by Kate O'Hearn
Bursting through the surface, Emily was stunned by what she saw. Lava was spewing from a gaping hole in the crater and shooting up hundreds of metres in the sky. Volcanic ash filled the air and billowing smoke glowed black, red and orange from the eruption. The side of the volcano was blown out and lava was spilling down into Honolulu. The tsunami warning siren was screaming in the air, calling for the evacuation of the city.
Emily looked up. Pegasus wasn’t on the upper rim.
‘Pele!’ Emily called. She felt Pele’s presence and moved towards it. The Hawaiian goddess was collapsed on the ground far from the burning hole in the crater.
‘Emily,’ Riza called. ‘I remember Pele and what she is. Get her into the lava. It is her element. She’ll die if you don’t!’
Emily levitated Pele’s unconscious form and lowered her gently into the lava pool. Upon contact, Pele’s eyes opened and she smiled as she descended deeper into the liquid rock.
‘Emily!’ Lorin cried.
The Titan landed on the ground not far from where Emily stood. They faced each other on the battlefield of the erupting volcano. Flames flashed all around them and lava pooled at their feet. The ground rumbled in preparation for an even bigger eruption.
This was it, the final showdown – the Flame of Olympus versus the Flame of Titus.
36
‘The shard is mine, give it back!’ Lorin cried.
Emily shook her head. ‘No, Lorin, it is Riza’s. You will not have it—’
Before she could finish, Lorin fired a blast at Emily, but now the Flames had no effect on her.
Lorin looked little more than an angry child, but Emily knew this belied her power. She couldn’t let her do any more damage to Oahu. Emily fired back, but with only enough power to knock Lorin down.
‘Lorin, stop,’ Emily called as she approached her. ‘We are both Xan, they don’t fight! All we will succeed in doing is destroying Hawaii.’
‘Then give me what I want and I will stop,’ Lorin cried. ‘I need to be complete!’
Lorin fired again, but Emily easily deflected the flames and power behind them. They struck the ocean side of the volcano wall and blew it out over the water with an explosive blast.
‘Complete?’ Riza called. ‘Emily, wait – I finally understand what she means!’ The ancient Xan started speaking through Emily’s mouth. ‘Lorin, you are right, you do need to be complete, and so do we. I know how to do it, but you must trust us.’
‘No!’ Lorin cried. ‘You just want to hurt me.’ Another blast of flame followed, but was harmless to Emily. The volcano wall, however, was further damaged and tumbled into the ocean.
Emily understood what Riza meant and refrained from using her powers against the Titan. ‘Can’t you understand that we don’t want to hurt you?’ she cried. ‘You are part of us, and we are part of you. Only by joining together will we ever be complete. You don’t feel whole because you have Riza’s powers, but not her heart or spirit. I have her heart and spirit and a lot of her powers, but not all of them. Everything deep within us yearns to be united again.’
Lorin looked uncertain. ‘But . . .’
‘We mean you no harm,’ Riza pressed. ‘Please, look around you at this devastation. This can’t be what you want.’
‘I want to be complete . . .’ Lorin called.
‘So do I,’ Emily agreed. ‘If you join with me we can.’
Lorin looked around as though seeing the damage and erupting volcano for the first time. ‘What do we do?’
‘We stop fighting and end this.’
‘What about Saturn?’
The words were no sooner out of her mouth when the skies above them burst open. The blazing lights of the Solar Stream illuminated three large chariots. One was roaring flames, one was made of screaming black skeletons and one was being drawn by large sea stallions in a pool of water. The Big Three. Behind them followed a procession of Olympians.
A second Solar Stream portal opened beside the first. Emily watched in horror as more chariots and flying creatures poured into the world, led by Saturn.
Blasts of power blazed across the night sky as the Olympians and Titans brought their fight to Earth.
‘Lorin, look!’ Emily cried. She lifted the two of them in the air, away from the shooting lava. ‘Is this what you want? Their fight will destroy this beautiful island. Can’t you see – whoever wins, Earth will lose? Do you want all this destruction? Do you really want to fight me until one of us is dead?’
