When the first dog had gone for Malcolm and Jane, the second had immediately lunged for Simon. Before the scribe could react, a small object whizzed past his ear and black treacle blossomed at the monster dog’s feet. t halted, trying to pull free. Kate appeared at Simon’s side, watching the immobile beast with some pride. Then the monster began to regurgitate magma from its mouth onto the ground around it.
Nick raised his hands and immediately the great hound began to sizzle. Steam poured off the monster and it shook its head, looking around for the source of the disturbance. It ripped a huge stone paw from the burning treacle. Nick grunted and redoubled his efforts. Soon a slight sheen of ice began to appear over the creature. It started to boil in a frothy black-and-yellow amalgam. Cooling black bubbles formed on its back. Still Nick fought on and the ice on the steaming monster grew thicker. The bright lava glowed under the thick frosty layer, deteriorating the ice from every angle. Brittle fractures crackled across the stone. Magma oozed from the fissures and dripped down the dog’s sides.
Simon ran forward. The monstrous golem turned slowly to face him, creaking like bronze. Simon shouted an ancient word and slammed himself against the head. He strained, glowing green with the aether of his tattoos. The muscles of his arms were bulging cords. The beast fought, struggling to free itself again. Simon arched his back and wrenched the igneous head in the opposite direction. Rock ruptured with a groaning crack and the monster split open. Lava gushed out. Simon ran to escape the spreading pool of magma, which Nick fought to cool quickly.
Then, over the remnant of the canine golem, Simon saw Gaios rise to his feet. The elemental’s eyes were clear now and filled with hate. The earth trembled.
“Everyone back!” Simon yelled. There was no chance at Gaios now. The only tactic was retreat and survive. Simon moved back slowly, holding the elemental’s attention. He then felt Kate at his side. He snapped at her, “Aren’t you part of everyone?”
“No.”
Gaios bellowed at Simon, “What did you do?” The ground heaved violently with his rage. Dead trees began to roll with the undulating earth.
Simon faced the wrathful demigod. “Just a little magic trick. I rendered the stone inert.”
The ground rushed toward them in a wave. Simon and Kate were flung into the air like insects off a twig. The thunderous wave of earth crashed near Hartley Hall and the once-grand estate shook. Another section of the roof collapsed and what was left of an upper wall toppled. Fissures appeared in the ground near Simon and Kate, separating them from the house.
Malcolm stepped out onto the wrecked portico. “Jump!”
Simon didn’t see any place to jump as the crack widened into a crevasse. Suddenly the air turned an ocher color in front of him. It solidified into a chunk of amber that provided solid footing over the widening crack. Simon grabbed Kate and leapt the distance to the rock.
Gaios waved his hand toward them and the scrap of land shifted again, the amber careening with it. As they were being dragged farther away from safety, Simon whispered strength into his limbs, then lifted Kate and tossed her toward the house. She fell on the edge of the growing canyon where Malcolm seized her and pulled her up. From the roof above, Penny fired her cannon. The explosive shell impacted in front of the demigod on a wall of rock he hastily raised. It delayed Gaios long enough for Simon to make a frantic leap. His feet hit the rim of the crevasse and he found multiple hands ready to drag him forward.
“Inside!” Simon shouted.
Kate tried to stay upright on the undulating steps. She practically crawled into the house with Simon and Malcolm following after.
The house shuddered and shifted. Malcolm’s stomach turned as if the great house were suddenly lifted and dropped, then lifted again. The sounds of glass shattering and wood breaking came from all around them. He heard Jane’s fearful cries. Even Charlotte and Imogen screamed. An internal gas line ruptured and a geyser of flame roared from the wall. Nick shoved clear of Jane and her father, and flung out his arms. The flames veered toward him. He directed the deadly fire out through the roof.
The violent tremors stopped. Hartley Hall still stood, even if it was in a worse shambles. Simon rose from the cracked floor and ran for a jagged gap in the front wall. The ground outside was gone. The house stood on a pinnacle of sorts, and it was surrounded by a canyon some half a mile wide. Gaios had torn the earth away from the house, leaving it on a new mountain.
On the far edge of the new deep gash of a moat, Gaios lowered his arms, panting heavily at the futile exertion against the warded house. He stood atop his stone chariot again and the earth around him moved like boiling liquid. The two doglike rock creatures rose anew out of it, weeping hot magma.
“You haven’t stopped me! I’ll destroy this land acre by acre if need be. Starting with its heart!” With a wave of his hands, the snarling beasts turned and dragged the stone chariot through the ruined grounds on a straight course for London.
Simon spun around to face the others. “We must stop him. Gather what you can. We leave for London as soon as possible.”