Ren had exactly two thoughts as the enormous construct lunged at him.

1. I really should’ve stayed in bed today.

2. Wow, that thing is moving fast—

He barely had time to roll before metal fingers slammed into the stone where he’d been standing. The impact sent cracks spiderwebbing across the floor. Ren scrambled back, his heart hammering.

"Okay, I have questions," he called over to his companion, who was still focused on the floating Ledger of Probably Certain Doom™. "First: WHY are the statues attacking us?"

"They’re constructs," she said, flipping through the book’s pages as if time wasn’t of the essence. "Guardians. Their sole purpose is to prevent unauthorized access."

Ren ducked as another stone fist whistled past his head. "Okay, cool! Follow-up question: HOW do we make them stop?!"

She didn't look up. "Technically, we leave."

"Fantastic plan!" Ren turned to bolt for the tunnel—only to find a wall of glowing runes had sealed the entrance shut. "Oh, look at that! The exit is GONE. Who could have predicted this?"

"You could stop panicking."

"Panicking?" Ren dodged another construct swing, narrowly avoiding getting turned into floor paste. "I am strategically retreating in a very chaotic manner."

She finally snapped the book shut, eyes locking onto the advancing constructs. "I can disable them."

Ren exhaled in relief. "Great. Do that!"

She hesitated.

He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you hesitating?"

"It’s just—"

A third construct joined the fun, and Ren barely twisted away before it smashed the stone beside him.

"Not to rush you," he yelled, "but IF YOU’RE GOING TO MAGIC SOMETHING, DO IT NOW!"

She sighed, muttering something under her breath. Then, with an annoyed flick of her wrist, she hurled the book at him.

Ren caught it out of sheer instinct. "What the—?"

The second his fingers closed around it, every construct in the room froze.

The chamber went deathly silent.

Ren blinked. "…Oh."

The constructs straightened, their glowing eyes now fixed on him. Then, as one, they kneeled.

He looked at her. "What just happened?"

She crossed her arms. "You broke it."

Ren squinted. "Define ‘broke.’"

"You’re holding the Ledger," she said, nodding at the book in his hands. "It recognizes you as the new owner."

A pause.

Ren slowly looked back at the kneeling constructs. "So what you’re saying is… they work for me now?"

Her expression darkened. "Unfortunately."

Ren grinned. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun."