Pegasus and the Fight for Olympus (13 page)

It was only then Emily noticed all the cuts, burns and large tears to her clothing. She was covered in blood and smelled of smoke. But she wasn’t in any pain. Her jeans were badly damaged and most of the gold leg brace was exposed. The Nirad was being careful not to touch any part of the brace, as if it somehow knew it would be dangerous.

Her hands were covered in dried blood, dirt and ashes. But the skin was smooth and unblemished. She could also move them without any trace of pain. She suddenly realized that despite the torn shreds of her clothes, she wasn’t feeling the cold of being outside in a heavy snowstorm. Cupid was right. She really was an Olympian after all.

It was only then she remembered what happened. How the entire roof of the Red Apple had burned and then collapsed on them.

What about the others?
Emily suddenly remembered Pegasus. The last thing she recalled seeing was the Nirads swarming all over him. ‘Pegasus?’ she cried as panic set in and she struggled to escape the arms that held her. ‘Pegs, where are you?’

From far behind the group, Emily heard the stallion whinny. Her heart filled with relief that he was still alive. ‘Are you all right?’

The Nirad holding her gave her a light squeeze and grunted. It shook its head again. Emily focused on its eyes. They were different from the other Nirads she’d encountered. This Nirad appeared to have an intelligence and understanding. When it looked at her, it really seemed to ‘see’ her instead of the normal glazed expression and desire to kill. The creature’s skin was also a different colour to the Nirads she had previously encountered. It had the same marbled skin tone, but instead of grey, the colour of this Nirad was dark orange. Emily looked around and saw an array of different-coloured Nirads – orange, grey and some were lilac. Leading the group deeper into the forest was the winged boar. Bleeding hoof scars were imprinted on its back and wings from the fight with Pegasus. One of the boar’s wings was held at an odd angle and dragged along the surface of the snow, broken.

‘Please put me down,’ Emily said softly to the Nirad.

The creature looked at her, but remained silent.

‘Can you understand me?’

At the front of the group the winged boar stopped. It turned and trotted back to Emily. It stopped before the Nirad holding her and Emily felt the creature react. It lifted her higher away from the sharp tusks of the vicious animal and gripped her more securely.

The boar squealed and fluttered its good wing threateningly at her.

Pegasus responded immediately and whinnied angrily from behind. The boar looked back, squealed again and then moved to the front of the procession.

High in the Nirad’s arms, Emily stole a glance over its thick shoulder.

Emily inhaled sharply at the sight of her beloved stallion. Pegasus was covered in deep scratches, burns and filthy debris from the roof collapse. But worst of all were his once beautiful wings. The fire had burned most of his feathers off, leaving only singed, downy feathers behind.

‘Pegs,’ she whimpered. ‘I’m sorry.’

There were a lot more grey Nirads surrounding Pegasus. They growled, drooled and poked him with sticks to keep him moving.

The Nirad lowered her until she could no longer see Pegasus. It looked down into her face and for a moment, Emily saw profound sadness resting there as it gave her a gentle squeeze.

‘Were you ordered to capture us?’ she asked in a hushed whisper.

The creature nodded slightly.

‘You can understand me!’

The creature looked up to the boar leading the group before looking back down to her. Once again it gave a slight nod.

Emily’s mind was in turmoil. Ever since she’d encountered the first Nirad in New York, she always thought of them as mindless creatures set on only one thing: destruction. But if this Nirad could understand her, could the others? Was there more to them than she first thought?

As she was carried deeper into the forest, she continued to study the Nirads around her. She started to notice other significant differences. It was more than just the colour of their marbled skin. She observed that the grey Nirads were stockier. They drooled, shuffled and seemed to follow the others rather than lead. The lilac Nirads appeared to be in control of the grey ones as they occasionally barked growling instructions to them.

Emily then looked back at the face of the orange Nirad carrying her and noticed a big difference. It stood taller and straighter. Although it had the same muscular build, long dark hair, four arms and claws, these orange Nirads had a dignified presence that suggested intelligence and perhaps even, empathy.

Emily stole a look forward to the winged boar before asking the Nirad carrying her, ‘Can you speak my language?’

