The grakyl lord’s cries had ignited a bloodlust in its brethren. They came at the small group from all sides. Jake hit two more in the face, blinding them and sending them tumbling after their lord. Pindor did his best to ward off the others with his sword. But more beasts closed in from all directions, screeching in agony and fury.
They had to keep moving.
Jake twisted and pointed his light toward the grakyl on the stair above. It hissed and hid its face. The creatures were learning. Thinking quickly, Jake aimed for its knees instead. He flashed his beam between the two bony joints.
“Run!” Jake yelled. “Follow me!”
He ran straight toward the monster ahead and hollered a challenge. The beast tried to step forward to meet Jake head-on—but its knees were frozen solid and wouldn’t bend. It toppled forward, straight at Jake, ready still to rip the boy’s throat out. But Jake ducked and used a Tae Kwon Do shoulder flip to pitch the beast down the stairs. It crashed end over end. The others dodged past it and followed.
Jake took two steps at a time. Behind him, the other grakyl gave chase, scrabbling up the stairs, flapping from tier to tier, trying to cut them off. They’d never make the entrance. Their pursuers were closing in.
“Jake!” Marika yelled.
He turned. One of the grakyl had grabbed Marika by the ankle. It flapped and tried to drag her off the steps. Then Jake heard a whistling noise and something struck the head of the monster. The grakyl dropped like a rock and let Marika go.
Suddenly a great barrage of stones were pelted from the forest fringe. A group of young men in togas stepped out into the clearing below. They had slings and whipped them with expert skill.
Jake recognized a familiar face.
“Heronidus!” Pindor yelled, spotting his brother, too.
The rain of stones crashed down upon the grakyl demons from below. Bones broke and skulls cracked. The beasts sought to escape, but next came a flurry of arrows. The twang of bows sounded again and again. Behind the Roman ballplayers, a line of Viking women appeared with short bows in hand.
The fleeing grakyl were peppered with arrows and tumbled back to earth.
But the battle at the pyramid did not go unnoticed. More screeches erupted from the churning war overhead. An entire black wing of the grakyl horde swept down toward the bloodshed. More than three dozen strong. Some aimed for the pyramid, some for the forest’s edge.
“Jake!” a call burst out below.
He tore his eyes from the skies. A woman in Viking garb waved at him, motioning him to make for the pyramid’s opening.
“Run, Jake!”
It was Kady!
He hardly recognized her. Her clothes were ripped, her face bloody, but she somehow stood taller. In her hand, she lifted a sword and pointed it to the top of the pyramid.
“Go! Now!”
He watched Kady and the others flee back into the forest. Jake sprinted for the opening in the pyramid. Overhead, the stone dragon stared off into the skies, its expression never changing, aloof to the flow of blood and screams.
Jake pressed harder but Pindor had taken the lead. Jake and the others chased after him. They had to reach the entrance. It wasn’t much farther. They were almost to the top.
Then a dark clutch of graykl landed on the stairs ahead—eight of them, led by another grakyl lord. They blocked the way. Pindor faced the monster with his stolen blade.
Jake pushed forward, ready to help defend him.
But Pindor sensed it was a fight they could not win. They were outnumbered. The point of his sword dropped, giving up. The grakyl lord grinned like a shark, revealing a gaping maw of sharp teeth.
But Pindor wasn’t done. He lifted his other hand to his lips—and blew. Jake heard a faint high-pitched whine that faded into nothingness. Pindor had Jake’s dog whistle to his lips and blew with all his heart.
The grakyl horde screamed and clutched their peaked ears, as if trying to stuff them into their own canals to shut out the noise. Their foul lord hissed in agony and jumped straight into the air. It twisted and writhed as if off balance. The others scattered, fleeing the piercing ultrasonic whistle.
With the way open again, Jake pointed. “Go!”
Pindor raced up with him. “They have big ears,” he gasped out. “I thought maybe…”
“You thought good!” Jake said, knowing Pindor had saved their lives.
The four of them raced up the last few steps and leaped through the curl of tail that circled the entrance. Jake felt a slight tingle, like when he’d passed through the Broken Gate, but they weren’t stopped. They ran a few more steps.
Jake paused to stare behind him. The grakyl returned, but they hovered at the entrance. One swiped a claw at them. A small frizzle of sparks ran over its skin. But that was all. It wasn’t repelled, which meant that the pyramid’s barrier, like the one around the entire valley, was down.
Still, the creature pulled back. It refused to follow them into the pyramid. Others gathered outside, but none of them entered.
“Looks like they’re afraid to pass inside,” Marika whispered.
Afraid of what? Jake wondered with a trickle of fear.
“Scared or not, they’re also not leaving,” Pindor said.
It was true. More and more grakyl gathered outside. Jake pictured the entire pyramid crawling with those monsters. Maybe they were trying to get enough nerve to storm inside. Jake wanted to be gone when that happened.
“Where to now?” Jake asked.
Bach’uuk waved and led them forward. The entrance tunnel slanted steeply downward, heading toward the center of the pyramid. The way was dark, but light glowed at the end of the passageway.
They had no choice but to face what lay ahead.
24
SHADOW IN THE MACHINE
As Jake moved through the tunnel, he ran a finger along one wall. The stones fit perfectly, but rather than stacked, they were fitted together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, each block an irregular shape. Still, the stone seams were so smooth that he doubted he could slide a razor blade between any of the blocks.
The light grew brighter ahead. Jake felt a pulse in the air, as if something were squeezing his chest, releasing it, then squeezing again. With each step, the sensation grew.
Pindor rubbed at his stomach, feeling it there. Despite the danger, Marika’s brow pinched with curiosity. Only Bach’uuk seemed unfazed. But he had been here before.
The hall continued to angle downward, but the end appeared to be just ahead. The pulse grew more intense, the glow even brighter as the passageway opened into a cavernous chamber, domed like the Astromicon.
Jake stopped, awestruck by what lay ahead.