Pegasus and the New Olympians (22 page)

Chrysaor squealed with anger and trod on the man’s foot, causing him to yelp in pain.

Paelen’s eyes drifted over to the piles of rags where Frankie’s friend John had been sleeping. The lump was gone.

‘Are you John?’ he asked as he tried to climb to his feet.

‘Who are you?’ the filthy man demanded. ‘How do you know my name? And why have you brought this pig to my home? What have you done with Frankie?’

‘Frankie is not here?’

‘No he’s not here!’ John angrily shouted. ‘I woke up and found this creature here instead. What the hell are you?’

Chrysaor jumped on the man’s foot again.

The pounding pain in Paelen’s head was unbearable as he made it to his feet. But when he tried to put weight on his broken ankle, he cried in pain and fell down. Lying in the stack of smelly rags, all he wanted to do now was sleep. It was calling to him, beckoning him and promising to take him away from the pain.

Chrysaor left the man and trotted over to Paelen. He squealed softly then sniffed the wound at Paelen’s head.

‘It has all gone wrong,’ Paelen muttered weakly. ‘Joel is in jail and the CRU are coming for him.’

Chrysaor continued to sniff along Paelen’s wounded body. He snorted and squealed in deep concern.

‘We cannot go back to Olympus,’ Paelen panted. ‘I know I am hurt badly. But we must wait for Emily and Pegasus. The police have Joel. He is counting on me to get him out. I must not let him down.’

But Chrysaor squealed again. The high pitch of his voice bored into Paelen’s head like a drill. Paelen tried to beg him to stop, but his voice was gone. Soon the world around him started to spin and darkness approached.

Paelen welcomed the coming darkness, the end of pain. But as he started to surrender himself to it, he felt overcome with a familiar nauseous feeling. The same sickness felt in the presence of his clone. The clone was nearby, Paelen was sure of it. It must have escaped the police and followed him back here.

Fighting back to consciousness, Paelen heard screaming from the stairwell and then something charged towards him. Chrysaor was the first to react. The winged boar squealed and ran towards the clone. He opened his wings and tried to knock him away. But the clone was fast and agile. He leaped high into the air and soared over Chrysaor’s head. He landed a short reach from Paelen.

With the drive to fight rising in the pit of his stomach, Paelen climbed up to stand on one foot. But he was too weak to fend off the clone. It caught hold of him and, screaming in rage, lifted him high in the air.

Snarling with uncontrolled hatred, it hurled Paelen at the painted window. The hardened glass shattered with the impact and sent Paelen out into the open air, sixty-nine storeys above the ground. Without his winged sandals to save him, Paelen started to fall.

Pegasus, Emily and Alexis flew high above Las Vegas. As they started to descend, they saw bright flashing lights from fire trucks lining a street well away from the strip. The acrid smell of freshly extinguished fire rose up to meet them.

‘I wonder what’s going on down there?’ Emily called.

Pegasus nickered and whinnied and Emily wished she could understand the stallion’s language. What Pegasus said sounded important. In the distance, she saw the back building rising dark and silent.

When they landed on the roof, Emily’s heart sank to discover that Joel, Paelen and Chrysaor were not there. She climbed down from Pegasus.

‘Wait!’ Alexis warned. ‘Something is very wrong. I can feel it.’

Emily stopped and watched the Sphinx lifting her head and sniffing the air. The hair on the hackles along her back was high and her wings were fluttering. Her tail whipped the air.

‘Get back on Pegasus,’ she ordered. ‘Now!’

Just as Emily settled on the stallion’s back, the Sphinx hissed and drew her claws.

The door to the roof was flung open. A little boy of nine or ten came running forward. His clothing was in tatters and his eyes were filled with terror. He ran at Pegasus and waved his hands in the air. ‘Emily, it’s a trap! Fly away before they get you!’

Alexis rose on her hind legs and roared, ‘Men are here. Pegasus, get the Flame away!’

The Sphinx’s eyes went black, her jaw unhinged and teeth came out. As she charged the stairwell door, she looked back at Pegasus and screamed, ‘Go now!’

Pegasus reacted immediately. The stallion lunged forward and caught the little boy’s shirt in his sharp teeth. Lifting him off the ground, without a second’s pause, he galloped to the edge of the roof and leaped off. Flapping his powerful wings, he carried them high in the air.

On the roof Alexis roared as armed men poured through the door. Their screams filled the air as they were greeted by the enraged Olympian Sphinx.

‘Alexis!’ Emily screamed. ‘Leave them, come on!’

