The Faceless Ones

Chapter Thirty-four. The Battle of Aranmore

They drove the rest of the way in silence, with only Skulduggery's skill stopping them from skidding off the road. By the time they reached Aranmore, it had stopped raining, and the Purple Menace took the turn and sped up the meandering driveway, long grasses growing on either side. There was a plume of smoke just over the hill, and Ghastly's van came into view. It was on its side, burning fiercely. The doors were open.

There was an explosion up ahead, and they saw Tanith flipping away from it. She landed and ran for the corner of the farmhouse. She reached it just as a hail of bullets tore up the ground at her feet. "They have machine guns," Valkyrie said. "And hand grenades."

The Purple Menace braked, and Skulduggery kicked the door open. Valkyrie gripped the black bag.

"Stay low," he said, and they ran.

She caught a glimpse of the Diablerie in the yard on the other side of the farmhouse. She saw Fletcher, his hands cuffed in front of him, staggering after Gallow. Murder Rose saw her, raised her gun, and fired. Valkyrie stumbled, but kept running until she reached the cottage and got behind cover.

Skulduggery pulled his revolver from his jacket. "Ghastly?" he called to Tanith.

"He's somewhere around," she said, ducking back as more bullets slammed into the corner beside her.

The door to the farmhouse was yanked open, and Paddy charged out, shotgun in hand and yelling a battle cry. Skulduggery pushed at the air, nudging the shotgun upward just as Paddy fired, and then gestured and the gun flew into his grip.

Paddy realized who he had just tried to shoot and winced. "Sorry! Sorry!"

"What are you still doing here?" Skulduggery demanded. "I called to tell you to leave."

"To be honest, I don't really give a damn what you told me to do. Give me back my gun."

"Paddy, this isn't safe."

"You don't think I have a right to be here? This is my home. It has been for forty-two years. I'm not abandoning it just because a bunch of wizards are waving their wands about and firing a few bullets."

"This is dangerous," Valkyrie said.

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, young lady. I have plenty of cartridges for my shotgun, and these are a new pair of trousers. I'm ready."

"If you're volunteering," Skulduggery said, handing him back his shotgun, "stay here with Valkyrie."

"You can count on me, Mr. Skeleton."

The ground erupted behind them, and two figures flew from the spray of dirt: Ghastly, with his arm wrapped around the throat of Billy-Ray Sanguine. They hit the ground and tumbled, Ghastly losing his hold. Sanguine gasped, suddenly able to breathe again, and he unfolded his straight razor and came at Ghastly with a snarl.

Ghastly dodged, then jabbed, and Sanguine's head jerked back. Ghastly's fist crashed into Sanguine's ribs, lifting him off his feet. Stunned, Sanguine could only swing the razor wildly as Ghastly moved in and caught him with a perfect right hook.

Sanguine's legs gave out from under him, and he dropped.

"Into the farmhouse," Skulduggery ordered.

Tanith went first, then Paddy. Skulduggery ushered Valkyrie in before him. Ghastly came last, shutting the door. They stayed low as bullets flew and glass rained down upon them.

Skulduggery crawled to the window that looked out on the yard and returned fire. The sheds and the farm machinery provided excellent cover for Murder Rose as she danced and spun, reloading her machine gun and laughing all the while.

"Where are the Necromancers?" he shouted to Ghastly.

"Wreath was supposed to be approaching from the west, to come up from behind. I don't know what's keeping them."

"Never trust a Necromancer," Tanith growled.Valkyrie risked a glance. At the far side of the yard she saw Gruesome Krav drop the Grotesquery's torso inside a chalk circle that Jaron Gallow was drawing on the ground. Fletcher tried to run, but Krav hauled him back, throwing him down beside the torso. Gallow was drawing something else now--symbols, all around the circle.

Before Valkyrie could ask anyone what was happening, the symbols began to glow, and red smoke rose from them, mixed with the black smoke that rose from the circle, collecting into a cloud that swirled around the circle's perimeter, roaring like a hurricane.

"Damn," Skulduggery said, and switched targets from Rose to Gallow. But it was like the bullets hit the smoke and were caught up in it as it rose high into the air in a spiraling column.

