by Kate O'Hearn
Paelen was still touching the sandals as he spoke. The tiny wings burst to life and started to flutter and move. Paelen jumped and nearly screamed in the tight confines of the air vent as they beat against his hand. He instinctively threw them away. The wings stopped moving at once and returned to their normal quiet state. Paelen reached forward and cautiously poked the nearest one. Nothing happened. He gave it a second poke. Still nothing happened. He reached forward and picked it up. The wings remained still. He then picked up the second sandal. Again, the wings remained quiet.
‘Find Diana,’ he said softly.
The wings started flapping wildly again as the sandals sprang to life. Paelen clutched them tightly. But he was unprepared for the sudden twisting and bending in the tight area. If he hadn’t had the talent for stretching out his body, the power of the sandals would have broken his every bone as they turned him around in the tight duct area and lunged forward to obey his command.
Biting back his cries of pain and shock, Paelen was wrenched forward. Barely able to see, he was dragged noisily and uncontrollably through the long maze of ductwork in the facility. He held on for dear life. One moment they were going left. Then at another junction, they darted right. A moment later, the sandals dragged him to the edge of a long, deep drop.
‘No, please wait!’ Paelen cried when he saw what Mercury’s sandals were intending. ‘Nooooo …’
Without pause, the sandals drew him over the edge and plunged downward. Paelen screamed and heard the echo of his terror flooding throughout the endless tunnels. But still they would not stop. Banging his elbows, his shoulder and knees on the walls of the ductwork, they were falling.
The sandals weren’t obeying his command to find Diana. They were trying to kill him!
But long before they hit bottom, the sandals changed direction again. They dashed into a new series of ducts that led away from the long drop. Finally they turned down another long tunnel that ended abruptly in an exit air vent.
‘Stop, please!’ Paelen begged just before they smashed into the vent cover.
They immediately obeyed his command and stopped. The sandals folded their tiny wings and became still. Paelen lay unmoving as he tried to catch his breath. That had been the worst ride of his life. Worse even than the time he’d stolen the sandals from Mercury and had tried to use them. The evil winged monsters had flown him straight into a pillar and knocked him senseless. When he finally awoke, Mercury was looming above him and furious.
But even that hadn’t been like this ride of terror. As he panted heavily, Paelen was sure he was going to be sick. Rolling over on to his back, he took several deep breaths and forced his pounding heart to calm.
When he could think clearly again, he turned over on to his hands and knees. He crept forward and up to the louvred vent cover directly in front of him. He gasped when he saw Diana lying on a narrow bed. Thick, heavy chains wrapped around her waist. Other shackles bound her wrists to her waist chain. From what he could see through the vent, her ankles were also shackled to the waist chain. These chains were then secured to the wall behind her.
‘I can hear you in there. Show yourself if you dare.’
Paelen paused. This was Diana, Daughter of Jupiter. She was renowned for her ferocious temper. On more than one occasion, he’d seen her bring Hercules to his knees with her biting tongue and vicious strength. Ever her uncle Neptune was frightened of her and did his best to stay on her good side. The only one who could control her was her twin brother Apollo. But Paelen had watched him die in Olympus.
Paelen himself had spent most of his life trying to avoid Diana. If she knew what he’d done to Pegasus, he doubted even those chains could restrain her.
Taking a deep breath, Paelen pushed against one edge of the vent cover. When it gave, he poked his head through cautiously. ‘Diana?’
‘Paelen!’ Diana said furiously. ‘I was told you were in this world. You stole Pegasus’s bridle! You foul little thief! Do you have any idea what you have done?’
‘Please, Diana, forgive me,’ Paelen pleaded as, painfully, he stretched out his body to fit through the small air vent. He returned to his normal shape as he knelt before Diana’s bed. ‘I know it was wrong. I am so sorry. I just wanted to make a better life for myself.’
‘By stealing the bridle?’
Paelen nodded. ‘I thought if I took it from Pegasus, but then gave it back, he would like me. He might even let me ride him. Then everyone else in Olympus would see that I am as good as the rest of you. Perhaps you might even respect me and see me as more than a thief. I swear I meant no harm.’
‘You did that to gain our respect?’ Diana said incredulously.
Paelen nodded. ‘I just want to be like the rest of you,’ he muttered.
Diana shook her head. ‘You foolish little boy. You did all of this just to prove that you are like the rest of us? Can you not see? Are you so blind? Paelen, you are an Olympian, just like me. Just like my father and just like my brother was. We are no better than you. But now, the damage you have done is immeasurable. You have single-handedly condemned us all.’
‘Me? How?’ Paelen cried. ‘What have I done other than flee the battle and take the bridle from Pegasus?’
Diana shook her head. ‘We needed that bridle to fight the Nirads.’
‘I do not understand,’ Paelen said helplessly. ‘What can it do that Pegasus himself cannot? I have seen what his hooves did to a Nirad. They have a dead one here in this place. He died because of Pegasus, not his bridle.’
‘It is not the bridle itself then, but the gold,’ Diana explained. ‘I did not know that Pegasus could kill them with his hooves. But back on Olympus, we discovered that the gold of his bridle was poisonous to the Nirads. One brief touch and they are weakened. Longer contact will kill them. That bridle was our only hope to make weapons against the Nirads. But now it is gone. Olympus has fallen and my father is in chains. Perhaps now, even dead.’
Paelen sat back on his heels and looked at Diana. In all their long history, he had never seen her look so defeated. As she lay there in chains, the look of despair on her face was more than he could bear.
‘You are wrong, Diana. The bridle is not lost. It is here, in this strange place. I have Mercury’s sandals. They can lead me to it, just as they led me to you. We can still forge those weapons and defeat the Nirads. Please, let me help. Let me prove to you and everyone else that I am more than just a thief.’
Diana shook her head sadly. ‘It is too late. These people have Pegasus as well. They shot him. I saw him go down. He may be dead.’
‘He is not dead,’ Paelen said. He told Diana what he had heard in the vent above Emily’s bed. ‘Agent J insisted Pegasus is alive. I know the sandals could take me to him if we want.’
‘And Emily? You have actually seen Emily?’
Paelen nodded. ‘Her room is very close to mine. But she is gravely ill. Her leg has been badly wounded. Agent J said she almost died.’
‘The Nirads got her,’ Diana said. ‘She and another boy, Joel, bravely fought them to protect Pegasus.’
‘That human girl fought a Nirad?’ Paelen repeated incredulously.
‘She is a very special child,’ said Diana. ‘When we leave here, we must take her and Joel with us. We need them to save Olympus.’
‘I do not understand,’ Paelen said. ‘How can simple humans save our home?’
‘It is too complicated to explain,’ Diana said. ‘But we need them both if we are to succeed.’
Paelen shook his head. ‘That will be difficult. The man, Agent J has already tortured her once to get her to answer questions about us. I have no doubt he will do more to get her to speak.’
‘He tortured Emily?’ Diana cried. ‘I will kill him!’ She reared up and strained against the chains that held her. ‘He has no idea what he is doing. Without her and Joel, we are all doomed!’
She struggled to pull her hands free of the shackles, but they wouldn’t give. ‘I have gone too long witho
ut ambrosia. I am weak and cannot break these chains.’ She looked up at Paelen. ‘I wish I could change my body as you do. It would be little work for you to get out of these.’
Giving up, she lay back down on the bed. ‘Paelen, listen to me. If you are sincere in wanting to help, you can. You must use Mercury’s sandals and find everyone. Tell Pegasus what has happened and that you wish to help. Tell him about Emily and what Agent J did to her. Then you must find Joel and her father, Steve, and tell them both what you know. We must leave here as soon as Emily is well enough to travel. There still may be time to save both our worlds. But, Paelen, you must be careful. Use all your thieving skills. Do not get caught. If you fail, we all do.’
‘I will be careful,’ Paelen promised as he stood up. ‘I will do this for Olympus.’
Standing proudly before Diana, Paelen stretched out his bones. He tried to hide the pain it caused him so she wouldn’t see his weakness.
‘I will not fail,’ he promised as he lifted himself back into the vent.
24
When Emily woke again, she was alone in her room. Her leg was pounding mercilessly from where that awful man had squeezed it. She remembered his prying questions and the cruel look in his eyes when he told her they’d shot Pegasus. Was he lying? Had Pegs really been shot? Was he dead? What about the others?
Worry weighed heavily on her as she lay alone in her room. The CRU were as bad as her father had told her. Worse, even. Agent J was the most evil person she’d ever met. The last thing she remembered was the cruel smile on his face and sparkle in his eyes as his hand crushed her wound.
Emily took in her surroundings. While she had been unconscious, they had disconnected her from the heart monitor and other machines. But she was still connected to the IV as several bags of fluid fed down into her arm. Whatever was in that stuff was working. She was feeling much better. Though her leg ached, her fever was down and her head was clearer.
In the silence, she became aware of odd sounds coming from above her bed. Looking up, she jumped when she saw fingers quietly pushing through the air vent. The vent came silently away from the wall and two strange long hands came through.
‘Hello?’ she called out.
She watched, mesmerized, as two extra long, thin arms slid out of the vent; then a mop of dark brown hair and the top of a very strangely shaped head. These were followed by painfully narrow shoulders. Moment by moment more of the snake-like thing seemed to pour itself into her room.
Emily’s eyes darted to her door. She wondered if she should call out for help. Was this some new type of creature come to kill her? Had it been sent by the Nirads?
As she opened her mouth to scream, the snake-like thing spoke.
‘Do not be frightened, Emily, I am here to help you.’
Biting back her cry, Emily realized it was wearing a hospital gown just like hers. But what was in the hospital gown was the strangest thing Emily had ever seen. It was almost human, with two arms and two legs and a head. But it was profoundly distorted.
The creature landed softly on her floor. Emily heard the sickening sound of cracking bones as the creature shrank back to a more human shape. A young man now stood beside her bed. He was almost handsome, in a strange kind of way. He looked a bit older than Joel but not nearly as big, with warm, smiling brown eyes. As she looked at him, Emily was certain she’d seen his face before. Then suddenly it hit her and her eyes flew wide with recognition.
‘Paelen!’ she said. ‘You’re Paelen, aren’t you? I saw you steal the bridle from Pegasus. Right before you were both struck by lightning.’
A look of complete shock crossed Paelen’s face. ‘How do you know me?’
‘Pegasus showed me,’ Emily said. Then her voice grew angry. ‘I saw what you did to him! He wouldn’t have been hit if you hadn’t stolen his bridle and attracted the lightning.’
‘I know. I am very sorry,’ Paelen said, dropping his head. ‘But I am trying to make up for what I did. I am here to help. Listen to me please as I do not have a lot of time. I have already spoken to Diana—’
‘You’ve seen Diana?’ Emily cut in. ‘Is she all right? What about Pegs? They said they’d shot him. Did they? Is he alive? I’m so frightened for him. What about my father? Have you seen him and Joel?’
Paelen held up his hands to silence the stream of questions. ‘One question at a time, please. Yes, I have seen Diana. She is here in this place with us. She appears unharmed but is in chains. I have not yet seen Pegasus, but I will find him after I leave you. Nor have I seen your father or Joel.’ Paelen paused and took a step closer to her. ‘I just came to check on you. I was hiding up there,’ he pointed up to the vent, ‘and I saw what that agent did to your leg. He is a cruel and dangerous man. I have had more than one unfortunate encounter with him.’
Paelen came closer, eager to get his message across. ‘Listen to me, Emily,’ he said. ‘When that man comes back in here, and believe me he will, tell him anything but the truth. But make your claims sound reasonable. Do not refuse to answer his questions. He will hurt you again, much worse than he already has. Diana told me what you did for Pegasus and how you were wounded trying to protect him. She says you and Joel are going to help us save Olympus. But to do that, you must get well. We cannot leave until you are ready to travel.’
‘Diana told you that?’ Emily said.
Paelen nodded. ‘I must now find the others. Tell them what is happening. Then we will make our plans for escape. But only after you are well enough to leave.’
‘I’m well enough to leave right now,’ Emily said. She reached forward to undo the straps holding her wounded leg in the air. As she did, she started to feel dizzy.
