eight months ago with his little sister. The only surviving members of their family.
Skulduggery felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. He took a shaky breath, fight or flight kicking in. He turned down a small little ally, out of view from prying eyes, just as something knocked into him. He sparked a somewhat weak flame and turned. And cursed. Ghastly Bespoke was grinning that stupid grin. He wore a woolen hat to hide the scars on his bald head.
"I could have killed you." Skulduggery pointed out. Ghastly laughed and starting walking, Skulduggery falling in step beside him.
"You are getting better, but you're not quite there yet friend." Ghastly said, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. The two young men walked, laughing and joking and pushing and shoving. All the Sorcerers in Ireland had been told to go to the Sanctuary for a meeting. That was a great deal of Sorcerers indeed. When they arrived, it was packed. Adepts, Elementals, even Necromancers were there. Skulduggery saw a flash of long dark hair and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Ezra Bloom, his little sister. She looked a lot like him, just smaller. Same shade of dark brown hair, same shade of blue eyes. Skulduggery had sharper cheekbones, and was a good foot and a half taller, and Ezra had a sharper jaw and an all together better attitude but those were the main, and few, differences between the siblings. She was standing next to man with light brown hair and a cheery, friendly smile. Skulduggery and Ghastly approached. Ghastly seemed to know the man. Skulduggery did not. Ezra smiled as she saw them.
"Saracen Rue. Didn't know you were still around." Ghastly said smiling, shaking the man's hand.
"You can't get rid of me that quickly." He said, smiling. After twenty more minutes of general chit chat, the three Grand Mages walked in and sat down at the front of the vast room. Eachen Meritorious, Morwenna Crow and Sagacious Tome looked very stressed, tired and agitated.
"Thank you all for coming." Eachen said, somewhat sheepishly. "The reason I have asked you here today is because," Eachen took a long breath, "We are at... War." The man seemed to deflate when he said the word. Murmurings and mutterings rang out through the hall, and it seemed sacrilegious, despite it being a political place, not a holy place.
"Please, please! There is no need for this. There has been unrest in our community for years now. This should not come as a great surprise. We are prepared." Morwenna said. It was a slight lie.
"We need volunteers. That is why we have gathered today. Anyone who can fight, we ask you to. It is a big ask, I know. But a world where mortals are our slaves and Sorcerers like us are the enemy is not a world anyone here wants. We must win this war as I dread to think what the world will be if Mevolent wins!" Sagacious said. That was not a lie.
Hands raised. Skulduggery watched as every hand in the room slowly raised. Ghastly's went up. So did his mother's. Saracen's hand went up also. Ezra looked at Skulduggery's her eyes wide. She gave a half smile and shrugged. Skulduggery nodded. They both raised their hands. A mixture of relief and pride crossed Eachen's face as he took in the number of hands in the air. He gave a weak smile.
Battles were fought and battles were lost over the next six decades. Skulduggery and Ezra learned the hard way very, very fast. People came and went, some they liked, some they didn't, some the siblings had divided opinions on. Skulduggery had gotten married and had a child somewhere along the way, and they had made very strong friendships with like minded people. They were gathered in the Irish Sanctuary once again. The past sixty years had not been kind to the Grand Mages, they all looked wary and tired.
"I am going to ask a lot of some of you today." Eachen said, pleasantries long forgotten. "I need a group of men to go on a dangerous mission, but I'm afraid it's vital." He said. No one said anything. No one moved. He took a deep breath.
"I need a group of you to break into the enemy camp. There are whispers of The Faceless ones being summoned and we must know for sure. We must know exactly what we are up against." Eachen said. Before anyone could comprehend it, Skulduggery's hand shot up. Ghastly's shot up a millisecond later. Ezra looked at the two men, bewildered. But she truster her older brother. She raised her hand. Erskine Ravel, Anton Shudder, Dexter Vex and Saracen Rue eventually raised their hands too. No one else did. Eachen nodded but said nothing. Someone scoffed.
"Dead Men."
They all liked it. Had a certain ring to it.