The Missing

by Kate O'Hearn

  “Astraea,” Cylus said softly. “Hand me my bow. When I tell you, let Zephyr’s wounds rise above the surface.”

  “If I do that, Lergo will smell her and come after us!”

  “I know, but I have an idea.” He looked at Render and Darek. “Get your arrows and bows ready. The moment Zephyr is up, do what I do. But be fast.”

  Astraea realized she was putting all her trust in Cylus. Cylus the bully. Cylus the centaur who cared only about his own kind. But also Cylus who had built a sled for Zephyr and would now do anything for her after she saved his life and the lives of Darek and Render.

  “Get ready,” Cylus called softly. “Now…”

  Astraea stopped pushing down on the end on the sled and let it rise to the surface. She was still unsure what Cylus planned. She looked back at the snake and then to Cylus and nearly shouted “no” when she watched Cylus start rubbing the points of his arrows in Zephyr’s deepest wounds. He sniffed the arrowhead and his face contorted. “Ugh. It still stinks.” He looked at the other centaurs. “Do it.”

  When they finished, Cylus said to Astraea, “Push her down again—it will hide the smell.”

  Astraea was too stunned to do anything other than what Cylus told her to do. Beside her, the centaurs loaded their bows. Across the pond, Lergo rose up higher as its tongue flicked the air. Suddenly its head turned in their direction. It had picked up on Zephyr’s smell again.

  “Aim only for the Shadow Titans,” Cylus ordered softly as he let his first arrow fly.

  Darek and Render soon followed. All the arrows struck their marks and stuck into the Shadow Titans’ armor.

  “Arrows don’t hurt them,” Astraea said.

  “They’re not supposed to,” Cylus said. “I just hope this works.”

  The Shadow Titans didn’t seem to notice the arrows sticking out of their armor. But within seconds of them being struck, Lergo stopped looking in Zephyr’s direction and focused on the Shadows.

  “We put the smell of Zephyr’s infection on them,” Cylus explained softly. “If we’re lucky and it’s still potent enough, it will draw Lergo away. Otherwise…”

  Before Cylus could finish, the snake opened its mouth wide and bit down on the nearest Shadow Titan. Lifting its head high in the air, it swallowed the Shadow whole.

  The two remaining Shadow Titans didn’t seem to notice or care as they continued to hack at the immense snake. But after the first Shadow Titan was swallowed, Lergo attacked and ate the remaining two.

  When all the Shadow Titans were gone, Lergo’s tongue flicked out several more times, tasting the air. Cylus joined Astraea in holding Zephyr’s flank beneath the surface so the massive snake couldn’t smell her.

  Finally Lergo returned to its normal color and slithered back through the jungle.

  Though the danger had passed, everyone was too frightened to move. They all took turns holding Zephyr’s wounds under the water all night in the hopes of keeping Lergo away.

  12

  BRUE WAS STANDING OUTSIDE THE temple and followed them to the Olympian homes as Jake and Tryn gathered two large sacks of ambrosia. It was more than enough for Zephyr, Astraea, and the centaurs, as well as the others waiting on Earth.

  “Let’s get moving,” Tryn said.

  Just as they were about to step onto their skateboards, Brue caught hold of Tryn’s right arm in one of her mouths.

  “Brue, I don’t have time to play. Let me go.” Tryn tried to pull his arm free, but this time Brue refused to release him. Instead she started to drag him away.

  Jake stepped back fearfully. “I thought you said nothing here is dangerous.”

  “Nothing is,” Tryn insisted as he tried to free his arm. “Really, Brue, we have to go save Zephyr!”

  Brue’s second head caught hold of Tryn’s other arm, and together they lifted him off the ground and started to carry him into the dense jungle.

  “Tryn…,” Jake called. “For not being dangerous, she looks awfully dangerous to me. Fight her.”

  “No,” Tryn said. “The Mother of the Jungle is peaceful. She’s trying to tell us something—it’s like she wants to take us somewhere.”

  “Yeah, to a nice safe place to eat!”

  “If Brue really wanted to hurt me, all she has to do is bite down, or even pull her heads apart. But she isn’t. Whatever this is, it’s important.”

