by Kate O'Hearn
Astraea looked over at Cylus. “Are you all right to walk?”
The centaur nodded. “Yes, the ambrosia helped. The sooner we move, the sooner we can leave this terrible place.”
They agreed to stay on the ground after their aerial encounter. But walking through the jungle was slow, and the dense trees blocked their way. As the light started to dim, they approached a wide trail of knocked-over trees and crushed bushes.
They stepped onto the trail and looked around. “What made this?” Tryn asked.
Cylus nodded. “I know. And you all do too.”
“Lergo…,” Astraea breathed.
Cylus nodded. “Look at the shape of the damage. It is round, just like the snake. I would imagine this is how it comes and goes to its cave.” He bent down and winced in pain. “Look here, this is freshly broken. Lergo has been through here recently.”
That comment made Astraea shiver despite the intense heat. “Are you sure? Maybe it was from last night?”
Cylus shook his head. “No, there is still sap running from the branch.” He rose again and looked around. “The question is, was Lergo leaving the cave to go hunting? Or did it return there?”
“That’s a good question,” Tryn said.
“So here’s another one,” Cylus continued. “Does anybody have any suggestions about how we’re supposed to get that giant snake into the Solar Stream? I have the Mimic food, but I’m not sure how we can use it.”
“Maybe we should go up to its cave, put the food down, and shoot the Solar Stream at it when it takes the bait,” Darek offered.
Tryn shook his head. “I don’t think that would work. We can’t be sure Lergo is even up there. But even if the snake is there, can we shoot the Solar Stream at it, or does Lergo have to actually go into the Solar Stream?”
Pegasus looked around. “I have not seen this snake that you are talking about, but looking at this trail, it is massive. We may only get one chance, so we must make it count.”
“Let’s get closer to the mountain and maybe we can figure something out,” Tryn said.
They followed Lergo’s trail toward the plateau. All the damage to the area made the journey much easier. It wasn’t long before they were gazing up the side of the rocky rise.
“It looks much higher from this angle,” Zephyr said. “And look, the side is flat. How does Lergo get up there?”
“I don’t know,” Tryn said. “Unless it’s that long. I never really saw it.”
“Neither did we,” Astraea admitted. “We were too busy hiding in water under some branches. We saw its front end, but not really how long it was.”
Pegasus stepped up to the wall and gazed up. Then he looked back down the trail, and finally back up again.
“What is it?” Astraea asked.
“I have an idea,” he said. “It will be dangerous, but it might work.” Pegasus looked over at Tryn. “When we are ready, you will fly up to the cave entrance and place a couple of those dead animals that Cylus brought. Then return here quickly.”
“Then what?” Zephyr said. “We just stand here watching it eat?”
Pegasus nickered in humor. “No, Zephyr. We lure it down here with the promise of more. And when it comes, I will have the dead animals on me for it to chase. You will all be positioned farther down this trail. When Lergo comes for me, you will open the Solar Stream and I will run into it with Lergo right behind me. Then you follow behind at a safer distance.”
“What?” Cylus cried. “That thing will eat you in the Solar Stream!”
“Thank you for your concern, Cylus, but I have no intentions of being eaten. Moving within the Solar Stream is difficult, but not impossible. I have done it many times. But that snake will never have been in there before. I am confident it will not be able to catch me.”
“You are gambling with your life, Pegasus,” Tryn said.
“We are all risking our lives,” the stallion said. “But I do not believe there is any other way of getting Lergo into the Solar Stream.” He looked up again. “Though I do suggest we get moving. With that stinky food down here, I doubt we have long before Lergo smells it. We must be prepared. While Tryn is taking a couple of the dead animals up to the cave, the rest of you will hang some from my flanks.”
The moment Cylus opened the bags, the stench was overwhelming. Especially in the humid heat of Zomos.
Tryn pinched his nose with one hand and reached into the bag with the other. He pulled out two flattened animals. “Oh, that’s bad,” he cried. “Really, really bad!”
