The Flame of Olympus

by Kate O'Hearn

  ‘Doctor, he’s awake,’ said a woman from beside the bed.

  Paelen focused his eyes on a man in a long white coat approaching the bed.

  ‘Welcome back to the land of the living, young man. I’m Doctor Bernstein and you are in Belleview hospital. We thought we were going to lose you there for a bit. That was a rather nasty fall you took.’

  Paelen said nothing as the man leaned forward and shone a bright light in his eyes. When he finished, he straightened again and whistled. ‘I’ll be darned if I know how you’re doing it, but you are healing faster than anyone I’ve ever treated before. At this rate, those broken bones of yours will be knitted together in no time. As it is, that burn on your back is healing even as we watch.’

  Switching off the light, he put it in his pocket. ‘Now, can you tell me your name?’

  As Paelen opened his mouth to speak, the lights in the room flickered and dimmed.

  ‘I hope the generators keep working,’ said the woman as she looked up at the lights. ‘I’ve heard the blackout hit the whole city. They’re saying it’s as bad as the one in seventy-seven.’

  Paelen understood the words, but not their meaning. What was a ‘blackout’? Seventy-seven what? What did it all mean?

  ‘The generators are fine, Mary,’ said Doctor Bernstein. He reached out to touch Paelen’s arm reassuringly. ‘The hospital has spent a fortune keeping the back-up generators serviced. So don’t you worry about a thing, we have plenty of electricity and you are perfectly safe.’

  Paelen was about to ask where he was when a new person entered the room. Dressed in dark clothing, the man drew up to the side of the bed.

  ‘I’m Officer Jacobs from the Fourteenth Precinct,’ said the man, holding up his police badge. ‘I’ve been called in to take the details of your mystery patient. So, is this the young man who fell from the sky?’

  The doctor and nurse nodded.

  ‘I’m Doctor Bernstein,’ the doctor said, offering his hand. ‘This is Nurse Johnston. As for my patient, well, I don’t as yet know his name. But I was just about to ask.’

  Officer Jacobs opened his notebook. ‘Allow me.’ He turned his attention to Paelen. ‘So young man, can you give us your name?’

  Inhaling deeply, Paelen raised his hand in a flourish and bowed as best he could in the bed. ‘I am Paelen the Magnificent, at your service.’

  ‘Paelen the Magnificent?’ Doctor Bernstein repeated as his eyebrows rose. ‘Paelen the Lucky, more like.’ He turned to the police officer. ‘This young man was found in the middle of 26th Street and Broadway. The paramedics think he was at a costume party, stood too close to a window and was struck by lightning. They think he might have fallen out. We’ve been treating lightning burns and electrocutions like his all night. Though I must admit, most of the others haven’t been so lucky.’

  ‘Were you hit by lightning?’ Officer Jacobs asked Paelen.

  Paelen thought back to the last thing he remembered and frowned. ‘Perhaps, but I am uncertain.’

  Officer Jacobs started to write. ‘All right then, Paelen, can you give me your last name? Where do you come from? Where do you live so we can notify your family and tell them you are here?’

  Paelen looked at both men, then at the strange room again. Suddenly his thief’s instinct took over and told him not to say anything more about himself or where he came from. ‘I – I do not remember.’

  ‘Don’t remember?’ Dr. Bernstein repeated. ‘Well, you did have a rather nasty knock on your head. Though I’m sure the memory loss is only temporary. Maybe this will help …’ He crossed over to the small cupboard against the far wall. He pulled out a bag and poured out the contents on to the bed.

  ‘When you were found, this was all you were wearing: this small tunic and this pair of winged sandals. You were clutching this horse’s bridle. We had a nightmare of a time prying it out of your hands.’

  ‘Those are mine,’ Paelen protested as he tried to grab the items. ‘I want them back!’

  ‘Hey, that looks like real gold,’ the police officer said as he reached for the bridle. Feeling its heavy weight, he frowned. ‘Feels like real gold too.’

  ‘You cannot have that!’ Paelen cried as he snatched at the bridle. He winced when it pulled at his broken ribs. ‘I told you it is mine.’

  ‘Where did you get it?’ Officer Jacobs demanded.