‘Stop, you are not well enough!’ Paelen said.
‘I’m all right,’ Emily insisted as she forced herself to move.
‘No, you are not.’ Paelen said as he caught hold of her shoulders and gently made her lie down again. ‘You need a bit more time to recover. I still need to find the others before we do anything. If Pegasus truly has been shot, then he too may need time to recover.’
Emily surrendered. Paelen was right. She really wasn’t up to moving around just yet. ‘He’ll need sugar,’ Emily said. ‘Pegs won’t eat food for horses. He needs sweet things.’
‘I know.’ A charming, crooked smile crossed Paelen’s face. ‘I am exactly the same. I do rather like chocolate.’
‘Me too,’ Emily agreed. ‘But the people here think Pegs is a horse. They won’t give him what he needs.’
‘Then I will,’ Paelen said. ‘I promise you, Emily, Pegasus will have everything he needs to recover his strength. But what we all need right now is for you to rest. Then we can make our move.’
Emily nodded and lay back into the pillows. ‘I guess you’re right. But there is one thing that may change all our plans,’ she said.
‘What is that?’ Paelen asked.
‘The Nirads. They are tracking Pegasus and me. Diana says it’s because they’ve tasted our blood. They’ve been able to follow us everywhere we go,’ Emily explained. ‘If we’ve been here four days already, they might be getting really close. Because I don’t know where we are, I don’t know how far away they could be.’
Paelen nodded and seemed to consider her words. He rubbed his chin, thinking. ‘When I was at the place they called Belleview Hospital,’ he said, ‘the men came to get me. They chained me down to a narrow bed and then carried me in a strange flying machine. We journeyed a short distance, to a tiny island across the water from where we were. This place is deep beneath the ground of that island. But I do not know how deep.’
‘A tiny island?’ Emily repeated. ‘We’re on an island just off Manhattan?’
Paelen shrugged. ‘I guess. There was a tall statue in the water of a green woman holding a torch,’ Paelen went on. ‘She was looking at us.’
‘A statue of a green woman?’ Emily mused. Then she snapped her fingers. ‘Wait, you’re talking about the Statue of Liberty! So where could we b
e? Roosevelt Island maybe?’ Then she shook her head. ‘No, wait, that’s on the other side of Manhattan. Maybe Ellis Island? But does the Statue of Liberty face Ellis Island?’
Paelen looked confused. ‘This is your world, not mine,’ he said.
Emily nodded. ‘Yes it is. But from what I can remember, I don’t think Lady Liberty faces Ellis Island.’ Then finally it struck Emily. Governors Island. When she was younger, the coastguard kids at her school had lived there until they were all moved off and relocated. As far as anyone knew, Governors Island was now empty. What better place to hide a secret Government facility than on an empty Government island?
‘Paelen, I know where we are.’
‘That is good.’
‘No, it’s not!’ Emily reached out to take Paelen’s hand. ‘You don’t understand. We’re on Governors Island. It’s too close to Manhattan. If the Nirads can swim, it’s just a quick trip across the water and they’re here.’ She looked intently at him. ‘Can Nirads swim?’
Paelen shook his head. ‘No. They sink in water. In Olympus, it was the rivers that slowed them down until they discovered other ways of getting across.’
‘Can they use boats?’ Emily anxiously asked.
Paelen shrugged. ‘I do not know. The truth is, I know very little about the Nirads. Until they attacked Olympus, I had never heard of them.’
‘We have got to get out of here as quickly as possible. We’re so close to the city. I’ve counted at least fourteen Nirads after us. If they steal boats at the harbour, they could sail over here. Even if we are deep beneath the ground, they are strong enough to reach us.’
‘I must tell Pegasus,’ Paelen said. ‘And you must concentrate on getting better. If it is as you say and the Nirads are close, we must leave here soon.
‘I will,’ Emily agreed. ‘Just find Pegs and tell him what you know,’ said Emily. ‘Then please find my father and Joel. They’ve got to know too.’
‘Yes of course.’ Paelen stepped back from the bed. Emily watched in gruesome fascination as he started to manipulate his body again.