  Jake shook his head and followed behind the Mother of the Jungle. “What is it with these crazy jungle planets and their giant monsters!”

  After a few minutes Brue stopped. She put Tryn down on the ground and whined.

  “What is it?” Jake asked.

  The Mother of the Jungle took another step forward and lowered her heads to the ground before a large mound of dead leaves and vines. She started to brush away vines.

  “You’re kidding,” Jake said. “She does want to play.”

  “I don’t think so.” Tryn approached the mound. “It looks like something’s buried here.” He started to pull away the vines and then gasped, stumbling backward.

  “What is it?” Jake stepped closer and saw what looked like the tip of a white wing.

  He bent down and brushed more vines away, then looked at Tryn. “It’s a dead animal. Actually,” he said as he uncovered more, “it looks like Zephyr or even Tornado Warning.”

  Tryn nodded. “That’s because it’s Pegasus.”

  13

  ASTRAEA AND THE CENTAURS SPENT the whole night in the water. When the sun finally started to rise, they risked letting Zephyr’s hindquarters float to the surface.

  The moment her infected flank broke the water and they lifted Zephyr’s wing out of the way, Astraea couldn’t believe her eyes. The wounds were still there, but they were much smaller and scabbed over. The foul odor was gone.

  “Look at that,” Render said. “She’s healing. Those berries cured her.”

  Astraea didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. She wanted to kiss each snake that had brought the berries to her friend and then Darek and Render for their help.

  “Are you crying again?” Cylus asked.

  Tears were streaming down Astraea’s cheeks. “No. I’m just so happy Zephyr’s still alive.”

  “Me too,” Cylus finally admitted.

  Render brushed the branches aside and looked across the pond. “I don’t think anyone’s here,” he said. “But I see something glinting over there.” He looked at Cylus. “Can I go see what it is?”

  “I’m not stopping you,” Cylus said abruptly. Then his tone softened. “I mean, yes, if you want to. Just be careful. There could be more Shadow Titans, or Lergo might come back.”

  “I will be.” Render pushed free of their cover and swam across the pond. When he climbed out of the water, he reached for something and held it up.

  “It’s a sword,” Darek said. “The Shadow Titan must have dropped it when it when Lergo attacked it.”

  Render reached for a second sword and finally the third one. He held them in his arms and entered the water again. When he arrived back at their hiding spot, he ducked beneath the branches, approached Cylus, and handed him one of the swords. “This is all that’s left from the Shadow Titans. I think that snake must have spit them out. I never saw the Shadows drop them.”

  Cylus held up the sword and inspected it closely. “I don’t recognize the metal.” He looked at Darek and Render. “Do you?”

  Render studied the sword and shook his head. He handed his to Astraea and the other to Darek.

  Astraea looked at the strange weapon. There were almost iridescent rainbows swirling in the metal. The edge was still lethally sharp, even after all the blows the Shadow Titan had levied at the giant snake. “They still look brand-new.”

  Render was frowning. “Weren’t the original Shadow Titans created by Saturn?”

  Astraea nodded. “In the war against the Olympians.”

  Render said. “If that’s true, where did they get these swords? I’ve never seen anything like this before, and my dad wor
ks with metals just like Vulcan.”

  “You’re right,” Darek said. “Titus doesn’t have anything like this.” He was turning the blade around, inspecting it all. Then his eyes went to the handle. “Look at the pommel and hilt. They’re not from Titus. We don’t have this kind of wood.”

  “What’s it mean?” Cylus said.

  Darek continued. “I think it means that these were made by Mimics using materials from their world, not ours. Maybe even the Shadow Titans themselves aren’t really Titans. What if they made them, too?”

  “Why would they?” Cylus asked.

  After a moment, Astraea had a thought. “I think I know. It’s fear. Think about it. The Shadow Titans were the most fearsome fighters in the war. Everyone was scared of them because they couldn’t be defeated and showed no mercy. It took the special flame-swords to destroy them. Maybe whoever the Titan traitor is, he told them about the swords and they designed new ones to scare us.”

