Pandora Gets Vain (Pandora (Hardback)) by Carolyn Hennesy Page B

on!” she cried, exploding three more. Any pain from the wound in her stomach was pushed aside as her skill at being able to concentrate quickly was growing, shaping, and sharpening itself moment by moment.
    Ten more poles shattered.
    Instead of growing weary, Pandy’s brain called upon all its energy reserves, diverting all thought to the task at hand.
    Three more poles incinerated.
    And twenty more after that.
    Wood shards were flying pell-mell all over the chamber like bats suddenly exposed to sunlight.
    Finally, every upright pole in the entire burial chamber had been reduced to ashes.
    And still Pandy hung in midair. With nothing left to burn, her brain allowed other parts of itself to open back up. Her arms and legs now ached, feeling incredibly heavy. The pain from her wound was intense. The muscles in her back and neck were strained from being forced to bow. She was completely exhausted.

     
    “Let go of me!” Iole yelled, trying frantically to free herself from the decaying hands. She twisted herself like a banner in a high wind, fighting the grip of the living corpse. As the first rush of hot air blasted past them, the figure glared upward at Pandora and Iole caught a snarl on the decomposing lips.
    “Your power is no match for Horus,” the figure muttered in a foreign tongue, his head craned back, exposing his cracked neck bones. He turned back toward Iole, baring yellow teeth.
    “Her blood would have met my needs. But yours will do.”
    “I don’t know what you’re saying, you . . . you . . . fiend!” Iole said, trying to kick at the exposed shinbones and kneecaps. The corpse, still clutching her tiny wrists, lifted her off her feet and was pulling her toward its gaping jaws. Iole saw the lips parting again and realized in a panic that the creature meant to bite her!
    Just then a shard of wood flew through the open mouth and into the skull where it rattled around, sounding like a musical instrument.
    They were both blown backward by the force of the next pole exploding. The corpse dropped Iole and turned to look around the chamber as one by one the thick impaling poles were being decimated.
    “Bite me? I think not!” Iole said, running as fast as she could, then hiding behind a particularly large pile of bones, from which she could watch the corpse and Pandy and keep herself from being pummeled with debris.

     
    “Why am I still up here?” Pandy thought after the dust from the last pole settled.
    And then she saw it . . . in a far corner. Glinting with the light from the eye. One last pole she hadn’t noticed because of its dark color. This one was made of metal— bronze, she thought, from the color of the sheen, and it was engraved with hundreds of symbols, much like the murals on the walls around her. The skeleton on it was still clothed in fine, rich fabrics and a golden, multijeweled ring hung precariously at the end of a finger.
    Once more she was moved through the air. Once more she heard the chanting, only this time it was as a whisper, concentrated and fervent. Once more she summoned her will and focused, directing her power over fire at the long piece of metal.
    Nothing happened. She couldn’t even tell if the pole was getting warm. Except that, even though the pole was at least twenty meters ahead of her, she was aware of descending slightly. Pandy gave a quick glance at the terrible eye; the light around it flickered.
    “It’s weakening,” she thought.
    But so was she.
    As the power of the eye decreased, so did its ability to suspend her in midair. If she was dropped she could be killed, but she instinctively knew that this had become a fight to the very finish.
    She dropped another meter.
    She turned her focus back to the bronze pole, and saw to her utter shock that the pole was beginning to shine very brightly, small rivulets of metal beginning to run down the sides. A flash made her glance at the jeweled ring, still holding fast to the bony hand, but melting now, golden drops