Soranna darted for the temporary safety of the line of pillars where Alice, Dex, and Isaac had taken shelter. Alice herself remained in the open, running back toward the door to the outside. The giant followed, but Alice had eyes only for Dex, who was pressed against the wall by the stairs. Dex waved wildly to Alice, who nodded and changed direction. The statue swung after her, back toward the other side of the hall with its fractured, broken columns.

Halfway there, Alice skidded to a halt. She could see Dex running back to where Isaac and Soranna were hiding. Something trailed behind her, a thin line of silver light almost invisible in the dust, and Alice traced it back to where it wrapped around the statue’s ankle. She needs more time. If he takes another step now, he’ll just drag her behind him. Alice swallowed hard as the giant loomed above her. I hoped I wouldn’t have to try this . . .

The statue raised one fist and brought it whistling down. Alice, judging the timing as best she could, yanked hard on the Swarm thread as the huge mass of metal descended, and felt the now-familiar moment of disorientation as her body dissolved into a bouncing pile of swarmers. They scampered away from where she’d been standing as fast as their legs could carry them, opening out from the oncoming fist like an exploding dandelion puff.

One of them didn’t make it—its legs were tangled in the laces of Alice’s boots, which remained upright where she’d been standing. Why do my shoes always stay behind? Before she could get the swarmer free, the giant’s fist slammed down with enough force to crack the stone floor. Boots and swarmer together were mashed flat, and Alice felt a stab of pain as the little creature died. The rest of the Swarm/girl flowed around the giant’s hand and reconstituted itself into Alice’s body, now barefoot, standing in front of the broken columns just out of the statue’s reach.

Dex had made it. Alice saw her between the giant’s legs, running around and around the pillars on the other side of the room. Looking up at the giant, Alice put on her cockiest grin and spread her arms.

“Come on!” she shouted. She had no idea if he understood or not, but it couldn’t hurt. “You big ugly thing, here I am!”

The statue took a step forward, or tried to. A nearly invisible line of moonlight-stuff ran from the columns at the other end of the room, around the giant’s ankle where Dex had left it, and then back to the pillars. For a moment Alice thought that even this wouldn’t be enough, that the giant was so strong he would tear all the columns apart, or else that Dex’s moonlight strand would break after all. Dex had assured her it was practically indestructible, but . . .