Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

T hey dipped in the air as Dewey's wings missed a flap. "What?"

Paige hung on to him, nearly falling from the sudden movement. "Yeah. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I'm fairly certain there's a Stone Golem in here. Looks like one."

"Describe it."

Paige's neck craned to stare at the bulky creature looming tall over her. "Looks like a bunch of different rocks all cobbled together. A second ago it looked like a heap of broken stones, but now…well, looks like it has teal eyes, a black mouth, legs, and arms–"

"Enough said. That's a Stone Golem. Okay, well, now we're in a fine mess."

"Maybe just slowly back away from it, then make a run for it when we get to the passage."

"Run for it? Are you crazy?"

"No." The hint of questioning in her voice made her sound far less sure.

"Paige…Stone Golems may be bulky and oddly built, ho wever, they can be quick. If they spot us high-tailing it from this room, they will attack."

"Attack?" Paige questioned. "And how can they see? It's almost black in here."

"They have night vision. Way better than whatever sorry excuse for night vision you're sporting right now. They can see us clearly as if the sun was shining down in this room."

"Umm, okay, well…we can't just float here."

Dewey thrashed his head back and forth. "We can and we will. This is an official Stone Golem Standoff. And I don't intend to lose."

"Maybe we should shout for help. Drucinda has one of those neat laser guns. She can probably do some damage with that."

"Sure. If we can get her down here. Which I doubt we can because…" He paused before letting his voice rise an octave and using a fake British accent. "We are quite busy."

"Maybe Devon will come for us. Beast mode could be useful."

"Maybe. But he and his chiseled chin are searching for clues somewhere. He's determined to prove to you that your mother is alive. Face it, Paige. We're stuck. Completely dead in the water. Sunk."

"We can't be sunk. I'm not going to just sit here and wait to be rescued. We have to think outside the box."

"This isn't a fun problem-solving experience like getting down off the giant bed. This is a Stone Golem. A dangerous, deadly creature. One false move could cost us our lives. Even a sneeze could mean the end of us."

Paige slapped her thigh as frustration filled her. Sweat beaded on her brow, and she lifted her arm to swipe at it, but it snapped back. "Oh, come on."

"What now? Is he bearing his teeth at us? "

"No, my stupid bracelet is caught again. Even tiny this thing is a menace."

"Paige, that's it!" Dewey exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. I may have gotten better as far as not falling down and creating an international incident in the process, but I still can't stop this thing from getting stuck on everything it comes into contact with."

"No, no, your bracelet is the key to solving this."

"How's that?" Paige asked, squinting down at the outline of the dragon charm snagged in her leggings.

"You are magic. Wave your bracelet at him and control him."

Paige froze, wrinkling her nose. "Are you being serious?"

"Yes, I'm being serious. Liam McKellan said beast control was one of your family's many talents. Well, start controlling."

"I can't control that thing. I have no clue how to do that."

"Wave the bracelet at him and see if he'll run away on his own."

"That's never going to work."

"It is! Just do it."

"How is that giant thing going to see my tiny bracelet?"

"Excellent vision, remember? Just hold it up in the air like a Power Ranger and shout something at him like ‘Stop, foul creature.'"

Paige wrinkled her nose. "Stop, foul creature? Are you serious? And what's with the Power Ranger reference?"

"Shut up, Paige. I'm under pressure here. Just do it."

"Okay. Uh…maybe fly a little higher so I can get closer to his face."

Dewey wrung his hands together in front of him as he beat his wings to raise them in the air. "Probably best to be closer to his first mouth anyway. "

"First mouth?"

"Yeah. The little black line on his face. That's his first mouth. It has much smaller teeth than the primary mouth."

"Where's the primary mouth?"

"On his belly. Hard to see, but when it opens, look out. Those teeth are razor sharp and can swallow a human in one gulp."

Paige struggled to stay upright on Dewey's back as a wave of wooziness passed over her. She slid her eyes closed and swallowed hard.

"Come on, Paige. Control the beast already!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Give me a minute."

