'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.
