Pegasus and the Fight for Olympus (17 page)

Cupid barely finished the comment when they spotted two men standing at the end of the aisle. They were dressed in jeans and winter coats, but they had weapons drawn and pointed right at them. Their stance and facial expressions were immediately recognizable.

‘Freeze!’ the CRU agents called.

‘Perhaps you were right,’ Cupid muttered.

‘I wish I was wrong,’ Paelen said as he looked behind them and saw several armed soldiers moving into position at the other end of the aisle. Their weapons were raised, regardless of the children hovering near Cupid.

‘Drop your baskets!’ the lead agent ordered. ‘Do it now, nice and slow!’

‘There are children here,’ Paelen warned. ‘Please put down your weapons and let them leave before they are hurt!’

‘We give the orders here: now both of you get down on the floor.’

‘You are making a grave mistake,
human
,’ Cupid warned. He slowly backed up towards the group of frightened children. As he moved, he pulled off his coat, tore open his shirt and freed his wings. He opened them protectively around the children, gathering them close to him. ‘It would serve you well to let them leave here right now. I will not be as amiable if one of these children were hurt because of you.’

Paelen moved beside Cupid, further blocking the children from the soldier’s weapons. He could hear the shocked cries and muttered remarks of the adult shoppers around them. They all seemed to think Cupid was some kind of winged angel.

‘No one is going anywhere, Cupid,’ called an all too familiar voice. Agent O moved to the front of the aisle. His legs were still bandaged from Emily’s burns and he remained on crutches. His eyes landed on Paelen. ‘Paelen, did you really believe we wouldn’t be watching this place? We know all about your need for sugar. I’m surprised it took you so long to get here. You are surrounded and won’t get away from me this time. Now, where are Emily and Pegasus?’

‘Well beyond your reach,’ Paelen spat as his anger grew. ‘You will not take us, Agent O. Not again.’

Some of the children began to cry. They huddled fearfully together behind the protection of Cupid’s spread wings. ‘Let these young ones leave here before I lose my temper,’ Cupid warned. ‘They are not part of this and should not bear witness to what is to come.’

‘You care so much about human children?’ Agent O challenged.

‘Obviously more than you do,’ Paelen shot. ‘Tell me, would you really shoot at us with these children here? Are you so desperate to catch us that you would sacrifice them?’

Paelen saw hesitation on Agent O’s face. There were gathering crowds of people watching. Agent O may be single-minded and obsessed with their capture, but he wasn’t a fool. He motioned to the soldiers to lower their weapons.

‘All right,’ Agent O said. ‘Let the children go first.’

Paelen glanced back and saw the soldiers blocking the end of the aisle, following the order. He looked down on the children and pointed to the soldiers. ‘Go that way, children. Go find your parents.’

The children hesitated and looked up to Cupid with tear-filled eyes. ‘It is all right, little ones, you are safe,’ he said kindly as he stroked a little girl’s head. Cupid looked to the other adults in the aisle. ‘Please take them to safety. Help them find their parents.’

As the other shoppers in the aisle approached to collect the children, Cupid shot a warning glance at Agent O. ‘You will let them all leave here unharmed. This fight is between us. They have nothing to do with it.’

With a store full of witnesses, Agent O nodded reluctantly. Finally he ordered the soldiers to direct the public out of the store. While the children left the aisle, Cupid whispered, ‘When they are gone, we must move. If we get separated, you know where to go.’

‘Good luck,’ Paelen said as the last child was escorted out of the aisle.

‘Luck has nothing to do with it!’ Cupid shouted, as in one swift move he dropped his basket and charged towards the agents.

Cupid charged down the aisle. His wing-tips caught the edges of the shelves and knocked food on to the floor as he ran. The gathered crowds behind the agents screamed when they saw the enraged Olympian storming straight at them.

Behind him, Paelen heard the soldiers preparing to fire. He turned and hurled his basket at the men.

‘Sandals, take me up!’

Once airborne, Paelen ordered the sandals to take him forward. He skimmed the food on the top shelf and watched it rain down on the shocked soldiers.

Flying over the tops of the shelves and into the next aisle, Paelen found stacks and stacks of tinned food. He snatched up a handful and threw it at the soldiers. Gunfire rang out behind him and Paelen felt a sharp stinging in his back. He turned to see two CRU agents firing their weapons at him. Their bullets did little damage, but they did hurt.

