by Kate O'Hearn
‘But he does look just like you, my friend,’ Diana said softly as she stroked Pegasus’s face. ‘What else could it be?’
Steve shrugged. ‘Maybe he’s just a very handsome horse who happens to look a lot like Pegasus.’
Emily studied her father’s face and realized he didn’t see Pegasus the same way she and the other Olympians did. On the surface, Pegasus could look mostly like a horse, but there was a big difference. It was something that she could plainly see, but her father couldn’t. Pegasus was more than a horse, much greater than one. It was in his intelligent eyes and the way he held himself, that created the aura surrounding him that said, ‘I am not a mere horse.’
Olympus had many horses and some, like Pegasus, had wings. But none of them were remotely like Pegasus. He was unique – until now.
‘You’re wrong, Dad,’ Emily insisted. ‘Tornado Warning doesn’t just look like Pegasus, he’s identical to him.’
Diana put her arm around Emily and gave her a light squeeze. ‘Well, whatever it is, that horse, Tornado Warning, is in your world while we are all here in Olympus.’ Diana abruptly changed the subject. ‘Now, would you like to try on some of the new clothes that your father and I chose for you?’
Emily looked at Diana and saw there was something the tall woman was not saying aloud. A secret message that said they would speak later. She nodded her head. ‘You’re right. Let’s forget Tornado Warning, I want to see what you’ve brought back.’
2
While excited preparations were being made to celebrate the closing of Olympus’s first official football match, Emily and Pegasus walked through the fragrant gardens at the back of Jupiter’s palace. The air was warm, sweet and still and the sun was welcoming but not too hot. Birds chirped in the sky and called a greeting at Emily and Pegasus’s approach.
Up ahead lay Jupiter’s maze. This was still the best place Emily and her friends could meet and talk without being seen or disturbed by the other Olympians.
When they reached the centre, they didn’t have long to wait before Joel, Paelen and Pegasus’s brother Chrysaor appeared. Joel’s hair was wet from bathing after the game, slicked back in an effortlessly cool look. Paelen had also bathed to remove the mud and grass stains from the match, but as always his dark hair was unkempt and standing up at odd angles. He was still wearing his winged sandals and had a big grin on his face as he drew near.
‘What’s up?’ Joel asked. ‘What’s the emergency?’
Emily offered the newspapers round. ‘I couldn’t show you these earlier because Dad was in the apartment and doesn’t see the problem. Look at the picture and read the headline …’
Paelen looked from the front page of the newspaper over to Pegasus. His mouth fell open. ‘He looks just like you! What does this say?’
A frown wrinkled Joel’s brow as he read the article. ‘It’s talking about a racehorse, Tornado Warning. He’s just won the Triple Crown.’
‘What is the Triple Crown?’ Paelen asked.
Joel continued. ‘My father was really into horse racing.’ He looked over to Pegasus wistfully. ‘I sure wish he could have met you …’ Joel sighed. ‘He and I used to bet on the Triple Crown. It’s a series of three big horse races that are close together: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and then finally the Belmont Stakes. It’s really rare for the same horse to win all three. I think the last time was in the nineteen-seventies. But Tornado Warning not only won all three races, he’s beaten all the records.’ Joel paused and looked at Emily. ‘Something doesn’t feel right here. Look at these stats …’ He held up the paper.
Emily peered over and saw a lot of figures she didn’t understand. ‘What’s all that mean?’
‘It means this is impossible. Look at these racing times. He’s got to be the fastest racehorse in history. No horse could run like this.’
‘But he just did,’ Paelen insisted.
Beside them, Chrysaor squealed softly and Paelen lowered the paper so the winged boar could look at the photograph. He grunted and squealed again.
‘I do not understand,’ Paelen asked. ‘How could this racehorse look so much like Pegasus, run as fast as Pegasus and yet not be Pegasus?’
Joel shrugged. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was a—’ A sudden shocked expression appeared on his face and he shook his head. ‘No, it’s not possible. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’
Emily was already frightened. The idea had come to her much earlier and left her chilled to the bone. But it was still the only thing that made any sense.
‘I’m trying really hard not to,’ she said. ‘I asked my dad and he didn’t think so. He said if it were true, Tornado Warning would be white and not grey.’
‘What?’ Paelen asked. ‘What are you both talking about?’
Emily leaned her head against Pegasus and stroked his neck. ‘We’re thinking that the CRU may have had something to do with this.’
Paelen’s jaw dropped. ‘The CRU? How?’
Joel stepped closer to Emily. ‘It’s impossible, isn’t it?’
‘I just don’t know,’ she said. ‘But what else could it be?’
‘We’ve got to go back there to find out,’ Joel finished. ‘Em, if they can actually do it, we’re all in a lot of trouble.’
‘Enough!’ shouted Paelen in frustration. ‘You are both speaking in riddles and it is driving me mad! What you are talking about?’
Joel looked at Paelen. ‘This is going to sound impossible. But we’re thinking that Tornado Warning might be some kind of clone.’
Paelen’s expression didn’t change. Emily realized he didn’t understand. ‘In our world, science is constantly advancing. They are doing amazing things with genetically modifying plants and stuff. What Joel is saying is that while you, Pegasus and Diana were prisoners of the CRU, they tested you and did experiments. They took samples from you.’
Paelen shivered visibly. ‘It was terrible,’ he said softly. ‘They put me in machines, and kept taking my blood, my hair and who knows what else.’
‘Exactly,’ Joel said. ‘And what I’m afraid of is that they have somehow used those samples to create some kind of clone. A clone is something that is identical to you, created from you, but not you. It’s kind of like a twin, but you weren’t born together.’ He crossed over to the stallion and stroked his face. ‘Tornado Warning looks exactly like Pegasus because he might have been created using cells they took from Pegasus.’
Emily’s face went pale. ‘That’s crazy, like something out of a fantasy! But if he were a clone, shouldn’t he be white like Pegasus?’
‘We dyed Pegasus black and brown, remember? What if they are dying Tornado Warning grey?’ Joel suggested. ‘I don’t know if or how they could have done it, but we’ve got to find out. Em, we’re talking about the CRU. We’ve seen their facilities. I’m sure they have the capabilities to do it.’
Emily shook her head. ‘But it doesn’t make any sense. Even if it is possible, why would they race him and risk exposing their experiments? Besides, the newspapers say Tornado Warning is three years old.’
‘I can’t explain it,’ Joel said. ‘But look at those photographs. It’s like Pegasus himself was in those races. Those aren’t the stats of an ordinary horse.’
Pegasus snorted and started to cut deep trenches in the ground. Beside him, Paelen shook his head madly. ‘No, no, no. This is not possible. You can not suggest that this racehorse comes from Pegasus. It is unnatural and impossible!’
He stomped up to Emily and pointed at the stallion in the photograph. ‘Pegasus has wings. This racehorse does not. If he was created from Pegasus, surely he should have wings!’
Emily nodded. ‘I thought the same thing until I saw this …’ She lowered herself to the soft grass in the maze and started to search through the newspapers. ‘Here.’ She pointed at a close-up colour photograph of Tornado Warning in the winner’s circle. The jockey was still on his back. Beneath the jockey’s right knee, there was a trace
of a large scar on Tornado’s pale-grey shoulder. ‘Look at that scar. That could be where they removed his wing.’
‘That is a crease in the paper, nothing more,’ Paelen insisted. ‘It does not prove anything.’
Joel picked up the paper and studied the image. He shook his head. ‘This isn’t any crease, Paelen, it’s a scar. And it proves one thing. We’ve got to go back there and see that racehorse for ourselves. If the CRU are capable of creating clones, just think of what they could do with your and Diana’s DNA?’
The enormity of the situation struck Emily like a brick. She looked up at Joel. ‘Not only Olympian DNA, Joel. Remember, the CRU had captured Nirads as well!’
3
As the sun started to set in Olympus, the football pitch had been turned into a huge party ground. Tables were laden with fruit, ambrosia and nectar as thousands of Olympians gathered to celebrate the game. Torches were lit and shining brightly on the gathering while the Muses danced and sang for the entertainment of the crowd.
