directly across from them a large statue stood in an alcove, flanked by a pair of granite basins. carved from a greenish stone, the figure had a long face with exaggerated features and wielded a flat, curved club. a smooth expanse of greenish clay dominated the near portion of the floor, bordered by blue and black patterned tiles. the rest of the floor was polished obsidian, unblemished except for a circular indentation near the center.

"no doors," vincent said, "but the keyhole in the floor looks to be the right size."

seth walked forward and used his finger to mark the greenish clay. "what's with all the clay?" seth wondered. "it's wet."

"could it be for drawing?" kendra guessed. "a huge, prehistoric doodle pad? like for mapmaking?"

vincent shrugged. "who knows? i don't see any instruments for drawing."

"what do you suppose would happen if we backtracked from here?" trask asked.

"more dead ends," mara said. "i don't believe this place allows us to go back. can't you feel it? each dead end cuts off our retreat, luring us in deeper, as if we're being swallowed."

"this isn't helping my claustrophobia," vincent mumbled.

"we could double back to check," mara continued, "but i'm not sure we'll get another chance to reach this room. the keyhole must be the way to proceed."

tanu shouldered forward. "the rest of you wait here."

he walked around the bordered field of clay to the recess in the floor. squatting, he studied the iron key, considered the round indentation, inserted the key, adjusted it, and turned it halfway around.

a faint tremor made the floor vibrate. a pair of spouts thrust from the wall near the statue and began pouring water into the basins. the statue raised the curved club high, as if preparing to strike. tanu discarded an empty shell of the key and tucked a smaller iron egg under one arm.

everyone watched the statue, waiting to see if it would attack, but it had stopped moving after raising the club. seth glanced down at the clay on the floor and saw words inscribed in unfamiliar characters. "look at the clay!" seth shouted. "writing!"

"create a champion," kendra read. "time is short."

"you read sanskrit?" vincent asked. "or chinese?"

"i see english," kendra said. "and some scribbles, too."

"must be a fairy language," trask said. "the message repeats in several languages. what does it mean?"

"the basins must be clepsydras," elise said. "water clocks."

"the clay," vincent said. "it has to be the clay." he ran forward and plunged his hands into the moist clay up to his wrists, then started digging a hole, disturbing some of the writing in the process. "this is a pool of clay. a pit. i think we are to build a champion out of clay to contend with the statue."

"i was a failure in art class," trask mumbled. "who knows how to work with clay?"

"i have some experience," elise said. "as do i," mara offered.

"mara and elise will shape our warrior," trask directed, voice tight. "the rest of us start digging out clay for them to work with and follow their instructions. how long do we have?"

mara dashed across the room to look into the basins. vincent was already vigorously scooping clay out of the pool and piling it nearby. berrigan jumped onto the clay, sinking to his ankles. dropping to his knees, he began heaving out armfuls. mara considered the basins for a moment. "ten minutes," she called. "maybe eleven. assuming the water keeps pouring in at the same rate."

setting the iron egg aside, tanu entered the clay pit, brown feet sinking deep. seth waded into the clay along with trask and kendra. the top layer felt loose and slimy, but the clay got more solid about six inches down. he grabbed slurping handfuls of the mushy top layer and began hurling it toward berrigan's rapidly growing pile.

"what do we want him to look like?" elise asked.

nobody answered for a moment.

"make him like hugo," seth proposed. "not pretty, just big."

"i like that," trask agreed. "build him sturdy. thick arms and legs. bigger than the other statue if we can."

"we'll have to make him lying down," mara said. "otherwise he won't hold together."

berrigan had cleared most of the squishy clay from his area and was now using his knife to carve out large slabs of the firmer material. as they delved downward, it soon became apparent that the clay went quite deep. three piles grew quickly at the edges of the clay pit. elise and mara stole from the largest pile to work on feet and legs. tanu started running heavy loads of clay from the other piles to the largest one.

after several minutes, arms gray-green with clay past his elbows, vincent ran to check the basins. "over half full," he announced. "i better help mold the figure. tanu, help me transfer more clay to our champion. keep fresh clay coming!"