Pegasus was flying too high and too fast for Emily to see what was happening on the roof. The sound of gunfire filled the air. But were the men shooting at them or Alexis?

The little boy was screaming in terror as he hung only by his shirt from Pegasus’s mouth, suspended high over Las Vegas.

A few minutes later, Pegasus landed on the roof of a casino further down the strip. Emily slid off his back and ran to the roof edge searching the skies for Alexis. ‘Come on,’ she cried. ‘Alexis, where are you?’

‘Emily?’ the little boy said as he carefully approached her.

His eyes were huge as he looked at her and Pegasus. ‘They got the lion lady.’

‘Who?’ Emily demanded, turning on him. ‘Who was it?’

‘The soldiers.’ He started to sob. ‘They shot my friend John.’

There was so much pain in the little boy’s face. Emily put her arm around him. ‘Please tell us, what soldiers?’ she asked softly. ‘Who are you and how do you know my name?’

‘I’m Frankie,’ the little boy sniffed. He wiped his running nose on his dirty sleeve. ‘Joel and Paelen are my friends. So is Chrysler the pig.’

Emily’s heart was pounding in her chest and it was hard to take everything in. She knelt before the boy and took both his hands. ‘Where are Joel and Paelen? Can you tell me?’

Tears rushed to Frankie’s eyes and trailed through the grime on his face. ‘Paelen is dead,’ he wept. ‘He got shot in the head and then the wild Paelen threw him out the window and he fell. Joel is in jail. Chrysler flew away and I don’t know where he is.’

‘What?’ Emily cried. ‘Paelen is dead?’

Frankie sniffed and nodded.

‘My Paelen?’ Emily cried in panic. ‘No, it’s not possible. He had his winged sandals. They would have stopped him. He could have flown away.’

‘He didn’t have his sandals. John says Paelen was half dead when the wild Paelen beat him up really bad. Then he threw him out the window.’

Emily sat back in shock. It wasn’t possible. Paelen couldn’t be dead. Not after all they’d been through, all they had suffered together. She pulled out her green handkerchief to catch her uncontrollable tears.

Emily was hardly aware of Alexis’s arrival. It was only when Frankie screeched in terror and begged the Sphinx not to eat him that she realized Alexis had returned.

‘Emily, what is wrong?’ Alexis demanded, coming closer. ‘Are you hurt?’

Pegasus neighed softly to explain. ‘The boy is mistaken.’ Alexis put her paw on Emily’s back. ‘Paelen is far too resourceful to allow this to happen.’

But Emily could not speak and could hardly breathe as sobs tore her breath away.

‘You, boy,’ Alexis demanded. ‘Tell me what happened to Paelen and Joel.’

Frankie filled them in on everything that happened over the last two days.

‘Wait,’ Emily sniffed, ‘you didn’t see Paelen die?’

Frankie shook his head. ‘My friend John told me what happened. He swore he would never drink again because he was seeing too many crazy things. When I asked him what, he told me what happened. John still thinks it was the drink. But I saw the broken window. When I told him that Paelen could fly with his shoes, John said he was barefoot with a broken ankle. Chrysler followed him out the window, but John didn’t see him catch him.’

‘Then it is likely that Chrysaor reached Paelen in time,’ Alexis said calmly. She concentrated on Emily. ‘There is no evidence that Paelen is dead – just the word of this boy’s friend. You must keep your hope alive.’

Emily clung to Alexis’s words. Chrysaor would not let Paelen fall. He just wouldn’t. ‘You said a wild Paelen attacked our Paelen?’

The boy nodded. ‘At the diner. Joel said it was the clone. But when the real Paelen met the wild one, they both went crazy and wanted to kill each other.’

Alexis looked up to Pegasus. ‘Just like you with Tornado Warning.’

Pegasus snorted at the name and pawed the roof.

Alexis concentrated on Frankie again. ‘Who were those men on the roof ?’

‘Soldiers,’ Frankie said. ‘People must have seen Paelen go out the window and called the police. John tried to protect me, but they shot him.’ Frankie started to cry again. He lifted tearful eyes to Emily. ‘He helped me get away. I’ve been hiding and waiting for you.’

Alexis narrowed her green eyes and concentrated on the boy. ‘You waited for us? Knowing you were in danger by doing so? Why would you do that?’

Frankie looked at Alexis fearfully and stepped closer to Emily. ‘Because Joel and Paelen and Chrysler are my friends. They told me they were waiting for you to come back. I couldn’t let the soldiers get you.’

