The Flame of Olympus

by Kate O'Hearn

  They watched the rain together. It was coming down heavily again and she worried about Joel. Emily lost all track of time until she heard Joel calling her name from the stairwell.

  ‘Are you all right?’ she raced over to him.

  ‘I will be once I throw up,’ he panted, leaning heavily against the stairwell door frame.

  Emily reached for the bags in his hands and was shocked by the weight. ‘How much did you buy?’

  ‘As much as I could. It’s crazy out there. People are shopping like it’s the end of the world! I had to fight an old lady for the last two bottles of honey. Don’t even ask me what it was like on the cereal aisle.’

  In the shed, Pegasus started to neigh.

  ‘Someone’s hungry again,’ Joel said, tired. He pulled out a box of colourful kids’ cereal and tore it open. He held it out for Pegasus to eat.

  ‘He’s more than hungry,’ Emily said. ‘Something is really bothering him.’

  ‘Do you have any idea what it is?’ Joel asked.

  Emily shook her head. ‘Whatever it is, I have a feeling it isn’t good.’

  After making sure Pegasus had enough to eat, they went back down to the apartment and unpacked the rest of the food.

  ‘My dad is due home shortly,’ Emily said. ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to meet him just yet.’

  ‘Why?’ Joel asked, looking hurt. ‘Don’t you want him to meet me?’

  ‘Joel, my dad is a cop,’ Emily pointed out. ‘It’s his nature to be suspicious. If he finds out you’re in care, he’ll want to contact your foster parents and they may want to take you away. Pegasus needs both of us.’

  ‘So what are you suggesting?’ Joel asked.

  Emily sighed. ‘I really hate to lie to him. But I think you should stay here, but keep hidden.’

  ‘Where?’ he said, looking around at the apartment. ‘This place isn’t that big.’

  ‘I guess you could stay in my room.’

  ‘Where will you stay?’

  ‘In my room too,’ Emily said. ‘There’s plenty of space on the floor. Besides, we’ll be spending most of our time with Pegs. It’s only for when my dad is around. And with the blackout, he’s working double shifts.’

  ‘I could always stay up on the roof with Pegasus,’ Joel suggested.

  Emily shook her head. ‘It’s still raining. You can’t sleep outside, you’ll freeze to death.’

  ‘But what if your dad catches me?’

  ‘You’re going to have to be careful so he doesn’t,’ said Emily. ‘That’s all.’

  Joel shrugged. ‘That’s easier said than done.’

  The moment Emily’s father returned from work, Joel dashed into Emily’s bedroom. Despite his concerns, Joel kept hidden and actually slept well on the floor beside Emily’s bed. By the time he rose the next morning, Emily was already up and her father had left for work again.

  ‘Sleep all right?’ she asked as she handed him a glass of orange juice.

  ‘Great,’ he said. ‘I think that’s probably the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a very long time.’

  When they arrived back on the roof, Pegasus was in a state. He was out of the shed, snorting and pawing angrily at the ground. His sharp hooves had cut deep trenches in the tarmac. Emily realized if they didn’t stop him soon, he might make it all the way through to the apartment.

  ‘What is it, Pegs?’ Emily cried, racing over to the stallion. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Emily, look,’ Joel said, pointing at the stallion’s food. ‘He hasn’t touched a thing. I wonder if all the sugar is starting to make him sick.’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Emily stroked the stallion’s neck. She could feel every nerve in his body tensing. ‘But he doesn’t look sick. Look at his eyes, Joel, Pegasus is frightened.’

  ‘Of what?’

  Emily shrugged. ‘Whatever it is, if it’s got him frightened, it’s got to be bad.’

  All morning Emily and Joel remained with Pegasus. Instead of calming, the stallion grew more agitated. He pawed the tarmac and succeeded in tearing a hole in the roof. Emily could now see down into her father’s bedroom.

  ‘How are we going to explain that?’ she cried. ‘Pegs, please – you have to calm down!’

  Yet no matter what they tried, there was nothing they could do to calm the stallion.

  As the afternoon wore on, they heard loud, warning voices calling from the tall building across the street.

  ‘Oh no!’ Emily looked desperately over to the people standing before their open windows. They were pointing and shouting at the roof. ‘Joel, they’ve seen Pegasus!’

