“If we scatter,” Dex said calmly, “perhaps only one of us will be squashed. The others might escape.”

“We have to be able to come up with something better than that,” Isaac said.

There were only three pillars left between them and the giant. Alice expected to see him grinning in anticipation, but the sculpted face never changed its expression.

“There has to be something,” Alice said. “I just need time to think—”

“I’ll draw him away,” Soranna said.

Alice stared at her.

“Sister Soranna,” Dex said. “Are you certain—”

“My master created me to support my partner.” She looked up at the giant as he tore away another column. “I’ll try to keep his attention as long as I can.”

“Soranna—” Alice said.

“Don’t argue!”

“I won’t.” Alice grabbed her shoulder. “Keep him busy, and we’ll think of something.”

Soranna nodded. As the giant ripped away the second-to-last pillar, she darted out, running between the chunks of falling rock and passing just in front of the huge statue’s toes. The giant turned to follow, letting the ruined pillar fall and catching up to the madly scrambling girl in a single stride. He brought his hand down on her in an open-palmed slap, like a man swatting a fly, and the impact resounding through the floor lifted Alice briefly off her feet and shook more dust and chips of rock from the ceiling.

Soranna was gone, and for a long moment Alice couldn’t breathe. Dear God. There’d be nothing left but paste . . .

Then the girl appeared again, stepping directly out of one of the giant’s outstretched fingers and taking off in a different direction. With a metallic screech, the statue moved to follow, turning his back on Alice and the others. Alice let her breath out with a whoosh.

“Over to the other side!” she hissed. “Hurry!”

The opposite wall was protected by its own row of pillars, as yet untouched. Alice stumbled into their shadow with Isaac and Dex close on her heels. Across the room, roiling clouds of rock-dust obscured everything except for the giant’s head, but his frantic thrashing indicated that Soranna was still leading him on a wild chase.

“She can’t keep it up,” Alice muttered. “If she misses the timing even once—”

“She is very brave,” Dex said.

“We could make it up the stairs.” Isaac eyed the big staircase with the curtained doorway at the top. “There’s no way that thing would be able to follow us.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Alice said. “We have to help her!”

“How? I don’t think anything we have will be any good against that.”

“We didn’t have anything that would work against the Dragon,” Alice said, not caring if Dex overheard. “I wasn’t about to give up then either.”

“But there’s nothing here. No trees, no water. Just rocks!”