Astraea felt her throat constrict. “Pegasus, are you sure you want those things on you? Who knows how long it will take for the smell to go away?”
Pegasus shook his head. “I do not relish the thought of having them on me either, but to achieve our goal, I will gladly do it.” He looked over to Tryn. “Get going. We will prepare down here.”
Tryn nodded to everyone. “I’ll go up and see if Lergo likes them. Everyone be ready; this could happen very fast.” He looked at Astraea. “Are you ready with your ring?”
Astraea nodded. “You be careful. Move away from the entrance the moment you put the bait down.”
“I will,” Tryn promised as he ordered his skateboard to take him up.
While Tryn was rising in the sky, the others helped tie flattened animals together and drape them over Pegasus’s back.
Zephyr was making gagging sounds and cried, “Render, come here and plug my nose for me.”
“Plug your own nose,” Render said as he kept one hand over his nose and mouth and tried to work with the other. “I swear I can taste them!”
Triana turned a dull gray as she picked up the flattened animals. “What do the Mimics do to these to make them smell so bad?”
“I don’t know,” Astraea answered. “And I don’t want to know. Let’s just hope this works.” She split her attention between working to cover Pegasus in the smelly animals and looking up to check on Tryn.
“Tryn’s in place.” Astraea fought down the bile that rose in her mouth from the stink. “Are we ready?”
“I am,” Pegasus said, though his voice was strained. “And I will say this now: Emily owes me a lot for going through this for her!”
“She’ll owe all of us,” Cylus agreed.
“Astraea,” Zephyr said. “Would you and Triana get on my back? If that snake can move as fast as we think it can, I may have to fly out of here fast.”
Astraea didn’t argue with her best friend. She climbed onto Zephyr’s back and then helped Triana up behind her. “Is everyone ready?” Astraea called.
Pegasus took a position in the center of Lergo’s trail and nodded while the centaurs moved farther back.
“We’re ready,” Cylus called.
Astraea gave the signal to Tryn and watched him put the bait down at the entrance of the cave. Mere moments later, Tryn soared back with fear on his face and shouted, “Lergo’s in there and has already taken the bait!”
Tryn started down the side of the rocky rise, with Lergo right behind him, moving fast.
Astraea was stunned at the snake. In the blazing-hot sunshine, it looked exactly like Belis or even Nesso, with colorful rings of red, blue, orange, and black. There was no question now. They were the same species and grew to enormous sizes.
“Get away, Tryn!” Triana cried. “It’s right behind you!”
“Not yet,” Tryn shouted. “It has to smell Pegasus first!”
Astraea held her breath as Lergo inched closer and closer to Tryn. At the last minute, Tryn soared away from the rocky side and back up in the air.
The immense snake paused its climb down the cliff just a few yards from the ground. Its head was suspended in air as its tongue darted in and out of its mouth.
Astraea gasped when she followed its long body up the side of the mountain. It continued into the cave. Lergo was so much bigger than they’d imagined.
“Look at the size of it,” she cried. “It’s too big. This was a terrible mistake!”<
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“It is too late to stop; get ready,” Pegasus called.
Almost as though the snake heard him, its head shot downward, toward Pegasus. It started moving again.
“It’s coming!” Render shouted.
“Open the Solar Stream!” Pegasus ordered.
Astraea held the ring above Zephyr’s head. “Take us to Tremenz, nighttime!”
The Solar Stream burst to life from her ring, and a swirling vortex of light appeared along the trail. Pegasus was already charging forward but stopped just before the blazing entrance. He looked back at the snake.
“Pegasus, go!” Triana shouted.
“Go!” Astraea cried.
But Pegasus just stood there, waiting.
When Astraea looked at the snake, she understood. Lergo was several lengths behind the stallion, but it had stopped. Its tongue continued to flash in and out of its mouth, but its tilted head suggested it was wary of the vortex.
“It’s not working!” Astraea cried. “Lergo won’t go in!”
“Cylus, no!” Darek called from their hiding place behind the snake.
“Stop!” Render cried.
