anger, but she said nothing.
'Now we can stop them,' Valkyrie said. 'We have the Scepter--we can stop them. All I have to do is point and shoot.»'That's right,' Skulduggery said. 'Okay then, so where's the next one?' China heard something in the trees behind her and turned.
Chapter Forty-one. The Moment
The hair on the back of Batu's neck stood up. The Faceless One was above him. He could feel it. His god was gazing upon him at that very moment.
Batu turned, spread his arms, and raised his eyes to his god, and as it rushed to fill him, he screamed with terror and exultation.
And then Batu was gone.
Chapter Forty-two. Black Lightning
There was a sound like a stampede behind them, and the Faceless One that had taken over the body of Murder Rose crashed through the trees. It batted China away and slammed into Skulduggery. Valkyrie fell back and dropped the Scepter. The Faceless One reached for her just as an arm encircled her waist.
Fletcher Renn said, 'Hold on,' in her ear, and then they teleported.
A blink.
Then they were on the far side of the farmhouse, beside the burning van. Fletcher let go and she whirled.
'You came back!'
'Naturally.'
'Skulduggery!' she exclaimed. 'We can't leave them!'
'Wasn't planning on it.' He moved against her, and she hung on to him.
In an instant, they were back in the field. China was still down, and the Faceless One saw them, picked up Skulduggery, and hurled him at them. Valkyrie dived and Skulduggery slammed into Fletcher.
The Faceless One strode to her.
She saw the Scepter and opened her hand, felt the air, and used it to tug at the weapon. It rolled slightly. The Faceless One was almost upon her.
She held out both hands, clutching at the air and dragging it back, and the Scepter flew at her. She jumped to her feet, but the Faceless One snatched the Scepter from her grasp.
Valkyrie tried to take it back, but the Faceless One shook her hand off with such force that she was sent sprawling. It took the Scepter in a two-handed grip, and she saw the anger in its stance, and the violence, like it was remembering what this weapon was, and what it could do, and what it had done, an eternity before. The golden rod began to crumple, began to break, and she saw the black crystal, glowing fiercely beneath the fingers that were tightening around it. It shattered, and lightning spilled out, and then the Faceless One was crumbling to dust.
The Scepter fell, mangled and beyond use, and the fragments of crystal, which were dull and robbed of power, fell with it.
Valkyrie got up, hurrying over to Skulduggery and Fletcher. 'Are you okay?'
'I'm fine,' Skulduggery said gruffly, but she ran by him and helped Fletcher to his feet.
'I'm okay,' Fletcher groaned. 'One more to go, huh? Not doing too badly.'
'Actually,' she said, 'we kind of are. The Scepter's been destroyed.' She looked around at Skulduggery. 'What do we do?'
Skulduggery straightened his tie and buttoned his torn jacket. 'The first thing we do,' he said, 'is get over the fact that my well-being is obviously of less importance to you than Fletcher's here.'
'I'm already over that,' she told him. 'Oh, good.'
'What's the second thing?'
'The second thing is for Fletcher to reopen that gateway. Do you think you can do that?'
Fletcher nodded. 'Yes. I mean, I think so. I hope so.'
Skulduggery stooped to help up China. 'That fills me with such confidence.'
'What's to stop more Faceless Ones from coming through once it's open?' Valkyrie asked as they all hurried back to the meadow.
'Absolutely nothing,' Skulduggery said. 'What we're going to do is make a really big wish that they don't notice.'
'Seriously? Skulduggery, seriously?'
'Seriously. The fact is, we stand a decent chance. The Faceless Ones that did get through were drawn here because of the markings the Diablerie wore. Now that there are no markings left, there is nothing to make them look over.'
'That's a plan that could fall apart in so many ways.' Had he forgotten Batu?'The fun ones are like that.'
'But how do we get the last Faceless One to back through? '
'We're going to let it chase us.'
'Us?'
'Well, I say us. I mean you.'
'Terrific,' Valkyrie muttered.
Chapter Forty-three. The Gateway
Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain found the Faceless One that had once been Batu on the other side of the wood. Ghastly was suspended in the air before it, his back arched, his mouth open, trying to scream. Veins were popping out all over his body, as if the Faceless One was bringing each one to the surface with the intention of ripping them all out.
'Hey!' Valkyrie shouted.
It looked over at them, didn't move for three or four seconds, then cast Ghastly aside and started to run toward them.'Okay,' Skulduggery said, 'the moment it--' The Faceless One waved its arm, and Skulduggery was wrenched off his feet and sent flying through the air.
Valkyrie cursed and spun, sprinting into the trees. The idea had been for Skulduggery to distract it if it got too close too fast, but now there was no one between them. This was already going badly.
She darted between trees and jumped over fallen branches. She glanced back, saw trees uprooting and branches disintegrating, clearing a path for the Faceless One to run straight through.
She saw it wave its arm, and she was thrown forward. She hit the ground and got a mouthful of dirt as she rolled.
Something white blurred in her peripheral vision, and the White Cleaver jumped to intercept. He raked his scythe across the Faceless One's torso, then spun to go for the neck. Any other enemy would have fallen, such was the speed and precision of the move, but the blade didn't even penetrate the skin. The Faceless One slammed its fist against the Cleaver's chest, and he hurtled back, quickly disappearing from view.
The Faceless One strode toward Valkyrie. She spat out dirt and wiped her mouth, watching it come. She timed its steps and then splayed her hands. The air rippled, striking not the Faceless One but the loose ground just in front of it. Its foot touched down and its weight shifted onto it just as the ground shot backward, and the Faceless One fell.
