He fell awkwardly and she slashed upwards, taking the fingers from his right hand. She didn’t stop there, though. She took his left hand off at the wrist, noting the black blood that leaked from the stump as his scythe fell. He rolled backwards, giving himself space. She was fairly sure he wasn’t going to be able to kick her to death, but she didn’t intend to put that theory to the test. She closed in, cutting off his avenues of escape, and he backed up, his bare feet on the edge of the circle.

She smiled at him. “I like your shoes.”

He looked at her strangely.

Then he launched himself at her and she swung. She was aiming for his neck, but her foot slipped in all that blood and so her blade carved his skull in two instead. His body fell to the ground, suddenly graceless.

She took off the rest of his head, and then went to gather up her clothes.

If the world was about to end, she might as well be dressed for the occasion.

93

Alice finally stopped crying, and Valkyrie carried her back to her parents. But as she neared, there was a deep, low rumble and the building beside them, weakened by the explosion, started to lean sideways. Valkyrie yelled out a warning that was swallowed by the noise, but saw her dad grab her mum’s hand and break into a sprint as the building fell around them.

Clouds of dust rolled up the street and Valkyrie ducked into a doorway, covering Alice’s head with her blanket. The dust followed them and Valkyrie kept moving, running through two connecting rooms and out through a ruined wall into the next street over.

She bent double, coughing, and made sure Alice was OK before straightening up.

“Stephanie!” she heard her father shout from somewhere nearby. “We’re here! Steph!”

She climbed another pile of debris, saw her folks dusting themselves off. She went to wave, to shout back, when Darquesse landed behind them.

Valkyrie ducked down. This was it. This was the moment in the vision. She placed Alice between two pieces of rubble and took the bag off her back – an empty bag with a jagged hole in the bottom.

Her eyes widened.

She stumbled, retracing her steps. The Sceptre had fallen out when she was running. She would have noticed otherwise.

And there it was, lying on the floor in the building she’d just come through.

She ran to it and grabbed it, sprinted back, passed Alice and got to the top of the pile of rubble just as Darquesse waved her hand and Valkyrie’s parents exploded into nothing.

“No!” she screamed.

Darquesse looked at her, the surprise on her face quickly replaced by a smile, and the smile quickly replaced by a frown when she saw the Sceptre being raised as Valkyrie ran at her.