by Kate O'Hearn
Across from him, Steve lay on a marble slab. A different type of dark-green moss was growing on the surface and worked as a kind of living mattress. A large female Nirad was applying a very smelly paste to Steve’s bullet wound and tying clean bandages around his chest.
When she finished with Steve, she approached Paelen. She forced the bowl of black goo up to his mouth and grunted loudly, showing a wide row of sharp, pointed teeth.
‘I think you should do as she says and eat,’ Cupid warned as he leaned against a wall. His wing had been set and bandaged and most of his wounds were healed.
‘I am not hungry.’
‘It is actually not bad,’ Cupid said as he shovelled handfuls of the black food into his mouth. When his bowl was empty, he crossed to where a large stone barrel was stored. He refilled his bowl and continued eating.
After he downed his second bowl, Cupid said, ‘It would not be wise to offend our host in her home. She has two children being held at the palace and her nerves are raw with fear. It will not take much to enrage her. If she wants you to eat it, you must eat it.’
Paelen knew the female Nirad was upset. But so was he. His two best friends were in the palace as prisoners of the murderous gorgons and there was no obvious way to help them. Reluctantly he lifted the bowl to his lips and tasted the food. As she watched him, he was forced to swallow the sticky black goo. Cupid was right. Despite how bad it smelled, it really was quite good.
‘Delicious,’ he said, smiling up to the huge female Nirad. ‘Thank you.’
That seemed to satisfy her as she nodded and lumbered out of the room.
When they were alone, Steve sat up slowly. ‘All right everyone. Jupiter is on his way here. But Emily and Joel don’t know that he’s been warned. We’ve got to get in there to let them know. Emily must not use her powers against him.’
‘She would not,’ Paelen said. ‘She would never hurt Jupiter.’
‘Can you be so sure?’ Steve asked seriously. ‘Paelen, you know my daughter. Answer me truthfully. Whom does Emily care more for: Pegasus and Joel, or Jupiter? Who would she save if it came down to a choice?’
Paelen paused and thought back to everything he knew about Emily. She cared for Jupiter. But in truth, if their lives were at stake, there was no question who she would choose. Paelen quickly stood. ‘We must get in there before Emily kills Jupiter!’
‘So we are agreed?’ Steve asked. ‘We let the Nirads capture us and take us into the throne room.’
‘I do not like this plan,’ Cupid said. ‘It will get us all turned to stone.’
‘Perhaps,’ Paelen said. ‘But we have no choice. Toban says there is only one way in and out of the palace. We must get into that throne room. If you two distract the gorgons, I can sneak in and get the message to Emily and Joel. We must let Emily know Jupiter has been warned and that he is coming to fight the gorgons.’
‘Yes, it’s risky,’ Steve agreed. ‘But we don’t have much choice.’ He stepped up to the young prince. ‘Toban, your sister knows the plan, right?’ When the prince nodded his pink head, Steve continued. ‘Good. Tell her to let the gorgons know you have just captured two more people at the cave and are bringing us in.’
The prince closed his eyes. A moment later he nodded and grunted.
‘OK, boys, let’s get moving.’
27
Emily couldn’t keep her eyes off the marble statues of Diana and Apollo standing at either side of the thrones. The pain of transformation was carved on to their stone faces, reminding her of the horrors yet to come.
She looked over to Pegasus and her heart constricted. Her beloved stallion was leaning against the bars of his cage. His heavy stone leg was still raised in the air. Every few minutes he cried out as the stone hoof grazed the floor.
‘It won’t be long now, Pegs,’ she promised softly. ‘You’ll see. Joel will let everyone know what’s happening. Jupiter and the others will be here soon. Then I can heal you.’ Emily said the words as much to reassure herself as to help Pegasus. It seemed like ages since Joel left. She prayed that Chrysaor hadn’t betrayed them again and hurt Joel or even handed him over to the gorgons.
Just when she thought she would go insane from waiting, Tange moved from his post. He came forward and opened the door to Emily’s cage.
‘What is it? Is Joel back?’
Tange nodded. He looked back to the entrance of the throne room. Emily followed his eyes and heard the sound of running footsteps. In the front cage, the queen sat up and made several urgent calls.
Joel finally appeared. He dashed towards the cage. Tange held open the door and locked it after him, then returned quickly to his post.
Emily threw her arms around him as he collapsed to the floor beside her. ‘I was so scared,’ she said. ‘I thought Chrysaor might have betrayed you.’
Joel was panting heavily and covered in a light film of sweat. ‘No, he didn’t,’ he gasped. ‘But when we got back here, we heard the gorgons coming down the stairs. So Chrysaor had to leave me to find my own way in here. We couldn’t risk him being seen.’
‘Did you reach Olympus?’
Joel nodded and wiped down his face. ‘But everyone was gone. Olympus is deserted and we don’t know where Jupiter is.’ As he caught his breath, Joel quickly explained what had happened.
‘So my dad is actually here in this world?’ Emily asked. ‘Is he all right?’
‘He’s fine,’ Joel said. ‘He won’t be running any marathons this year, but he is up and moving. So is Cupid, though his wing is still broken.’
Emily sat back against the cage bars, stunned. She had always feared that her policeman father would one day get shot in the line of duty. But to hear he’d been hurt fighting the Nirads … It terrified her to think what could have happened to him. Now they were in the same world and facing the terrible gorgons.
Before she could find out more, the gorgons flew into the throne room. Their expressions were darker and even more threatening than the day before. Their tempers were up and they were ready to blow.
‘Where are your warriors with Jupiter?’ Stheno demanded as she flew over to the golden cage. ‘They should have been here by now!’
The queen looked up at Stheno and spoke softly.
‘I do not care what he does!’ Stheno spat. ‘Tell them to strike him. Knock him out! Tear his arms off if they must. Just get him here. This is why we chose you to fight our battles – because Jupiter’s powers are useless against you.’
Euryale moved closer to the braided gold bars of the queen’s cage. Her bronze hands hovered threateningly before them. ‘Segan, you will command your warriors to get moving or I will have more children brought in here. You will watch their suffering as we slowly turn them to stone!’
Dark tears trailed down the queen’s pink cheeks. She closed her eyes and raised her head. After a time, she opened them again and spoke softly.
Stheno smiled in satisfaction. Her tiny gold wings flapped as she flew off the dais and landed before Emily and Joel’s cage. ‘It will not be long now, Flame of Olympus. Jupiter has just entered the Solar Stream.’
The tension in the throne room was intense. The gorgons paced impatiently in front of the dais. ‘What is taking so long?’ Euryale demanded of the queen. ‘One Olympian against all your warriors should be easy to contain. What is happening?’
The queen grunted softly and held up her four arms.
‘Excuses, always excuses!’ Euryale roared. ‘Tell them to hurry or you will feel my wrath!’
The queen closed her eyes and raised her head.
‘Calm, sister,’ Stheno said. ‘Our time is nearly here. Soon Jupiter will be dead and we will rule Olympus and all the worlds along the Solar Stream. The murderers of our beloved sister will know our pain and rage. Medusa will be avenged.’
‘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 w
ho 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.’
28
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.
