Promises

27. Tara Pyro

Bella Pleasant ran. The last thing she heard was Sophie's voice shouting for her to stop. But she didn't stop. She had to get away from there. Right now.

She sprinted as far away as her tiny legs would carry her, onto the backroads where she knew no one would find her for a long time. Bella disappeared into the thicket of the woods and sprinted up a steep incline, leaping over fallen logs and tree roots. And even then, she still didn't stop running, not even when her legs started screaming at her.

Don't look back... get as far away as possible...

She sobbed, and her jacket caught on an underlying branch. Bella went sprawling, landing on her hands and knees in the dirt. She didn't bother getting up, just stayed on the ground, crying her heart out.

Her father's harsh words were on a constant loop in her mind.

'No one will ever say they need you. No one cares. You're useless and you deserve to die.'

Her cries got louder and more heartbreaking, and Bella curled up in a ball, hugging herself to try and hold all her broken pieces together. It didn't work.

"Miss, are you okay?" Came a man's voice.

Bella looked up, her cheeks stained with tears, her eyes still watering. The man was tall, with dark hair and dark eyes - much like her own. His shoulders were broad, his cheekbones high, and he held a cane in one hand. Immediately her sobbing turned into quiet whimpers.

"N-no," she sniffed, getting to her feet shakily.

His expression softened. "Would you like to come with me?"

She hesitated. This definitely wasn't a good idea. She was in the middle of the woods, with no one else around. And only this strange man. But, he had an aura about him that made her want to trust him.

After a few seconds of pondering over his question, she nodded. "Yeah, okay."

He held out his right hand for her to shake. "My name's Solomon. Solomon Wreath," he said.

She took his hand. "Bella," she said simply.

Wreath watched her curiously. Her dark eyes were still glistening with tears, and he could tell she was trying her hardest not to burst into a fresh round of sobs. He gripped her hand tightly, and lifted her up into his arms bridal style. Bella snuggled into his chest as his strong arms wrapped around her tiny frame. He sighed, and started walking.

Wreath's stride was long and smooth, and he moved so... gracefully. Bella almost fell asleep, and she barely noticed when the incline got even steeper and when the undergrowth got thicker. He stepped over a fallen log with ease, barely losing his breath. They got to the top of the hill and he placed her back down on her feet. Bella looked around, her eyes growing wide.

"Woah..." She breathed.

He chuckled lightly. "You like?"

She nodded eagerly. There was an old house, situated in the middle of a clearing. Trees surrounded them, the only sound being the noise of the wind rustling the tops of the trees, and running water coming from somewhere. The direction was almost impossible to place, as the noise was echoing off everything. Moss and overgrown bushes covered most of the house, but other than that, it was fairly intact.

Bella walked forward absentmindedly, admiring the scenery. She'd never seen this place before. Wreath watched her, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smirk. "The Necromancer Temple is through here, I can show you if you'd like?"

The dark haired girl turned back to him, nodding slowly.

The Necromancer Temple was as uninviting as ever, the dark depths trailing out into brightly lit underground corridors. Torches hung from the brackets on the grey walls, their footsteps echoing and cutting through the quiet as they walked. The stones underfoot were smoothly cut without any tripping hazards, though Wreath kept a hold of Bella's arm anyway. It all reminded the young girl of an old creepy castle she always saw in the horror movies.

A sorcerer with a bad goatee and an equally bad attitude guided them through the seemingly endless hallways, complaining about how disruptive new people were to the day to day running of the Temple. Bella stayed quiet, not offering any acknowledgement as he led them to Solomon Wreath's private quarters. The door was wide open, a young blonde man waiting for them inside.

The sorcerer with the bad goatee grunted something, not bothering to say anything more as he left them be. Charming fellow, Bella thought to herself as they stepped inside, coming face to face with a smirking teenager who had been waiting inside the quarters for Wreath to return. From first glance, his clothes were ironed and crisp, eyes pale, big and grey with massive dark pupils. His hair was long, blonde and tousled on top of his head. It reminded Bella of a birds nest, and it was even worse than Fletcher's.

"Lucas," Wreath nodded. "This is Bella Pleasant, Skulduggery's daughter. Bella, this is Lucas Byers; our newest addition."

Lucas looked her up and down, lip curling. "The Irish Sanctuary poisons everybody against the Necromancer Temples," the teenager scowled. "I have no respect for Sanctuary agents, or their offspring."

"How surprising, you don't look like you know much," Bella nodded.

Lucas glared daggers at her, Wreath clearing his throat and noticing Bella's eyes raking over his protégé. He couldn't help but smile. She was so alike both of her parents. But Wreath had brought her there for one reason and one reason only, they had another supposed Death Bringer in their sights. He'd been keeping it quiet, not convinced that Lucas could be their saviour and instead keeping his eye on Bella. Lucas, he believed, was a repeat of Melancholia St Clair, with no extraordinary natural talent other than the artificial power that he and Cleric Vandameer Craven had been pumping into him.

"So what is she doing here?" Lucas snapped.

"I believe young Bella here possesses qualities of a true Death Bringer," Wreath smiled, knowing it would make the boy's skin crawl.

"That can't be right," he snapped. "Because I'm the Death Bringer. I'm going to be the one to bring the world to its knees and initiate the Passage between life and death. I'm the most important person in the world right now and anyone who dares to test me will be punished accordingly when I save you from your doom. Anyone who believes, trusts and follows me will have the privilege of standing beside me when half the population is sacrificed. What the fuck are you doing, Solomon?"

Wreath cut in quickly, pissed off at the boy already. He made a mental note to punish him for this later. "We have suspicions that you may harbour magic powerful enough to initiate the Passage, yes, but nothing is certain. We've had to do experiments in order to boost your power to this level, however, and we're coming to the conclusion that you may not be what we're looking for."

Lucas opened his mouth to retort, eyes flashing with rage, but Bella cut him off. "He doesn't look that extraordinary," she nodded with a small, cheeky smirk.

Lucas was about to insult her, but it was Wreath who cut him off this time. "I have a feeling that we're being told to wait a little longer. The saviour is out there and if patience is the key then that is what we will go by. I promised that we would find the next Lord Vile even if it took another century for the saviour to come along. Bella may be the chosen one."

But Wreath didn't just think, he knew. Bella's parents had both been world breakers, both incredibly powerful with enough strength to flatten the world to a charred and lifeless cinder. Although their first daughter hadn't radiated power like they'd thought she was going to, Bella certainly did. He could feel her energy just by standing next to her. And he wanted it.

"What is a Death Bringer?" Bella eventually asked, glancing up at Wreath and pulling him from his thoughts.

"The Death Bringer initiates the passage, which means there will be no more births or deaths. They do this by sacrificing a percentage of the population to spare the rest of us. No one newcan be born into the world and no death can snatch anybody away," he answered, watching her and gauging her reaction. Bella suddenly felt like going with this man hadn't been such a good idea after all.

"I would like to go home now. Can you take me home?"

"Bella," Wreath smiled, letting her name roll off his tongue purposefully. "Surely you don't want to leave, you just got here."

Bella hesitated. "Tara," she said quietly. "My name is Tara Pyro. And I would like go leave now, please."