Pegasus and the Fight for Olympus (23 page)

‘Perhaps I should go to the cave to wait,’ Euryale suggested.

‘No, do not. I do not wish to be denied the pleasure of seeing his face when Jupiter realizes it is we who have waged war on him. Patience, my sister, we can wait a bit longer.’

As time ticked slowly by, there was a stirring in the hall outside the throne room. Soon another small pink Nirad entered. Emily could see that it was male. Was he royalty too? His sad eyes looked up to the queen in the cage, before he approached the two gorgons and bowed deeply.

‘Who’s that?’ Emily whispered. ‘He looks just like the queen.’

‘That’s her brother, Toban,’ Joel explained. ‘He was waiting in the cave for us.’

The prince continued speaking with the gorgons. Finally he lowered his head and barked out orders. All eyes in the throne room turned to the entrance. Several huge Nirads entered, escorting two people.

‘Dad!’ Emily cried, before she could hold it back. She struggled up on her good leg and hopped over to the bars of the cage.

‘Emily!’ Her father tore away from his guards and ran over to the cage. He put his arms through the bars and embraced his daughter.

Emily clung to her father, grateful that he was alive. Suddenly everything was better. As long as he was there, she could face almost anything. But their reunion was cut short when Euryale flew forward and wrenched him away.

‘More intruders!’ she howled and she tossed Emily’s father across the room. She stormed over to Cupid. ‘How many more Olympians are here?’ she demanded. ‘How do you all keep finding this world? First there was Diana and Apollo and now you. How many more are coming?’

‘It is just us,’ Cupid answered as he stood defiantly before the raging gorgon. ‘Emily’s father was desperate to reach her. So we followed the Nirads here.’

Euryale turned furious, lethal eyes to Tange. ‘They followed your men! We told you to be careful! You have failed us, Nirad!’

Stheno came forward. ‘Sister, calm down. We ordered the Nirads to bring the Flame’s father here. That he came by choice makes no difference. With Pegasus, Joel and her father’s life at stake, the Flame will have no choice but to obey us! This is a day to celebrate!’

Emily’s eyes were locked on her father as Cupid helped him slowly gain his feet. He was unshaven and his hair had grown long and wild. But he’d never looked so good to her in all his life. In that moment Emily pledged that no one, not even the gorgons, would ever separate them again.

Joel stepped up beside her and whispered tightly. ‘Em, look over by the entrance.’

Emily reluctantly drew her eyes away from her father and nearly gasped when she saw Paelen slide into the throne room. His body was long and thin, like a large python. He was slipping past the Nirad guards, who must have known he was there but gave no warning. With the gorgon’s attention locked on Cupid and her father, Paelen was able to slither to the front of the room and hide behind the cage containing the queen.

‘So, human,’ Euryale challenged as she advanced on Steve, ‘you wanted to see your precious daughter? There she is. Caged and defeated. Soon she will destroy Jupiter and Olympus will be ours.’

‘She’ll never do it,’ Steve said. He looked over to Emily. ‘Don’t do it, Em. Not for Pegasus and not even for me. Do you hear me? Don’t do it!’

Euryale flew into another rage and struck Steve with a crushing blow that smashed him against the bars of Pegasus’s cage. The stallion screamed and started whinnying loudly.

‘Dad!’ Emily screeched as her father fell to the floor unconscious. ‘Leave him alone!’ She could feel the Flame starting to rumble in the pit of her stomach. ‘Stop it,’ she cried as she raised her hands, ‘or the Flame will rise and you know I can’t control it!’

‘Silence, Flame!’ Euryale spat. She approached Steve with her hands held out and fingers bent like claws. Her eyes were glowing gold as the snakes on her head spat and hissed in anticipation. ‘Foolish human, now you will understand our power!’

‘Sister, no!’ Stheno shouted. She flew over to Euryale and placed herself in front of Emily’s father. ‘This is what he wants! With him dead, we will have no control over the Flame. Look at her, her powers are barely contained! If you kill her father now, she will lose control and destroy us all. We must not harm him yet.’

‘We still have Pegasus, Cupid and the boy,’ Euryale challenged as her eyes continued to glow. ‘If she moves against us, we will kill them all.’

‘But this is her father!’ Stheno argued. She forced her sister to look back at Emily and her raised hands. ‘We will not harm him for now, child. Lower your hands and contain your powers or none of us will survive this day.’