Alexis tilted her head approvingly. ‘That was very brave of you.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Frankie said. ‘I cried when they chased me.’

‘I would have done the same,’ Alexis said gently. She winked knowingly at Pegasus.

Frankie lifted his hopeful eyes to Emily. ‘Do you really think Chrysler saved Paelen?’

Emily nodded. ‘I’m sure he would have. They are very good friends.’

She could see the relief washing over the young boy as he wiped his filthy cheeks. She just prayed it was true.

‘Good. I really like him,’ Frankie said.

‘Me too,’ Emily agreed, drying her own eyes.

Behind her, Pegasus nickered.

‘We must get moving,’ Alexis said. ‘We must not leave Prince Tobin and Tirk alone for long.’

Emily shook her head. ‘First we’ve got to get Joel.’ She concentrated on Frankie. ‘You said he was in jail?’

The little boy nodded. ‘Near Fremont Street. That’s where the two Paelens fought. They caused a really big fire.’

Emily recalled all the fire trucks and the smell when they first arrived. ‘Can you show me where it is?’

Pegasus stepped forward and nickered again.

‘This will be the hardest thing Pegasus has ever asked you to do,’ Alexis translated, ‘but he said we must leave Joel where he is. Prince Tobin and Tirk are our first priority.’

Emily looked at the stallion in shock. ‘No way! We’ve got to rescue Joel before they find out who he is and call the CRU.’

Alexis sighed heavily. ‘It is highly likely the CRU already know, which is why Paelen would have left him. He was sent to warn us, but was wounded instead.’

Emily was shaking her head. She couldn’t believe they were suggesting leaving Joel to the mercy of the CRU.

‘Think about it,’ Alexis pressed. ‘The chances of Joel still being in their jail are remote. We must not waste precious time on an uncertainty. Prince Tobin and Tirk do not belong in this world. We must return to them and get the others away from Area 51 as quickly as possible.’

‘But If Joel is still in their jail I have to get him out.’ Emily panicked. ‘You don’t understand. I—’

‘You love him,’ Alexis finished gently. ‘Yes, I know. We all do. But we must not let our emotions rule us.’

‘But—’

Alexis shook her head. ‘I am sorry, Emily. But we have no choice. If you really want to help him, you will leave him where he is. If he still is in their jail, he is much safer there than at Area 51. But if the CRU have been alerted, they will no doubt deliver him to Area 51 anyway.’

Emily looked at Pegasus and then gazed out over Las Vegas. Was Joel out there just a short reach from where she was? Or had he been taken to Area 51? Every instinct in her body screamed to go to the jail to see for herself. It tore at her heart to know that there was a greater need. Prince Tobin and Tirk were alone and in more danger.

She stepped up to Pegasus and pressed her forehead to him. ‘I know we’ve got to go, Pegs. But what if Joel is still in jail? How can I abandon him?’

Pegasus neighed softly. There was little he could say or do to ease Emily’s pain. Finally she pulled away. She climbed on to his back without a word.

‘What about me?’ Frankie said. ‘I’m coming too. I want to help with the nerds.’

Alexis padded closer to him. ‘I am sorry, child, but you are safer here.’

Frankie shook his head. ‘Nah-uh, I’m not. Those men are looking for me. What if they find me? They’ll take me to Area 51 with all the other aliens. They shot John and wrecked my home. I have nowhere to go.’

Alexis stole a look at Emily before tuning to Frankie. ‘All right, child. I will ask you a riddle. If you answer correctly, you may come with us and I will carry you myself. But if you get the answer wrong, you must remain here.’

Frankie’s eyes trailed from Emily, to Pegasus and finally to Alexis. ‘OK.’

Alexis sat down before the little boy. ‘Riddle me this …

At night I come without being fetched
And by day I am lost without being stolen.
I am like a diamond,
But I am no jewel
What am I?
’

Emily watched little Frankie chew on his lower lip as he struggled with the riddle. She realized that the ferocious and deadly Sphinx of Olympus had given the boy a very easy one. Even she knew the answer.

Finally Frankie looked up to the night sky and pointed. ‘I know!’ he cried. ‘It’s the stars.’

Alexis smiled and stroked his head with her large paw. ‘There is only one other person in history who has ever defeated me with a riddle. You are in very good company. Your answer is correct. You may join us.’

Alexis stood and offered her back to the boy.

‘I hope I’m not too heavy,’ Frankie said earnestly as he climbed on.

The Sphinx looked up at him. ‘I have carried heavier.’ Her eyes trailed over to Emily. ‘Are you ready?’