The Faceless Ones

  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 fa
ct that she could end this at any time.

  And then she decided to end it.

  Thirty-five

  THINGS OF IMPOSSIBILITY

  TANITH TRIED TO flip backward but Murder Rose lunged, one of her knives slicing into Tanith’s shoulder.

  Valkyrie shouted Tanith’s name. Tanith slashed wildly as she backed off. Rose moved sideways and in, stabbing through her right leg.

  Tanith fell to one knee but caught Rose’s wrist just as the madwoman went for her throat. Rose casually pressed the tip of her other knife against the back of Tanith’s hand, and in one smooth motion she pushed it all the way in.

  Tanith screamed, and Rose kicked her onto her back, then moved in for the kill.

  Valkyrie saw something blur, something white, and Murder Rose had to duck to avoid the White Cleaver’s scythe.

  The Cleaver spun low and Rose flipped, then closed in with unnatural speed. The White Cleaver dodged the swipe of one knife and blocked the other. He kicked at her leg. She stumbled and the scythe blade whipped by her, barely missing her throat.

  Rose went to defend herself against a low strike that the Cleaver abruptly shifted. The scythe’s handle cracked into Rose’s jaw, and she fell.

  Valkyrie was about to run out to help Tanith when the wall in front of her exploded. She fell back, coughing. She heard Paddy beside her and looked through the dust and debris as Gruesome Krav, cursing vehemently, did his best to stand.

  Mr. Bliss stepped through the giant hole he had made in the wall.

  “My sister?” he snarled, waiting for Krav to straighten up. “You tried to kill my sister?”

  Krav swung a punch. Bliss closed his hand around the fist and squeezed, and Krav roared as all the bones in his hand were crushed.

  Bliss punched him and Krav hit the opposite wall, cracking it. “My sister is the only family I have left.”

  He slammed into Krav, and they went through the opposite wall and took the fight outside.

  Ghastly came through the first hole, supporting Tanith with her arm around his neck. She was bleeding badly but still gripping her sword. Valkyrie hurried to them as he sat her on a chair by the table.

  “I can still fight,” Tanith muttered. “Look after her,” Ghastly barked, and ran back out.

  “Tanith,” Valkyrie said, hunkering down to look at her. “Tanith, can you hear me?”

  “She beat me, Val….”

  “She got lucky.” Valkyrie looked at Paddy. “Do you have any bandages or medical supplies?”

  He nodded and moved off. “I keep a first-aid kit somewhere around here.”

  He started rummaging around in drawers, and Valkyrie went to help him search. It was when she glanced back to make sure Tanith hadn’t passed out that she saw the wall starting to crack. She barely had time to shout a warning before Billy-Ray Sanguine leaped through. He grabbed Tanith’s hair and slammed her head down onto the table.

  Paddy swung the shotgun around, but Sanguine threw Tanith into him. Valkyrie clicked her fingers but failed to summon a spark. Sanguine sank into the ground. She heard him step from the wall beside her and she kicked out without looking. Her boot hit him in the leg. He grunted and she tried to follow up with a right cross, but he blocked it and punched her, straight in the sternum. Valkyrie flew backward, falling over a chair and sprawling to the ground.

  The shotgun blasted and blasted again, and she looked up to see Paddy staring at a bare wall, eyes wide with astonishment. Sanguine rose up through the floor behind him and shoved him into the wall, hard.

  “Everyone bein’ so eager to die,” Sanguine said, “almost takes the fun outta killin’ them.”

  He went for Valkyrie, and she jumped to the table and rolled over it. He laughed, diving at her, but she snatched up Tanith’s sword and turned, bringing it around in a wide arc. The blade opened up Sanguine’s belly, and he stopped, mouth open, looking down at himself while she backed away.

  “What have you done?” he asked, bewildered.

  Blood ran from the cut, quickly soaking his shirt and deepening the color of his suit.

  “What the hell have you done?” he screeched, and the fury in his voice hit her harder than his fists ever had.

  The ground swallowed him.

  Paddy groaned on the floor but appeared to be okay. Valkyrie helped Tanith back into the chair and put the sword on the table beside her, then went to the window.

  Something flew out of the gateway. It caught in her mind when a shock wave hit the farmhouse and she was thrown back.

  Her thoughts went quiet.

  The broken glass beneath her hands. The breeze, stirred to wind outside. The world, dull and deadened.

  Another shock wave hit the farmhouse. And another.

  Her mouth was dry and her head was pounding. Slowly, she crawled over rubble, to the hole in the wall.

