Pegasus and the Fight for Olympus (12 page)

The Nirads were gaining on them as they dashed for the next level. They weren’t going to make it. Paelen and Joel stopped running. They stood forward and bravely raised their gold daggers. ‘Keep moving,’ Joel ordered Steve. ‘Get back to Emily. She’s at the Red Apple!’

Paelen’s mind flashed with terrible memories of what the Nirads had done to him on Governors. Of the pain he felt when they tried to rip him apart and the sounds of his own bones breaking. His hand started to shake.

‘You OK?’ Joel said quickly.

‘No,’ Paelen admitted.

‘Me neither.’

Further comment was cut short as the two creatures rounded the bend and faced them. The Nirads’ bead-black eyes settled on Joel and Emily’s father. They bared their sharp pointed teeth and snarled with vicious rage as their clawed hands opened and closed into fists. With renewed energy, they charged forward.

Joel bravely held up his dagger. But he’d never fought with a knife before, let alone a dagger against a Nirad. As he flashed the golden blade in the air, it nicked one of the Nirad’s four arms, causing a spray of black blood. Howling in pain, the creature swung a brutal fist and knocked the golden blade out of Joel’s hand, sending it flying away. The creature roared and lunged at him.

Paelen tried to reach Joel to help, but the second

Nirad was moving. It swatted him aside as though he was shooing away a troublesome fly. Paelen was knocked off his feet and sent tumbling back down the stairs.

When he hit the bottom, he looked up and his eyes went wide in horror. The one Nirad had Joel in a brutal grip and was hoisting him in the air. Without a backward glance, the creature roared triumphantly and carried him up the steps. Despite Joel’s size, he was helpless against the terrifying strength of the four arms wrapped around him.

‘Paelen!’ Joel cried as he was carried away from the group and up and around the bend in the stairs. ‘Paelen, help me plea—’ Suddenly the voice was cut off.

‘Joel!’ Paelen shouted. He feared his best friend had just been killed by the Nirad. ‘Joel!’

Above him, the final Nirad was still fighting to get hold of Steve. As Paelen reached for his gold dagger, he heard Cupid order Agent T to shoot.

‘No!’ Paelen cried as he dashed up the stairs. He knew human weapons were useless against the Nirads. In these tight quarters, firing the weapon at the Nirad was a disastrous idea.

The agent’s weapon went off. The bullet struck the creature and ricocheted off its marble-like skin and hit Steve in the chest. The Nirad caught hold of Emily’s father just as he crumpled to the floor. Paelen shouted and sprang forward. He drove his gold dagger deep into the creature’s back.

The Nirad released Steve and howled in pain and fury as it tried to dislodge the dagger. But it was too late. The Olympian gold’s deadly poison was already doing its job. The fearsome creature staggered on the steps as its strength ebbed. In a final agonized cry, it swooned and tumbled noisily down the stairs.

Paelen jumped aside as the huge creature somersaulted past him. He didn’t pause to check on the Nirad. ‘Cupid, help Steve,’ he ordered as he chased after Joel.

Paelen was close to panic as he climbed floor after floor searching for his friend. ‘Joel!’ he howled. ‘Where are you?’ But his calls went unanswered.

Paelen finally reached the ground level. He burst through the stairwell doors and into the lobby. Destruction was everywhere. Just like on Olympus, the Nirads had left nothing standing. Bodies of CRU agents and soldiers littered the floor and the sign-in desk was in pieces and scattered around the room. The main entrance doors had been ripped off their hinges and tossed aside.

Paelen ran outside. Large tracks were impressed in the snow. They were all headed in the same direction deeper into forest. In the distance, he saw the electric fence was knocked down as the army of Nirads had torn through it.

Paelen studied the tracks. His eyes caught hold of a sight that nearly stopped his heart. Red stains in the snow. He didn’t need to see more to know what it was. It was human blood. It was Joel’s blood. Paelen’s knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

Emily sat with Earl and the two agents, snacking on the last of the food supplies. The moment Cupid left, the two agents clung to Emily like bees to honey. They were anxious to please her so she would tell Cupid what a great job they were doing. But what they were really doing was driving her insane.

‘Please just sit down and eat something,’ she said as they hovered near her. ‘Gees, now I know what the president goes through with the secret service …’

Pegasus was standing beside her, enjoying the last of the glazed doughnuts Emily handed up to him. ‘I’ve got all the protection I need with Pegasus.’

