Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven #5)(19)

"You're a good leader," Seth said pensively. "How do you prepare for an adventure like this?"


Trask huffed. "You can't fully prepare. You do your best to acquire diverse skills. You try to learn from your successes and mistakes over the years. You try to assemble a team with varied talents and expertise. Mostly, you strive to stay calm enough to think clearly even under extreme pressure. You try to use the adrenaline for focus rather than panic. You stay on your toes, ready to improvise. And you hope for the best."


They ate in silence until Trask told them it was time to move on. Again Mara jogged in the lead, and again they trotted and walked down endless passages, reversing at numberless dead ends. Mara became increasingly frustrated as it seemed she recognized nearly every intersection they reached.


Finally, when the latest corridor had led them to an intersection that forked in three directions, Mara brought them to an exasperated halt. Kendra had trouble recognizing most intersections, but she remembered this one.


"Maybe I was wrong to lead us," Mara apologized. "By my reckoning, all three of these halls will take us into networks of loops and dead ends that will eventually lead us back here. I must have missed something. I don't know how to go forward."


Kendra had never seen Mara this unsettled. An idea occurred to her. "Mara, maybe we have to treat this intersection like a dead end and go back down the passage that brought us here."


Squinting her eyes shut, Mara rubbed her knuckles against her forehead, a grin spreading across her face. "Of course, of course, that has to be it. I've only experimented with doubling back from dead ends, never at intersections."



"Good thinking, Kendra," Trask acknowledged.


"I was about to say the same thing," Seth complained.


Mara led them back the way they had just come, and they reached an area where the tunnel forked in two directions, one slanting up, the other down. "This is new," Mara said with renewed vigor. "Follow me."


They continued onward, running and walking, seldom pausing, passing some of the same intersections several times. From time to time, Mara had them double back without reaching a dead end. Kendra felt her eyes growing heavy. Her legs felt leaden. When she jogged, her muscles burned. Only fear about their urgent mission kept her from curling up on the floor to fall asleep.


When they next halted to eat and drink, Kendra guzzled water, then slumped against the wall to rest her eyes. Tanu had to wake her when it was time to proceed. He hoisted her to her feet, apologizing.


"It isn't your fault," Kendra said, slapping her cheeks to make herself more alert.


Not long after that, Mara started loping forward with greater vigor, claiming she could sense a change in the air. Kendra struggled to keep up. Tanu ran beside her, one supportive hand against the small of her back.


Kendra tried to let Mara's hope become contagious. Could this be the end of the unrelenting labyrinth? Might they actually escape before collapsing from exhaustion? After a final intersection and a few dead ends, the passage opened into the largest room they had encountered so far.


"Well done," Trask enthused, clapping Mara on the back.


"We're in the belly of the Dreamstone," Mara said. "The hollow center."


The vast, empty space of the rectangular room had dimensions proportional to the Dreamstone itself. Polished expanses of dark obsidian formed the floor, walls, and ceiling, illuminated by the same mysterious light prevalent throughout the convoluted passageways. Three strange devices patrolled the far side of the otherwise vacant room: two mechanical bulls and one mechanical lion.


Composed of overlapping iron plates, the elephant-sized bulls tossed their heads as they rolled around the floor on four wheels, their metal legs dangling decoratively. The artfully rendered bronze lion, slightly larger than the bulls, prowled about on huge paws, moving with a sinuous grace inconsistent with its clockwork appearance.


"Are these the guardians of the artifact?" Seth wondered.


"I hope so," Elise said. "I've had my fill of this place."


Chapter 5 Translocator


I don't see any keyholes," Kendra remarked, eyes roving the walls, floor, and ceiling. "Me neither," Mara said.


"We'll find one on those animals," Trask predicted.


The mechanized bulls had turned and were rumbling toward the entryway, their bulky shapes reflecting darkly in the polished floor. The lion continued to prowl the far side of the room, copper mane gleaming.


"Let's go see what we're dealing with," Trask said, striding forward. "Judging from their design, my guess is the bulls can't turn very well. We should be able to dodge them if we keep on our toes. The lion looks like a different story. The bulls seem to be defending it, so I'd bet we'll find the keyhole on the lion. Kendra, Seth, hang back at the entrance with Elise. Who has the key?"


"Got it," Tanu said, following Trask onto the floor.


"Spread out," Trask said. "Make them work."


Mara went the farthest left, Berrigan the farthest right, while Trask and Tanu advanced across the center of the room several paces from each other. The bulls veered slightly and increased their speed, both wheeling at Tanu.