The Sacrifice

We was half stupid, a third lucky, and three-quarters ferocious.

Ed held his sword tight in both hands and went slowly and carefully down. There was the unmistakable smell of sicko down here and Ed’s throat was very dry.

Sod this,’ said Kyle and he swung his axe. Charlotte watched amazed, unable to look away, as the blade sliced clean through the father’s neck and his head flew off.

Then there was David, lording it up at Buckingham Palace, thinking he was king of the shit heap. That guy was definitely nuts, like every dictator that had gone before him. Nero, Caligula, Henry the Eighth, Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Margaret Thatcher, Colonel Gaddafi, that crazy North Korean bastard who was in Team America, Kim Jong whatever.

He turned to see three kids at his side. Tish and the two little boys. He had to admit the boys looked pretty normal to him — apart from the fact that they were both laden down with armour and weapons, and the dark harked one appeared to be wearing a dress, like they were on their way to a fancy-dress party.