‘What’s it like on Mount Olympus?’ Earl asked. ‘I ain’t never been to Greece.’

‘Neither have I,’ Emily answered. ‘The real Olympus isn’t in Greece. It’s another world. You have to go through this highway-like thing called the Solar Stream to get there. But it’s really awesome. More beautiful than anything you could ever imagine and filled with amazing people and animals.’

Earl sighed. ‘I’d sure like to see it some day.’

‘Maybe you will one day when all this is over.’

‘You could come with us,’ one of the agents suggested as a brilliant, almost crazed smile lit his face, ‘when we go there with Cupid.’

Emily and Earl looked at each other knowingly, but said nothing. They fell into silence as they waited for news from the others.

Time seemed to stop as they waited. As each moment ticked by, Emily felt her fear growing. ‘How long has it been?’ she finally asked.

Earl checked his watch. ‘ ’Bout an hour and a half; they should be back here any time.’

Emily started to pace the area. ‘I just wish they’d hurry.’

The two agents also stood and started to pace along with her.

‘Would you two please sit down!’ Emily shouted. ‘I’m fine. See, there’s no one here to hurt me!’

The words were no sooner out of her mouth when a huge crashing sound came from the kitchen area. Pegasus whinnied loudly and charged forward into the darkness. Emily strained her eyes in the firelight but couldn’t see anything.

The two agents burst into action. ‘Stand over there,’ they ordered, driving her away from the kitchen. ‘We’ll check this out.’ One of them pointed at Earl. ‘Keep an eye on her.’

Emily could hear Pegasus’s shrill and furious whinnies. ‘Pegs!’ she cried. She began to feel the Flame within starting to stir. ‘No!’ she told herself. ‘Not again. Not now!’

From the kitchen came more sounds. Mixed in with Pegasus came grunting and squealing. ‘What the heck is that?’ Earl cried as a large animal charged into the dining area, knocking aside the two agents.

After all her time in Olympus, Emily thought she had seen just about everything that world had to offer. But now standing before her was a massive, winged boar. It was covered in coarse brown hair, with sharp pointed tusks curling out of its large threatening snout. But stranger still were the wings. They were folded close to the stocky body and stuck out almost a metre past the boar’s hind end. Its feathers were as brown and coarse as its hair. The raging animal charged forward but stopped just short of Emily.

Pegasus followed quickly behind. He bent his head down and hit the boar with enough force to send it rolling away from Emily.

The enraged animal righted itself and turned. It charged at Pegasus. The stallion stood his ground and lowered his head again. As the two heads met, the sound of their skulls knocking together was sickening.

‘Pegasus!’ Emily cried.

Earl was beside her and holding her back. ‘Don’t!’ he warned. ‘I don’t know what that thing is, but if it’s anythin’ like the wild boars we got around here, it ain’t no friend! We gotta get outta here!’

‘I’m not leaving Pegasus,’ Emily said as she pulled away.

Pegasus reared on his hind legs and kicked out at the ferocious boar. Although the animal was big, it was lightning fast and darted away from the stallion’s lethal hooves.

‘Stop it!’ Emily roared. She could feel flutters in her stomach turning into heavy tingling as the power of the Flame increased with her fear. Soon it would rise and flow along her arms and there would be nothing she could do to control it. ‘Please, stop fighting. The Flame is coming!’

The fight was terrible. The boar charged forward and darted under the stallion’s kicking legs. When it reached Pegasus’s vulnerable underside, it threw its head up and the sharp tusks tore into the flesh of the stallion’s underbelly.

Pegasus shrieked in pain as both his hooves came crashing down on the boar’s back. It squealed and darted away. But then turned and faced Pegasus again. In the dim light, Emily could see blood pouring from the stallion’s wounds. But Pegasus wouldn’t stop. He reared again and charged the winged boar.

Suddenly from all around the boarded-up rest stop came a sound Emily knew all too well. Her eyes flew wildly around the dining area. Thick filthy fingers with sharp claws were tearing away the boards on the windows. As they came away, daylight showed the horrors yet to come. An army of Nirads were outside the Red Apple and were tearing their way in.

‘Nirads!’ she cried, running closer to the fighting stallion. ‘Pegasus, stop, we’ve got to get out of here! Nirads are here!’

‘Them the four-armed aliens attackin’ Olympus?’ Earl asked as his terrified eyes darted around the room. ‘The ones that hurt your leg?’

