by Kate O'Hearn
“Go ahead,” Melissa said. She screeched, and a Mimic came closer.
Jake held up his hand. “That’s close enough.”
The Mimic looked at him, and its bulbous brows drew together in a frown. “What are you doing with this queen, spawn?”
Jake looked over at Paelen and Joel. “The Mimics call us ‘spawn’ because we’re young.” He focused on the Mimic again. “Where is the First Queen? This queen’s mother?”
The Mimic snorted. “I don’t have to answer you. You are nothing.”
Melissa screeched and lowered her head close to the Mimic. “Tell him what he wants to know, or I’ll slap you really hard!”
The Mimic bowed its head. “The First Queen is far from here. We brought the two grubs here for their Trial of Worthiness. Other pairs of grubs will be sent in other directions for their Trials of Worthiness. We must keep them apart or they will kill each other and no queens will rise.”
“Trial of Worthiness?” Chiron repeated.
“I think they mean the fight that Melissa got hurt in,” Jake offered. “It’s a fight to the death so the winner becomes a Risen Queen.” Jake turned his attention to the Mimic again. “How many new queens will there be?”
The Mimic spat, “There will be many, and you will all be defeated!”
Melissa moved faster than Jake could follow. Her upper limb swooped down and struck the Mimic. It flew across the camp and smashed into a tree. “Oops,” Melissa said. “I didn’t mean to do that.…”
Everyone in the camp gasped at the speed and strength of the mantis.
“Jake…,” Steve warned.
Jake turned back to him. “She’s fine. She’s just young and doesn’t know her strength.”
Melissa looked back at Steve. “I really didn’t want to do that. I said I’d slap him. It just got away from me. But”—she looked back at the Mimics—“if any of them try to hurt any of you, I can’t say what I’ll do.” She called another Mimic forward.
Before asking the same question, Jake frowned and looked back at Melissa. “Say, can you feel your mother? Do you know where she is?”
Melissa rose to her full height and closed her eyes as her head rotated around. After a moment, she came back down. “Sorry, I can’t feel a thing. I know she’s out there, but I don’t know where.”
“Thanks for trying,” Jake said. He focused on the Mimic and repeated his question. “Where is the First Queen? Is she in the city near where you kept the prisoners?”
“No,” the Mimic answered. “She is far. She is safe. You will not defeat us!”
“Stop being so rotten!” Melissa shoved the Mimic back with her head and commanded another to come forward.
The Mimic looked up at the queen.
“Go on, answer him,” she commanded.
“She is three days away,” the Mimic said.
“Which direction?” Diana asked.
The Mimic turned and pointed. “She is that way. But you will not reach her. She will stop you. We all will.”
A pebble was shot through the Mimic, and it started to melt. Jake looked back and saw Diana lowering her arm. “He had a bad attitude.”
It took the better part of the day and multiple Mimics to get the details they needed to find the First Queen. Even though the Mimics bowed to Melissa, they were belligerent and uncooperative with the Titans and sometimes refused to answer. That never ended well for them, with Diana’s temper.
The remaining Mimics were ordered to stay just outside the camp. Jake was amazed that they obeyed, considering they back-talked the Titans. But every command Melissa gave was followed.
When Jake questioned her about it, she answered that she didn’t know how it worked—it just did. Steve heard the question and suggested, “It could be pheromones. Queen bees give them off to send messages through the hive. You’ve said these Mimics are like a hive. I imagine it’s the same. They smell her and know she’s a queen.”
“Ew,” Melissa said. “You’re saying I smell?”
Steve chuckled. “We all have smells and scents, Melissa. Not just you. But yours can really help us with the Mimics.”
“Oh, that’s okay, then,” the tall mantis said.
In a while, the captured Shadow Titans were posted around the camp, completely encircling it. The battle had been brief but brutal, and several of the planet’s original inhabitants had fallen, while multiple Titans and Olympians had been badly wounded.
When all the injured were treated as best they could be, everyone gathered in the middle of the camp. Jake, Angie, Paelen, and Joel were off to the side with Melissa. The Fallen Queen was quite happy to be included in the discussions and stood proudly among them.
“Three days to get to the queen the way Mimics travel should be one and a half or two for us, if we run,” Diana was saying. “We can mount an assault against her before she spawns again.”
“It will be very dangerous,” Apollo said. “Many of us will fall. But we must do this.”
Melissa leaned down to Jake and whispered, “You don’t think they’ll want me to go, do you?” she asked softly. “She is my mother. I’m not sure I could fight her. You know how I feel about violence.”
“I do,” Jake said. “But what happens if she or one of your sisters tries to kill you? Please tell me you’ll defend yourself. I don’t want to see you hurt again.”
“You may not have a choiccce, Melissssa,” Nesso said. “The First Queen may sssee you asss a rival or a threat to her plansss of ssspreading through the ssstarsss.”
“Rival?” Melissa repeated. “I’m not a rival. I don’t want to be a queen and I don’t want anything to do with the Mimics.” She paused. “But if they try to hurt you, I will defend you.”
“And we’ll defend you, too,” Angie said.
The discussions continued until it was dark. A large bonfire was lit, and everyone stayed around it. They all felt a bit safer now that the camp was protected by Melissa and the Shadow Titans. When the discussions ended, they retired to their caves.
With Melissa too big to go into the cave, Jake and Angie settled down outside to stay with her. They had only just started to doze off when a familiar voice called from above.
“Hey, Jake! Jake!”
Jake woke and looked up and screamed. Tryn was on his skateboard gliding down into camp. When he touched down, they embraced like long-lost brothers.
“You found us!” Jake cried. He checked the sky behind Tryn. “Where is everyone? I thought Astraea, Zephyr, and Triana would be with you.”
“They’re safe.” Tryn looked around the camp. “I can’t believe you found the missing Titans. Is Riza here?”
“No,” Jake said. “I don’t know where she is. These people were locked in a prison and forced to kill animals to make Mimic food. It was awful. Chiron is here, and he said that there are more camps. But we did find two of Astraea’s brothers. Her other two are still missing.”
“She’ll be thrilled,” Tryn said. “We’ll use our boards to find the others.”
When Tryn reached into his backpack, he pulled out Jake’s skateboard.
Jake clutched it gratefully. “I thought this was gone forever!”
“No, we kept it for you,” Tryn said.
Melissa came up. “Jake, who is this?”
Tryn’s eyes opened wide at the sight of the massive mantis. “Um… Jake?”
“Tryn, this is Melissa,” Jake said lightly. He turned back to the mantis. “Didn’t you see him in my mind? He’s, like, my best friend.”
“Oh, yeah, now I remember. Howdy, Tryn,” Melissa said as her large head came down to Tryn’s level.
“Hello,” Tryn said nervously.
Jake patted Melissa’s tall insectoid leg. “Angie and I found Melissa when she was a grub. She’d been hurt by her sister in a fight. The Mimics wanted her to die, but she lived, and now look at her. Isn’t she magnificent!”
“She sure is,” Tryn said. He looked at the mantis. “Why were you fighting with your sister?”
&
nbsp; “It was a challenge to see who would rise to be a queen. I wouldn’t fight, so I am fallen,” Melissa answered.
“You’re a queen in our eyes,” Jake said proudly.
“Aw, thanks,” Melissa said coyly.
“This is a Mimic queen?” Tryn gasped.
Jake nodded. “Not what I expected either.”
“You’re not like Jake, or the others,” Melissa said to Tryn. “You smell and look different.”
“I am from a different world. But we are good friends.”
“That’s totally awesome. Can I be your friend too?” Melissa asked.
Tryn nodded and looked at Jake with raised eyebrows. “Totally awesome?”
Jake whispered, “It’s complicated, but we shared a connection through a tendril. I experienced her life and she did mine. Now she sometimes talks like a Californian.”
Vulcan charged forward. “Tryn!” He scooped him up in a bear hug. “It is wonderful to see you!”
