“Um, how am I supposed to take out two guards?” I asked nervously.
“You don’t have to take them out. You just have to get past them,” Florence said.
“They’ll probably use magic to fight you, and by the time they notice that it doesn’t work on you, you should be through the portal,” Owen added.
“Maybe we can do something out here that will draw their attention so you can sneak past,” Earl suggested. “I’m sure we can pull off another diversion.”
“Oh, that’s a great plan! I like that idea!” I said, perhaps a wee bit too enthusiastically.
“We’ll make the guards at the gateway scream for help,” Earl said, and the tone of his voice implied that he’d greatly enjoy doing something to make them scream.
“First, let’s make sure you’re immune,” Owen said. He squeezed my hand tighter for a few seconds, then released me and stepped back. I felt the tingle of magic surrounding me, but didn’t notice anything else happening. “Okay, you’re immune,” he said, perhaps a bit mournfully.
“Then let’s do this,” I said. I wanted to get it over with before I lost my nerve—and before I had to spend another minute in this crazy place.
We entered the park, the gargoyles flying ahead. It didn’t look like a park to me now. It was just a blank space with a couple of plain benches and a few shapes that might have been trees and bushes. Instead of having the wall of a building at the far end, the space stretched on, the way it had the first time we’d found it. Just beyond where the wall should have been stood the first two guards.
By the time we reached the guards, the gargoyles were already upon them, dive-bombing them and grabbing at them with their talons. I’d experienced a gargoyle attack like that, and I didn’t envy the guards.
According to plan, the guards started shouting for help. I hoped the portal guards were the ones to respond because things would get a lot more complicated if other guards appeared and we ended up with more people to fight.
And, of course, as luck would have it, reinforcements appeared from elsewhere in the park. Earl and his friends turned just in time to fight them off. “There goes my cover,” Florence muttered as she joined the fight. Owen held me off to the side so I’d be ready to run as soon as the way was clear.
Our luck improved when one guard arrived from beyond the gateway. “This may be the best we can hope for,” Owen said.