She lifted her arm. The charms on her bracelet jangled around as she struggled to steady her shaking hand. With it thrust in the air, she shouted. "Stop, foul creature!"

"Did it work?"

Paige studied the beast standing in front of them. It hadn't moved. Not even a flinch when she'd shouted her command. Then again, it hadn't moved much from the time it rose from its rubble pile. "I don't know. How can I tell?"

"What is he doing?"

"Just standing there. But he's just been standing there for the entire time. He hasn't moved since he stood up."

"Hmm." Dewey rubbed at his chin. "Okay, I'll make a run for it and see if he follows us. If he doesn't, you did it. If he does…well…probably not so good."

"Is there any other way to tell?"

"Not really," Dewey answered as he spun in a circle to face the way they'd come earlier.

"Please let this have worked."

Dewey launched himself forward, buzzing toward the opening across the room. "What's he doing?"

Paige shot a glance over her shoulder. "Uhh, I don't know. He looks like he's stretching. "

"Stretching?" Dewey asked.

"Yeah. He's picking a leg up really slowly."

"Uh-oh. That means it didn't work. In a second, he'll–"

"OMG!" Paige shouted, whipping around to face forward with a grimace painted on her expression. "He's running toward us. Like really fast."

"Maybe he can't fit through the door," Dewey said as the walls of the secret passage closed in around them.

A loud crash sounded behind them. Paige twisted, her hair blowing into her face at the frenetic pace Dewey flew at to escape their attacker. "Umm, nope. He made it through. He's just bashing his way down the hall and breaking anything that gets in his way."

"If Drucinda hasn't opened that door yet…"

"We'll be trapped. We'll never make it out of here alive."

"Do something!" Dewey shouted as he buzzed forward blindly.

"Right! Turn right!"

He swung in the indicated direction but not fast enough. They slammed into the wall. Paige flailed her arms in a desperate attempt to stay on the dragon's back. She lost the battle a moment later and toppled through the air, smacking into the floor.

"Oh," she groaned, assessing the pain shooting through her tiny body. Had she broken anything?

The floor shook underneath her, and she scrambled to get to her feet before the Stone Golem crushed her under its rocky foot.

"Paige!" Dewey called from down the hall. "Where did you go?"

"I'm here!" she answered as the Golem closed the gap between her and it. "Keep going, you'll never make it if you come back! I'll hide."

The giant rock monster barreled toward the corner, slamming into the far wall and leaving a dent before he made the turn.

"Stop, there!" Paige shouted. "Leave him alone!"

She raced in front of the massive creature before he could get going again in the new direction. With her tiny arms waving, she frantically tried to stop the Golem from chasing Dewey.

"I said stop!"

The charms of her bracelet caught the light spilling from a peephole and glinted. The Golem took one stuttering step before he came to a halt. With his arms hanging at his sides, he stared down at Paige, awaiting further command.

"Paige!" Dewey hissed. "We've got a problem. The passage is closed. We're goners."

"It's okay. I think we'll be okay."

"How do you figure? I–" Dewey's voice cut off as he buzzed next to her. "OMG. You did it."

Paige swallowed hard, her hands still held out in front of her. "Yep. I did. Somehow, it worked. I think now he won't chase us."

Dewey fluttered over toward the Golem, keeping a wary distance as he circled around him. "He doesn't look frozen."

The Golem snapped his head in Dewey's direction. The dragon shrieked and fled toward Paige as the stone creature reached for him. He caught him by his back foot and dangled him in the air.

"Help! Help! He caught me. He's going to eat me!" Dewey wriggled around, trying to free himself. His wings beat hard in the wind but to no avail.

"Hey! Put him down."

The golem didn't listen, pulling the dragon closer to him.

"I said put him down."

This command elicited a response. The creature opened his rocky fingers. Dewey barreled toward the floor, pulling up at the last minute to hover in the air.

"That was close."

"Looks like he listens when I say ‘I said.'"

Dewey whipped around to face the thing. "Oh, like Simon says. Try another one. Like stand on one foot."

"No. I'm not going to just give him random commands."

"We have to test it."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Fine. I said stand on one foot."

