Skulduggery Pleasant fan-fic: The Cradle of Magic (UNDER EDIT)

The Cradle of Magic

-Skul

The gullet of the gun shook as the bullet fired. A cackling tell-tale of a bang accelerating from the end letting the shot fly through the air and towards the head of the man that I loathed passionately.

Bliv screamed, her eyes planted on me before I pulled the trigger; shock illuminated in the burnt sienna: The eyes of her mother; and the fear that I had seen engraved before echoed through the generation.

Serpine had two decisions and he knew it: To duck and save himself and the girl therefore going to the trouble of having to kill her later and losing his hostage or to take the shot.

It was obvious he wouldn't undertake the latter.

Serpine dived, stumbling backwards as the bullet flew past him and into the brick wall opposite and he felt himself falling onto the hard concrete, slamming his face with a crack and a yell.

Bliv rolled forwards onto her back and took out her gun in one quick motion, standing and aiming at her attacker, a hard glare besotted to her eyes.

A cut split her face with malicious carmine and she grimaced as it ran down her face, gritted in hate.

"Bliv..." Need did I say more before she nodded, her eyes flicking for a split second to her shell-shocked partner.

I lowered my gun as she stepped closer to Serpine, placing the automatic to his temples; his teeth drenched with lapping ruddiness as he smiled sourly at her.

I hesitated before ultimately turning to Vin. Her body was frozen in shock and as much as I itched to embrace her in my arms and kiss her once more, I could not show any form of weakness towards Serpine; everything I did would be used as a tool against me.

"Vin..." I whispered, closing in on her face; a short space between her heartbeat and my empty chest.

She stared. No tears: the hard realisation and poignant shock replacing them and drawing everything to a standstill.

I took a hand to the back of her head and softly pushed her against my torn and scorched jacket, feeling her visionless stare and tearless pain cascade through me.

Nevertheless the tears would come. But for a different matter entirely.

She gripped to me hard, hanging on with every last once of energy she could muster and straining the tears she couldn't summon... This time the pain was too much.

That was when a scream violently stung the powder embraced air.

We both turned to see her body fall, writhing in agony on the ground as the gun was played at her head. And fired.

I immediately pushed Vin back and snapped a wall of air at my opponent.

But he was gone instantaneously. A hand took him.

All had happened in the space of ten seconds.

Vin screamed.

A loud crack.

I turned.

A pair of sunglasses, a flash of a smile and she was torn into the ground.

With an assassin that wanted her dead and an arch enemy which, I was sure, had worse plans for her.

I was too late.

She was gone.

***

-Erskine

I had been watching.

It made so much sense. All these years, everything...

I stood and watched. Waiting for the reply; the mumble of my phone.