Cylus sprang from the hiding place and charged along the length of Lergo’s body. He had the bag holding the remaining dead animals in his hands and was reaching inside. “Come on, you stupid beast,” he cried. “Eat!”
When he neared Lergo’s head, he threw several pieces of dead animals before it. The snake’s tongue dipped out and caught the first one and pulled it back. Then it went for the second one and took it also.
“You want more?” Cylus cried, throwing another piece right at the snake. “Come and get me!”
Lergo ate everything Cylus threw at it and started to chase him toward the Solar Stream.
“Cylus, get away!” Pegasus shouted.
But the centaur kept running and throwing flattened animals to the snake. Lergo’s head snapped at Cylus several times, missing him by a heartbeat as it increased its speed.
“Pegasus, go!” Cylus cried.
With the snake now bearing down on both Cylus and Pegasus, the stallion had no option but to run.
Pegasus was the first through the Solar Stream, followed by Cylus, who, right up to the last minute, continued to throw the Mimic food at the snake.
Astraea and the others watched in horror as the snake moved even closer to the centaur. Without pausing, it slithered right into the Solar Stream and vanished.
15
ONCE THE WHOLE SNAKE WAS through the vortex, Astraea called the others together. Tryn soared down on his skateboard, and the two remaining centaurs charged forward. They all entered the Solar Stream together.
Seated on Zephyr’s back, Astraea felt Triana’s arms slip around her waist as they traveled through the blazing light. With the brightness coming from all around, she couldn’t see Pegasus or Cylus ahead of them. What she could see was the back end of the snake. She realized that when they left the Solar Stream, they would be directly behind it.
Time seemed to stop as the long journey lay before them. Astraea found herself dozing off several times. She felt the pressure of Triana’s head against her folded wings and knew that Tryn’s sister was asleep.
Tryn was beside her, leaning against Zephyr and sleeping soundly. Beside him, Darek and Render kept their bows at the ready and were showing no signs of fatigue.
Darek felt her eyes on him and turned. He nodded to her, and she nodded back. Of all the changes in her life from the first day at Arcadia to now, the biggest had come in her friendship with the centaurs. If anyone had ever told her back then that they would be close, she would have called them crazy. Cylus was a bully and his whole herd were mean and unapproachable, bordering on dangerous.
But since then, everything had changed—the centaurs had changed, and she had too. She was now part of their herd and they had learned to be considerate of others and more generous than she’d expected. Astraea couldn’t have asked for more loyal friends. When this nightmare finally ended, she knew they had forged a deep friendship that would last the ages.
Her mind also went back to Jake. That strange, funny friend she missed so much. He was nothing like she’d expected a human to be. He was fun, caring, and showed a true wonder at everything around him. She just hoped he was still alive. But she couldn’t put aside her fear that the Mimics had done something terrible to him and Nesso and all the others they’d taken.
Her brothers were also missing. She had tried to suppress her fear for them because the feelings were just too overwhelming. But after all their searching, her brothers still hadn’t been found.
Were they with Jake? Were they safe? Or were they somewhere locked away beyond her reach? Within the whirling lights and colors of the Solar Stream, there were no distractions to take her away from her fears.
Astraea hadn’t been aware of the tears streaming down her cheeks. But when she felt Zephyr’s wings tighten on her legs, Astraea looked up to see her best friend watching her.
“Are you all right?” Zephyr whinnied loudly.
Astraea wiped her tears and nodded. “I’m fine. I’m just worried about my brothers.”
“Your mother’s fine,” Zephyr shouted. “She’s with your father!”
“Not my mother, my brothers!” Astraea shouted back.
“The others will be all right too!” Zephyr called.
“No, my brothers!”
“Who do you want to smother?” Zephyr asked. Then she winked at Astraea and tightened her wings again. “Gotcha!”
Astraea smiled and shook her head. She stroked Zephyr’s fine mane. “Thank you.”
Zephyr neighed in humor and faced forward again.