  ‘Get it?’ Paelen repeated. ‘I, I,’ he paused as he tried to out-think these strange people. Finally a solution came to him. ‘It was a gift.’

  ‘A gift?’ the officer repeated curiously. ‘You’re telling me that you can’t remember your full name or where you came from, but you can remember that this was a gift?’

  ‘Yes,’ Paelen said confidently. ‘That is correct. It was a gift.’

  Officer Jacobs moved closer to the bed and frowned. ‘Well, Paelen, shall I tell you what I think?’ Not waiting for an answer he continued. ‘I don’t think this was a gift at all. In fact, I don’t believe you fell out any window. I think you were pushed.’ He held up the bridle. ‘If this is real gold, which I think it is, then it’s got to be worth a fortune. I’m sure someone of your age wouldn’t be getting it as a gift. Tell me, how old are you? Sixteen? Seventeen maybe? So I’ll ask you again, where did you get it?’

  Paelen wasn’t about to tell them how old he was or that he hadn’t been pushed out any window. He especially couldn’t tell them about the bridle or from whom he’d taken it. Instead he shrugged. ‘I cannot remember.’

  ‘That’s a very convenient memory of yours,’ suggested Officer Jacobs. ‘You say this was a gift, but you won’t say who gave it to you.’

  He next turned his attention to the beautifully tooled winged sandals. Fine, colourful feathers adorned the tiny wings and beautiful cut diamonds, sapphires and rubies had been sewn into the soft leather.

  ‘What can you tell me about these? They also look very valuable.’ Officer Jacobs winked at the doctor before he chuckled, “Or do you want to tell us that Mercury, messenger of the Gods gave them to you?’

  ‘That is correct,’ Paelen simply answered.

  ‘What’s correct?’ Officer Jacobs said, suddenly confused.

  ‘They were a gift from Mercury.’ Paelen dropped his eyes and felt his throat tighten. ‘He gave them to me before he died.’

  Officer Jacobs frowned and shook his head. ‘What? Who died? Paelen, tell me, who gave you these sandals before they died?’

  Paelen felt the conversation turning in the wrong direction. ‘No one. I told you, they were a gift.’

  ‘No, you just said someone died. I know it wasn’t Mercury. So who was it? Where are they now?’

  ‘I was wrong,’ Paelen said defensively. ‘Mercury did not die. The Nirads are not invading Olympus and there is no war. Everyone is fine and happy.’

  ‘Nirads? Olympus?’ Officer Jacobs repeated. ‘What are you talking about?’

  Paelen realized he’d said too much. ‘I … I don’t remember. My head hurts.’

  He was grateful when Doctor Bernstein stepped forward. ‘I think that’s enough for now, Officer. This young man has obviously been through a terrible ordeal. It’s best if we let him rest.’

  The police officer kept his sharp eyes on Paelen, but finally nodded. ‘All right, we’ll leave it there for the moment.’ He started to put the bridle, sandals and toga back in the hospital bag. ‘But in the meantime, I think I’ll hold on to these until we can figure out who they belong to.’

  Paelen started to panic. He’d fought very hard to get that bridle from Pegasus and didn’t want this man to take it from him. Throwing back the covers, he tried to climb from the bed but found the heavy casts on his legs stopping him. ‘Please, those are mine. You cannot take them.’

  ‘Paelen, calm down.’ Doctor Bernstein gently pushed Paelen back against the pillows. ‘You can’t walk. Both your legs are broken, as are most of your ribs. You need rest. Officer Jacobs won’t be taking your things far. He’ll just keep them safe until we
can figure out who they belong to.’

  ‘But they belong to me!’ Paelen insisted.

  ‘Doctor?’

  A nurse had entered the room. She was holding a patient chart in her shaking hands. The colour had drained from her face and she appeared to be very frightened as she studied Paelen. With a tremble in her voice, she said, ‘The blood tests on your patient just came back.’

  The nurse handed over the chart as though it were burning her hands. Without waiting for a response, her eyes shot to Paelen a final time before she raced out of the room.

  Shocked by her odd behaviour, Doctor Bernstein opened the chart and read the test results. His expression changed as his eyes darted from the chart to Paelen and then back to the chart again.