Emily was quaking with fear and rage as the gorgons hovered above her prone father. Finally she lowered her hands and took a deep steadying breath. ‘Just don’t touch him again,’ she warned, ‘or I swear I’ll do it. I’ll unleash it all!’

Stheno ordered Tange to move Emily’s unconscious father into the cage with Pegasus. ‘Keep him quiet, Pegasus,’ she warned the stallion. ‘We will not hesitate to turn him to stone if we must.’

Joel put a comforting arm around Emily. ‘Em, you’ve got to calm down,’ he whispered. ‘I can feel the heat coming off you. But this isn’t the time to make our move.’

Together they watched Tange gently carry her father into Pegasus’s cage and lower him to the floor. The stallion leaned down and checked on him. He turned back to Emily, nickering softly, and nodded his head.

‘Take good care of him, Pegasus,’ she said sadly. Emily looked up into Joel’s warm brown eyes. ‘Maybe this is the time, Joel,’ she whispered. ‘Maybe now is the only time we’ll ever have to move against them. Right now, before Jupiter arrives and I’m forced to kill him.’

Her eyes trailed around the room, up to the queen in her cage, over to Cupid being held by Nirads. Then finally they came to rest on Pegasus and her father in the cage opposite. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see a way out of this. With all of the Olympians disappeared into the Solar Stream, who would come to challenge the gorgons?

Tears rose in her eyes as hope slipped away. She automatically reached into her pocket and pulled out the green handkerchief to wipe away the tears before they could trail down her cheeks and fall to the ground. She watched as the hidden fold in the beautiful silk fabric opened and caught the volatile drops in its secret pocket.

It felt as if she had cried an ocean’s worth since she arrived on the Nirad world. She looked at the hidden pocket and prised it gently open. Deep inside, was a small pool of water. These were the tears of the Flame of Olympus that contained the power of the sun.

‘We’ll get out of this somehow,’ Joel said softly.

‘How?’ she asked miserably. ‘Joel, look around you. They’ve got my dad, Cupid, Pegasus and you. They’ll turn you all to stone if I don’t do as they tell me.’

‘Then you can turn them all right back again,’ called a high willowy voice.

Emily turned around and saw that Paelen had crawled through the throne room and made it to the back of their cage.

Joel and Emily moved to the rear of the cage and sat down side by side to block their friend from the gorgons’ view.

‘Listen to me,’ Paelen continued urgently. ‘Toban told us his sister has already warned Jupiter. Once she realized you could heal her people, she knew the gorgons must be stopped. Jupiter knows it is them and not the Nirads who are waging war on Olympus. He is coming to face them. The Nirads will help.’

‘So what’s the plan?’ Joel asked. ‘What did you guys decide?’

There was a long silence.

‘Paelen? Did you hear Joel?’ Emily asked out of the side of her mouth. ‘What’s the plan? What are we going to do?’

Paelen sighed. ‘There is no plan.’

‘What?’ Emily whispered.

‘Our plan was for your father and Cupid to distract the gorgons long enough for me to get in here to tell you that Jupiter has been warned about them. And to say you must not kill him.’

‘I wasn’t going to,’ Emily said, ‘no matter what they do to me.’

‘Oh.’

‘That’s it?’ Joel said. ‘All you can say is “Oh”. Jupiter is on his way here right now. The gorgons are going to expect Emily to kill him. Surely Jupiter has got a plan.’

‘If he has, he did not let the queen know,’ Paelen said. ‘All we can do now is wait.’

Emily sat beside Joel, clutching his hand as they awaited Jupiter’s arrival. Paelen remained safely hidden behind them. He had made himself as small as possible. In the cage opposite, her father was standing beside Pegasus, stroking the stallion’s thick neck. After strict warnings from the gorgons, he did not try to speak to Emily again.

Emily was tormented. She was so grateful to actually see her father again and know that he was alive. But another part of her was terrified for him and wished he was still back in the safety of the cabin. The gorgons wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if she didn’t cooperate. Would she have the strength to defy them, with everyone she ever loved doomed to suffer if she did?

Emily had never faced such a terrible dilemma in all her life. Whatever decision she made, someone would suffer. She was too young to have such a heavy responsibility thrust upon her. She should be at home in New York, her biggest worry being what to wear to school the next day or if a boy in her class liked her. Not whether she should kill the leader of Olympus in order to save those she loved, or defy the gorgons and possibly lose everyone she cared for.