For as long as the journey from Titus to Xanadu normally took, the trip from Zomos to Tremenz was so much longer. But finally they emerged into darkness.
And then insanity.
Lergo was just ahead of them and thrashing around the area as its long tail whipped back and forth in the air.
“Everyone, move!” Tryn shouted as he took off on his skateboard.
From being at a full stop in the Solar Stream, Zephyr had to launch into the air to get away from the enraged snake, while the centaurs ran in the opposite direction.
The ground beneath them was paved and looked like roads. There were houses and other buildings all around. Some had lights on. Soon doors opened and Mimics were seen on doorsteps. They saw the massive snake and slammed their doors shut again.
“This is the place!” Zephyr called.
“Where’s Cylus and Pegasus?” Astraea cried as she searched the area.
“Over there!” Triana called. She was pointing into the sky across from them. “Cylus is holding on to Pegasus.”
Astraea followed Triana’s finger and saw the stallion rising higher in the sky with Cylus clinging to his rear legs. Lergo was following close behind them, raising his head high and snapping at Cylus.
“It smells the animals on Pegasus!” Astraea called.
“I’ll get them!” Tryn shouted as he whooshed past on his skateboard and flew toward Pegasus and Cylus.
When he caught up with Pegasus, he was able to pull the stinky animals off the stallion’s rump. As each animal fell, Lergo caught it in its mouth. Soon all the dead animals were gone, but still Lergo continued to pursue Pegasus and Cylus.
The massive snake’s movements were erratic and unpredictable. Its head thrashed from side to side, and its tail whipped the air, smashing holes in the buildings around them. Watching it, Astraea realized something was wrong. Traveling through the Solar Stream must have completely disorientated the snake.
“They have to get higher or Lergo will catch them!” Astraea called.
“Astraea, Triana, hold on!” Zephyr called. “I have an idea!”
Zephyr put on more speed and flew closer to Pegasus while avoiding the deadly snake’s snapping mouth.
“Tryn, move with me!” Zephyr shouted. “We have to help carry Cylus’s weight so Pegasus can gain more heig
ht!”
Tryn nodded and zipped over to the other side of Pegasus. Then he moved closer to Cylus and called back to Zephyr, “I’ll take his front hooves; you guys get his back ones!”
Zephyr dipped lower and was soon positioned beneath the dangling centaur.
“Careful, Zeph!” Astraea cried as she looked back and saw the wide, gaping mouth of the snake snapping just beneath them. Despite its erratic movement, it was still chasing them. “Lergo’s getting closer!”
“Cylus,” Zephyr shouted. “We’re coming under you for support. Don’t let go of Pegasus but let us help!”
Cylus looked down. “Hurry, my hands are slipping!”
Astraea looked back at Triana. “I’ll take one of his back hooves, you take the other, then we lift.”
With no time to waste, Zephyr flew as close to Cylus as she dared. Astraea reached up and caught hold of the centaur’s back left leg while Triana took the right. Tryn took a position in front and draped Cylus’s front hooves over his shoulders.
“We got him!” Astraea called. “Pegasus, go!”
With the centaur’s weight evenly distributed between all of them, Pegasus was able to gain more height and rise beyond the enraged snake. Giving up, Lergo started to slither through the narrow streets, snapping at buildings and knocking things over.
There was little time to celebrate, as Cylus was still in danger. Pegasus turned slowly in the sky, and the others supported the centaur as he did.
“Pegasus,” Astraea shouted, “you have to get into water. You still smell of the animals. Lergo will track you!”
“I will, the moment we find somewhere to hide.” They looked around for a place to land, but they were in a built-up area. Over to their left were tall buildings, not unlike the ones they’d seen on Earth in Detroit. To their right there were other, shorter buildings, and then farther away, homes. There was no sign of water anywhere.
“My hands are slipping!” Cylus cried. “Please, take me down, take me down!”
They worked as one and flew lower and lower in the sky. Finally Pegasus glided along a street. Without speaking, Astraea and Triana released Cylus’s back legs while Tryn flew free of his front end.