its sword and came forward. Gunshots rang out as Zo took aim and fired over and over. But each bullet simply disappeared into it.
“Entflammt!” Sal shouted, sending a ball of fire shooting toward it. It stopped for a moment, but only its outsides were damaged. Sal tried another spell, hurling rocks at it with wind, but it deflected them with a frighteningly fast slice of its sword. It marched forward, never quickening its pace, never slowing as it healed from Sal’s fire spell.
Mowse clutched Asa tightly.
He saw Olivia tighten her grip on her knife, saw her bend her knees as if to run. He grabbed Olivia’s shoulder.
“Are you insane?” he said. “Look at that sword! Look at its arms! You’ll be dead before you get within striking distance. Besides, their skin can’t be penetrated with magic or weapons alone.”
“Well, what can hurt it?” Olivia hissed.
The Dust Soldier marched closer.
Asa racked his brains. “Back… back in the day, before I was given a body, lots of cultures wrote about great holy wars between the angels or the gods. And a lot of them talk about… what was it…” Asa snapped his fingers. “Enchanted weapons! We could enchant something… something long range… of course, it’s still eight feet tall, but…”
“All we’ve got is a pocket knife,” said Olivia, her eyes on the Dust Soldier.
“No,” Susanah said, her eyes full of fire. “We’ve got just what we need.”
Without another word, Susanah broke from the circle and ran to the line of mechanical horses. She leapt up into the saddle of her own horse and began working with her screwdriver, up and down the horse’s back.
The Sentinel advanced, its eerie eyes on Asa, its pace steady, unhurried. Asa’s palms sweated.
Up on Susanah’s horse, there was a metallic shing sound, and they turned to see Susanah pull a long, pointed metal pole out of the horse’s spine. Already, it glowed with a strange blue light.
“How’s this for an enchanted spear?” Susanah shouted.
“My magic…” Asa said. “Of course!”
“Yah!” Susanah said, kicking it into action. The horse was rattlier than usual, seeming as though it might fall apart without the piece Susanah took from it, but Susanah paid no mind. It reared in a soundless, mechanical whinny, and they galloped toward the Dust Soldier, Susanah on its back, holding the spear out in front of her like a knight. Asa held his breath, not daring to let himself hope. There was a clang as it blocked her first attack with its sword. She made her horse rear, then turned and pivoted, bringing the spear up. She tried it again, but the Dust Soldier lashed out with the flat of his blade, knocking her horse on its side with an enormous crash. Susanah leapt off as it fell, taking the spear with her, and faced the Dust Soldier down.
“Susanah!” Mowse cried. She struggled out of Asa’s arms and ran into the fray.
“We’ve got to help her! Come on!” Zo said.
They ran forward, Zo, Judith, and Olivia grappling onto the mechanical horses, trying to undo metal poles of their own from the horses’ spines.
The Dust Soldier kept on in its dogged pursuit of Asa.
Then Cassandra muttered something, threw some dust, and suddenly there were six Asas, all equally terrified. They shuffled themselves like cards on top of his own image, then flew to different sides of the dome. The Dust Soldier stopped and watched them, confused. The others, glowing metal poles in hand, galloped to join Susanah. They jabbed and thrust at the Dust Soldier as it slashed at Susanah. Susanah swung her makeshift spear at it, and their blades locked.
“Help me hold its sword!” Susanah grunted, her arms straining. “Then get it, Judith! We have to protect Asa!”
The girls charged forward, and Olivia leapt off her horse, adding her spear to the weight of Susanah’s, pushing the sword down. From behind them, on horseback, Judith raised her spear overhead, and Asa held his breath as she threw it like a javelin. It flew, spearing the Dust Soldier straight through the chest. It dropped to its knees, clutching the weapon. There was a flare of magic, and then, to Asa’s astonishment, it began to come apart, to dissolve, until the Dust Soldier was no more than a pile of black dust on the ground with the wickedly curved scimitar lying like a metallic smile in the middle of it. And all went silent again. Outside, the dust storm thinned and cleared altogether, leaving the day as bright as it