  Joel stared at the groups of people gathering in the various windows. He could see more than curiosity on their faces. He saw fear.

  ‘They look scared too,’ he said. ‘Emily, look at them. They’re not pointing at Pegasus. They’re pointing at the side of your building.’

  As they listened, they heard the voices of the people across the street telling them to get off the roof and run.

  ‘What do they mean, run?’ Emily asked, as she stepped closer to the edge.

  Suddenly Pegasus went mad. He stood on his hind legs and started to scream. As his wings flew open, he hit Emily and knocked her several feet away from the edge. Pegasus reared over her. He was shrieking in rage and kicking out his front legs.

  ‘Emily, get back!’ Joel cried. ‘He’s gone crazy!’

  As Joel tried to drag Emily away, Pegasus lunged forward. Pushing past Joel, he charged the edge of the roof just as a monstrous-looking creature crested the top.

  12

  ‘Joel, look!’ Emily screamed and pointed. Joel turned.

  Several four-armed creatures were climbing over the top edge of the roof. They were pale grey, with mottled skin like marble. Pegasus kicked the first one in the head and sent him tumbling down the side of the building. But as he went for a second creature, a third made it to the top. Letting out a ferocious roar, it lunged at the stallion.

  ‘No!’ Emily howled.

  Joel raced to the stairwell where Emily had left the baseball bat. Catching hold of it, he ran back over to the attacking creature.

  ‘Get off him!’ he howled. ‘Leave him alone!’

  Joel swung the bat. Then he swung it again. But every time it made contact with the creature’s back, it had no effect. The only thing that seemed to slow it down was when Pegasus kicked it with a golden hoof.

  More murderous marble-skinned creatures crawled over the top edge. All focused on Pegasus. All determined to kill the stallion.

  Emily’s instincts took over. She ran to where she had left the contents of the garden shed and picked up a large pitchfork. Raising it in the air, she launched herself at the nearest monster trying to kill Pegasus.

  But as they fought, one of them focused on her. Leaving the stallion, it started to stalk Emily.

  ‘Joel!’ Emily cried. She struck out at the creature. As it drew near, its foul stench was almost overwhelming. Emily could see its eyes were jet black with no whites or colour at all. Its teeth were large sharp points and it was drooling as it made ferocious, guttural sounds.

  The horror attacking her was wearing rags tied loosely around its waist. But its upper half was bare. She could see the thick muscles rippling as it flexed its four arms that ended in filthy hands and fingers with long sharp claws.

  Emily tried to defend herself. But wherever the three points of the pitchfork hit, nothing happened. They simply slipped off the creature’s bare skin as if it were made of steel.

  ‘Go for its eyes!’ Joel shouted, running at the creature with Emily. Raising his bat, he used all his strength to hit it on the back of the head.

  The blow only stunned it for an instant. But it was enough. Emily lunged forward and jammed the points of the pitchfork into its black eyes. Howling in rage, the creature fell to the ground and raised two hands to its face. Black liquid oozed between its fingers and dripped on to the tarmac. Where it hit the roof, the tar started to me
lt and smoke.

  ‘Get down the stairs!’ Joel cried as he raised his bat over the writhing monster.

  ‘I’m not leaving Pegs!’

  Emily ran forward to attack more of the creatures going after Pegasus. The stallion was still rearing on his back legs, kicking out at five attacking monsters. They had learned the damage Pegasus could inflict with his golden hooves and were staying out of his kicking range. Instead, they lunged forward and dipped back, trying to get at the stallion’s exposed underside.

  ‘Fly away, Pegs!’ Emily cried. ‘Get out of here!’

  Instead of leaving, Pegasus shrieked in rage and crashed back down to all fours. He lowered his head and charged through the group of monsters, straight at Emily. Before she could react, he caught her by the shirt and hoisted her off the ground effortlessly. Lifting her easily over his head and wings, in one fluid motion he deposited her squarely on his back.

  Next, he ran at Joel. As with Emily, he caught hold of Joel’s shirt. But instead of tossing him on to his back, Pegasus held Joel firmly in his teeth and ran full speed for the edge of the building. Emily saw what Pegasus was planning and reached forward to catch hold of the stallion’s thick white mane. An instant later, Pegasus launched himself into the air and was spreading his huge white wings.