‘I told you,’ Lorin cried. ‘I want to be complete!’
Jupiter’s fiery chariot blazed across the dark sky. Jupiter fired lightning bolts at Saturn, who deflected them towards downtown Honolulu. They destroyed everything they touched. Buildings exploded and the roads were instantly melted under the assault.
Sirens blared and car horns sounded as people tried to flee the battle.
Neptune, on his chariot of sea-horses, waved his trident in the air and commanded the ocean to rise and knock Titans out of the sky. They hit the ground with explosive blasts and grabbed anything they could get their hands on to throw at the Olympians. Cars, trees, even people – nothing was safe.
Emily had to act fast to save people flying through the air and lower them back down to the ground safely. Lorin watched Emily and soon joined her doing the same.
Military jets arrived and opened fire on the Olympians and Titans, but they had no effect other than getting Saturn to fire back at them. Airships exploded in the sky and cast debris down to the ground.
Across Honolulu, the other extinct volcano, the Punchbowl Crater, started to erupt. Emily sensed Pele’s presence. The Hawaiian goddess was using the eruption to fire streams of lava at the invading Titans.
Nā-maka-o-Kaha‘i appeared on a massive waterspout, summoning the ocean to rise. Waves crashed over Waikiki beach and flooded into the city centre. Buildings were knocked down and cars bobbed in the water likes leaves.
‘Please, Lorin,’ Emily cried. ‘If we work together, we can stop the destruction and end this battle before it’s too late!’
Lorin gazed down on Honolulu. ‘My Paelen is down there! So is Sergeant Walker. I do not want them hurt. Or all the animals at the zoo.’
Emily flew closer to the Titan. ‘I don’t want that either! But look around you – it’s already happening.’
‘If I agree, will you kill me?’ Lorin asked, sounding like a frightened little girl.
‘Of course not! Don’t you understand? We are the same. We can end this destruction – but only if we work together!’
Emily held out her hand to Lorin. ‘Help me stop this insanity.’
Every moment the Titan hesitated, the battle intensified. More Hawaiian gods joined in the struggle to save their home. Some stood with Pele, others with Nā-maka-o-Kaha‘i on the shore. There were even giant, bird-like gods with colourful plumage soaring across the night skies. Their screeches echoed across the island as they attacked the Titans.
Everywhere Emily looked there was fighting. The Island of Oahu was being torn apart.
Pele rose above the Punchbowl in a blazing fireball and used her staff to knock both Olympian and Titan fighters out of the sky.
‘Look,’ Emily said, pointing to the Hawaiians. ‘See how they fight to defend their home. We both know they can’t win against the Titans or Olympians, but they will die trying. Only together can we stop it!’
Lorin hesitated a moment longer.
Emily knew it was a big decision for her, the biggest of her short life, and it couldn’t be rushed. But with each passing moment, more of Oahu was destroyed.
Finally Lorin nodded and reached for Emily’s hand.
The moment they touched, their hands fused together and a great blazing light exploded from them – shooting out in all directions – though the
biggest blast shot straight up into the stars.
Emily, Riza and Lorin were finally complete.
37
‘ENOUGH!’ a voice louder than thunder boomed across the sky. It seemed to carry across the whole island, if not all of the Earth.
The volcano beneath Emily and Lorin instantly calmed and grew dark. The lava cooled and turned black. On the other side of Honolulu, the eruption at the Punchbowl stopped and the lava flow hardened.
The waves crashing into the city were sent back into the ocean and the waters calmed.
The sides of Diamond Head were restored, as beautiful, luminous beings appeared around the top rim. They were tall and slim and all holding hands as they encircled the volcano many times over. Their light robes billowed gently in the breeze caused by the cooling lava. They were singing, and the sound was so peaceful, everyone – Titan, Olympian, Hawaiian god and human alike – paused to listen.
Riza started to weep. ‘My people have finally found me . . .’
Their beauty stole Emily’s breath as she and Lorin were lowered into the Diamond Head crater. When they touched the cooled surface, the other fighters were drawn in around them. The Titans and Hawaiians stood staring up at the beautiful creatures. The Olympians fell to their knees and bowed their heads in respect. They alone recognized the Xan.
‘THE FIGHTING ENDS, NOW!’ a bodiless voice called.
Emily searched for Pegasus and her friends among the gathering but they were missing. She saw Diana and Apollo dressed to fight. The Big Three, Hundred-handers, giants, Centaurs and many other Olympians gathered on one side of the crater. Her eyes landed on the Sphinxes. Tom had a deep gash across his bare chest and Alexis’s wing looked broken. Emily’s father was absent and she hoped he was safe in Olympus.
Chiron stood among their ranks with Baird Fleming still on his back. The vet looked terrified among the strange and powerful creatures gathered around him.
On the other side of the crater stood Saturn, his brothers and countless other Titans of unimaginable shape and size. Emily noted a few Shadow Titans among the fighters.
Forming the third point in the triangle of fighters were the Hawaiian gods. Pele and Nā-maka – away from her ocean but safe on land – were easy to recognize. As were the bird-like gods she’d seen in the sky. It was the others that Emily didn’t know. She was surprised just how many there were.
The Xan at the top of the volcano stopped singing. Their glow intensified and Emily could feel their energy flowing out to heal the wounded Hawaiian Island. It was only then that Emily realized she and Lorin also glowed with the same intensity.
‘Riza,’ the voice boomed.
A figure shimmered into view before them. It was well over four metres tall, with a bald head and calm, almond-shaped pearl eyes. Emily felt Riza’s excitement as it became solid.
‘Father!’ she cried through Emily’s lips.
‘My child,’ the Xan said. ‘We have been searching for you. Only now, when you came together, could we finally find you.’
‘I have been in here, Father,’ Riza said. ‘But I have been in fragments.’
The tall Xan raised a fine, long, almost transparent hand and lowered it on Emily’s and Lorin’s heads. At his touch, Emily felt him enter her mind and scan through Riza’s memories: from the moment when she arrived on Xanadu, too late to join her people as they released themselves to the cosmos, to her trying to follow and accidentally fragmenting herself. Emily also saw the many human lives that Riza had lived after Vesta put the Heart of the Flame in a human girl. It went on to show Emily’s life, starting in New York: the death of her mother and her first meeting of Pegasus on the roof, through to the struggle in the ancient war with the Titans. It ended at this moment in Diamond Head.
Emily realized that Lorin was seeing everything too. Then the perspective changed and they all saw Lorin’s brief life – from the shard destroying her home on Titus to waking in Tartarus and all the things she had done since then.
When he finished he lowered his hand. A deep, sad sigh escaped his thin lips. The Xan turned and summoned Jupiter.
‘You have cared for my child well and we are grateful,’ he said with a voice as gentle as misty rain.
Jupiter bowed his head. ‘It has been our great honour to protect Riza, in all the forms she has taken. It is we, Olympians, who are grateful to Riza and all the Xan for the gifts you have bestowed upon us.’
The Xan looked over to the Titans and his pale, pearly-white face saddened further. ‘It grieves us to see how the powers of the Xan have been misused. But that ends now.’
The tall Xan raised his hand. The others above did the same. There was a sudden flash and all the Xan shot up into the sky like beams of laser light. Then all the Titans, Olympians and Hawaiians vanished, leaving only Jupiter.
Emily inhaled. ‘You didn’t kill them, did you?’
Another soft sigh escaped the tall Xan. ‘Have you learned nothing from Riza? We do not kill. We have sent the Hawaiians to the Big Island. The Titans have been returned to Titus and the Olympians sent back to Olympus. They are each banished to their own world until they can learn to live together.’ He focused pale eyes on Jupiter. ‘The Solar Stream will be denied to you until you can prove that you can use it wisely and without violence.’
Jupiter lowered his head in shame. ‘I understand.’
‘Return now to Olympus . . .’
Before Jupiter could say another word, he vanished.
