XXXIX

Leo faces two eidolon-possessed suits of armor while Hazel and Frank lie unconscious, stunned by a spidery shock-sphere. Unable to use fire without hurting his friends or Frank’s firewood, Leo retreats to a loft control booth and welds its gates shut to buy time.

Surveying the workstation, Leo discovers a disassembled Archimedes sphere wired to control the entire workshop. As the eidolons threaten to kill Hazel and Frank, Leo rapidly reassembles the mechanism, cursing the Romans’ tampering and racing against the pounding blades at the gates.

When Leo activates the sphere, he finds a randomized, seven-ring code he cannot decipher. The wolf-helmed eidolon reveals a third comrade will finish Hazel and Frank, shocking them again and forcing Leo to choose between futile guesswork and surrender.

Recalling Nemesis’s warning about an unsolvable problem with a heavy price, Leo decides to invoke her aid. He breaks open the fortune cookie, asking for the access code to the control sphere, fully aware the cost may be as great as losing an eye.