Soon everyone was gathered around and stories were shared. Jake told Tryn everything he and Angie had been through, and Tryn shared the events leading to this moment.
Joel threw his arms around Paelen and lifted him into the air. “Em’s alive! Did you hear that? Em is alive!”
“Joel, stop. You are crushing me!” Paelen cried.
“She’s safe,” Tryn said. “They’re in another city, far from here. It’s taken me two days and nights to fly here. After we rescued Emily, Zephyr and Pegasus managed to drown two young queens.”
Tryn realized what he’d said and looked at Melissa. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to tell you like that. They were your sisters.”
“We aren’t a close family,” Melissa spat. “If I saw them, I wouldn’t even speak to them!”
Steve approached Tryn. “I’ve got to get back to Emily. Please, Tryn, take me on that board of yours and let’s go.”
Diana shook her head. “Steve, I know you want to see Emily again. So do I. But we cannot. She is with Pegasus and is safe; that is enough for now. We dare not waste precious time going to see her when we should be going after the First Queen. We must stop her from spawning and sending out new queens to take over more worlds. You are strong and a valuable fighter.”
Jake could see the fatherly conflict in Steve. He needed to see his daughter. But Diana was right, they had to go after the First Queen before she spawned again. “Steve, please go with everyone.” Jake looked back at Tryn. “We’ll go get the others and join you.”
Tryn took off his ring and handed it to Diana. “Here, it’s a Solar Stream ring. You can use it to send the injured members of your group back to Xanadu to recover.”
“Thank you, Tryn,” Diana said. “We will.”
“What about me?” Melissa asked. “You’re not going to leave me here?”
“No way,” Jake said. “You’re coming with us too.”
“Cool,” Melissa said.
Tryn looked at the Fallen Queen. “It will be dangerous for her to come with us. Lergo is rampaging through the streets. It may smell her.”
“She can fly; she’ll be fine,” Jake said. “But we’re not leaving her.”
“I wasn’t saying leave her,” Tryn said. “Maybe she should go with the others.”
Melissa shook her triangular head. “No way. I’m staying with Jake, Nesso, and Angie.”
“Fine,” Tryn said. “But we have to get moving.”
“Wait.” Astraea’s brother Vulturnus rushed forward. “Please, take me with you. My brother and I have been frantic about Astraea. Aquilo is too weak to move and must go to Xanadu. I am not strong enough yet to fight with the others. But I am recovering. Please, let me see my sister.”
Jake looked at Steve, knowing he’d been told he couldn’t go to see Emily. Was it fair to take Vulturnus?
“It’s all right,” Steve said. “Take Vulturnus to his sister. I will see Emily soon.”
Jake nodded. “All right, climb onto my board. But we must go now. Each moment we waste, more grubs will be hatched, and more queens will rise.”
“Go,” Chiron called. “We will meet you on the way to the First Queen.”
23
THREE DAYS HAD PASSED SINCE tryn had left. Astraea was frantic with worry that something terrible had happened to him. Considering how Lergo nearly got her and Zephyr, she was frightened that the snake had caught him.
In the front room of the apartment, Pegasus was inconsolable as Emily remained unmoving in the bed.
“I cannot wait any longer,” Pegasus said. “I must take Emily back to Arious. She helped Emily once before; she may do so again.”
“We can’t leave,” Astraea said. “We have to wait for Tryn.”
“I know,” Pegasus said. “That is why I am going to take her to Arious alone and then return.”
“You’re leaving?” Cylus said as he and the centaurs entered the room carrying a plate of ambrosia cakes.
“I must,” Pegasus said. “You have seen her. Emily is not recovering. Her only hope now is on Xanadu. Then, if anyone is left there, I will bring them back to help find the others.”
Astraea hated the thought of Pegasus and Emily leaving, but the stallion was right. Despite their care, Emily wasn’t recovering. “When do you want to go?”
“Right now,” Pegasus said. “There is no point waiting. The sooner I go, the sooner I can return. While I am gone, I am asking you, please do not leave here. This is where I will return to.”
