A monstrous spider lurched toward him, its front legs raised as if reaching for Shang-Li. Taller than a man with several black, beady eyes peering out through the bristle of its hair, the spider twitched its fangs, ichor dripping from them as it sprang forward.
Shang-Li threw himself to one side and narrowly avoided the spider’s legs. They thrust against the floor with power enough to cause small tremors. Enough to crush him.
In the moonlight, the spider’s flesh stood revealed, shiny and pale; it was a golem. A masterwork to be certain whoever the craftsman had been the spider looked lifelike, complete with striations in its coloring and the bristle of hair. But it was made of heavy clay.
The golem-spider reared again and spun with superhuman speed toward Shang-Li. The forward legs streaked for him once more.
Gambling on his opponent’s strength, Shang-Li leaped, put a hand on top of one of the legs, and vaulted upward. He flipped and his back thudded against the golem-spider’s back. Before the creature could reach him or shift, he shoved himself to his feet and leaped through the window. Unfortunately, the golem-spider chose that moment to stand taller and the added movement threw Shang-Li farther than he’d anticipated.
He sailed across the widow’s walk and headed for the long drop to the alley below. Frantically, he managed to catch the railing with one hand. His stopped his fall but felt his shoulder briefly separate and snap back in place. Pain flooded his senses and he nearly blacked out.
When he blinked his eyes, he realized he dangled from the balcony railing and faced the wizard’s room. He cast his senses for Moonwhisper and found the owl perched on a nearby building. The bird fell forward and his wings unfurled to seize the night.
Shang-Li felt a moment of relief at the promise of help, but his hopes quickly fled. The golem-spider would destroy the owl if it landed a blow. Desperately, feeling the muscles in his arm quivering under the strain of holding his body despite his training, Shang-Li turned his attention to his survival.
The widow’s walk quivered as the ponderous weight of the golem-spider trod upon it. The creature’s legs curled over the railing and felt for prey.
Shang-Li reached into his bag and took out the padded grappling hook. He didn’t trust his ability to make the cast back to the building he’d come from. Instead, he shook out the line and aimed for the gargoyle almost ten feet away.
The cast flew true and Shang-Li hauled the line to take up slack.
One of the spider’s legs brushed against the back of Shang-Li’s hand as he drew the rope tight. Immediately, the widow’s walk shivered as the golem-spider eagerly changed positions. It leaned over the railing to peer down at him.
The golem-spider’s fangs flashed as they worked in anticipation. It leaned over the railing and lunged for him.
Shang-Li released the railing and took up slack on the rope. For a moment, he dropped, then he reached the end of the line and swung like a pendulum under the gargoyle. The stone statue shifted a little with a low grinding sound.
He smashed against the rough surface of the tower wall. Warm blood spilled down his cheek and the burning pain proved too sharp to completely ignore.
The gargoyle shifted again, and this time rock fragments pelted Shang-Li as he swung under it. He searched for another safe haven and spotted a second gargoyle farther down, sticking out over the meandering river.
Back at the widow’s walk, the golem-spider rose on four legs and propelled itself toward him.
Shang-Li knew there was no chance the gargoyle would withstand the golem-spider’s additional weight. As lithely as the thing moved, the wizard’s guardian was still massive. When Shang-Li swung back under the gargoyle, he arched his body high and threw himself forward.
The golem-spider landed on top of the gargoyle and the structure tore free of the tower. Shang-Li landed atop the next gargoyle and struggled for his balance.
Skittering noises behind him drew his attention. The hairs on the back of his neck rose as he glanced down.
The golem-spider crept along the surface of the tower as easily as a true arachnid would, moving swiftly toward Shang-Li.
The distance to the alley floor was somewhere near thirty feet. A fair chance he’d turn an ankle in the fall. With the spider hot on his heels, that wasn’t a plan for a hopeful future.
Desperate, Shang-Li ran his fingers along the stone. He found enough crevices to grab a tenacious hold. His hands sent bright, blazing messages of agony to his brain as his fingertips took his weight. As quickly as he could, he clambered down the side of the tower.
The golem-spider closed on Shang-Li rapidly. He gazed up into the golem-spider’s multitude of eyes and reached into his blouse for more throwing stars. A deft flip of his wrist sent the sharp blades spinning into the creature’s face. All of them bounced from the golem-spider’s hide without doing any damage. It relentlessly continued to gain on him.
“Shang-Li.”
He recognized his father’s voice at once and snapped his head around. His father stood in the middle of a small transport boat along the river’s edge. He held a pole in his hands.
“Shang-Li. Here” His father waved him toward the boat.
Shang-Li reached inside his blouse and took out the journal. “Meet me at the ship.”
A grimace of displeasure tightened his father’s face, but worry showed there as well.
Quickly, Shang-Li looked up at the widow’s walk. There was no sign of the wizard, but light neared the edge. He held the journal up briefly so his father could see it, then he tossed it down and across the thirty feet of intervening distance. The cords around the journal kept it closed as it sailed. His father plucked the journal from the air.
Light dawned over the edge of the widow’s walk. The wizard peered down as the golem-spider closed on Shang-Li.
“Go!” Shang-Li implored. “I’ll meet you at the ship!” He ducked beneath the golem-spider’s leg and felt vibrations course through the tower. Mortar trembled from the cracks.
Kwan Yung shoved the journal into his robes and grasped the pole in both hands. He pushed hard against the river bottom and swung his craft into the slow current.
“Hurry,” his father admonished.
Even if he’d thought of one, Shang-Li had no time to utter a response. Moonwhisper brought him a moment’s respite when he flew in front of the golem-spider’s face. The creature struck at the owl but missed by several feet. The owl spun gracefully in the air despite the large wingspan and came back for another pass.
“Ignore the bird!” Kouldar leaned over the window’s walk. “Kill the thief.”
Across the alley, Shang-Li noticed a small balcony. From his precarious position, he couldn’t tell exactly how far the distance was. But he was all out of choices. He pulled his knees to his chest, planted his feet against the wall, and pushed off with all his strength.
He was awkward and ungainly as he sailed across the alley, but his aim was true. He flew toward the balcony
His fingers grazed the balcony’s railing. It slipped through his grasp, but he managed to catch the bottom of the balcony and hang on. He dangled for a moment, not believing his good fortune.
Then, along the wall, the golem-spider crouched to pounce. In frozen disbelief, Shang-Li watched the long legs flex, and it leaped for the balcony as well.
Shang-Li swung forward and let go of the balcony. He crashed through a window and rolled across a hardwood floor just as the shriek of cracking timbers filled his ears. As he pushed himself up from the glass-strewn floor, the golem-spider and the balcony tore loose from the building and tumbled down.
Before Shang-Li could celebrate his good luck, a grotesque leg curled over the window’s edge. The golem-spider hauled itself up to the window.