The Golem lifted one foot in the air.

Dewey twirled in a circle, clapping his hands. "Paige, you did it! What else can we make him do?"

"Follow us. I think he should follow us so Drucinda can deal with him."

Dewey landed on the floor next to her and winked. "Climb up, partner. We don't need Drucinda to deal with him. Looks like you're doing just fine."

Paige scrambled onto his back, and they rose in the air. "I said follow me."

The Golem stomped along behind them as they continued down the hall, up to the upper level, and then to the closed door.

"She's still not here." Dewey flung his paws out in frustration.

"Cool off, little man. I'm here," Drucinda answered from the other side.

"Well, it's about time. We've been stuck in here forever."

The passage swung open, and Dewey buzzed into the bedroom, finding Drucinda and Devon inside.

"Did you find anything in there whilst you were stuck?" the Valkyrie asked.

"Yep. And wait until you see this. Paige, hit it." He swung around to face the closed panel .

"I said step onto the fireplace stones and shift the fireplace poker to the opposite side."

Drucinda screwed up her face. "What are you babbling about?"

Dewey held up a paw. "Just wait until you see this."

The passage swung open, and a hunched-over Golem rode into the bedroom, standing tall once it reached the high-ceilinged space.

Drucinda and Devon aimed their weapons, stepping into a defensive stance.

"Whoa, easy. No need for violence," Dewey said as he flew over toward the creature.

Drucinda sneered at the beast. "That is a Stone Golem. There is every need for violence."

"No, stop!" Paige said, flailing her arms. "I have it under control. He's harmless."

"Stone Golems are not harmless. You have no experience with this. Trust us." Devon flicked off the safety on his weapon.

"No!" Paige shouted. "Look, he does what I tell him. I said stand on one foot."

The Golem dutifully lifted a foot in the air. Drucinda lowered her weapon, her eyebrows knitting. "Try another command."

"Uhhh, I said sit down on the bed."

The Golem plodded his way across the room and sat on the bed. A splintering crack resounded as he broke the wooden frame and the mattress collapsed to the floor.

Paige wrinkled her nose. "Oops."

"Good thing it's not our place," Dewey said. "But as you can see, Paige has this well under control. I'm not surprised. Liam McKellan said beast control was one of her family's specialties. "

Drucinda stepped closer to the creature. "I wonder if he can tell us anything."

"About who was here?" Paige asked.

"Yes. Someone brought a Stone Golem here. And someone had the wherewithal to control it." Drucinda flicked a narrow-eyed gaze at Paige. "Which makes me more convinced that your mother was here. If you can control this creature, so could she, most likely."

She tugged her phone from her pocket and dialed a number. The Golem roared as the line trilled.

"I said stop," Paige told it as Dewey flew closer. "It's okay. There's no reason to be upset."

"You have to use a directive," Dewey reminded her as the creature continued to grimace."

"Right. I said there's no reason to be upset."

His down-turned mouth straightened to be expressionless again.

"Go for Ro," Rochelle answered.

"It's me. We've had a development. We found a Stone Golem."

"Get out of the house. I'll send a kill squad."

"No need. Paige has it under control. It listens to anything she says and obeys. Cancel the kill squad and send a containment squad. We want to bring it in for questioning."

"Interesting," Rochelle answered. "Sit tight. I'll send a containment team to bring it in. If anything goes awry, though, get out of there. Understand?"

"Got it."

"Are you finished with your sweep of the house?"

Drucinda bobbed her head up and down as she eyed the Golem. "We are. Not much of note, though there are some hairs I'd like to bring in for testing. Perhaps they will give us a definitive answer about whether or not this was Reed here."

"Could still be a setup. They could be planted. "

"Could be. Let's get a DNA analysis and see where we're at."

"I'll get the team out ASAP. We need you back here."

"Did something happen?" Drucinda knitted her brows.

"Yes. And it's put us in quite a poor position. We really need to make some decisions. Quickly."

Paige snapped her gaze away from the stone creature in front of her and stared at the phone. What had happened that had Rochelle on edge? How bad was it?