by Kate O'Hearn
Zephyr groaned, “Why did I open my big fat mouth!”
Astraea grinned at her. “Because deep down you knew this was a good idea. It could really save all of us.”
“Or get us all killed,” Zephyr said.
“If we don’t stop the Mimics, that’s going to happen anyway.” Astraea put down the pebbles in her hand. “Come on, we have to find the others.”
* * *
Tryn, Triana, and the centaurs brainstormed with Astraea and Zephyr for the balance of the day. They were all shocked by the idea at first, but quickly came around to the logic of it.
“We just have to find a way to lure Lergo out of the cave,” Tryn said.
Cylus looked at Render and Darek and nodded. “So one of you is going to have to be wounded for Lergo to chase into the Solar Stream. Who’s going to volunteer?”
The centaurs turned around and found something very interesting to look at on a tree leaf.
“Cylus, we can’t hurt one of you,” Astraea said. “Lergo is too fast and too dangerous. We have to find another way.”
“Well,” Zephyr said. “It did bite me once. Maybe I still stink?”
Cylus grinned and opened his mouth to comment, but Astraea held up a finger. “Not one word from you!”
“What…?” Cylus laughed.
“We still have time,” Tryn said. “I am sure we can figure something out before we leave.”
They hoped to tell Pegasus before their meeting on the glass lake, but the stallion was soaring high overhead, with Minerva on his back and Cupid flying beside him, keeping an aerial patrol over the temple area and nectar orchard.
As the day faded and night arrived, the patrols changed. Pegasus and Cupid landed, and Aurora and another flying Titan took over.
Astraea looked up, watching her mother gliding gracefully in the sky. She dreamed of the day when she would be able to fly beside her. If, she thought darkly, they lived long enough for that to happen.
They ate in silence, and as people entered the temple to settle down for the evening, Astraea, Zephyr, and the others left the protection of the temple and walked into the dark trees.
They made their way to the glass lake and found Pegasus already waiting for them.
“Good evening, everyone,” Pegasus said formally. “The time has come for us to move against the Mimics in their home world.”
Cylus nodded, then shoved Zephyr lightly. “Go on, tell him your idea.”
The stallion’s ears pricked forward. “You have an idea?”
Zephyr nodded. “But it’s really dangerous and kinda stupid.”
“It’s not stupid,” Astraea said. “It’s brilliant and I think we should do it.” She stepped closer to Pegasus. “Zephyr suggested we go to Zomos and get the giant snake, Lergo, and take it to the Mimic world. All the snakes seem to hate the Mimics, and we saw Lergo eat three Shadow Titans without stopping. It could really help us.”
“Or it could kill us,” Zephyr said.
Pegasus tilted his head to the side. “You thought of that?”
“Don’t look so surprised, Pegasus. I do occasionally think,” Zephyr shot back.
Pegasus chuckled. “You think a great deal, and in this case, I believe it is a wonderful idea. Tell me more about Lergo.”
Tryn came forward. “Well, it’s many hundreds of times larger than Belis and is a predator that wounds its prey and then follows it until it dies. If we plan this right, we can get it to follow us into the Solar Stream, and then we can let it loose on the Mimic home world. While they fight it, we can find the others.”
Pegasus looked at each of them. “You all agree on this course of action?”
Cylus nodded. “We’re not kidding. Lergo is huge. I mean huge. The Shadow Titans attacked him, but they couldn’t hurt him. It would be a perfect weapon. If we could just get him there.”
Zephyr snorted. “How do you know Lergo is a him?”
“Of course Lergo’s a him,” Cylus said. “He’s big and strong and ferocious. What else could he be?”
“That’s the dumbest thing I think I’ve ever heard you say. I’m not a him, but I can be ferocious!” Zephyr said.
“Only in smell!” Cylus responded.
Zephyr started a retort, but Pegasus whinnied, “This is not the time for fighting among ourselves. We do need help with this mission. I agree with your plan. We just need to find the correct bait for Lergo.”