‘Now, Riza, Emily and Lorin,’ the Xan said. ‘What to do with you.’ Once again he lifted his hand. Emily could feel his immense power – it was like the pressure in her ears she got when she travelled in an aeroplane, but much more intense.
In the blink of an eye, they were out of the Diamond Head crater and standing in the middle of the clearing on Xanadu.
‘Pegasus!’ Emily cried, seeing the winged stallion there. Joel, Paelen, Fawn and Chrysaor were with him. Brue was standing behind Paelen, licking his back with her two tongues. Beside them stood a tall, calm, female Xan.
‘What happens now, Father?’ Riza said.
‘That, my child, is up to you. But you cannot remain as you are. Your powers are too immense to be shared between Emily and Lorin. They are too young and too inexperienced to deal with them . . .’ He focused on Emily. ‘We saw what you did when you travelled back in time. Riza warned you not to kill Titans, but you defied her. Your actions have had consequences yet to be understood.’
‘I am sorry,’ Emily said.
‘I know you are,’ the Xan said. He looked at Lorin.
She was still holding Emily’s hand, looking terrified. She stared at the Xan but fear kept her speechless.
‘It is unfortunate that you awoke with powers but without Riza beside you as a guide. No one has taught you wrong from right. You are wild, uncontrolled and dangerous to everyone you encounter. You will cause us great worry if you are allowed to continue.’ With the wave of his hand, Lorin closed her eyes and collapsed to the ground.
‘No!’ Emily crouched down beside her and peered up at the Xan. ‘Please, don’t hurt her. She can be taught, I know she can. She doesn’t have to die!’
‘You beg for the life of the one who threatened yours?’ the Xan asked.
Emily nodded. ‘Please, let her live. She didn’t ask for this. Let us teach her. Riza and I can show her how to use her powers and to control herself. She just needs time and people who care for her.’
The Xan smiled and Emily had the feeling it had been some kind of test.
‘Agreed,’ he said. ‘It is your job to teach Lorin compassion and generosity.’ He paused and tilted his head to the side. ‘Now, as for you, young Emily, you also are a great concern. We have seen the good you have done with the Xans’ power. But these powers have grown beyond your wisdom to use them. They must be c
ontained.’
‘How?’ Riza asked.
‘The time has come to separate you.’
‘What?’ Riza cried. ‘Father, you can’t. Neither Emily nor I have a body. It is only our combined efforts that give us this illusion of a body. If you separate us, there will be nothing left of either of us.’
‘We are aware of that,’ Riza’s father said. ‘We have a solution. But I must ask each of you a question – Riza, my daughter, long ago you tried to follow us when we released ourselves to the cosmos, but you failed. Tell me now, do you wish to join us on our journey, or do you want to remain here on Xanadu as companion to Arious and guardian of this Sanctuary? The choice is yours.’
Emily could feel the conflict within Riza. Part of her wanted to join her people, but another part of her knew she had lived among humans too long. She was filled with emotions the Xan had surrendered long ago. Riza loved to laugh, play, sing and discover new things. She didn’t want to give them up.
Emily desperately wanted to beg her to stay. She couldn’t imagine her life without Riza in it. But she knew the decision wasn’t hers to make.
‘I heard that,’ Riza said softly. ‘Thank you, Emily. I love you too.’ Out loud she said to her father, ‘I choose to stay. Xanadu needs a Xan, and the Olympians need to be guided if they are to earn the right to use the Solar Stream again.’
‘Agreed,’ her father said. ‘Now, Emily, your question. You have no body. The moment I pull Riza from you, you will cease to exist.’
Behind them, Pegasus reared, kicked out his hooves and whinnied. Paelen shouted and Joel cried, ‘Don’t do it! Riza, don’t let him kill Emily.’
The tall Xan turned back to them. ‘I have no intentions of harming her. But Emily needs a body.’ He focused on her again. ‘You have a living father whom I can draw matter from, but no mother. What am I to do?’
Emily recalled the beautiful face of her mother. Her warm, laughing eyes filled with love and her brilliant smile. At times Emily caught glimpses of her when she looked in the mirror. Now that was going to be taken away.