  Outside there were others, on the ground. Lying down. Lots of paper people. Some people in black. Swirling red and black smoke. A skeleton. There was a skeleton, stumbling toward her.

  She heard a voice that said, “Valkyrie.”

  The skeleton’s hands were gloved. She felt the fingers, thin and tight on her arm, and that word again: “Valkyrie.” More words now—”Look at me, Valkyrie, look”—coming from the skeleton’s mouth. From Skulduggery’s mouth.

  “Skulduggery,” she murmured.

  “—need you to focus. Did you look at them? The things that came out of the gateway, did you look at them?”

  Her own voice was distant. “Glimpsed,” she said.

  She was pulled to her feet. She could hear more now. She could see others, trying to stand. China. Ghastly. She saw the Necromancers, attacking the last of the Hollow Men as they struggled to their clumsy feet.

  She saw a boy, Fletcher Renn, crawling out of the column of smoke. A man, who looked like the shock wave had thrown him from the circle, saw Fletcher and reached for him.

  Fletcher disappeared, instantly reappearing a short distance away. The man, Gallow, lunged, and once again Fletcher vanished and reappeared nearby. Gallow was furious, and Fletcher closed his eyes and concentrated, and this time, when he teleported, he didn’t come back.

  Now that Fletcher wasn’t keeping it open, the bright yellow ring that hung in midair started to shrink. Valkyrie watched it until it disappeared.

  “Valkyrie,” Skulduggery barked. “I need you to snap out of it, you understand me? Valkyrie Cain, I need you with me.”

  She looked at him, and her thoughts sharpened, and she nodded. “Yes.”

  “You’re with me?”

  They sharpened and became clear. “Yes. Yes, I’m with you. The gate’s closed.”

  “Some of them got out. I counted three. We need the Scepter now.”

  She nodded, and she was just about to get it when Krav came staggering around the corner. He ignored them completely and staggered on, Bliss striding after him.

  “Leave me alone!” Krav shouted. He was bruised and bleeding, and the tattoo on his inner arm was pulsing with a red glow.

  The pressure popped in her ears and Valkyrie winced. Goose bumps rippled across her flesh, and she felt her heart slamming against her chest. She was scared. She was suddenly and incredibly terrified.

  Skulduggery grabbed her and pulled her down. “Don’t look at it,” she heard him say.

  For a moment, there was nothing.

  She saw it out of the corner of her eye. Passing behind the trees, five times as tall, a towering, changing beast, a trick of the light, an abstract thing of unbelievable angles. She looked away, but she could still see it, in her mind. It had burned its way through. It was an idea, or the hint of an idea, or the memory of something she’d never known, or the shadow of all of these things, their inverted reflection, on a still lake at night.

  It couldn’t be real. It had no substance. It had no weight. It had mass, but behind the mass there was no depth. How could it be real? It made no sense. It couldn’t be real and it made no sense.

  She tried to look
again at this being of fractured angles and broken reason, but her head wouldn’t turn. It was impossibility made manifest, the formless given form, and it stalked across the landscape accompanied not by thunderous footfall, but by the whisper of a thousand dead languages and the muted cry of carrion birds.

  There was a rush, and she heard Krav scream. The pressure popped again in her ears and she blinked. Her eyes gradually focused.

  The creature of madness was gone. Gruesome Krav was standing with his shoulders slumped and his head down. He was perfectly still, though his hair whipped in the wind. Whipped and fell.

  His hair fell gently out, strand by strand, and his head tilted upward in time for Valkyrie to see his face melting. The nose and the ears were the first to go, sinking back into the skin. The lips congealed, sealing the mouth, and the eyes turned to liquid and dripped from the sockets down either cheek, like tears. The eyelids closed and ran into each other. The Faceless Ones had taken their first vessel.

  Bliss ran at it, but Krav, or the Faceless One that had once been Krav, just held out its hand.

  Bliss’s run faltered. He doubled over, and Valkyrie could see the look of pain on his face, and something else, too. Surprise.

  The Faceless One raised its arm, and Bliss was lifted off the ground.

  The Faceless One curled its hand, and Bliss’s body twisted into bits of pulverized bone and shredded flesh.

  Her stomach lurching violently, Valkyrie watched him die.

  Skulduggery grabbed her and pushed her back into the farmhouse. “Scepter,” he called, as he ran toward the Faceless One.

  Thirty-six

  ENEMIES

  VALKYRIE HURRIED back into the farmhouse. Paddy turned to her, and she looked at him blankly.