“I know what we can use,” Cylus said. “I’ll bring it with us.”
“Oh no,” Astraea said. “I told you, no hurting Render or Darek or any member of your herd.”
“It’s not a herd member,” Cylus said.
“Then what?” Zephyr asked.
“You’ll see,” Cylus said. “When are we going?”
They automatically turned to Pegasus.
“We cannot waste a moment. How about we meet back here just before dawn. We can slip away before the others leave for Titus.” They all looked at each other and nodded.
“It is decided,” Pegasus said. “We leave before dawn.”
8
“ARE YOU PAELEN?” JAKE ASKED softly.
“Yes,” Paelen answered.
“Tell me, are there any Mimics or their Shadow Titan guards here right now?”
“Mimics?” Paelen asked.
“Yes, we call them Mimics because they can change shape and mimic others.”
“No,” Paelen said. “There is no need for guards—we are too weak to fight. How did you get here?”
“They had Angitia and me in a laboratory. We think it was because of the snakes and how they are helping us.”
“What snakes?” Paelen asked.
Jake realized that Paelen and the others in the prison yard would have been taken from Xanadu before they’d ever heard of the snakes. He explained to Paelen as quickly as he could who he was, where he came from, how he’d come to be involved with the Titans, and how he’d found out about the snakes.
“This is Nesso.” He pointed up to his neck. “She and all the other snakes are precious. If they bite a Mimic, the Mimic melts. If we put their venom on anything and touch the Mimics, that works too.” Jake held up the jar of venom. “This is enough to kill a lot of Mimics.”
“And you have more snakes?” Paelen asked.
Jake nodded. “There were a lot here that we’ve rescued from the laboratory as well. And even more on Xanadu. Jupiter and the others are fighting back.”
“There is no fighting against these things.”
“Yes, there is,” Jake insisted. “Believe me, the snake venom works. My friends Astraea, Zephyr, and Tryn told me about girls called Emily and Riza, saying they are really powerful. If we can find them and they help, then with the snake venom and everyone fighting, I think we stand a good chance of beating the Mimics.”
“They were powerful.…” His voice dropped. “But they are dead.”
“Dead? How? They’re supposed to be invincible.”
“It was the Mimics. They surprised us on Xanadu. The first one arrived looking like Jupiter. When Emily and Riza went to greet him, it touched them, and they collapsed. Then more Mimics came through the Solar Stream. We tried to fight, to defend ourselves, but they overwhelmed us. No weapons worked against them. They killed so many. I saw them kill Pegasus—”
“Pegasus isn’t dead,” Jake interrupted. “I swear, I’ve met him. That big purple two-headed animal, Brue, buried him to save him. When Tryn and I went to Xanadu, Brue took us to him, and we got him to Arious.”
“Pegasus is alive?” Paelen cried. “What about Brue? How is she?”
Jake said, “They’re both alive. At least Pegasus was the last time I saw him. He and Aurora were chasing the car that I was in with the Mimics. Then they drove through the Solar Stream and brought me here.”
“Why were the Mimics in a car?”
“I told you, we were all hiding in Detroit, on Earth,” Jake said. “But then the Mimics found us, and I was brought here. The others know wher
e we are, and I’m sure they’ll be coming for us. We have to be ready.”
“We are too weak; I cannot stretch out anymore. I can barely move.”
“What do you mean, ‘stretch out’?” Jake asked. “There is room in there. You can stretch out fine.”
“You do not understand,” Paelen said. “When I am healthy, I can stretch out my body. I would be able to slip through these bars easily. But not now. They feed us barely enough ambrosia to keep us alive so we can be their slaves, but not enough so we can fight.…” He looked over to the person lying beside him and lightly patted his leg. “This is my best friend, Joel. He has not awakened in two days. He lost his temper and tried to fight the Mimics. They grabbed him and held on for a while. Me and several others tried to stop the Mimics, but we were all touched. Two died, I recovered, and now Joel will die too.”
“He needs ambrosia,” Angie said.