Above the pitch, Cupid led a group of winged Olympians carrying flags and banners. They rose and dipped in the sky, sometimes so low they touched the tops of the heads of those below on the ground.
Cupid spied Emily entering the stadium and swooped down. Folding his large wings neatly on his back, he bowed before her. ‘Hello, Flame, would you like to come for a short flight with me?’
‘Her name is Emily!’ challenged Paelen, as he had done hundreds of times before. ‘When will you finally learn that?’
Cupid smiled radiantly at Emily. ‘When she tells me so.’
Emily held up a calming hand to Paelen and then looked back at the winged Olympian. Nothing remained of the crush she once felt for him. Cupid was just as handsome as ever, but her heart was elsewhere now.
‘Thank you anyway, Cupid, but I’d rather stay on the ground for the moment. Perhaps later.’
‘Of course, Flame,’ Cupid said, shooting a teasing look at Paelen. ‘You need only to ask.’ He kissed Emily’s cheek and then leaped confidently into the sky.
‘I keep telling you, Emily,’ Paelen said, ‘you should have left him as a stone statue in the Nirad world. It would have solved all our problems.’
‘I thought you two were becoming friends,’ Joel offered.
‘Cupid and me?’ Paelen said. ‘Hardly. I mean yes, he did help us defeat the gorgons and overcome his fear of the Nirads. But Cupid is still Cupid. He is an arrogant mischief-maker.’
Diana joined the group and faced Paelen, her expression stern. ‘Not too long ago people were saying the same thing about you, little thief.’
Paelen shrugged. ‘Perhaps. But I have changed. Cupid has not.’
‘Really?’ Diana said. ‘It is said that once a thief, for ever a thief. I know there are several Olympians who still count their coins and jewels after you leave.’
Paelen’s face dropped. Despite everything he had done to help Olympus, there were a great number of Olympians who believed he hadn’t changed his thieving ways.
Emily felt for him. What would it take to get them to believe he was different? She also knew that, despite his wounded feelings, Paelen was smart enough not to rise to the comment. Diana’s temper was legendary. It was best to let the remark rest than say something that would anger her.
Always the policeman, Emily’s father came forward to calm the situation. He put his arm around Paelen and then indicated the gathering Olympians on the field. ‘Look at this place, this is insane! Any excuse for a party. C’mon, everyone, let’s have some fun.’
Emily wasn’t in much of a mood to join in the celebrations around her. Neither was Joel or Paelen. A dark shadow was resting heavily over them. They weren’t alone in their worry. Both Pegasus and Chrysaor were showing signs of profound disquiet.
While her father left to gather drinks for everyone, Emily stood with Diana and Pegasus. Joel nudged her gently in the back and whispered, ‘Ask her now.’
Diana’s keen hearing hadn’t missed the comment. She turned back and looked suspiciously at Joel. ‘Ask me what?’
Emily inhaled deeply. ‘Diana, we need to speak with you about something important, but I don’t want my dad to know yet.’
Diana frowned. ‘This is about that racehorse, is it not?’
Emily nodded. ‘It may be nothing. But we need to go back to our world to see if Tornado Warning is something more than a horse. We must get away without anyone knowing …’
Her father was walking back to the group carrying a tray of ambrosia cakes and goblets of nectar.
Diana leaned closer to Emily. ‘After the party, meet me at the base of the Temple of the Flame. We will speak then.’
The party continued well into the night. When it was over, Emily said goodnight to her father and waited for him to return to his room. When she was sure he’d gone to bed, she left her quarters and headed into the garden to meet her friends.
Pegasus and Chrysaor were already there. After a short time Paelen and Joel arrived. For speed, they agreed to fly to the Temple. As Emily climbed on to Pegasus, Joel settled himself on the back of Chrysaor. Paelen looked down at his winged sandals and ordered them to carry him to the Temple. With a quick flap of their tiny wings, they obeyed and lifted him lightly into the air.
