‘From where?’ Steve asked.
‘That way!’ Diana picked up her spear and pointed at the tall grey metal roller door.
‘That’s the only way out. We’re trapped!’ Joel cried.
From above they heard the sound of the horses reacting to the approach of the Nirads. They were shrieking in their stalls and pounding wildly against the doors.
‘I’ve got an idea!’ Steve cried. ‘Joel, Diana, come with me. Em, you stay here with Pegasus. If they break down the door, make a run for it. You’ve got to get away.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Emily cried.
‘We’re going to release the horses.’
19
Pegasus was pawing the ground and snorting angrily as the sickening growling sounds of the Nirads approached the large grey metal door.
‘What’s going on here?’
Emily saw the two men Diana had attacked come stumbling down the ramp. Their faces were bruised and bloodied and they were limping from their encounter with the enraged Olympian.
‘You attacked us!’ shouted one of the men. ‘Who are you?’ His eyes fell on Pegasus, harnessed to the old white carriage. ‘Where did that horse come from? He’s not one of ours.’
‘But that carriage is!’ said the other man angrily.
‘Please listen to me,’ Emily pointed at the roller door. ‘There are four-armed creatures out there that are after us. They’ll kill you if they see you. They don’t know you’re here. Just hide until we’re gone!’
The men went pale as they heard the awful sounds coming from outside the stable.
‘Four-armed what?’ one of them said weakly.
‘Creatures, monsters, demons,’ Emily said. ‘Whatever you want to call them. We’re going to free the horses to distract them so we can get away. Please listen to me, you have to hide!’
From above came more sounds of shrieking horses, kicking at their doors. They were becoming frantic in their stalls.
‘You aren’t freeing my horses,’ one of the men shouted. They both turned and started back up the ramp. ‘Just stay where you are. We’re calling the cops!’
Everyone heard the sound of pounding on the floors above, then the rush of hooves racing down the ramp. Both men jumped aside as the first of the horses arrived. They wildly charged the carriage, panic in their eyes.
Emily was certain they would stampede and knock it over. But Pegasus opened both his wings just in time and reared up on his hind legs. Still in the carriage, Emily was lifted high in the air. The stallion let out a shrieking whinny that stopped the terrified horses in their tracks.
‘What the heck is going on here!’ One of the men cried as his eyes went wide at the sight of the stallion’s huge white wings. He looked back at Emily. ‘Who are you?’
‘What are you?’ demanded the other.
The Nirads began to pound at the grey door. Their snarling, growling roars promised a terrible death to everyone if they managed to get in.
‘Dad!’ Emily screamed up the ramp as the carriage crashed down again. ‘They’re here!’
‘We’re coming!’ Joel called down as more horses arrived from above. Emily could see the flared nostrils and wild terror in their eyes as the frightened animals gathered around Pegasus. The stallion was back down on all fours, but his wings were quivering and he was shaking his head with rage.
Steve, Joel and Diana reappeared, pushing through the horses on the ramp to make it to the carriage. When Diana saw the two men, she charged forward furiously.
‘You deserve the fate awaiting you behind that door for what you have done to these horses. Do not expect any help from me. You are at the mercy of the Nirads!’
‘Diana, we don’t have time,’ Steve warned. ‘Get upstairs and hide,’ he advised the terrified men. ‘The Nirads want us, not you. Keep hidden and you might just survive!’
Without waiting to be told twice, the men pushed through the panicked horses and dashed up the ramp.
‘We’re still calling the cops!’
‘Go ahead,’ Steve called. ‘I am a cop!’
‘Dad,’ Emily shouted, pointing at the roller door. ‘They’re trying to tear the door down.’
The heavy metal was starting to buckle under the brutal impact of the Nirads’ fists.
‘That door isn’t going to hold for long.’ Steve raced to Pegasus and snatched up the blanket from where it lay on the ground. ‘The moment the door goes, the horses should charge forward. With luck they’ll cut a way through the Nirads for us. Pegasus, it will be up to you to get us away from here as quickly as possible.’
Pegasus snorted and shook his head. His sharp hooves pounded the concrete beneath him as his wild eyes watched the roller door starting to give.
Steve leaped into the carriage and snatched up the reins. Joel and Diana vaulted in behind him.