Paelen pointed to the big wooden cabin. “There is plenty in there, where we work. But the Mimics and Shadow Titans guard it well during the day, and we are locked in the cage at night. There is also fruit that we can eat. Some of us are forced to work in the orchard during the day.”
“Where’s the orchard?”
“Not far,” Paelen said. “I have never been but have heard there are a lot of fruit trees growing there. Yet we are only given one piece each day.”
Jake looked at Angie. “We have to get them more food.”
When Angie nodded, Jake looked back at the cabin. “What else is in there?”
“It is where we are forced to prepare their food. The work does not require strength, but it is more dreadful than you could imagine.”
Jake considered for a moment. “All right. Angie and I are going to see if we can get in to get some ambrosia. Are there any Mimics here?”
“No. They leave us alone at night.”
“Good,” Jake said. “We’ll be right back.”
“Be careful,” Paelen called as he laid his head back down.
Jake and Angie crawled back into the bushes toward the front of the cabin. They were slowly getting used to the terrible stink, and Jake wasn’t as nauseous as before.
“They’re killing them slowly,” Angie said softly.
“They don’t care if they all die,” Jake said. “There are other worlds full of people they can use as slaves. But this has got to end.”
When they reached the front of the building, Jake looked around for any signs of security cameras. But he didn’t see any boxes. This would be a risk, but they didn’t have any choice.
Keeping low, they crawled along the front. They soon reached a door. There was no lock on it, and when Jake pulled it, it opened easily. The stink struck them like a solid wall. Jake’s throat reacted and he choked. Angie was the same. But neither stopped. They slipped inside.
Jake’s voice was stolen from him by the stench. He tried breathing through his mouth, but then he tasted the air. It tasted even worse than it smelled. “Vile…” was all he could manage.
They crawled in deeper. The big room was dark, but there was some faint light coming in from between the gaps in the wooden sides. It allowed him to see shapes, but no details.
But when Angie started to whimper, he realized that whatever she was seeing, it had to be bad. “What is it?”
“There are so many dead animals in here,” she said softly. “And others that are alive but in cages.”
Jake could hear his sister’s voice in Angie. Molly loved animals too and hated to hear of any abuse. “Angie, I know it must be terrible. But please focus on helping the others outside. Can you see any ambrosia?”
When she didn’t answer, he looked down. “Nesso, can you smell ambrosia in here?”
“All I sssmell isss death,” Nesso said. “But I will try.”
With each step into the room, Angie’s distress grew. She started to weep. This was the first time he was grateful that he couldn’t see in the dark. He had no idea the horrors the young girl was witnessing. “I’m sorry, Angie,” he said softly. “If we stop these Mimics, this will end.”
Angie sniffed, and he knew his words were empty and didn’t help.
“I sssmell ambrosssia,” Nesso hissed.
“Lead us,” Jake said.
Jake and Angie followed Nesso’s instructions toward the right side wall of the building.
“What can you see?” Jake asked Angie. “Can you see ambrosia or nectar?”
“There are containers, like the ones the snakes were in.” Angie moved away from him and approached the containers. She lifted the lid on the first one. “It’s full of ambrosia cake.”
Jake followed Angie’s voice and bumped into the containers. “These have ambrosia?”
“Yes.” Angie reached into a container and broke off a piece of cake and handed it to him.
Jake cautiously brought the piece to his mouth and took a small bite. It was sweet and delicious. Despite the stink in the room, it made him realize he was starving. “It’s good,” he said. “Have some. It will make you strong.”
“I can’t eat in here,” she said sadly. “There is too much suffering.”
Jake nodded. “I understand.”
He took off his T-shirt and tied knots in the sleeves and neck and turned it into a small sack. He handed it to Angie. “Take some ambrosia from several containers and put it in here. Make sure you don’t take too much from any one container, or the Mimics might notice. We have to get food to the others.”
As grateful as Jake was for not seeing the horrors of the room, he wished he could see so he could help. Instead, all he could do was listen to Angie moving containers around so she could take ambrosia from all of them.
