Lethe backed away and now Valkyrie and Skulduggery were fighting side by side, pursuing him across the disc, all three of them stepping carefully over the unconscious bodies at their feet while their weapons blurred and clashed. The exhilaration of that moment pumped through Valkyrie’s veins, feeding strength into her muscles, sharpening her reflexes. Skulduggery’s support allowed her to try things, to risk moves that drew Lethe out, opened up opportunities. Victory was mere seconds away.

And then it started to shift. The flow changed. Reversed. Now it was Valkyrie and Skulduggery who were stepping backwards and Lethe who was pressing the attack. His scythe moved impossibly fast. He blocked their strikes like he knew they were coming, batting aside their blades with something akin to contempt. He spun with a kick that sent Skulduggery stumbling and whacked his scythe’s staff into the side of Valkyrie’s face. She dropped her own scythe as she went to the ground. She lay there, too stunned to think, while Skulduggery plunged back into the fight.

Darquesse wandered into view. “Today is a good day,” she said. “This morning I almost tasted an apple, and this afternoon I get to watch you die.”

“Help us,” Valkyrie muttered.

Darquesse laughed. “And why would I do something stupid like that? If you really need help, though, maybe you should tap that sigil again. What’s it called, an auxilium? The look on your face when nobody arrived to save you, a look of sad disappointment … I’ll never forget it.”

Valkyrie turned over, got to her hands and knees, waiting for her head to stop spinning. “If I die, you’ll have no one to talk to.”

The grin faded from Darquesse’s face. “So I won’t have to endure your whiny self-loathing. I think I’ll be OK with that.”

Valkyrie kept her voice low. “You hate me, right?”

“Obviously.”

“And yet you still talk to me, because you know you’d go nuts otherwise. So either help us or say your goodbyes.”

Valkyrie clambered up as Skulduggery crashed into her.

“You’ve got him on the ropes,” Valkyrie assured him as they untangled themselves.

Skulduggery nodded. “That’s just what I was thinking.”

Lethe stood there, arms wide, awaiting their next attack.

“I have an idea,” Skulduggery said.

“A strategy?” Valkyrie asked.

“More of a tactic.”

“What’s the difference?”

“A strategy is a plan. Tactics are the manoeuvres you employ to achieve that plan.”

“He can hear us, though.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Skulduggery said. “This tactic is so simple it doesn’t matter if he knows it’s coming.”

“This should be interesting,” said Lethe.

“We rush him,” Skulduggery said.

Valkyrie frowned. “That’s it?”

“It is.”

“We run at him? That’s the manoeuvre we’re employing? Running?”