The creature shook its head. Then opened its mouth to reveal a row of terrifyingly sharp and pointed teeth. It had a very tiny tongue and made a soft sound, but nothing she could understand. She realized without a proper tongue, it could never speak her language.

When she opened her mouth to ask another question, the Nirad brought its third hand down across it again. It motioned forward to let her know the winged boar was slowing down to listen.

Emily nodded. The creature removed its hand and they walked on through the forest in silence. After a time, Emily saw the ground beneath them rising, and realized they had reached the base of a mountain. But instead of climbing up, they were walking to the left. Up ahead, Emily saw a dark area which could have been a cave entrance blocked by huge boulders.

The winged boar squealed and the group stopped. The Nirad carrying Emily stood well back as the grey Nirads moved forward. They grunted and growled as they started to shift the huge snow-covered boulders away.

Emily could see Pegasus again. Several orange Nirads surrounded him, but they left him untouched. His head was down and his eyes were closed with exhaustion. His beautiful silky mane was matted and singed from the fire. Emily desperately wished she could touch him to heal him, or even call to him. But she knew the Nirad would never allow it.

She was certain it was holding her at an angle so that she could see Pegasus. The way it looked at her told her so. But it would do no more than that.

‘It’ll be all right, Pegs,’ she called to the stallion, heedless of the winged boar standing just a couple of metres away. ‘We’ll get out of this somehow.’

The boar turned and squealed at her again.

‘What are you going to do?’ Emily angrily shot back at it. ‘Kill me? Go on then, try it. But if you dare to touch Pegasus one more time, I swear I’ll unleash my powers and kill us all! Do you understand me?’

The winged boar looked at Emily and tilted its head to the side curiously. It moved closer. Once again the Nirad lifted Emily higher out of reach. But the winged boar was having none of it. It squealed angrily at the Nirad until Emily was lowered to the boar’s level.

Emily was now face to face with the large animal. She looked into its deep brown eyes and saw great intelligence there; it immediately reminded her of Pegasus. The boar’s sharp tusks were a few centimetres away from her face. But Emily felt no fear for herself. All she cared about was keeping Pegasus safe.

‘I don’t know who you are or why you are doing this,’ she said, ‘but I mean it. If you hurt Pegasus again, I will turn my powers against you. Even if it kills me, I don’t care. Leave him alone.’

The boar moved even closer to Emily until the end of its whiskered snout touched her cheek. At the moment of contact, the boar squealed in shock and jumped back. It looked down at its broken wing and moved it slightly. Then it looked over to Pegasus and grunted. Finally it moved forward and pressed its snout against one of Emily’s hands.

Against her wishes, Emily’s powers healed the boar. The hoof marks on the animal’s back faded and disappeared while the wing set and moved into its normal position on the boar’s back.

‘You’re an Olympian!’ she said in shock.

The boar stared at Emily for several heartbeats until it eventually drew away. It walked over to Pegasus and squealed.

Pegasus raised his head proudly and faced the boar. He whinnied several times and pounded the snowy ground with his sharp golden hoof. She wished more than ever that she could understand him. Something very serious was happening here and she needed to know what.

After a long exchange, the winged boar looked back at Emily. It turned and walked through the deep snow to where the Nirads were uncovering the cave entrance. When it was opened, the boar entered.

Everyone started to move. They streamed one by one into the dark cave. Soon the Nirad carrying Emily stepped forward. As she looked back towards Pegasus, she struggled to see past all the Nirads surrounding him. He was being led in behind her. Emily couldn’t see a thing as her eyes tried to adjust from bright snow-blindness to the pitch dark of the cave. She could hear the occasional grunt as the Nirads piled into the tight area. A moment later something brushed against her leg – a Nirad arm – and as it grazed along her exposed gold leg brace it howled in agony and fell to the ground clutching its wounded arm and bellowing in pain. It rose to its feet and charged towards Emily, desperate to kill. Before Emily could react, the orange Nirad holding her struck out at the attacker with one of its strong arms. She heard the fist make brutal contact with the face of the attacking Nirad. It fell backwards, roaring as it went.

As it gained its feet for a second attack, more orange-coloured Nirads surrounded Emily in protection. By the time her eyes adjusted fully to the darkness, she realized it had been one of the grey Nirads attacking her.