  “It worked,” Render admitted. “They scare the life out of me!”

  “So if the Mimics’ Shadow Titans aren’t real Shadow Titans,” Darek mused, “then we might not need those special flame-swords to defeat them. These might even work.”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” Cylus said. “We have to find another one and try these swords.”

  “You want to go looking for Shadow Titans?” Astraea gasped.

  “If we want to find out the truth, we have to,” Cylus said.

  Zephyr stirred in the water and lifted her head. “Would you all please shut up—my head is killing me!”

  “Zephyr!” Astraea squealed. She swam up to Zephyr’s head and hugged her tightly.

  “Astraea, please, headache, remember? Squeezing my head really isn’t helping!”

  “I’m sorry,” Astraea said excitedly. “But I can’t help it. We thought you were going to die.”

  Zephyr snorted. “It’s going to take more than a giant snake to kill me.”

  “That same giant snake just ate three Shadow Titans,” Render said.

  “What?” Zephyr cried. Then she shut her eyes. “Ouch, my head.”

  “Just take it easy,” Cylus said softly. “You’ve had a bad night. Lie back and relax for a while.”

  Instead of lying back down, Zephyr looked around. Finally her eyes settled on Astraea. “Where are we? Why am I wet? How did I get here? I can’t seem to remember anything after they set your leg.”

  “Wow, you missed a lot,” Render said.

  They briefly explained the events right after Zephyr collapsed. When they finished, Zephyr looked at each of them. “Thank you for making this sled and saving me.”

  “You saved us first,” Cylus said.

  “I think we must be even now,” Zephyr said.

  “Not hardly,” Cylus said seriously. “You saved me at least twice.”

  “And us,” Darek and Render said.

  “Look,” Astraea interrupted. “You can keep track of who saved who the most later. Right now we must figure out what to do next. I personally want to get as far away from Lergo as possible—not to mention that there may be more Shadow Titans around here.”

  When everyone agreed, Zephyr raised her head again. “That works for me. Let’s just find the rest of the snakes and be ready to leave when Jake and Tryn come back.” She rose a bit farther. “Move back, everyone. I want to try to get up.”

  Astraea swam a bit farther away from Zephyr. “Nice and easy,” she coached. “You’ve been really sick, and you haven’t eaten anything. You’re going to be weak.”

  Zephyr looked back at her. “Weak? I passed weak ages ago. Right now I’d be happy to be able to stand up without falling over.”

  Zephyr made it to her feet, but as she feared, her legs buckled, and she splashed back down into the water. Her second attempt was the same. On the third try, Cylus and the two centaurs surrounded her and helped support her as she climbed shakily to her hooves.

  “Just stand there for a moment and get your balance,” Cylus said he stood pressed against Zephyr to keep her upright.

  Zephyr shook her head and snorted. “I really feel like Brutus has stomped on me.”

  “I wish Brutus were here,” Astraea said. “We sure could use a giant that’s on our side on this world.”

  After a while, Zephyr took her first unsteady step as she climbed out of the pond and up onto the shore. Once she was settled on solid ground, she stretched her wings and gave them a good flapping before settling them down.

  “Are you all right?” Astraea called.

  “You’re kidding, right?” Zephyr said.

  “I know you feel terrible,” Astraea finished. “But I mean, do you think you can walk?”

  Zephyr nodded. “If it means walking away from here, yes, I can walk.” She took a step and then stopped. She looked down at her chest, then to Astraea, and down to her chest again. “Um, Astraea, would you mind telling me what you guys did to my black blaze? It seems to be missing.”

  Astraea had wondered how long it would take for Zephyr to notice her blaze was mostly gone. All that remained was the tiniest hint of gray. “We didn’t do anything, Zeph. Your fever did it, or the venom from Lergo. You were turning yellow and then it faded away.”

  “So, let me get this straight. I got bitten by a big snake and now my blaze is gone, and I look like Pegasus. Just like Pegasus! Is that what you’re telling me?”

  Astraea shrugged. “Um, yes…”

  Zephyr threw back her head and whinnied furiously. “Noooooo!”

