Chapter Thirty
Dangers on Every Side
When Maria and Sara looked closer, they saw that there was a great quantity of stone-colored dust on the floor. There were also larger pieces of what looked like rock, scattered near the Flower of Life.
“Oh, boy. That can’t be a good sign,” Sara said. “I think we all know where this delightful development is heading.”
This was confirmed by a series of sounds behind them… sounds of heavy, padded footsteps. The sisters stood frozen. They heard the footsteps draw closer, and there was an unmistakable weight to them. And with each step of those heavy feet, there was also the distinct sound of what seemed to be a sleigh bell.
“Do we even want to turn around to look at whatever that is?” Maria asked.
The footsteps and bells had stopped, but now there came the sound of deep, steady breathing. Something big was puffing behind the sisters, and they felt the warmth of its breath on the backs of their necks, stirring the ends of their ponytails.
Sara let out a long sigh. “I think we already have an unfortunately strong suspicion as to what that might be.”
The sisters began turning, so as to face the thing that had advanced upon their position. They moved awkwardly, for the burden of Evelyn’s limp body slowed them down. But after a few moments of finagling, the sisters managed to turn around, and what they saw was a confirmation of their unsettling suspicions.
Before them stood the Guardian Lion… but it was vastly transformed from when it had been encased in a shell of what had appeared to be granite. It was a breathtaking specimen, a creature the likes of which was unknown to humankind. Though it had been incredible when sealed in stone, and thought to be a statue, it was far more resplendent in life.
Its height and breadth were equally astounding, and it was covered with lustrous, golden-brown fur. Even compared to the biggest of jungle cats, it was an undisputed giant. Its great ears twitched and its lustrous mane rippled, causing the ornaments entwined therein to sparkle with reflected light. Bits of stone dust clung to the bangles that were around its ankles, and it was here that the sleigh bells were mounted, heralding each step of the magnificent beast.
The nostrils of this incredible Guardian Lion flickered and flared, sniffing at the humans who stood before it. As it slowly stepped closer, inspecting them, its whiskers twitched, and the bells around its ankles sounded. A low rumble, filled with bass, began generating within its chest.
“Well, this is just fantastic. When Pan Gu whacked that ridiculous Spectro-Solar… whatever it was called… its energy rays blasted all throughout this place. And now look at this,” Maria said, pointing in awe at the looming Guardian Lion. “Those doorknobs have opened a real can of worms!”
“I don’t even want to know what else that super-powered gizmo woke up in here… remember all those sealed doors we saw in the lower level of the museum?” Sara asked.
“Yep. But I fear we have more, ah… immediate problems, you might say,” Maria pointed out, and her voice had grown very quiet, as the Guardian Lion had continued to approach.
As the beast drew closer, its amazing size became all the more apparent, and it dwarfed the three humans who stood before it. In comparison to the ancient creature, Maria, Sara, and Evelyn were but tiny things. The sisters craned their necks to look up at the Guardian Lion’s face, which was now no more than a few feet above them. Its breath, they thought, smelled a bit like ramen noodles.
“You don’t suppose there’s any chance that this thing is strictly a plant eater, do you?” Sara asked.
“Maybe Evelyn can tell us,” Maria suggested, but without much hope, for the curator was still stupefied, her weight almost completely supported by the sisters.
“Pardon the intrusion, noble beast,” Sara said. “We’ll just be on our way now, if it’s all the same to you. We’re just, uh, looking for some friends of ours. But we’ll get out of your way… you probably have a lot of catching up to do with, um… well, you know… Pan Gu, and whoever else is running around, smashing the place up.”
The Guardian Lion did not seem to register any of Sara’s words, not that she had been too hopeful of it being able to comprehend English. The sisters began to slowly shuffle backward, but the creature kept pace with them, advancing in equal measure to their retreat. Its brilliant, golden eyes tracked them without blinking, and the low growling continued.
They were reminded of the way a cat might stalk a mouse, fixated upon its prey to the point of virtual hypnosis.
“Uh… this is kind of creeping me out,” Maria whispered to her sister.
Neither one of them dared to turn their backs and run, and the fact that they were supporting Evelyn’s weight made the notion outright impossible, anyway. They were also vaguely suspicious that any sudden moves might trigger the big creature’s predator instinct, causing it to pounce upon them.
And then, just when it seemed things could not possibly get any worse… they did just that. The floor in the center of the museum began to violently shudder, and with a sound like the tearing of the earth itself, a giant hole opened up. Huge chunks of the floor tumbled within, swallowed by the freshly rendered chasm.
Maria and Sara were at the very edge of this fissure, and with Evelyn in tow, they quickly backpedaled, trying to distance themselves from it. The Guardian Lion’s attention was finally diverted from the sisters, and it propelled itself away from the hole with nimble movements, disappearing into parts unknown.
Maria and Sara gaped at the unthinkable chasm, disbelieving of its materialization. But its source was soon revealed to them.
The floor of the museum had been ripped away by the beast that emerged from within the fissure – it was Pan Gu, furious, and snorting, and belching hot flames.