She used her toes to pry off her trainers as she threw away her tattered jacket, then zipped the sleeveless tunic over her T-shirt. Her jeans were filthy, splattered with mud. She discarded them on the grass and pulled on the black trousers, barely registering how well they fitted, how they were instantly perfect. Her new boots felt as if she’d been wearing them for years.
Valkyrie searched through the pockets of her old clothes, transferred whatever she found in there and then pulled on the coat. It was shorter than her last one, stopping mid-thigh. All these new clothes were black except for the coat sleeves, which were of a red so dark it looked like dried blood.
She tied her hair back and heard something like a whisper behind her. She turned in time to see a fist swinging her way. She dodged back, almost tripping over her discarded clothes. Her assailant kept coming, a thing of papery skin and stitches, dragging its heavy feet. Valkyrie clicked her fingers and sent a fireball into its chest. The fire burned through and ignited the gases within, but there was another one behind it, and another one behind that. Valkyrie ran to the farmhouse, giving herself some room before she looked back.
An army of Hollow Men, marching with that slow, awkward trudge, moved across the fields towards her.
She ran into the cottage, slamming the door behind her. There was a lull in the gunfire, but she ducked low anyway.
“Hollow Men,” she said, and immediately Tanith leaped to the door, pressing her hand against the wood.
“Withstand,” she said, and a sheen spread outwards from her palm.
“How many?” Skulduggery asked.
“I don’t know. Two or three hundred.”
“Oh, hell,” said Ghastly.
“I don’t know how the Diablerie got them here,” Skulduggery said, “but we’ve fought Hollow Men before and they haven’t posed a problem. They’re only a threat if you let them surround you.”
“There’s 300 of them,” Tanith pointed out. “Surrounding us isn’t going to be an issue.”
“They’re throwing everything they have at us because they need to keep us occupied. We have to stop Fletcher from opening that—”
He was interrupted by another hail of gunfire that sent everyone to the ground.
The Hollow Men hammered on the door, but the sheen that Tanith had applied to it held it firm and solid. There was nothing she could do with the windows, however, and it wasn’t long before the Hollow Men smashed through the remaining glass. The glass tore holes in their arms, and green gas billowed out as they deflated – but there were more of them coming up behind.
Murder Rose was striding across the yard and back again, her machine gun spitting bullets. Skulduggery put his revolver away.
“I’m out,” he said. “Looks like it’s over the top for us.”
“I hate going over the top,” Ghastly muttered.
Paddy leaped up, still firing back, thanks to his endless supply of shotgun cartridges, but Skulduggery waited until the next time Rose had to reload.
“Move,” he said, then leaped through the window, Ghastly and Tanith right behind him.
Valkyrie watched through the window as Skulduggery ran straight for the column of red and black smoke, leaving Ghastly and Tanith to deal with the others. Ghastly pushed at the air. Rose staggered and Tanith slammed into her. The machine gun went flying and Rose’s knives were suddenly in her hands.
Krav went for Ghastly, Hollow Men swarmed the yard, and Paddy pulled Valkyrie out of sight.
“If we stay quiet,” he whispered, “they might forget about us.”
“I’m not just going to watch,” she said angrily as she shook off his hand. She stayed low until she was clear of the window, and hurried to the black bag.
Paddy came after her with a defiant look on his face. “Your skeleton friend made it very clear, Valkyrie. You are only to leave this house if all else fails.”
“I never do what he tells me. He knows that.”
“Skulduggery said you were their last hope,” Paddy tried. “Surely you owe it to everyone who is fighting right now to stay here, to wait until you are needed. If you go out now, if something happens to you, what use are you then?”
Valkyrie had her hand in the bag and her fingers curled around the Sceptre.
“I know you want to help,” Paddy continued. “I know it is breaking your heart to watch this, but if you do not follow the plan, it will all be for nothing.”
Valkyrie clenched her jaw, and looked at Paddy and his shoulders hunched in sympathy.
“I’m sorry.”
She knew he was right. For the first time ever, they had a plan. The least she could do was stick to it.
From outside, she heard sounds of battle.
“What can you do?” Paddy asked. “Why are you their last hope? Do you have a special power no one else has?”
Valkyrie shook her head. “No. But I have a weapon no one else has.” She took the Sceptre of the Ancients from the bag. “This is the only thing in existence that can kill a god, and I’m the only one who can use it.”
Paddy’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s a lot of responsibility.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Valkyrie said softly. “There’s a prediction about me, you know. I die and the world ends.”
“The prediction is about today?”
“It fits, doesn’t it? If I get killed, and there’s no one around for the Sceptre to pass on to, then it’s all over. So today is the day I die.”
“And your parents don’t know about any of this, do they?”
“No.”
“If they did though, they would be so proud. I never had children, but if I had, I’d have wanted them to turn out just like you.”
He stepped over to an old photograph on the bedside table, and picked up a gold ring that lay behind it.
“This was my mother’s,” he said. “I always planned to someday give it to the woman I would marry. Such a shame. My remaining years will pass in the blink of an old man’s eye, and I’ll leave behind no legacy. No one will care.”
Valkyrie busied herself putting the Sceptre back in the bag and zipping it closed. She didn’t know how to respond to that.
He approached, holding out the gold ring. “Would you wear this?”
“I … Paddy, I couldn’t …”
“I never got around to marrying.”
“There’s still time.”
“You’re a kind girl and a terrible liar. Of course, the fact that magic exists, means that miracles can happen – so would you do me a favour? Keep this for me until I need it.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer to hold it yourself?”
“It would mean a lot, to know that I’m passing it to someone who is worthy of it.”
Valkyrie hesitated, then took the ring and slipped it on her right index finger.
“It looks good on you,” Paddy said with a smile.
She found herself grinning back at him. “I’ll keep it safe,” she promised. “For however long we have left.”
There were footsteps on the roof, moving quickly. They went to the window as a dozen or more Cleavers