  “Zephyr, calm down,” Cylus said. “It’s just a bit of color. You’re alive. That’s all that matters.”

  “It’s more than just a bit of color!” Zephyr cried. “That blaze is what set me apart from Pegasus. It was my identity. Now it’s gone and the teasing is going to get even worse!”

  “No, it won’t,” Cylus insisted. “I swear if I hear one person compare you to Pegasus, it will be the last thing they ever do.”

  “Zeph, please,” Astraea said. “You’re just getting over something terrible. You can’t waste your energy like this.”

  Zephyr turned to her, and the pain in her eyes was clear. “How would you feel if you woke up and all your hair was gone?”

  Astraea leaned over and reached for one of the Shadow Titan swords. Then she pulled her long hair forward and put the blade to it. “I will cut it all off right now if it would help. Zephyr, you are not defined by your blaze any more than I am by my hair. You are you. The rest is just extra.”

  Astraea started to cut her hair when Render caught hold of her arm and stopped her. “Astraea, don’t. For one, your mother will kill you, and for two, it won’t help Zephyr.”

  “No, it won’t,” Zephyr agreed. She tilted her head to the side. “But I do appreciate the gesture. Please put the sword down. I’ll be all right. I just have to get used to it.”

  “Maybe the color will come back when you eat ambrosia,” Darek offered.

  “Or we could dye it once this nightmare is over and we’re back on Titus,” Astraea offered.

  “Yes, I guess.” Zephyr sighed. She looked over at Cylus. “Would you put Astraea on my back, and we can get moving?”

  “I’ll carry her,” Render offered.

  Zephyr snorted. “Oh no, we’re not starting this again. I carry Astraea and you keep those swords and bows ready. If there were three Shadow Titans here last night, who knows how many more there could be.”

  Astraea hated to admit it, but Zephyr was right. With her broken leg, she couldn’t walk, and if she was honest, she wasn’t great with a bow. The centaurs were natural warriors. Finally she nodded and allowed Render to carry her over to Zephyr and lift her onto her back.

  When she was set, Astraea leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Zephyr’s neck. Saying nothing, she hugged her best friend tightly.

  Zephyr turned back and nodded. “I feel the same.” She looked at the centaurs. “Lead on. Let’s go get some snakes.”

  * * *

&n
bsp; They traveled in the same direction as the previous day. As they walked, they quietly laughed at the rumbling of each other’s empty stomachs.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been so hungry in all my life,” Cylus complained.

  “I’m so hungry I could eat a tree,” Render said. “I wanted to eat some of the berries we used on Zephyr, but I wasn’t sure if they’d be poisonous.”

  “We can’t trust anything here,” Astraea said as her own stomach churned and complained about the lack of food. “I just hope Riza and Emily get here soon with some ambrosia.”

  They passed the time describing the banquet they were going to have once this was over. Not one item or dessert was left off their extensive list.

  Several times they had to stop to let Zephyr rest. Though she tried to keep going, she was exhausted. It was a good opportunity for the others to rest as well. It seemed like it had been ages since they’d slept or eaten.

  Other stops were made when the sounds in the jungle changed. On two occasions they had to hide as best they could while enormous dinosaurs passed through the area.

  After one particularly gigantic, four-legged creature moved within shooting distance of them, Darek shook his head. “Not even Brutus could beat that one! Why is everything here so big?”

  “I don’t know,” Astraea said. “Jake seemed to recognize them, but to me they’re all just big and scary.”

  Throughout the day, Cylus would stop and look back. When Astraea asked him why, he would frown and say it was nothing. But the fact that he kept doing it was starting to spook her.

  “What?” she finally demanded. “Cylus, tell me—why do you keep looking back? You’ve been doing it all day!”

  Cylus paused. “I haven’t said anything because I’m not sure.”

  “Not sure about what?” Zephyr said.

  “I don’t know,” the centaur said. “But I keep feeling like we’re being followed. I haven’t heard or seen anything. But the feeling won’t go away. Actually, it’s getting worse.”

  “I’ve been feeling it too,” Render offered. “But considering everything here wants to eat us, I thought it was just me overreacting.”