  Terrified but unable to stop herself, Emily looked down. They were over the edge and soaring twenty storeys above 29th Street.

  ‘Emily, behind you!’ Joel shrieked dangling in Pegasus’s mouth.

  Emily turned. She screamed. A creature had leaped off the building to follow them. But it had misjudged the distance and was barely holding on to the stallion’s back legs. Pegasus kicked out, trying to dislodge it. But it was holding fast. Its sharp claws dug into the stallion’s hind end and slowly started to climb up on to Pegasus’s back. Emily could see the fury and blood lust raging in its bead black eyes. It wanted to kill. More than that – it wanted to kill her.

  She let go of Pegasus’s mane with one hand and slid further down the stallion’s back. Emily started to kick at the creature.

  ‘Be careful!’ Joel warned struggling to turn back to her.

  She knew her only chance was to go for its eyes. But every time she kicked at it, it moved out of her reach.

  Emily repositioned herself to kick again as a grotesque hand sprang forward and caught hold of her left leg. She had never known such pain as the vice-like grip tightened on her calf. The sharp claws cut through her jeans and tore right through her skin to the muscle and bone. Crying in agony, she felt the creature draw her back towards it.

  ‘NO!’ she howled.

  Suddenly Pegasus veered in the sky. They were heading straight for the side of a building. In the instant before they struck, Pegasus maneuvered his wings and turned so the creature and his entire back end smashed into a large window.

  The window exploded with the impact. Shards of jagged glass cut into the back end of the winged stallion. Soon Pegasus’s blood flowed, making his back too slippery for the creature to cling to. As it recovered from the brutal impact with the window, it started to lose its grip. The monster released Emily’s leg and struggled to remain on the stallion.

  Seizing the moment, Emily reached back and started to pry the creature’s fingers away from the stallion’s flank. Raking its claws down the Pegasus’s legs, it came away from the stallion and fell down to the ground twenty storeys below.

  ‘Emily, are you all right?’ Joel called.

  Emily didn’t want to tell her friend about her leg. ‘I’m fine. But Pegasus is bleeding!’ She shouted over the wind at Joel. ‘We have to land.’

  ‘Not here,’ Joel cried. ‘Look!’

  In all the fear and excitement, Emily hadn’t had time to think, let alone notice that Pegasus had lost a lot of height and changed direction. They were now flying up 5th Avenue, only eight or nine storeys high. Despite the blackout, there were thousands of tourists out on the famous street, most of them pointing up at the winged stallion soaring in the sky above them.

  ‘Higher, Pegs, you’ve got to fly higher!’ Emily cried.

  Clinging to his mane, Emily could feel Pegasus trying to force more height out of his wings. But it wasn’t working. They were steadily losing height.

  ‘The park,’ Joel cried. ‘We can hide in Central Park!’

  Emily was in too much pain, and far too frightened for Pegasus to have truly felt the terror of actually flying on the stallion’s back. Let alone on a broken wing that had barely had the chance to heal. Now she clung to his mane, praying that they would make it to the safety of Central Park.

  ‘Come on,’ Emily coaxed. She could see the rise of trees in the distance. ‘Just a little bit further and we can stop!’

  As Pegasus struggled to stay in the air, Emily could see they were now only a few storeys off the ground. She looked over to his broken wing and could see a spread of red growing on the white feathers where the break had been. The bones were coming apart.

  Glancing forward again, they reached 59th Street. Central Park was on her left.

  ‘Go into the park, Pegasus. We can hide in the trees!’

  Pegasus veered over the park. But the strain was too much for his broken wing. As they soared over the open sheep meadow, his wing finally gave out. The bones snapped completely. They started to fall out of the sky.

  13

  Emily awoke in terrible pain. Her back ached, her shoulder was badly bruised and her leg was on fire.

  She heard voices and felt something wet on her face. When she opened her eyes, she saw a large pink tongue licking her cheek. She moaned weakly.

  ‘Don’t move,’ a man’s voice said. ‘I’m just finishing with the bandages.’