“Of course,” Astraea said. “We’ll be here.”
Pegasus looked at the centaurs. “Will you lift Emily onto my back?” Then he turned to Astraea and Triana. “We are going to need to tie her on. Would you find something that could work?”
Within a few minutes, Emily was on Pegasus’s back. Her hands were tied beneath his neck and her legs were tied together going under his stomach. Cylus stepped back and inspected his work.
“As long as you don’t try anything too fancy, she should stay there.”
Pegasus nodded. “I will be especially careful.” He paused and looked at each of them. “There are no words that could convey my gratitude to you all for helping me find my Emily.…”
“Don’t go getting all mushy on us, Pegasus,” Cylus said uncomfortably.
Pegasus nickered in humor. “All right, I will not. Instead I will simply say thank you.” He walked forward to the wall. “Astraea, would you use your ring, please? It will be faster than me flying up into the Solar Stream.”
“Of course.” Astraea followed him over to the wide lounge wall. She hugged his neck. “See you soon.”
Pegasus rested his head against her. “Yes, I will be back shortly.” He raised his head and looked over to Zephyr. “You behave yourself, young lady.”
Zephyr looked around. “What? Why’s he looking at me like that?”
They all smiled as Astraea held up the ring. “Take Pegasus to Xanadu, inside the Temple of Arious to the corridor outside her chamber.”
The Solar Stream burst to life. Pegasus took a step forward and then looked back at everyone. “I promise you all, I will be back, and then we can end this.”
They called their good-byes as he walked into the blazing light. When he was gone, Astraea closed the portal. The room suddenly sounded painfully quiet.
“So now what?” Cylus said. “We just sit here and wait?”
“We promised Pegasus we would stay here,” Astraea said. “Besides, we don’t know where Tryn is, and I don’t think we can find the queen on our own.”
“Why not?” Render asked. “You have the Solar Stream ring; use it.”
“To go where?” Astraea said. “Even if we wanted to leave, we need the name of our destination. I doubt saying ‘Take us to the queen’ will work.”
“Well… well…,” Cylus said. “Well, we can’t just sit here.”
Astraea started counting off on her fingers. “So our choices are, we stay and wait a bit longer, or we use the Solar Stream and go back to Xanadu or Titus.”
“So am I,” Astraea said.
“Well, I haven’t anything important to do on Xanadu,” Zephyr said. “Guess I’ll stay too.”
Astraea looked over to the centaurs. “If you want to go, I understand.”
“No way,” Cylus said. “We’re not leaving you here. I just hate waiting around.” He looked at Darek and Render. “We could go out tonight and try to find some trees to make more arrows and spears.”
“That’s a great idea,” Render agreed. “As long as we have something to do other than sit around.”
“We did see trees,” Zephyr said, “but they are a long, long way from here, and with Lergo in the area, well, you know.” Zephyr looked at Astraea in quiet understanding of what had happened to them with the snake.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t look in this building,” Astraea suggested. “We could even break through to the building next door. There’s lots of stuff here we could use, like doorframes and the doors themselves!”
“Or the floor,” Zephyr offered. “This is wood. So is most of the furniture.”
Cylus looked around and considered. “You’re right, there’s lots right here we could use. While we get started, would you draw more venom from your two snakes?”
“Sure,” Astraea agreed. “Let’s get to work.”
* * *
They spent the whole day going through the apartment building, looking for anything to convert into weapons. By nightfall, they had pieces of broken doors and furniture that they were trimming down to points using knives that they took from several kitchens. While the centaurs did their best to make arrows, Astraea and Triana sharpened the ends of planks to make into spears.
As fatigue set in, the centaurs settled down in the lounge to rest. Triana retired to her bedroom while Astraea and Zephyr returned to theirs. They slept, woke, and then slept again. When Astraea woke again, she peered over to the window. It was still dark out, but she knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep. She wondered if Pegasus had made it to Xanadu yet, and if Arious had told him what her parents had said when they’d found out where she, Zephyr, and the others had gone.