  ‘What is it?’ Officer Jacobs asked.

  Saying nothing, Doctor Bernstein shuffled through the papers and checked and re-checked the results. When he finished, he closed the chart and concentrated on Paelen.

  ‘Who or should I say, what the hell are you?’

  5

  Emily was still on the roof with Pegasus.

  Sometime during the seemingly endless night the storm ended just as abruptly as it had begun. The rain stopped and the skies cleared. With the city cast in total darkness from the power outage, for the first time in her life, Emily was able to see stars sparkling in the midnight sky over New York City. She peered up Broadway and listened to the eerie silence. There was some traffic on the wide road, but not much. Only the occasional sounds of a car horn or police siren shattered the overwhelming stillness.

  Pegasus was standing close beside her as she looked down to the world below. Her hand was absently stroking the stallion’s muscled neck.

  ‘It looks so strange down there,’ she said softly. ‘It feels like we’re the only ones left alive in the whole city.’

  Looking at the stallion, Emily still couldn’t believe her eyes. Even touching him didn’t seem to help. It was just so hard to accept that the real Pegasus was actually here in New York City, standing beside her on the roof of her apartment building.

  But as the sun started to rise, she was finally able to see him clearly. The rain had washed most of the mud away, and returned his colour to white. Walking around his side, she saw his left wing was hanging at an odd angle. Without knowing anything about horses, or birds for that matter, she immediately knew the wing was badly broken.

  Further down his back, she was shocked to discover a terrible burn she hadn’t noticed before. She could see the singed hair and open, weeping wound.

  ‘Were you struck by lightning?’

  Pegasus turned his head back to her. As Emily looked into his dark, intelligent eyes, she felt perhaps he could understand her. But he gave no response.

  ‘Well, it must have been the lightning, considering how bad it was last night.’ She sighed before she continued, ‘You poor thing, that must have really hurt.’

  As the light increased, further inspection of the horse’s body revealed that what Emily had first thought was simply mud from the rose patch covering his body, turned out to be blood. A lot of it. Working her way around the stallion, Emily quickly discovered that most of Pegasus’s wounds were not caused by the lightning strike or thorn cuts from the rose bushes.

  ‘You’ve been in a fight!’ she cried as she inspected deep gashes cutting into the stallion’s back and legs. ‘With who? Who’d want to hurt you?’

  Pegasus gave no answer. Instead, he opened his unbroken wing, inviting her to peer beneath. As Emily did, she gasped. Hidden under the fold of the wing was the exposed end of a broken spear. The other end went deep into Pegasus’s rear flank.

  ‘You’ve been stabbed!’

  With trembling hands, Emily felt around the spear wound.

  ‘It goes in so deep,’ she said. ‘I have to do something. Maybe call a vet.’

  Pegasus whinnied and shook his head wildly. Emily didn’t need to speak his language to know he didn’t want her contacting anyone else.

  ‘But you’re hurt!’ she insisted. ‘And I don’t know what to do to help you.’

  Once again, Pegasus snorted, pawed the tarmac roof and shook his head. He then turned back to her and nuzzled her hand. Emily stroked his soft muzzle and rested her forehead against him. It had been an endless night and exhaustion was taking hold.

  ‘You need help, Pegasus,’ she said softly. ‘More help than I can give you.’

  To the east, the sun finally climbed over the top of a tall building. It shone golden light on the rooftop garden and felt wonderful on Emily’s tired face. It also made her realize that anyone in a building taller than hers would now be able to see Pegasus on the roof.

  ‘We’ve got to get you under cover,’ she warned. ‘If anyone sees you, they might call someone who’ll take you away.’

  Pegasus quickly shook his head, snorted and started pawing the tarmac roof with his sharp hoof again.

  ‘Don’t worry. I won’t let that happen,’ Emily promised. ‘We’ll just have to find somewhere to hide you until that wing heals.’

  Her first thought had been to take Pegasus down to her apartment. Then her father could come and help figure things out. But that thought was quickly dismissed. Even though the freight elevator made it up to the roof, it wasn’t working with the power off. The stairs were not an option either. If she were to hide Pegasus, it would have to be up here.