The decision was too big. She wasn’t up to it. Emily wished more than ever that the choice would be taken away from her.

But, like it or not, she was the Flame of Olympus and she faced a decision that would change the very existence of worlds.

After what seemed an eternity, the queen started to speak. The gorgons were instantly on the dais and rubbed their bronze hands together excitedly. ‘Have your warriors bring him here immediately!’ They roared in celebration.

Stheno flew to the centre of the throne room and threw back her head in a screeching howl. ‘Jupiter, your reign is about to end!’

Emily studied the gorgons as they awaited Jupiter’s arrival. Her dread grew. She didn’t have a clue what they were going to do or how this would turn out. She reached into her pocket and felt for the reassuring presence of her handkerchief. She pulled it out and checked the hidden pocket again to make sure her tears were still there. If her other powers failed, as least she had these.

‘You are not planning to use those, are you?’ Paelen asked softly as he reached into the cage and poked her gently in the back.

‘I don’t want to, but if I have to I will,’ Emily whispered. ‘We can’t let the gorgons win.’

‘It wouldn’t be much of a victory if we are all killed by your tears,’ Joel added. ‘But I guess it’s better than letting them get control of Olympus and the Solar Stream.’

Emily fell silent. They were right. Her tears would have to be the last resort. But if things got too far out of hand, she would have little choice but to use them. Outside the throne room heavy footsteps drew closer.

Emily felt Joel’s hand tighten in hers. ‘This is it,’ he said softly.

As the sound increased, Emily heard heavy chains rattling and dragging on the marble floor. Soon a stream of large grey Nirads filed into the throne room, followed by several orange-marbled Nirads. Emily spotted Jupiter in their centre.

‘Oh my God!’ Joel cried. ‘What did they do to him?’

The leader of Olympus was wrapped in heavy chains that bowed his back and trailed along the floor. His hands were bound behind him and there was a heavy metal collar around his neck with a thick chain attached to it. The lead Nirad was dragging him around like a dog on a lead.

Emily gasped. His face was badly bruised and there was fresh blood on one eyebrow. His once white tunic was filthy and shredded. Blood streamed down his exposed arms and legs – the result of what must have been a terrible fight.

Emily’s heart sickened. The majestic leader of Olympus had been reduced to a bruised and battered prisoner. Had all this been a cruel trick? Were the Nirads really on their side? Looking at Jupiter, it didn’t appear so. Was this just a ploy to get her to remain in her cage and to keep her from using her powers against them?

‘Jupiter!’ Emily called.

The leader of Olympus glanced slowly back at her with vacant eyes and appeared not to know her. After a moment, he lowered his head again and was dragged forward. Pegasus also called out to Jupiter, but if he heard, he gave no indication.

‘What happened to him?’ Joel asked. ‘The Nirads are supposed to be on our side, but look what they did. They beat him up!’

‘It is not possible,’ Paelen uttered. ‘I have never seen Jupiter look so defeated.’

‘We don’t know what the Nirads did to him before the queen reached them. Maybe they really are stronger than Jupiter?’ Emily suggested.

‘Or maybe the Nirads really aren’t on our side at all,’ Joel whispered.

‘They must be,’ Paelen insisted. ‘We cannot defeat the gorgons without them,’

Joel turned back to Paelen. ‘I sure hope you’re right.’

Emily sat back as she watched the parade of Nirads approaching the thrones. She needed desperately to believe that they were on their side. But looking at what they did to Jupiter, a major part of her was not convinced.

When they reached the dais, Jupiter was dragged forward like a reluctant dog. The tall Nirad pushed down on Jupiter’s hunched shoulders until the leader of Olympus was kneeling, defeated, before the vile gorgons.

‘Not so mighty now, are you, Jupiter?’ Stheno challenged.

Jupiter slowly raised his head. He gasped when his eyes fell on the stone Diana and Apollo standing on the dais beside the thrones.

‘Oh, do you like them?’ Euryale teased. ‘They shall make nice additions to our collection. I wish you could join them in our garden, but unfortunately our powers do not work on you. But we do have other forms of entertainment planned for you.’

‘What do you want, gorgon?’ Jupiter asked coldly. ‘Why have you waged war on Olympus?’

Jupiter may have looked defeated, but his voice was as powerful and commanding as ever. For an instant, fear rose on the gorgons’ faces. It was quickly replaced by anger.