01_-_The_Alchemyst

CHAPTER NINE
The three Golems moved stiffly into the corridor, spotted the open door
at the far end of the hallway and moved toward it. The finger-length metal
darts hissed from the walls and stuck deeply into their hardened mud skin,
but didn’t even slow the creatures down.
The half-moon blades close to the floor were a different matter
altogether. The blades clicked out of their concealed sheaths in the walls and
sliced into the ankles of the clay men. The first creature crashed to the floor,
hitting it with the sound of wet mud. The second tottered on one foot before it
slowly toppled forward, hit the wall and slid down, leaving a muddy smear
in its wake. The semicircular blades click-clacked again, slicing the
creatures completely in two, and then the Golems abruptly reverted to their
muddy origin. Thick globules of mud spattered everywhere.
The third Golem, the largest of the creatures, stopped. Its black stone
eyes moved dully over the remains of its two companions, and then it turned
and punched a huge fist directly into the wall, first to the right, then to the left.
A whole section of the wall on the left-hand side gave way, revealing the
space beyond. The Golem stepped into the dojo and looked around, black
eyes still and unmoving.
The rats meanwhile raced toward the open door at the end of the
corridor. Most of them survived the scything blades….
In the speeding limousine, Dr. John Dee released his control of the rats,
and now concentrated his attention on the surviving Golem. Controlling the
artificial creature was much easier. Golems were mindless beings, created of
mud mixed with stones or gravel to give their flesh consistency, and brought
to life by a simple spell written on a square of parchment and pressed into
their mouths. Sorcerers had been building Golems of all shapes and sizes for