‘If we manage to survive this and save Olympus, I’m sure he’ll do more than forgive you,’ said Emily. ‘He’ll make you a hero.’
Paelen smiled brightly. ‘Do you think he might?’
In his snake-like form, Paelen’s smile was horrible to see. Emily averted her eyes to keep from being sick. ‘I’m sure he would,’ she said.
‘Then I will do my best for all of us.’
When Paelen had squirmed through the vent, Emily settled back in her bed. Everything was happening so quickly she could hardly keep her thoughts straight. They were deep underground on Governors Island. Pegasus might have been shot and Diana was in chains. Her father and Joel were hidden somewhere she didn’t know, and Nirads were only a short boat ride away.
Emily prayed that Paelen was telling the truth in wanting to help them. Otherwise, she couldn’t see how they could get away. As she tried to figure out the best way ahead, sleep tugged at her exhausted body. Before long, she surrendered to its draw and drifted away.
25
Paelen lay in the vent wondering where he should go next. He knew it was late in the evening, as the guards had changed outside his door and activity in the building had slowed down.
He had time. No one would return to his quarters until the next morning. So, should he go to Emily’s father? Joel? Or to the one he was dreading most, Pegasus? Facing Diana had been tough, but in the end, she could be reasoned with. But Pegasus would be different. There was no escaping the fact that Paelen had stolen his bridle and had intended to enslave the stallion.
He knew it, and Pegasus knew it. Would he be able to convince Pegasus that he had changed and that he wanted to help? He had to face the stallion some time. It might as well be now.
‘Take me to Pegasus,’ Paelen ordered.
Immediately the sandals’ wings started to flap. Despite Paelen’s attempts to prepare himself to be dragged painfully through the ductwork maze within the building, it was still a rough and bruising experience.
Pegasus was being held in the very deepest part of the facility, down on the lowest level where they were holding the dead Nirad. As the sandals drew Paelen through the ventilation system, he smelled the tunnel leading to the laboratory where they were cutting up the Nirad. He was relieved that the sandals kept moving.
Finally, they started to slow down and made a turn down a duct that ended in a vent. Long before he reached the vent, Paelen smelled the sweet scent of the stallion.
‘Stop,’ he ordered.
He put the sandals aside and crawled the rest of the distance towards the vent. He peered through the louvers and sucked in his breath when he got his first glimpse of the stallion.
Pegasus was unrecognizable. The only remotely familiar thing about him was his wings. Those were still white, while the rest of him was a terrible combination of dull brown and black. But worse still than his colour was the state of the stallion himself.
Pegasus was lying unmoving in a bed of straw. His chest and side were covered in thick bandages and his wings were open and held at careless angles. For a moment, Paelen feared the great stallion was dead. But as he watched, he saw Pegasus’s sides moving with shallow, strained breaths.
Forcing open the vent, Paelen lowered himself into the room.
‘Pegasus?’ he called softly.
Nothing.
Paelen called again as he carefully approached the stallion’s head. ‘Please, it is I, Paelen. I have come to help you.’
When he knelt down beside Pegasus, the stallion woke. As with Diana, Paelen had never seen such pain and despair held within a pair of eyes. Tears sprang to Paelen’s own eyes as he lightly stroked the stallion’s face.
‘I have brought this upon you,’ he said miserably. ‘Please, please forgive me. Had I known what would happen I would gladly have faced my own destruction in Olympus rather than see you like this.’
Pegasus made a long, deep questioning sigh.
‘Emily is here,’ Paelen answered as he sniffed. ‘She is alive and recovering from her wounds. But she is very worried about you. I will see her later. But what must I tell her of you?’
Pegasus made several weak sounds.
‘I will not tell her you are dead!’ Paelen cried in horror. ‘I will not tell her because you are not dead. You cannot die. You are Pegasus. You must live.’
Pegasus moaned again and tried to lift his head. He looked Paelen straight in the eye.
‘Yes, I have seen Diana,’ Paelen responded. ‘She is here also and is unharmed. But she too is very worried about you.’
Laying his head down, Pegasus made another soft sound.
‘Yes, of course we will leave here,’ Paelen assured him. ‘But all of us will go. Together. You are not remaining here, Pegasus. I will not allow it. I know you are wounded and in terrible pain. But you will recover. You just need rest and good food.’