  Focusing her eyes, Emily saw a young man in soldier’s fatigues working with Joel on her leg. Joel was holding her ankle in the air while the soldier started to wrap pieces of cloth around the bleeding wounds. Her jeans had been cut off at the knee. She could see the deep gouges in her skin and heavy bruising from the monster’s brutal grip. Behind them, a young woman was tearing up a tablecloth and handing the pieces to the soldier.

  Pegasus was resting on the ground beside her. A large plaid picnic blanket was covering his wings. He licked her face again.

  ‘I’m all right, Pegs,’ she said softly as she lifted her hand to stroke his muzzle.

  ‘What happened?’ she asked weakly, wincing in pain as the first knot was tied on her leg.

  ‘We crashed,’ said Joel. ‘Carrying us both was too much for Pegasus. His wing gave out and we came down on the edge of the meadow. Lucky for us it wasn’t crowded.’

  ‘Just us,’ the soldier said. ‘And I’m glad. If the park had been as crowded as normal, you’d have had a riot on your hands.’ He leaned forward and offered his hand to Emily. ‘I’m Eric and this is my girlfriend Carol. I’ve been serving as a medic in Iraq and thought I’d seen a lot of strange things. But I couldn’t believe it when I saw you in the sky.’

  ‘I still can’t,’ Carol agreed nervously. ‘And I’m standing right here looking at you. Part of my mind says it’s real, the other part says you are hallucinations.’

  ‘We’re real, all right,’ Joel said. ‘And we’re in big trouble.’

  Eric finished tying the last knot. ‘Well, that will do for the moment. But we have to get you to the hospital as soon as possible. Those cuts go right to the bone. You’ve got some serious muscle damage there. And by the looks of things, you need antibiotics to stop the infection.’

  ‘We can’t go to the hospital.’ Emily struggled to sit up. The pain from her leg was making her feel sick. ‘We have to stay with Pegasus.’

  Eric sat back on his heels and stared over to the stallion. ‘A horse with wings,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘How amazing is that? Pegasus really exists.’

  ‘Yes he does,’ Joel said. ‘And so do the creatures that tried to kill us. If Pegasus hadn’t flown off the roof, we’d all be dead now.’

  Joel explained to Eric and Carol the even
ts of the past few days. To their credit, they listened without interrupting. But the more they listened, the more frightened Carol grew.

  ‘Whatever they are,’ Joel finished, ‘those things are still out there. Nothing seems to stop them. I watched the one that fell off Pegasus. When he hit the ground, he got up again and tried to follow us.’

  This was news to Emily. ‘But he fell twenty storeys! How could he get up?’

  Joel shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I also don’t know how they are tracking Pegasus, but they are. They all seemed to know he was on the roof with us.’

  ‘I can hardly believe any of this,’ Eric said. ‘Pegasus in New York City? Vicious four-armed monsters?’

  ‘It’s true, I swear it!’ Emily said. ‘And they want to kill Pegs.’

  ‘I’m not saying I don’t believe it,’ Eric said. ‘I’m looking at Pegasus right now and I saw the damage that thing did to your leg. But where did they come from?’

  Emily recalled a comment her father had made. ‘The sewers!’ she cried. ‘My dad is a cop. He said they’d been getting stories from uptown of people claiming four-armed demons were coming out of the sewers. They were being dismissed as crazies. I bet that was them!’

  Eric shook his head. ‘If those creatures are loose in New York, we have to call the military.’

  ‘We can’t!’ Emily said at once. ‘The CRU have already captured another Olympian. If they find out about Pegasus, they’ll take him away as well.’

  ‘What are the CRU?’ Carol asked.

  Eric shivered and took Carol’s hand. ‘You don’t want to know,’ he said. ‘They’re a real nasty Government bunch. Trust me, you don’t want them on your trail.’

  ‘It’s already too late,’ Joel added. ‘Half the city saw us flying up 5th Avenue. If they didn’t already know about us, they do now.’

  ‘Then we’ve got to get moving,’ Emily said. She tried to stand up, but the pain from her leg drove her down again.

  ‘You’re not going anywhere but the hospital with that leg,’ Eric said.

  ‘I told you, I can’t go to the hospital,’ Emily insisted. She tried to stand again, but fell. Finally she looked over to Joel. ‘Please, leave me here and take Pegasus. Hide him in the trees. But don’t let the CRU or those creatures get him.’