“All done,” she said.
“Perfect. Now please check the area. Make sure it looks like we haven’t been here.”
“I’m not stupid; I did already,” Angie said.
“I’m sorry,” Jake apologized. “I know you’re really smart. I’m being paranoid, that’s all. They can’t know we were here.”
“I know, but I was extra careful,” Angie said. “Can we leave now?”
“You bet.”
As they made their way out of the room, Angie called out to the animals, “I’m sorry for what they’ve done to you. We’ll do all we can to free you.”
“We will,” Jake said. “Right after we feed everyone outside and get them out of that yard.”
They went down to their knees again and left the cabin. Jake was grateful to take big gulps of fresh air. The smell was all around them, but it was so much better outside. Crawling around the building, they made it back to the bushes near the prison yard. Paelen was still there, waiting.
“We have ambrosia for you,” Jake called. “You’re right, there’s lots in there.” He took several pieces out of his T-shirt for him and Angie and then pushed the rest over to Paelen.
Paelen reached his arm out and caught hold of the bag. “Thank you so much. Can you get more?”
“Sure, but we don’t want to let the Mimics know we’ve been in there.” He looked at Angie. “You saw the containers, the way they were stacked. Do you think the Mimics would miss one or two?”
Angie frowned. “Not really. There was a whole wall full. I’m sure we could take more than two.”
“Good,” Jake said. When he looked back at Paelen, his cheeks were packed with food. “Aren’t you going to share with the others?”
“Of course,” Paelen said. “But I needed to eat a lot, so I can do this.…” He held up his hand, and the fingers started to extend.
“Gross!” Jake said softly. “Doesn’t that hurt?”
Paelen nodded. “More than you know. But if I can do this, I can slip through the bars and we can all get more ambrosia for everyone else.”
“Keep eating!” Angie said. “The less I have to go back in there, the better.”
For the first time, Paelen grinned. His smile was crooked and infectious. Jake liked him instantly. “What about your friend?”
Paelen grabbed a handful of ambrosia and moved slowly over to his unconscious friend. “Come on, Joel, eat.” Paelen pried Joel’s mouth open and placed some ambrosia inside. He pushed Joel’s chin to get him to chew.
“Won’t you choke him, feeding him like that?” Jake asked.
“It is a risk, but there is no nectar here. It’s ambrosia or nothing. Without it, he will die.” Paelen kept making Joel chew. “Swallow, Joel. You must swallow it.”
Because of the angle, Jake couldn’t see if Joel swallowed. But when Paelen said “Good, now do it again,” Jake realized Joel had eaten.
After a few minutes, Paelen returned to the cage bars. “Thank you for that. I am feeling much better. Move back—I am coming out.”
“You gonna do that stretchy thing again?” Jake asked.
When Paelen nodded, Jake and Angie crawled farther back in the bushes. They watched Paelen’s body stretch and lengthen. His bones snapped and cracked as he thinned down to the size of a thick snake.
“He looksss like one of usss,” Nesso said.
“He sure does,” Jake agreed. Then he whispered, “But he’s not as pretty as you.”
“I heard that,” Paelen said through his distorted mouth. Soon he was slipping through the bars and crawling up to them. He returned to his normal shape.
“Okay,” Jake said softly. “That was one of the grossest things I’ve seen a Titan do.”
“I am Olympian, not Titan,” Paelen said when he was back to normal. “Now let us go get more food.”
Jake stood back as Paelen and Angie worked to take four containers of ambrosia and then moved the others to make it look like nothing had been disturbed. When they were finished, they were all grateful to get out of the cabin.
They dragged the ambrosia back to the side of the cage. Paelen paused, looked up to the sky, and sighed, “I do not want to go back in there.”
“Would they miss you?” Jake asked. “Could you stay with us?”
Paelen shook his head. “I would never leave Joel. Not to mention all the others. Now that we have ambrosia, this will help us all grow strong again. With your help, and the help of the snakes, perhaps we can fight back.”