Valkyrie hurried back into the farmhouse. Paddy turned to her and she looked at him blankly.

Mr Bliss was dead.

Bile rose in her throat and she lunged to the corner, throwing up.

“They’re here, aren’t they?” Paddy asked.

She retched and spat and wiped her mouth. “Three of them,” she said.

He nodded. “I’ll get you your magic stick.”

He hurried to the bag. Valkyrie’s knees were weak. Her face was cold.

“If I die,” she said, “but we win, will you find my parents and tell them I’m sorry I put them through this, and that I love them?”

“You have nothing to worry about,” Paddy said as he walked over, holding out the Sceptre. His eyes flickered to something behind her and she frowned, turned, saw nothing, and she turned back as Paddy swung the Sceptre into her face.

Valkyrie hit the wall and staggered. Paddy swung the Sceptre again and she managed to raise her arm to block it, but his fist came at her and her head snapped back and she fell.

She heard Tanith curse and looked up, lights dancing in front of her eyes. Tanith reached out to grab her sword, but Paddy smashed the Sceptre on to her hand. Tanith screamed and Paddy got behind her, wrapped his arm around her throat and hauled her off the chair. She tried to struggle, but she was much too weak, and after a few seconds, Paddy let her collapse.

Valkyrie’s consciousness rattled against darkness and light, and the side of her face was wet. She clicked her fingers, but nothing happened.

“I’d forgotten what it was like,” Paddy said, almost to himself. He put the Sceptre on the table. “The struggle, I mean. Usually, it’s quiet. It would have been quiet for you, but you wear those enchanted clothes. My blade wouldn’t have pierced them.” He had a knife in his hand. “It’ll pierce your throat though. Or your eyes.”

Valkyrie licked her lips and tasted blood.

“You killed the Teleporters,” she said, pushing herself up off the ground.

“I did.”

“You’re Batu.”

He pulled up his sleeve as he walked over to her, showing her the mark on the inside of his forearm. “I am.”

Valkyrie stayed where she was, waited for him to get close, and then she flexed her fingers and splayed her hand, but she couldn’t feel the air, couldn’t feel where it connected, and Paddy, Batu, ran the blade along her hand and she cried out.

“Stupid girl,” he said, slashing at her neck. She stepped back and tripped, fell and rolled. She clicked her fingers and nothing happened. Batu rushed her and she barely managed to duck under him.

“You’re one of them,” she said, staying just out of reach.

“One of who? The Diablerie?” Batu darted forward and she jumped back. He smiled and they circled each other. “I’m not some mindless drone, Valkyrie. Everything you see around you? All this death and madness and mayhem? The end of the world that’s about to happen? That’s all my work.

“When I was a young man, Trope Kessel told me all about the gateway, and I knew I had my chance. I brought the Diablerie back from nothing, and they were only too eager to accept me as their leader. For I had vision, and I could get information no one else could.

“Sorcerers would tell me their biggest secrets – do you know why? Because I’m a mere mortal. Because they are far too arrogant to think that a mortal could pose a threat to gods like them.

“I was in their homes dozens of times before I killed them, drinking their tea and chatting and feeding their cats while they were away. The sheer domestic mundanity of it was appalling.

“Even you and the skeleton were fooled. I didn’t know precisely where the gate would open until you brought the boy in to find it for me. Thank you for that, by the way.”

A wave of dizziness swept over her and Valkyrie stumbled. The knife jabbed, but her coat protected her. Batu was smiling as he closed in.

She kept away. “Why? Why are you doing this?”

“Magic,” he said. “My father was a sorcerer. So was my brother. But not me. I just didn’t have that spark, you know? But now, finally, it’s my turn.”

She shook her head. “You’re either born with it or you’re not. You can’t be given magic.”

“There are ways around everything.”

Valkyrie saw the glint in his eyes and she suddenly understood. “You’re going to offer yourself as a vessel.”

“Oh, you are clever.”

“You’re going to let a Faceless One take you over.”

“And then I’ll be brimming with magic that ordinary sorcerers would never even dream about. They’re not gods, Valkyrie. They’re as pathetic as the people you left behind in your old life. But me? I’ll be a true god.”

“But it won’t be you. Your personality will be wiped clean. Even your body will be changed. You’re not ever going to know what it’s like to use magic.”

“I’ll know,” said Batu softly. “There will be some part of me that stays, some part of me that joins with the Faceless One. I know it. I’m strong, you see? I was born without magic. I’ve had to be strong. My will is iron. I’m not going to be simply erased – not like the others.”

Valkyrie frowned. “You’re offering up the rest of the Diablerie as vessels too.”

“I didn’t want the Dark Gods wasting their time by seeking out suitable candidates. I just decided to make it easy for them.”

He came in again. Ignoring the pain from the cut, she smashed her elbow into his face, then grabbed his wrist with both hands and twisted.

Batu rammed his shoulder into her. They crashed back against the wall and he got his hip against her and flipped her to the floor. He was an old man, but he was strong, and fast. Refusing to let go of the hand with the knife, she kicked at his leg and it buckled. She spun on her back and jammed her boot into his other leg. He collapsed on top of her and she raised her knee to meet his face.

The knife clattered to the ground and she rolled out from under him, kicking the weapon out of his reach. He spat teeth and blood and she moved to kick.

But he was faster than she’d anticipated. He hooked her kick to the outside and over his shoulder, and he rose and grabbed her jacket and she was lifted off the ground. He carried her backwards and slammed her on to the table. Valkyrie grabbed the Sceptre with her left hand and he grabbed her wrist, keeping it away from him. Black lightning turned a part of the ceiling to dust.

She turned the Sceptre towards him, but his hand moved from her wrist to the Sceptre itself, and once again, he diverted her aim. A section of wall crumbled.

Batu pressed against her, forcing the black crystal around. It glowed and spat lightning, hitting the corner of the table. The table collapsed and they fell, but their positions didn’t change. Batu was still on top, and the Sceptre was now pointed directly at Valkyrie.

His face was frozen in a mask of hatred and determination. “End it,” he muttered through clenched and bloody teeth. “Save yourself the pain of watching the world die.”

She hit him in the ribs with her free hand and he grunted. She hit him again, but his grip didn’t weaken. She tried pushing at the air, but nothing happened, and then she felt the gold ring on her finger.

The ring was bound. It had to be.

She curled the tip of her thumb against it. It was tight, but it moved, down her finger, and then she flicked it off and immediately felt the air against her palm.

She clicked her fingers and summoned a flame that burned fiercely into Batu’s side. He screamed and thrashed and dived off her, trying to smother the flames on his shirt. He scrambled up and fled, out through the hole in the wall.

Valkyrie turned over and got up. She had a massive headache and there was blood running down her face, but she seemed to be otherwise OK. She went to Tanith and moved her on to her side, into the recovery position they’d been taught at school, and once she’d done that, she realised that she wasn’t holding the Sceptre any more.

She looked back, scanning the ground desperately, but it wasn’t there. Batu had taken it. Cursing, she ran through the hole after him, catching a glimpse as he disappeared into the trees.

Valkyrie tore after him.