“You’re wearing it,” Darquesse said, almost excitedly. “The gauntlet thing! And you have the tattoo! You know what that means, don’t you? The vision is about to come true.”

“Not necessarily,” said Valkyrie, coming back down the pile of rubble carefully. She narrowed her eyes, trying to see the aura that would alert her to Darquesse’s intent to use magic. “Already little things are different. There’s no Ghastly, for a start. And you’re wearing different clothes.”

“But you’re not, so not everything has to be different. I’m still going to take your family away from you.”

“Why? You came from me – in a way, they’re your family, too.” Valkyrie picked up a faint silver light emanating from within Darquesse. “You said you wouldn’t hurt them.”

“I have no intention of hurting them,” Darquesse said. “In fact, this will be different from the vision, because instead of burning them right out of existence, I’m going to allow them to live on as energy. You see? You’re not the only one to have learned a few things from seeing the future.” Her eyes flickered to the gauntlet, and her smile widened. “So come on. What does it do? Does it make you strong? I was punching you with everything I had and you didn’t even bleed. You looked indestructible. You don’t look indestructible now. What’s the matter? Did you break it?”

“Why don’t you come over here and find out?”

Darquesse laughed, and suddenly Valkyrie could see the aura surrounding her, like a light being switched from dim to full. “Oh, I would, but you’re a sneaky little thing. I should know, right? I think it’d probably be best to take care of you from over here.”

She raised her hand and the silver light pulsed, and Valkyrie held out her left hand, which was glowing white beneath the bandages. The white energy pushed against the silver, keeping it back.

Darquesse frowned, and the silver retreated, and Valkyrie lowered her hand.

“How did you do that?” Darquesse asked.

Valkyrie tried to reply, but her legs were shaking and her mouth was dry. That one act of self-defence had drained her.

Darquesse approached slowly and Valkyrie concentrated on not falling down. If Darquesse knew how weak she was, it’d be all over. Instead, she watched her come with what she hoped was a calm expression on her face. She couldn’t even run if she’d wanted to. Darquesse got closer and Valkyrie found herself wishing she’d move faster. Valkyrie’s legs weren’t going to be able to keep her up for very much—

Valkyrie’s legs gave out and she fell to her knees.

87