Screaming in rage, Paelen flew full speed at the agents and knocked them both into a tall display of tinned baked beans, casting cans everywhere. Paelen ordered the sandals to take him higher in the air. His wild eyes searched for Cupid. He heard shooting to his right and saw Cupid going down. As the winged Olympian tried to rise, he was knocked over and pinned to the ground as countless soldiers piled on top.

Paelen reacted immediately. He collected several more tins of baked beans and ordered the sandals to get him to Cupid. Paelen threw the tins with the same deadly accuracy he’d used on the target at the clown dunk-tank at the Haunted Forest Festival. Unable to defend themselves against the barrage of tinned baked beans, the soldiers released their prisoner and covered their heads. Cupid was on his feet in seconds and back into the fight.

Out of beans, Paelen reached for other bottles or tins to throw. Soon more soldiers ran along the aisle towards him with their weapons raised. Paelen screamed in fury and used his Olympian strength to shove the entire length of display shelves over, burying the men in all manner of items.

As he moved to get back to Cupid, Paelen heard gunfire and felt another sharp sting hit him in the side of his head. He turned and saw Agent O firing his weapon. The agent wasn’t trying to capture him. He was trying to kill him!

The sudden pain brought back all the terrible memories of what Agent J and O had done to him at the Governors Island facility. Then he remembered they’d done the same to Joel. Those memories turned to rage.

‘Sandals,’ he shouted, ‘get me to Agent O!’

The CRU agent heard Paelen’s order. His eyes flew wide in fear as he struggled to run away. But the thick bandages on his legs wouldn’t let him move very fast. Paelen was on him in an instant, unleashing all the pent-up anger he felt towards the evil government agent.

Paelen was unaware of anything else. It was just him and Agent O. He couldn’t see Cupid gaining control over the soldiers, nor did he see the other agents moving in to pull him off. All he knew was fury.

A loud shattering of glass finally caught his attention. Paelen lifted his head to see Cupid flying full speed though a picture glass window at the front of the store. That sound brought him back. He looked down. Agent O was unconscious and his men were trying to drag him off.

‘This is for Joel!’ Paelen shouted as he gave Agent O a final jaw-cracking punch. ‘Sandals,’ he shouted, ‘follow Cupid!’

The sandals reacted immediately. Despite all the men crushing down on him, Paelen was lifted in the air. With several soldiers dangling from his legs, he flew towards the large broken window. Just as the last man released him, he passed through the opening and up into the night sky.

The urgent popping of gunfire followed Paelen as he searched the air for Cupid. From above him arrived the heavy thumping sounds of military helicopters giving chase. Paelen looked back and saw the terrifying machines gaining on him. ‘Faster!’ he cried to the sandals. ‘Fly faster!’

Ahead of him, two other helicopters cut through the night sky. They were moving away from him, so he knew they were chasing Cupid. He saw the lightning fire of their weapons sparking in the dark sky as they opened fire on the winged Olympian.

Paelen had little time to worry about Cupid as the other military helicopters were right behind him and getting closer. He turned back. ‘Let me see how high you can go. Sandals, take me up!’

With a sudden change of direction, the sandals shot Paelen straight up in the night sky. Beneath him, the helicopters tried to follow, but he was moving too quickly.

‘Higher!’ Paelen ordered. ‘Take me higher!’

The air became painfully thin. Paelen felt his breathing become more laboured, but not so that he couldn’t breathe. As he looked down, he saw the helicopters struggling to follow him. Eventually they gave up and flew away from the area.

‘Yes!’ he cried, punching the air in celebration. He looked down and followed the trail of the fleeing helicopters. They were joining the others chasing Cupid. But the first two weren’t moving any more. They were hovering in one position in the sky over the trees. Paelen suddenly had a very bad feeling. The two helicopters that had chased him also stopped and were hovering above one area. Their searchlights burst to life and started to scan the trees and snowy ground below. They were looking for Cupid.

‘Sandals, be very careful, but get me to Cupid.’

The sandals lowered Paelen down out of the sky. Well away from the probing helicopter’s lights, he entered the trees. Hovering just above ground level, they carried him over the undisturbed snow towards the area where searchlights were looking for Cupid.