"you heard the man," trask growled, using a sword to carve out another huge greenish slab.

seth noticed that nobody dug out clay faster than berrigan. the young man moved in tireless silence, his thin limbs carrying larger loads than seth would have pictured. muscles burning, seth continued to harvest clay at his best pace, reminding himself that each dense wad would add mass to their defender. he was not as effective as berrigan or trask, but he was moving more material than kendra.

elise and mara were now working on the arms, tanu was adding bulk to the torso, and vincent appeared to be fashioning a large hammer. the clay warrior might actually take shape!

"check the basins, kendra," vincent called.

she ran across the floor. "getting really full. like seven-eighths. we only have a couple of minutes left."

"berrigan can keep digging out clay," vincent cried, placing the handle of the huge war hammer onto the crude right palm. "everyone else should work on the warrior. we have lots of clay piled, get it over here! we'll want a shield for the left arm, and thicken up those legs. make the feet bigger for stability. hurry!"

the clay pit had already been excavated to waist deep in most places. seth boosted himself out and started transfer-ring clay from the piles to beef up the legs. as he packed new clay against the existing clay, seth wondered how long their warrior could survive. after all, the other statue was solid stone. wouldn't its club slash apart the clay champion without any trouble? what use was a clay hammer against stone?

kendra remained beside the basins. the statue loomed over her, almost twice her height. "almost full," she called. "maybe fifteen more seconds."

"get away from the statue," trask ordered.

"don't stress about the head!" vincent directed fervently. "i like him without much neck. more sturdy. add to the shoulders! quickly!"

kendra raced back across the floor from the basins. seth added another small slab of clay to the left foot. mara crouched over the face, hollowing out eyes and shaping a nose.

as seth heard the water lapping over the sides of the basins, a sudden wind swept through the room with surprising force. staggering, seth found himself leaning against the gale to keep his balance.

the wind died as quickly as it had risen, and the statue on the other side of the room stepped out of the alcove. the bulky figure on the ground sat up, no longer composed of clay. like the other statue, the champion they had sculpted was now made of solid, greenish stone.

"he should have a name," mara said.

"goliath," elise suggested.

"i like it," vincent said.

"what should we call the other statue?" tanu asked. "nancy," seth said quickly. vincent and trask chuckled.

goliath tottered to his feet. he had a squarish head with no neck. one bulky leg was a bit shorter than the other. the toes on the right foot were too long and shaped like carrots. now that goliath was standing, his arms looked a little stubby, but they were thick, with a rectangular shield attached to one forearm and a heavy stone hammer in the opposite hand. the clay had not been properly smoothed, so irregular bulges and slabs covered his surface, contributing to his rough-hewn look. goliath was not quite as tall as nancy, who had a long jaw and a high forehead, but his shoulders were just as high and somewhat broader.

while the statues approached each other, trask herded everyone back toward the entryway. tanu scooped up the egg-shaped key. walking backwards, seth stared as the opponents seemed to measure one another, moving cautiously, weapons held ready. as an art project, goliath was a failure. he looked slapped together by some careless kid. but as a combatant designed for smashing enemy statues, he had potential.

"can we help goliath?" seth asked.

"i don't think arrows and swords will do much," trask replied. "if i had brought a sledgehammer, it might be a different story."

