Page 98 of Barbie: Dreamscape

In a streak of silver, another knight shoots down from above and lands behind me, making me jump. Then another.

I’m cornered.

One after another, they raise their swords.

Run. I listen to the voice of reason in me and throw myself forward, between the scraps of steps, through the knights’ legs, down the sliding staircase I fought to get off of.

The knights are quick behind, using the corners to bolt down the edges of the staircase, stone cracking beneath their strides.

We’ve reached the lower depths now. There’s hardly any light beyond the enchanted pink glow emanating from my mother’s armor. Sounds of heavy steps ricochet off walls that have grown closer and closer, the ring of stairs narrowing like a coil being tightened.

I keep sliding, my shield in front of me, the only protection I have from whatever awaits below.

My sides are exposed. I realize the risk of that when a face begins to bleed through the stone wall, followed by a talon. Then its entire body. It isn’t alone. More of the same creatures soon join it.

I swallow. I know these beings. They’re the gargoyles that usually stand sentry in the courtyard. They must have melted through the walls, coming in from the outside.

“Wow, Robin,” I mutter through my teeth. “You’re really playing dirty.”

They launch toward me, missing my body by inches, hitting the opposite wall as I slide down. Another gets too close; its claws scrape along my raised shield, fangs right in my face for a second before it flies by. I gasp, my pulse hammering. Those teeth would have turned me to ribbons.

The school is an extension of Robin; I know that now. Just as her house was in Dreamland.

And every piece of it is going to try to keep me from reaching her.

Beneath me, the sharp stone begins to jut out in random places, from the wall, from the floor, sending me flying. I turn myself this way and that, rolling out of the way, just barely missing serrated edges, using my shield to block as much of my sides as possible.

One of the gargoyles takes this opening as an opportunity. Its talons glimmer in the light of my armor as it launches from the other direction, ready to shred.

I lift my sword at the last moment, and the rock shatters into pebbles, spurting in a cloud of dust.

But the danger isn’t past yet. Not even close.

To my left and right, silver flashes. The knights have caught up to me. They’re raising swords longer than my limbs.

And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, the once ornately carved stone banister behind them ripples—then turns into a serpent with scales as large as my hands. Its fangs are even longer than the swords.

I swallow.

I’m outnumbered. Outpowered. Cornered. It’s almost pathetic trying to fight. Panic clenches my heart as I lift both my sword and shield, wondering how I’m possibly going to survive this—

Then a strange calm washes over me.

I’ve been at Rock Bottom. I’ve slid down a rainbow. I’ve grown wings. I’ve been in distant worlds. I’ve escaped a prison run by a maniacal lord. I’ve failed and risen.

I’ve learned that “impossible” just means no one else has done it yet.

If I did all that—I can do this. Without panic poisoning my mind, I can think.

As the knights rush toward me from both sides, as gargoyles hurtle from in front, as the snake launches, and as a chandelier at the top of the stairs loosens like a rotten tooth and falls right toward us all—

I think of Anyland.

Robin might be smothering my magic, but even before I claimed my power, I found a way to transform nightmarish creations into daydream fairy tales. I had to reach into my soul, connect with the necklaces…

And believe that bad could always turn good again.

I take a deep breath. As the serpent pounces at me—I pounce back. I jump forward and reach out my hand, hoping my fingers make contact with its scales before its fangs rip through my skin.