Up ahead, he saw a large dark shape in the snow. Even before he arrived, Paelen’s heart pounded and his mouth went dry. It was Cupid. The winged Olympian had been shot out of the sky and crashed to the ground. He lay unmoving, in a broken heap. One wing was fanned out behind him, while the other was trapped beneath his unconscious form. The snow around Cupid was turning red from his blood.

Above him, the searchlights continued to pan around the area. For the moment they couldn’t see him or Cupid. But it was only a matter of time. Paelen felt nervously at Cupid’s neck. There was still a pulse and he was breathing. As the ceaseless searchlights drew closer, Paelen hoisted Cupid up in his arms.

‘Get me back to Olympus,’ he ordered the sandals, ‘quickly!’

Paelen cradled Cupid in his arms as the sandals flew towards an opening in the trees and climbed higher in the dark sky. They tried to gain enough speed to enter the Solar Stream, but the combined weight of the two Olympians was too much for them to bear.

After several failed attempts, Paelen was forced to give up. He ordered the sandals to take them back to the cabin. When he touched down on the porch, Paelen carried Cupid forward and kicked open the door. ‘Agent T,’ he called, ‘Cupid has been hurt!’

‘Cupid!’ Agent T screeched as he ran forward. His face was twisted in pain. ‘What happened?’

‘There were these flying machines,’ Paelen explained. ‘They had large weapons. They were chasing us. When they realized they couldn’t catch us, they shot Cupid out of the sky. He hit the ground hard. I think he has broken a wing.’

Agent T ran ahead and cleared the coffee table. ‘Put him here,’ he said shakily. ‘When is the doctor coming?’

‘We could not reach him,’ Paelen explained as he carried Cupid to the table. ‘It is just us.’

Paelen settled Cupid down and together he and Agent T inspected his wounds. His back and wings were covered in blood. They found multiple deep and weeping bullet holes. Paelen had been right. Cupid’s left wing was badly broken from the fall.

‘Smaller weapons do not hurt us,’ Paelen mused as he lifted Cupid’s unbroken wing to peer beneath it. ‘But look what those flying machines did to him. He has been torn to pieces.’

‘He needs a doctor!’ Agent T insisted as he gathered together bandages and antiseptic for Cupid. ‘He is bleeding and is going to die without one. I can try to slow the blood loss, but I don’t have the skills to help him.’

‘I cannot reach the doctor,’ Paelen insisted. ‘And a human doctor could not help him anyway. I tried to carry him back to Olympus, but my sandals could not bear the weight of the two of us …’ Paelen paused. Finally his eyes went wide. ‘Wait a moment – ambrosia! Cupid needs ambrosia. It is what keeps us healthy and strong in Olympus. It will help him heal.’ He looked back at Emily’s father on the sofa and Earl on the stretcher. ‘Ambrosia will help everyone here heal.’

‘Then why the hell are you just standing there?’ Agent T shot furiously. He shoved Paelen towards the door. ‘Get out of here! Go! Fly back to Olympus and get some ambrosia. Save my Cupid!’

Emily couldn’t stop screaming. The screams just kept on coming, even after Tange put a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide with terror and locked on the two creatures sitting in a set of thrones on a raised dais. She tried to look away, but couldn’t. They were worse than anything she could ever imagine and more horrible than any of the creatures from the most terrifying movies she and her father used to watch together.

They were two women. But nothing like anything she’d ever seen before. Their skin was covered in green and gold snake scales. They had small golden wings that constantly fluttered on their backs like hummingbirds. Their arms ended in hands of bronze and their legs were long and bony and had lizard-like feet with long sharp claws.

But most terrifying of all were their heads. Their faces were green and scaly. They had no noses, just two breathing holes like a snake. They had no lips to speak of, but slits that opened when they let out their squeals. In place of hair, hundreds of green snakes grew out of the tops of their heads, all writhing around as their forked tongues spat and hissed.

As Tange carried her forward, Emily spotted more statues gathered around the dais. This time they weren’t adult Nirads, but children. As she looked closer, her screams found renewed energy as a realization overtook her. The Nirad statues – they hadn’t been carved. They were real Nirads that had somehow been turned to stone! Every single Nirad no longer had marblecoloured skin, but
was
marble. Their terrified faces revealed the final torturous moments of unbearable pain as their living tissue had turned to stone.