Kingdom Keepers V(2)

Time!

He came around the card case, the notebook ex-tended in front of him. Willa had just turned up the narrow aisle between the stacks. Two of the three witches spun to face her: Cruella and the Evil Queen. Maleficent—technically a fairy rather than a witch—started in that direction, but rocked her head over her shoulder to see Finn charging. It was always like that—a disturbing connection existed between the two. She’d sensed him.

Back went her hand, like a baseball pitcher, and a fireball erupted in her palm. Two years earlier, this would have filled Finn with terror—his fear degrading his Disney Host Interactive projection—exposing him to violence. But not this time. Not with 2.0.

He lifted the binder to cover his face and continued forward.

Behind Maleficent, the Evil Queen raised both hands as Willa charged.

Finn suddenly heard a deep growling, and though the fireball did not scare him all that much, he felt himself react primordially to the animal sounds. Fingers of flame burst around him, the ball disintegrating as it impacted the binder. Maleficent wound up for another pitch.

Willa’s DHI passed through Cruella, who’d jumped into her path to block her. Willa dropped her shield and snatched a notebook from the Evil Queen. She almost made it past Maleficent, but the evil fairy caught hold of her solid hand holding the binder and yanked her off her feet. Willa let go of the library volume and it skidded across the floor.

Finn deflected another fireball, his skin prickling with the grisly sound of the—dogs? He wasn’t sure what kind of animals they were, but they had fast feet and a disturbing growl.

“Finn!” It was Willa, already on her feet. She was looking beyond Finn as she ran toward him and grabbed for his arm, the flames of the broken fireball bursting around them.

She spun Finn around. Hyenas! From The Lion King. Vicious, hungry-looking things. Drooling maniacally. Charging down an aisle between stacks, heads low to the floor, eyes wild and savage.

“Run!” she cried out. Finn needed no encouragement. There were times to stay and fight; this was not one of them.

Willa was a step or two ahead of him as they took off for the door. As a DHI he could, in theory, pass through a library stack or even a wall to put something solid between him and the hyenas, but he wasn’t about to chance it. Wasn’t about to end up a hyena snack.

Willa, however, reached the door and stepped through it like a ghost as a fireball cascaded over Finn’s shoulder and exploded against the wall. The ricocheting flames passed through his hologram. He grinned, loving the new 2.0 upgrade, but he still did not fully trust it. Yanking the door open, he turned and looked back. Something weird was going on. The door was no longer a rectangle, but a square. The walls were covered in a glossy gray paint. There was heavy hardware on the door—hinges and levers. The hyenas raced through the door after him.

Finn continued running, sensing the hyenas at his heels. But if they were at his heels, then what had happened to Willa? He took in his surroundings: not a library. Instead he found himself on a clattery, grated metal catwalk surrounded on both sides by heavy machinery. Some kind of factory, he thought. He faced an oval door, elevated a good foot off the floor. He leaped through.

A hyena snapped at him, caught a piece of his pant leg, and tore his black jeans as if they were made of paper towels.

“Willa!” he cried out, spotting a steep metal staircase on the left. He stretched and grabbed hold of the handrail, nearly dislocating his shoulder in the process. The hyenas scratched at the metal flooring, but couldn’t make the turn. They rolled and tumbled in a snarling mass as Finn got the jump on them, bounding up the staircase. He reached the first landing and turned.

The lead hyena had scrambled his way back to the stairs and began climbing.

Finn went faster, pulling himself up using the handrail. He looked through a window in a closed door and saw only a drab hallway. He continued up the stairs. Arriving at the next landing, he peered through the door’s window.

This time he saw color and light. Marble. Rich carpeting. Like an expensive office or a fancy movie theater. He tugged open the heavy door and turned to heave it shut, but it was too late—a hyena thrust its head through the gap. He kept the pressure on: maybe he could choke the thing…but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He released the handle and took off toward a pair of big doors. These doors had bigger windows through which shone the flinty blue aura of moonlight on water.

Finn burst through the door into the night air, slipped, and crashed into a metal railing capped with polished wood. It was warm out. The fresh air smelled wonderful.

He heard the loud snap of a jaw. Finn lost his balance and fell, then struggled to his feet and sprinted off, the sound of claws on metal only inches behind him.