We scattered to different corners of the room, Ariel a following me, Puck leaping down to help the Wolf. As I’d hoped, my Fu dog stalked us persistently through the labyrinthine ruins, shattering pill ars and bursting through walls to give chase.
“What’s the plan?’ Ariel a whispered as we ducked around a corner, pressing our backs against the wall. A few feet away, the Fu dog 201/387
stalked past, growling, so close I could’ve reached around the corner and touched it. Several aisles over, somewhere in the maze, I heard a crash and saw a cloud of dust Bill ow into the air; the second guardian was close.
“Stay here,” I told Ariel a. “Get out of sight. I want that thing to focus on me and nothing else. If Puck does what he’s supposed to, this should be over soon.” A pill ar toppled over nearby, followed by a frustrated snarl. “Head toward the door and wait for us,” I continued.
“Find Grim and the Wolf if you can. We’ll be there as soon as we can with the keys.”
“How—” Ariel a began, but with a crash and a shattering of stone, the Fu dog burst through a nearby wall and roared as it spotted me.
I took off, sprinting deeper into the ruins, hearing the guardian close on my heels. Rocks f lew and statues shattered into marble dust as the massive stone creature hurled itself through the aisles after me.
I turned the corner of a dilapidated wall, and suddenly Puck was there, running straight at me from the opposite direction. His green eyes widened as we closed, but it was what I was looking for. We both immediately dove aside as the Fu dogs turned the corner and slammed into each other with a crack that shook the earth.
The force rocked the two stone giants back, and for a moment they stood still, completely dazed. I saw one had a broken nose, and the other had a crack running down its face like a jagged scar. Lying on his stomach on the other side of the aisle, Puck raised himself to his elbows and grinned in triumph.
“You know, no matter how often I see that, it never gets old.” 202/387
I scrambled to my feet. “Grab the key,” I snapped, approaching one Fu dog. still dazed, it didn’t notice me as I stepped up and snatched the golden half orb from around its neck. Puck did the same with the second one, pausing a moment to grin at the stupefied guardian.
“Bet that stung, didn’t it?” he said, waving the orb in front of the dog’s face. “Yeah, that’ll give you a headache for weeks. That’s what you get for being so bull headed.”
“Puck!” I turned to glare at him. “Stop being an idiot and let’s get out of here.”
Puck laughed and sauntered toward me, tossing the half orb in one hand. “Ah, the oldies are always the goodies,” he muttered, joining me at the corner. “Hey, remember when we pulled that little stunt on the minotaurs? They were so out of it they—” Two very low, very angry growls stopped him midsentence. I shot Puck a death glare, and he gave a feeble smile.
“I know, I know. You’re going to kill me.” We f led through the ruins, the spheres clutched tightly in hand, the Fu dogs crashing behind us. No side trips or luring the dogs around corners this time; we went straight for the doors, taking the shortest route possible. I saw Ariel a at the foot of the stairs, her bow pulled back and aimed at the dogs, her lips drawn into a thin line of frustration. She knew her arrows could do no more then make the Fu dogs blink. The last hundred yards to the stairs was the most dangerous, f lat and open, with nothing to slow down our pursuers. I felt the ground shake with their gall oping footsteps as they closed the distance.
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Then the Wolf f lew over a broken wall in a dark blur, slamming into one of the Fu dogs, causing it to careen into the second. Knocked off balance, the statues went crashing into a wall, tumbling over each other with the grinding sound of a derailed train. Panting triumphantly, the Wolf bounded up the stairs with us, joining Ariel a and now Grimalkin, who appeared at the door lashing his tail with impatience.
“Quickly!” he spat, as Puck and I sprinted up. “Insert the keys!”
“You know, you can’t just disappear and then pop up shouting orders when the rest of us did all the work,” Puck said as we reached the doors.
Grimalkin hissed at him.
“There is no time to argue your stupidity, Goodfel ow. The guardians are coming. The keys—”
A roar drowned him out as the Fu dogs reached the top of the stairs, shaking their heads in fury. Trapped against the doors, we couldn’t move away as they lunged forward with eager howls. The Wolf snarled in return and leaped forward to meet them as Grimalkin f lattened his ears and spat at us.
“The keys must be inserted at the same time! Do it, now!” I glanced at Puck, nodded, and we slammed the orbs into the indentions, feeling them click as they slid into place.
I looked back, ready to dart aside, but the second the keys clicked in the lock, the guardians froze. As the doors swung open, tiny cracks appeared along the dog’s stony hides, growing larger and spreading across their bodies until, as one, they split apart and crumbled, strew-ing debris and rubble along the steps.