Pegasus and the Fight for Olympus (7 page)

Emily looked back down and saw hundreds of flashes from camera phones as the crowd waved and called to them while they flew up into the night sky. Just outside the fence in the parking area, she watched several black cars and military trucks arrive and the soldiers pour out.

‘Em, are you all right?’ Joel was clinging to Paelen’s back as the tiny winged sandals carried them up to the stallion. ‘The performers broke free and called security. We had to fight the police to get away. Then we saw them going into the tent!’

‘Joel,’ Emily shouted, ‘Agent O and some of his men were down there!’

‘What!’ Joel and Paelen cried together. ‘Where? In the tent? Did they see you?’

‘Yes,’ she replied. Emily pointed back to the military trucks and soldiers gathering at the festival. ‘They caught me but I lost control of my powers and set Agent O on fire.’

Joel punched the air in celebration. ‘Yes! Serves him right!’

‘It was awful!’ Emily cried. ‘He threatened me! Said he’d never stop looking for us. What are we going to do?’

‘They are empty threats, Emily,’ Paelen called. ‘But we do need to find somewhere to stop and gather our thoughts.’

‘Let’s go back to the Red Apple,’ Joel suggested. ‘It’s abandoned. We could hide there and plan our next move.’

Several minutes later they were landing in the dark parking lot of the abandoned rest stop. There were large heavy boards on all the windows and the area was completely locked up. Very little traffic was on the road and there were no neighbours to worry about. They were alone.

‘This should be perfect,’ Joel said scanning the area. ‘No one has been here for ages.’

Emily was still trembling as she slid off Pegasus and approached the rear door. ‘But how do we get in? We don’t want anyone to know we’re here.’

‘Leave that to me,’ Paelen offered. He stepped back to use his one Olympian power. Paelen had the ability to stretch and manipulate his body to fit into any space – even the tiniest of areas. It was very painful and noisy as his bones elongated and cracked while his body thinned. But it had saved his life on more than one occasion. He ordered the winged sandals to take him up to the roof and they watched him squeeze into a painfully narrow kitchen exhaust chimney.

‘I’ll never get used to seeing him do that,’ Joel commented as he shivered and shook his head uncomfortably.

Moments later, they heard stirring from behind the door and the sound of the locks being turned. Finally the door opened and Paelen bowed graciously and grinned. ‘Come in, welcome to my home. It is not perfect, but I like it.’

Pegasus led the way in followed by Emily, Joel and finally Cupid. They were in the gutted kitchen of the restaurant.

‘I don’t suppose there are any lights?’ Joel asked. ‘I can’t see a thing.’

‘Me neither,’ Emily agreed.

Pegasus gently nudged her. He nickered softly.

‘Hold on to Pegasus’s wings, he will lead you,’ Paelen said. He closed and locked the kitchen door as Pegasus led Emily and Joel into the main seating area of the closed rest stop. It was pitch black and cold.

‘Em, do you think you could do something about the temperature in here?’ Joel asked. ‘I’m freezing.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like start a fire so we can see and maybe finally get warm.’

‘I-I don’t think I should,’ Emily said nervously. ‘I set fire to Agent O’s legs and nearly burned the tent down. You know I don’t have any control.’

Pegasus was still at her side and neighed softly. ‘You were frightened back in the tent,’ Paelen translated. ‘This is different. Pegasus says you can control it if you are calm.’

Emily strained her eyes but she couldn’t see a thing. Finally she accepted that they needed light. But more than that, they needed heat. ‘All right,’ she agreed hesitantly. ‘But we need somewhere safe for me to do it otherwise I could burn this whole place down.’

‘Come, Cupid,’ Paelen said as he started to move, ‘help me find something to start a fire in.’

Emily and Joel stood together in the dark and listened to the sounds of Paelen and Cupid going through the restaurant. They heard smashing wood coming from the kitchen and then something heavy being dragged into their area, followed by the sounds of smashing old tables and counter tops.

‘All right, Emily,’ Paelen said as he took her by the hand and led her forward carefully. ‘Just a few steps and you are at the pile of wood. It is waist high. If you start with a very small flame, it should catch easily.’

Emily felt the reassuring presence of Pegasus directly behind her. She tried to imagine herself back on Olympus and the lessons that Vesta had given her. She held out her hands and envisioned a small flame flowing from her fingertips down into the pile of wood.