Valkyrie glimpsed Fletcher, on his knees, the handcuffs on the ground beside him. Gallow was standing close, both hands gripping the boy's shoulders. The handcuffs were off, but if Fletcher tried to teleport away, he'd take Gallow with him--and she knew Gallow would waste no time in punishing him for his disobedience.

Gallow made Fletcher put his hands on theGrotesquery. He was doing it. He was going to open the gateway. The smoke swirled, and he was hidden from view.

Valkyrie looked over at Murder Rose as the madwoman laughed and lobbed something at the farmhouse.

Valkyrie whirled. There was an explosion behind her and she was thrown off her feet amid a shower of splinters and rubble and glass. She fell painfully, ears ringing, dust in her mouth, and pain in her shoulder.

"Valkyrie!" Skulduggery shouted.

"I'm okay!" she called back, her voice dull. She looked around for the bag with the Scepter, saw it in the corner.

Bullets peppered the wall above her, and Ghastly dragged her from the danger zone.

"Hold still," he said, and he gripped something at her back and pulled. She hollered and jerked away from him. He was holding a shard of glass, the tip dripping with her blood. "Anywhere else hurt?"

"I'm fine," she lied.

"I've got a new set of clothes for you. Nothing will get through them. They're in a bag in the van. Think you can make it? «She nodded, and he pulled her up. She did her best not to wince. There was a fresh burst of gunfire, and an ugly painting on the wall was reduced to tattered paper in a broken frame. Ghastly yanked open the door.

"Go," he said. Valkyrie bolted from the farmhouse. She ran for the burning van and dropped, skidding along the ground until she was behind it.

She pushed at the air to clear the smoke and saw the bag on the backseat. She reached in, stretching for the bag strap, and yanked it out. The smoke curled and washed over her, and she closed her eyes against the stinging. She crawled backward, coughing, until she felt grass under her. Her eyes watered when she opened them.

She used her toes to pry off her running shoes 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 midthigh. 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 toward 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 outward 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 three hundred 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. She hadn't done anything 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 Scepter.

"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 came 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 Scepter 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 Scepter 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 didn't know how to respond to that. She busied herself putting the Scepter back into the bag and zipping it closed.

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 favor? Keep this for me until I need it."

"Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to hold on to it yourself?"

"It would mean a lot, to know that I'm passing it on to someone who is worthy of it."

Valkyrie hesitated, then took the ring and slipped it onto 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 dropped from the farmhouse roof into the yard, their scythes already out, and before the Hollow Men could even turn, those scythes were slicing.

"Are they on our side?" Paddy asked, confused.

"Oh, yeah." Valkyrie smiled.

Valkyrie saw Ghastly throwing fire. Hollow Men wheeled, their internal gases bursting into flame. She saw China, dressed head to foot in black, tapping the symbols on her forearms and sending a wave of blue energy slamming into Krav as he charged at her.

Skulduggery was at the column of smoke, trying to push his way through. She glimpsed Fletcher, his hands on the Grotesquery, and even from this distance she saw the pain on his face. He tried to move, but Gallow kept him on his knees, and then Fletcher arched his back, and over the roar of the smoke, she heard him scream.

Ten yards away from him, a yellow light appeared in thin air. It got brighter, and bigger. It was growing fast. In ten seconds it was the size of a human head. Valkyrie could see inside it now. At the center the light was calm, and a little less bright, but the edges were like angry licks of flame, dragging the gateway ever wider.

The Necromancers had arrived at the yard, and by the looks of them, they had fought the whole way there. Solomon Wreath shouted orders, and the female Necromancer swirled her cloak, its edges tearing through the Hollow Men around her. The male Necromancer fired his flintlock pistol, each dark bullet perforating multiple Hollow Men at a time.

Wreath used his cane like he was conducting music, sending waves of darkness crashing down upon his enemies.

Valkyrie watched the gateway get bigger and bigger, and their chances for survival get smaller and smaller.

Tanith was facing off against Murder Rose, but she had a look on her face Valkyrie had rarely seen--fear. Murder Rose was better than Tanith, and Tanith knew it.Blades flashed, and Tanith gave ground. Rose's long knives parried and blocked Tanith's increasingly desperate sword swipes, and Rose was smiling. She was toying with Tanith, enjoying the fact that she could end this at any time.

And then she decided to end it.