The shrill sound of the winged boar filled the air and all the Nirads stopped. The animal charged through the creatures and approached Emily. It looked up at her Nirad and squealed.

The Nirad grunted and growled in response. It knelt down to show the boar Emily’s exposed leg brace. It sniffed the gold and turned to Pegasus and squealed loudly. Emily strained to see around her Nirad to look at the stallion, but her view was blocked. She heard Pegasus pounding the stone floor of the cave, but he said nothing.

The winged boar concentrated on Emily again and grunted. It snatched a cover from the nearest Nirad and draped the filthy rag over the exposed gold. A second rag was then torn from another Nirad as the boar ensured all of the gold of the leg brace was covered.

The boar charged through the gathered creatures and approached the back wall of the tight cave. It opened its wings and made several loud and short sounds.

Suddenly the rear wall burst to life as if there had been a silent explosion. Blinding white light poured into the dark cave, followed by ferocious winds and the sounds of crackling electricity. Emily inhaled sharply and realized this was a portal to the Solar Stream. It was how the Nirads had travelled to her world. As the winged boar entered the blinding light and disappeared, the Nirads followed closely behind.

Fear coursed through her as her Nirad approached the portal.

‘No, don’t,’ she begged as she struggled in its arms. ‘Please, I belong here. This is my world. I don’t want to leave!’ She struggled against the Nirad’s strong arms but they would not give. It held her close and grunted softly, but moved forward. Moments later, Emily was carried through the bright portal and disappeared.

Paelen wept as he knelt in the snow. How could the rescue plan have gone so wrong? He cursed himself for not bringing Emily and Pegasus. She could have used her powers. Joel wouldn’t have had to die.

His tears fell unchecked down his face as he grieved over the loss of his best friend. Until Emily and Joel had entered his life, Paelen had been alone, scavenging and stealing his way through a life apart from the other Olympians. Always on the outside, never part of anyone or anything. But Joel and Emily had changed all that. They brought joy and adventure into his life. More than that, they had become his family.

Now Joel was gone and Emily’s father hurt. What words could he ever tell her to make up for that? He had failed them all.

‘Paelen,’ Cupid called. He was standing at the entrance of the building clutching Emily’s father. Agent T was beside him. ‘Go start the car,’ Cupid ordered as he carried Steve closer. ‘Paelen, this human is badly wounded. We must get him help.’

Paelen rose to his feet and looked at Emily’s father. His eyes were closed and his face pale, but he was breathing. He felt for the pulse in Steve’s neck. It was still beating strongly. But for how long? Inhaling deeply, he drew himself away from the Nirad tracks and reluctantly followed Cupid and Agent T.

Paelen sat in the back seat of the car, cradling Emily’s father and keeping pressure on his bullet wound. The stain on the front of his hospital gown was slowly spreading. He was losing a lot of blood.

Cupid was in the passenger seat up front with Agent T. ‘Get us back to the Red Apple,’ the winged Olympian ordered quietly. ‘And hurry.’

While Agent T drove them away from the CRU facility, Paelen shook his head. ‘Why Joel and Steve?’ he mused aloud. ‘The Nirads were only after Joel and Steve.’

Cupid looked back. ‘No, they were after all of us.’

Paelen shook his head. ‘You are wrong. That creature could have killed me. But it was as though he barely even saw me. He knocked me away as though I meant nothing and was focused only on Steve. Why?’

Cupid faced forward. ‘And why did the Nirad take Joel away?’ he mused. ‘He could have simply killed him and left him behind. But he took Joel’s body with him.’

Paelen shuddered. Cupid had given a voice to his worst fear. That Joel was really dead. ‘What are we going to tell Emily?’

‘That Joel died bravely defending her father,’ Cupid said. The winged Olympian leaned forward and looked out the window at the sky above them. ‘The snow is getting heavier. We must collect Emily and Pegasus and leave this world soon.’

They travelled in silence as they made their way along the slushy roads back through Tuxedo and towards the rest stop. Everyone noticed a large number of fire trucks and police cruisers out on the roads. Paelen also saw several military trucks driving past.