The tingling in her stomach started and flowed up into her arms. Suddenly light and flames sprang from her fingers and shot into the pile.

‘Easy,’ Joel warned. ‘That’s it. Just keep it nice and small.’

When the pile was burning brightly, Emily pulled back on the flames. This time her powers obeyed and the flames stopped. She saw that the pile had been built on top of an old steel stove and there was no risk of the fire spreading.

‘Well done!’ Paelen said as he patted her on the back. ‘I knew you could do it.’

Emily grinned as she looked at the controlled fire. This was the very first time her powers had actually done what she asked of them. The flames drove away the darkness and were giving off much-welcomed heat. She held her hands over the fire and was starting to feel warm for the first time since they left Olympus. Joel was beside her, also enjoying the heat.

Emily finally started to relax and looked over to Cupid. He had been silent since they landed and was standing away from the group. She left the fire and approached him. She saw the deep scratches all over his body.

Cupid was looking at the tatters of his tunic and shaking his head. ‘I do not understand,’ he said in a hushed whisper. ‘Women used to worship me. They were shy and needed coaxing. But tonight those girls were mad. They were ripping at me. They pulled out my hair, my feathers and tore my tunic. It was as though they were all trying to steal a piece of me.’

‘Welcome to the new world,’ Emily said quietly. ‘We told you this isn’t the same place you used to visit. We’ve changed. You were like a rock star up there. Those girls wanted you.’

‘They wanted to kill me.’

Emily shook her head. ‘No, not kill you. Just to touch you and perhaps have something to remember you by.’

Cupid opened his wings and showed Emily the heavy damage done by the hysterical girls. She could see large holes where flight feathers used to be. ‘I can barely fly,’ he commented. ‘It will take ages for all these to grow back.’

‘Maybe not,’ Emily said. She reached out and stroked his colourful wings, enjoying the softness of the feathers. Wherever she touched missing feathers, shafts sprouted and started to grow. Before long, the shafts split open and new feathers emerged.

From his wings, Emily moved to his back. She lightly traced her fingers along the deep gouges and watched them start to heal. As she worked, she looked in fascination at where Cupid’s powerful wings joined his back. They seemed to be part of his shoulder blades, but were able to move independent of his arms. Heavy muscles surrounded the area and gave him strength in flight. She wondered how he was able to sleep with the large, bulky wings or if he could even lie on his back. But she was too shy to ask and figured he must only sleep on his side.

Finally Emily moved to his front and healed the deep scratches on his face and chest. When she finished, she felt her own face flush. In the flickering firelight, Cupid was more painfully beautiful than she could ever imagine.

Cupid inspected his newly healed wings. He stroked the new feathers in wonder. ‘I had heard that you could heal Olympians,’ he said in awe, ‘but I did not believe it. Thank you, Flame.’

‘How many times must I tell you, her name is Emily,’ Paelen protested loudly as he charged over. He looked angrily at Emily. ‘You should have left him as he was. It might have given him some humility!’

‘But he was hurt,’ Emily said.

‘He brought it on himself,’ Paelen challenged. He poked furiously at Cupid. ‘I know what you did in the tent. You exposed too much of yourself and put Emily in danger. Do you realize what might have happened if there were more CRU people there? She would be in their facility right now being tortured!’

Cupid dropped his head in shame. ‘I am sorry, Emily. I was not thinking.’

‘No you were not,’ Paelen continued. ‘Now the CRU know we are here.’

‘All right,’ Joel said quickly, ‘that’s enough. We don’t need any fights in here. We’ve got enough problems already. What was Agent O doing there anyway? Did you see Agent J?’

Emily shook her head. ‘He told me Agent J was dead. You should have seen him, he was so angry. He blamed Pegasus and me for ruining his life and said he was transferred up here because of us. But now that we’re back, when he catches us, he’s going to be promoted and move back to New York.’

‘It seems too convenient for me,’ Joel argued, ‘that he should be there the very same night we arrive.’

‘Perhaps they have been waiting for us,’ Paelen offered. ‘Perhaps they have been using Emily’s father as bait in a trap, knowing that she would eventually come for him. Perhaps there are agents posted everywhere around here.’

‘Then what do we do?’ Emily asked. She started to pace the area. ‘We are so close. We just can’t leave him here.’

‘We fight,’ Paelen said simply. ‘We are much stronger than these humans. Emily, you have your own powers. No one can stand against you.’