"couldn't we provide distractions?" elise asked.

trask shrugged. "we might end up as the wrong kind of distractions. the guardian statue could use our welfare to bait goliath and force mistakes. let's see how our champion fares. his bulk might give him a shot."

as the statues circled each other, it became clear that nancy was more balanced and therefore moved more fluidly. the enemy statue tested goliath by switching direction several times and making little feints. given his somewhat lopsided construction, goliath did not change direction very smoothly. the first strike by nancy came as goliath teetered momentarily on his short leg. the enemy statue darted forward, swinging the curved, flat club in a vicious arc. connecting fiercely with goliath's head, the top two-thirds of the club snapped off. in retaliation, goliath swung his shield, which landed with a tremendous crack of stone against stone. nancy stumbled backward with goliath in pursuit.

seth cupped his hands around his mouth and cheered.

without looking over, the enemy statue flung the remaining length of his club toward seth. mara dove, tackling seth to the floor as the broken club hissed over them before clattering down the passage.

from the cool, hard floor, seth watched as goliath swung his hammer several times, but nancy managed to evade the blows with nimble footwork. as goliath kept up the pursuit, hammer swinging aggressively, the enemy statue started looking for openings, sneaking in punches or kicks between strokes. the counterattacks proved ineffective, connecting weakly before nancy had to dodge the next major blow.

goliath relentlessly pressed his advantage, pursuing the enemy statue around the room, always maneuvering himself to keep his opponent away from the entrance to the passage. seth watched with his hands balled into fists, his anxiety rising as nancy proved to be impossible for goliath to hit. what would they do if goliath lost? there was no chance they could stand against the huge and agile statue. it would smash them into hamburger.

as goliath swung high, rather than dodge, nancy accepted the blow. the hammer connected, shattering the top half of nancy's head in a gravelly spray. but even as the blow landed, the enemy statue delivered a strong, sweeping kick to the ankle of goliath's short leg, sending goliath sprawling.

nancy knelt hard on the wrist of the hand that held the hammer, wrested the weapon free, and then took off goliath's head with a fearsome blow. the crude, squarish head bounced and rolled across the floor, reminding seth of dice. half rising, moving with alarming speed and grace, the enemy statue brought another crushing blow down on goliath's hip. goliath grasped for the hammer, but nancy skipped away.

headless, with a web of cracks running through his right hip, goliath arose. the enemy statue circled, the heavy hammer poised menacingly. when nancy charged, goliath lunged forward to meet him, shield upraised. the hammer whistled down savagely, bashing through the shield and demolishing goliath's arm below the elbow. goliath used his good arm to punch the enemy statue in the chest. nancy fell backward, but rose to his knees as goliath rushed forward. the stone hammer connected with goliath's right hip once more, snapping the head off the weapon and breaking off goliath's right leg. the enemy statue heaved goliath away.

"we're dead," vincent moaned.

"keyhole," kendra said, pointing.

all eyes turned to the alcove on the far side of the room where nancy had originally stood. against the back of the alcove was a circular indentation a little smaller than the recess in the floor.

"bless you," trask said to kendra, setting down his crossbow and snatching the egg-shaped key from tanu.

"i'm quicker," mara said.

"not holding a forty-pound weight," trask replied hastily. cradling the iron key in one arm like a football, he raced out into the room.

the enemy statue instantly took notice, turning away from goliath and rushing to intercept trask. seth held his breath. as nancy closed in, trask cut to the right, forcing the huge statue to change course. then trask cut back to the left at the last second, narrowly avoiding the statue's outstretched hands as it dove at him.

goliath was now scuttling across the floor like a wounded crab, using his good arm, his shortened arm, and his remaining leg. as the enemy statue recovered from the fruitless dive, trask dashed for the alcove. nancy raced to catch up to trask, but before the statue succeeded, goliath pounced and wrapped his thick arms around nancy's legs. the enemy statue fell hard, then pounded and thrashed in an attempt to get free, but goliath held firm.

a dozen paces away, trask reached the alcove and jammed the iron egg into the recess. after fumbling for a moment, he got it locked into place and spun it halfway around.

instantly, both nancy and goliath crumbled to dust. a grainy green cloud plumed out of the clay pit. the floor trembled as a gust of wind swept through the room, seeming to blow the dust out of existence. trask returned from the alcove carrying a smaller iron egg.