Emily nodded. The sounds of breaking windows, tearing wood and roaring Nirads in the confines of the tight area were deafening. ‘They’re here to kill us.’ Emily had to shout to hear herself. ‘Get the agents and go. Leave before it’s too late!’

‘I ain’t leavin’ you,’ Earl called. ‘You’re comin’ with me.’

Emily’s powers were rising. In moments her fingertips would explode into flame. ‘I can’t. The Flame is coming and I have no control!’ She shoved Earl away as the tingling rose from her stomach along her arms. ‘Go now before it’s too late!’ she howled.

Just as the first Nirads touched down on the floor of the Red Apple, Emily’s powers let loose. Despite her terror she forced herself to concentrate. The flames shot wildly out of her fingertips, but as a Nirad charged towards her, she pulled back and tightened them into a thin red beam.

She pointed her hands at the Nirad. The red beam struck the ferocious nightmare and burned right through the creature, cutting it in half. The air was filled with howls of pain as it fell to the floor and died.

But there was no time to celebrate. More and more Nirads were pouring into the restaurant. Emily ran forward and fired at a second Nirad and then a third. But in her panic, her aim was off and she only managed to wound the rampaging creatures.

With the red beam still firing from her fingers, Emily’s wild eyes found and shot at more Nirads. But as they went down, more and more seemed to replace them. She had no idea how many there were, but countless more than they had ever fought before. Even with her powers, they were badly outnumbered.

‘Pegasus!’ she cried. The stallion and boar were still fighting. As she stole a glance back, she saw several Nirads joining the fight and moving in on Pegasus. Earl and the two CRU agents were taking on a single Nirad. She ran towards them.

The Nirad quickly dispatched one agent, and then the second one. It turned on Earl.

‘Earl no—!’

The Nirad caught hold of him and raised him in the air. Emily was there in a flash. She pointed her hands at the Nirad as it squeezed Earl in a crushing embrace. Her red beam struck the vicious creature’s leg and cut it off. It roared in pain and threw Earl across the restaurant.

Emily couldn’t see where Earl had landed. She didn’t know if he was dead or alive. But she didn’t have time to find out. She turned her hands towards the Nirads attacking Pegasus, but fear for striking the stallion kept her aim off.

As Emily struggled to control the red beam to hit only the Nirads, she was charged from behind. A Nirad caught her around the waist and hoisted her easily off the ground.

Her arms flew around wildly as she lost control of the Flame. It shot in all directions throughout the restaurant. The beam burned its way through the walls, the ceiling, floor and any Nirads in the way. Everything the powerful red beam touched was sliced like a knife through soft butter. Soon the walls of the Red Apple blazed furiously.

‘No!’ she cried. As terror threatened to overwhelm her, Emily finally regained some control and pointed her hands down at the Nirad. Fire burned the creature’s legs. It roared in agony and released her; they fell to the floor together.

Emily scrambled away. But the relief was short-lived. Before she could raise her hands again, she was tackled and driven down to the floor. Pain exploded in her head as more steel-like arms wrapped around her.

As the brutal arms squeezed tighter, Emily continued to fight. But it was in vain. Her powers stopped and she had no strength against the Nirads. She looked up, searching for Pegasus.

The stallion was knocked to the ground and his pain-filled cries split the air as the Nirads swarmed over him. ‘Pegasus!’ she howled.

The Nirad holding Emily lifted her off the ground. But as more creatures moved forward, everyone heard the loud creaking and moaning coming from the building itself.

Emily looked up and saw the latticework of cuts and scars in the ceiling from her powerful red beam. The entire roof was a roaring flame. With the weight of the snow above and the fire below, it proved too much for the weakened timbers. Before anyone had time to react, the beams broke and the entire burning ceiling came crashing down.

Emily regained consciousness and opened her eyes. A scream escaped her lips before she could hold it back. She was being carried in the arms of a Nirad. The creature looked down at her as his third hand clamped across her mouth.

He shook his head. The message was clear. Don’t scream.

Emily struggled in the steel-like arms. Yet despite the Nirad’s unbelievable strength, his grip on her was surprisingly light and causing no pain.

When the Nirad was certain she wouldn’t scream again, he removed his hand from her mouth. Emily nearly gagged at the taste of filth on her lips. She looked around and was terrified to discover she was no longer at the Red Apple. She was surrounded by the huge, lumbering creatures as they trudged through the deep snow of the forest.