THE HEADLESS GOLEM’S midsection gave in to the barrage of exploding rounds and cracked. The top-heavy torso fell away and smashed on the floor. King saw Queen, Bishop, Knight, and Fiona disappear into the exit tunnel, but one of the golems shoved itself in behind them and gave chase. He took aim at the second golem about to enter the tunnel and fired off a few rounds.

The golem turned toward him and stood.

“Duck!” came Alexander’s voice.

King listened and felt a breeze rush by his head. A marble arm swished past and struck the wall next to him. He turned to rejoin Alexander, but found the large-bodied man flying through the air toward him. In his moment of distraction—saving King’s life—the golem beneath Alexander had struck him hard.

The two warriors stood as the remaining six golems walled them in against the curved wall of the chamber. Behind them was a carving depicting five crude winged figures in the sky above a ziggurat that had to be Babel before it was buried beneath a pyroclastic flow.

Ridley stepped past the outer rings of golems. He looked at King and Alexander, knowing neither man posed a threat. His eyes trailed from the two men to the large carving behind them. Slowly, his countenance morphed from confidence to anger. He stepped back without a word and walked to the laptop that had somehow made it through the battle unscathed.

With a finger hovering over the keyboard’s Enter key, Ridley turned to King. “Not every prophesy comes true, King.”

What’s he talking about? King thought. Alexander’s hand on his shoulder turned him around. The big man pointed to the stone carving behind them. King looked at the image with a new perspective. It depicted a prophecy. Five angels descending over Babel. But were they angels or men? Were they wings … or parachutes? As King’s eyes widened, a click whirled him around.

Ridley pushed the button.

The golems closed in.

Chapter Eighty-Four

EIGHTY-THREE

AS THE BULK of the golem pursuing them blocked the light from below, Queen couldn’t determine the length of the tunnel. But she could see the hulking shape of the golem as he ground its way toward them.

With Bishop’s weight supported by one of her arms, she yanked her night vision goggles from her neck with her free hand and placed them against her eyes. Looking down past Knight, who descended the incline with Fiona over one shoulder, she saw the end of the road seventy-five feet ahead.

If the golem caught them there they would all be pounded into oblivion.

She ran through their options.

C4 would take too long to rig.

A grenade in the tight confines of the tunnel might shred them.

Her eyes locked on Knight’s weapon again. It might work, she thought, and said, “Knight, give me your XM.”