Of all the things Emily loved about living in Olympus, the very best was flying on the back of Pegasus. Flying at night was even better. Many times, when her father thought she was in bed, she and Pegasus would sneak out of the palace and spend a long night soaring in the skies over Olympus. Each time they went out, the bright canopy of stars never failed to take Emily’s breath away. They always filled her with profound excitement, as though the stars themselves called to her and beckoned her to join them in the sky.
It was these stars that reminded her they were no longer on her world. None of the constellations she knew appeared in an Olympian’s night sky. There was no moon, and the stars seemed brighter and much closer.
But this night, there was none of the usual excitement. They launched silently into the air and flew over the dark palace. On the ground below, strange-looking Olympians moved around. These were the citizens who lived their lives only by night.
Emily learned very quickly not to fear the night dwellers. Though they looked different with their pale skin and huge dark eyes, they spoke very softly and posed no danger to her or Pegasus. She discovered that Olympus was like two worlds in one. A day world filled with sunshine and bright colours and ruled by Jupiter; and then a night world that existed only by starlight, filled with strange, silent beings overseen by Jupiter’s brother, Pluto. Olympus at night was the underworld the myths so often spoke of.
Emily looked over to Joel and realized this was the first time he’d ever seen this Olympus. At any other time, he would have asked her lots of questions and insisted on flying down to meet them. Not tonight. He looked at the night dwellers with curiosity, but remained silent.
Up ahead they saw a bright glow shining in the dark night’s sky. It was coming from the top of the Temple of the Flame. This was the Flame that gave the Olympians their powers and strength. Without it, Olympus would fall. It was the same Flame that Emily’s power fed. She was born with the living heart of the Flame deep within her. When she sacrificed herself in the temple, her powers were released and renewed the Flame in the Temple. It was her connection to the Flame that made Jupiter and all the Olympians so protective of her. Though she still didn’t understand how it worked, she did know the survival of the Olympians depended on that Flame continuing to burn. And the survival of the Flame depended on her.
As Pegasus glided lower, Emily was surprised to see three dark figures standing at the base of the Temple. Drawing nearer, she saw her father standing beside Diana. His hands were on his hips and he didn’t look happy.
Emily stole a look over to Joel on Chrysaor’s back. He glanced back at her. ‘I think we might be in trouble.’
Emily was tempted to tell Pegasus to turn around and go back to the pal
ace. But it was too late. With Pegasus glowing in the dark sky, everyone had seen them coming.
When the stallion touched down on the ground before the three figures, Emily frowned. Standing beside her father and Diana was a third figure that she didn’t recognize.
Emily’s father came forward to help her down from the stallion. ‘Isn’t there something you want to tell me before you sneak away from Olympus?’
Emily’s heart nearly stopped. Diana had told him everything. She dropped her head. ‘I’m sorry, Dad. I wanted to tell you, but I know you’ll want to stop me.’
‘Darn right I’m going to stop you. Emily, you can’t go back there, it’s too dangerous. What were you thinking?’
‘It’s my fault, Steve, not Emily’s.’ Joel stepped in to defend her. ‘I was the one who suggested we go. We told Diana so at least someone would know what happened to us.’
‘This is about that stupid racehorse, isn’t it?’
‘Dad, listen to me please,’ Emily begged. ‘Tornado Warning looks too much like Pegasus and runs too quickly to be an ordinary horse. You know that. If you didn’t think so, you wouldn’t have brought the newspapers to show us. We need to find out. If there’s even a small chance he’s a clone we’ve got to know. Don’t you see; if the CRU can clone him they can do the same with the other Olympians.’
‘Or Nirads,’ Paelen added.
The third shadowy figure came forward. ‘Do you seriously believe this is possible? The CRU could create New Olympians from our blood?’
When he moved closer Emily saw how much he looked like Jupiter and Neptune. But his eyes were more intense and as black as the night’s sky. His skin was pale as parchment. This must be the third brother, Pluto. He was the owner of Cerberus and leader of the underworld. She had heard all about him, but had yet to meet him.
Emily bowed her head respectfully. ‘We’re not sure, sir.’ She turned to her father. ‘Dad, you’ve seen him on TV. Can you say for sure that Tornado Warning isn’t some kind of clone from Pegasus?’