  Then her eyes landed on her mother’s large garden shed. ‘That will have to do. I know it’s probably not what you are used to, but for now, it’s all we’ve got.’

  With Pegasus patiently watching, Emily quickly emptied the shed of all the garden furniture and potting supplies. When she finished, she was surprised by how much room there was inside.

  ‘Well, it’s not fancy,’ she said as brushed dirt off her hands and invited Pegasus in. ‘But at least it will keep you hidden until we figure this out. Is that all right with you?’

  Pegasus stepped forward and entered the shed.

  With the immediate problem solved, Emily put her hands on her hips and looked at the stallion. ‘Next, we should get those wounds of yours cleaned. We can’t let them get infected. So if you stay here, I’ll go down to my apartment and get some water and clean cloths.’

  As she drew away, the stallion began to follow her. Emily shook her head and smiled. ‘You have to stay here, Pegasus. You won’t make it down the stairs and the elevator isn’t working. I promise I’ll be right back.’

  Back in her apartment, Emily raced into the bathroom. She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and received quite a shock. She was a mess. Rose leaves and petals were tangled in her hair and her face and arms were covered in dried mud and blood from the thorns. But most shocking of all was the huge black eye. As she prodded the tender area, she found the entire right side of her face was bruised and painfully swollen from where Pegasus’s wing had struck her.

  ‘Great,’ she muttered to herself. ‘What are you going to tell Dad about that?’

  She decided to worry about that later. Instead she opened the medicine cabinet. It was still filled with all the medicated creams they’d used to treat her mother’s sores when her illness had confined her to bed. Neither she nor her father had had the heart to throw them out. For once, she was grateful.

  Grabbing all she could, Emily then went into the kitchen. There she gathered together clean dish towels, disinfectant soap and one of the large pots of collected water.

  As she packed the items into bags, she noticed a pool of water on the tile floor in front of the refrigerator. Without power, the freezer section was starting to defrost. Pulling open the door, she saw two tubs of ice cream mixed in with the thawing bags of frozen vegetables. She suddenly felt very hungry. She hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the previous day.

  Emily reached for one of the tubs, grabbed a spoon and put it in her bag of supplies for the roof. She then thought to take some carrots, fresh green beans and a few apples for Pegasus.

  She caught
hold of the flashlight and headed back up to the roof.

  The sun was steadily climbing higher in the sky. But as she stepped out on the roof, Emily still found the city was unnervingly quiet. It was Wednesday. Usually the garbage trucks were out early making all the noise they possibly could. But not today. With the blackout, Emily figured they would have the day off. She also assumed her school would be closed. Even if it wasn’t, she wasn’t going in. Pegasus needed her, school didn’t.

  ‘I’m back,’ she called as she walked up to the garden shed. Part of her expected to find nothing there; as though everything that had happened the previous night had been some kind of strange dream. But as she approached, she heard the sound of hooves moving on the shed floorboards.

  Pegasus poked his white head out and nickered softly to her.

  ‘Told you I wouldn’t be long,’ Emily said as she started to unpack the bags. ‘OK, I’ve got some water here, a bit of disinfectant soap and some medicated creams we used to treat my mom’s bedsores. The package says it’s good for burns too. So I thought it might help you.’

  Pegasus peered into the bags as she unpacked them. Emily giggled as his long mane tickled her face. He soon found the tub of ice cream and pulled it out of the bag.

  ‘Hey, that’s for me,’ Emily complained as she tried to reach for the tub. ‘I’ve got some apples and vegetables for you.’

  But the stallion ignored her. Putting the tub on the ground, Pegasus used his hoof to hold it still while his sharp teeth tore off the top. His long tongue started to lick the melting chocolate ice cream.

  ‘I don’t know if you should be eating that,’ Emily warned. ‘Chocolate isn’t good for dogs, maybe it’s the same for horses.’

  Pegasus stopped and looked at Emily. The expression on his face gave her the impression that he didn’t much care for being called a horse.

  ‘Well, I’m sorry,’ Emily said. ‘I just don’t want you to get sick. You’ve got enough problems already.’

  Pegasus stared at her a moment longer before going back to the ice cream.