Emily shook her head. ‘No way! I don’t have any control. You didn’t see what I did to Agent O. I might have killed him.’

‘I wish you had,’ Joel said darkly, ‘After what they did to us on Governors.’

‘What did they do to you?’ Emily asked. ‘Why don’t you ever talk about it?’

‘I just can’t,’ Joel said angrily. He turned away and dropped his head. ‘I still see them in my nightmares. I hear myself screaming and begging them to stop. I remember the pain …’

Emily wrapped her arms around Joel and held him tight. She could feel him trembling. Emily had suffered under Agent J at Governors. But she knew that both Joel and Paelen had been through much worse. They had both been tortured for information. ‘I’m so sorry, Joel.’

Joel sniffed and looked down into Emily’s face. ‘Em, face the facts. Whether you want to or not, you are going to have to use your powers to free your father.’

‘I know,’ she answered in a hushed whisper. ‘But I’m so scared. What if it gets out of control again? What if I hurt you or even kill my dad? I couldn’t live with myself if that happened.’

Pegasus came closer and rested his head on her shoulder. Paelen and Cupid also moved forward. ‘We will not let it happen,’ Paelen said. ‘Emily, we will all be right with you. You are not alone. We will work together. And together, we will free your father.’

Emily had a restless night. Her sleep was disturbed by terrible, haunted nightmares. There were the terrors of losing control of her powers and setting the whole world on fire. In one dream, she witnessed her father and Joel bursting into flame as she stood back unable to stop the fire. In another, she was locked away in an underground laboratory as Agent O and his doctors poked, prodded and experimented on her, trying to find the source of her powers.

Many times she awoke, gasping for air and filled with terror that she would never learn to control the fire beast that had been awakened within. That eventually, it would consume everyone she cared for, leaving her alone in her misery.

The next morning, Emily awoke beside Pegasus. The stallion was lying on the floor next to her with his wing draped over her to keep her warm. She had slept, but not rested. She felt tired and on the verge of tears.

‘Morning, Pegasus.’ She patted the stallion’s wing.

Pegasus reached forward and licked her cheek. She could see concern in his eyes.

‘I’m fine, really,’ she said. ‘I just had a bad night.’

‘You sure did,’ Joel agreed. He handed down a plastic cup filled with orange juice. ‘You were crying and moaning. Those were some pretty bad nightmares. Do you want to talk about them?’

Emily shook her head. ‘Not really.’

‘Then drink your juice. That should wake you up.’

Emily sat up and looked around in confusion. The fire on the stove was stoked and burning brightly. There were bags of shopping on the floor. But the biggest shock was seeing Paelen and Cupid sharing a box of glazed doughnuts and dressed like normal teenagers. Paelen was in jeans and a checked lumberjack shirt, while Cupid was wearing an oversized college sweatshirt. The lower parts of his wings were tucked into his baggy, loose-fit jeans, while the upper parts were covered by his top. From the front, he looked like an ordinary seventeen-year-old. But when he turned, Emily saw the large, thick lump on his back. He looked a bit like a hunchback. But unless you knew the truth, no one would ever suspect the lump was actually wings.

She stood up and walked over to the bags of shopping. ‘What’s been going on?’

‘You weren’t the only one having a bad night,’ Joel answered, ‘so Paelen and I left before dawn to go check out the CRU facility. On the way back, we found a twenty-four-hour superstore on the other side of town and used the prize money to do some shopping. We got you some clothes as well.’

Paelen handed her a shopping bag. ‘I hope the sizes are correct.’ He looked down at his own outfit and grinned. ‘So what do you think? Do I look like a human?’

Emily was almost too stunned to speak. She smiled gently at Paelen’s eagerness to blend in. ‘Paelen, you look wonderful.’ Her eyes trailed over to Cupid again, ‘You both do.’

Cupid fidgeted uncomfortably. ‘I understand why I must wear this disguise, but it is not comfortable for me. I can not sit down properly without hurting my wings.’

‘If you do not like it, you could always fly back to Olympus,’ Paelen offered. ‘No one asked you to come here.’

Cupid shook his head. ‘I said I wanted to help and I will.’

‘No, what you wanted was to get away from the Nirads,’ Paelen accused. ‘You followed us here to escape them in Olympus, not because you wanted to help us free Emily’s father.’