Emily paused and reached for his hands. ‘Dad, it won’t be Emily Jacobs going back there. It will be me – the new and improved Emily. I promise I will always be your little girl, but like it or not, I am also a fully powered Xan!’
The next day they were ready to go and the team was set.
Agent B was furious when Emily said he was not welcome. He claimed the mission was doomed to fail without him. But Emily refused and made it clear that she neither liked nor trusted the CRU agent.
Throwing up his arms in fury, Agent B stormed off into the jungle.
As everyone prepared to leave, Emily approached her father. ‘I guess this is it.’
There was fear in his eyes, but she knew he wouldn’t try to stop her. He had opened up about his feelings for Diana and this was her only chance to survive.
‘Promise me,’ he said, ‘promise me you’ll be careful. Don’t take any unnecessary risks. Just destroy that weapon and get right back here.’
‘We will,’ Emily promised.
She looked at her group of travellers. Joel was standing beside Paelen, who was seated on one of Brue’s shoulders. Stella was in her wheelchair beside Pegasus. Mike, as always, was at Emily’s side. ‘Are we ready?’
Joel approached. ‘It’s up to you now, Em. What do you want us to do?’
‘We all need to be connected.’ Emily put one arm around Pegasus’s neck and held Joel’s hand with the other. Mike was lying on Emily’s feet, panting softly. Soon everyone in the group was touching one another so that they were standing in one big circle.
‘OK. Here we go.’
Emily took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Delving into the knowledge she had acquired from Arious, she focused her powers and commanded them to take them deep into the past; back to Earth, to the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio.
As her powers surged, Emily felt the strangest sensations – almost like she was melting. She opened her eyes and could see everyone with her.
The world around them blurred. It became as though they were standing in the middle of a powerful waterfall. It didn’t feel like they were moving at all. Instead, everything outside their circle was moving. Emily could no longer discern any clear shapes behind her friends. Loud whooshing sounds started to rise as they moved faster through time and space.
Suddenly something slammed violently into Emily’s back. She was knocked forward and broke her physical connection with Joel and Pegasus. In that instant, the calm journey changed. It took all of her concentration just to keep everyone together. She could feel their terror and hear their screams as they somersaulted through time.
23
The journey ended as abruptly as it started. They came to a sudden stop on a very hard, smooth marble surface.
Emily was the first to open her eyes.
Pegasus was on the ground beside her, unconscious. His wings were open as though he’d been trying to fly. Emily crawled to him and stroked his neck and could feel his steady breathing.
Mike was awake and growled at a group of men staring at them. They were shirtless and wearing loin cloths. Their chests were bathed in sweat and covered with a film of marble dust. Crude cutting tools were in their hands as they stared and muttered quietly to themselves.
Several pillars rose high above them, looking fresh and new, while others were still in the process of being built. The entire area looked under construction. Overhead, the sun was shining brightly and Emily could taste sea-salt on her lips and hear the sea crashing around her from the bottom of the cliffs that surrounded them on three sides.
They were at Cape Sounio, that much was clear.
But the timing was all wrong. They were supposed to arrive long after the temple had been built and turned to ruins. Not during its construction. Emily shook her head, trying to figure out how she had got it so wrong.
Pegasus started to stir. He neighed softly and sat up.
‘Take it easy, Pegs,’ Emily whispered as she stroked him. ‘Nice and slow. We’re here. We’re at Cape Sounio.’
Emily looked at Joel, who was waking. As she crawled over to him, her eyes landed on an unwelcome sight.
Agent B was sitting up and rubbing his head. He looked around in wonder. ‘My God, it worked!’ The CRU agent jumped to his feet and ran off the edge of the temple floor and down to the rocky ground. He approached the cliff edge and raised his hands in the air triumphantly. ‘We’re back on Earth!’
‘What’s he doing here?’ Joel demanded as he wobbled unsteadily to his feet.
Emily shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’ The others were just starting to stir. ‘Check on Paelen and Stella.’
Emily stormed over to the CRU agent. ‘How did you get here?’
Agent B grinned. ‘The same way you did, I suspect. Considering you were the one who brought us here.’
‘I didn’t bring you!’
‘True,’ Agent B agreed. ‘I hitched a ride at the last minute.’
‘It was you!’ Emily accused. ‘You were the one who hit me in the back just as we were leaving. You broke my concentration. We could have all been killed!’
‘It was a risk worth taking,’ the agent defended. ‘Though you did recover quite well.’
‘Recover well?’ Emily raged. ‘Are you insane? Look around you. We’re here at the wrong time. We were supposed to arrive after the temple was built, not before. Why did you do it? Do you really want this to fail?’
The agent shook his head. ‘Just the opposite. I desperately need this mission to succeed, but it won’t if I’m not here. I have experience and training in war situations.’
‘What war? We’ve arrived here after the war. All I have to do is destroy the weapon and it’s over. We didn’t need you for that!’
‘You can’t be sure what you might encounter,’ Agent B said. ‘You need me, you just won’t admit it. Why won’t you accept my help?’
Emily shook her head. ‘How can you expect me to trust you after everything you’ve done?’
‘Desperation is a powerful motivator,’ Agent B said, brushing marble dust off his black jeans. ‘If we destroy that weapon, it will be like hitting a reset button. I will be back in London, working at the CRU. You will be back on Olympus and none of this will have ever happened. We need never meet again.’
‘That will happen anyway, with or without your help.’
‘You can’t be sure of that,’ the CRU agent argued. ‘Not with Pegasus distracting you.’
Emily gazed back at the temple. Pegasus was struggling to gain his feet on the smooth marble surface. She raised her hand and used her powers to lift him up. The stallion turned to her and nickered softly.
‘See what I mean,’ Agent B said. ‘He’s a distraction.’
Emily faced the agent and her expression darkened. ‘Pegasus will never be a distraction. But you are! You make one move against us and I swear it will be the last thing you ever do. Let’s just get this over and done with.’
‘Agreed,’ Agent B said.
They walked back to the temple together. Stella was attempting to speak with some of the locals.
‘What’s he doing here?’ Joel demanded.
Emily explained and Joel was ready to kill Agent B. ‘I guess there’s nothing we can do about it now. But you try one more trick like that …’ Joel warned.
‘I know,’ Agent B said, ‘you’ll kill me. Emily has already made that threat perfectly clear.’
Pegasus neighed softly.
Some of the construction workers were approaching him cautiously. Emily moved to the stallion’s side and, when they set their eyes on her, they bowed their heads respectfully and smiled.
‘I hardly believe this.’ Stella returned with more of the men. ‘They are very familiar with Zeus and all the gods. They have been visited by them. They truly believe in the gods and have accepted their presence on Earth. Our appearance here does not frighten them at all. They look at winged Pegasus as if they have known him always. Brue does not bother them!’
> ‘Of course they accept us,’ Agent B said. ‘These people knew the Olympians were real. It’s us in the modern age who stopped believing.’
‘But what did they say?’ Emily asked impatiently. ‘Has Jupiter been here recently? Did they bury the weapon?’
‘It is not good news,’ Stella said. ‘Zeus has never been here. These people hoped that if they built the temple to Poseidon, he would come and protect them from the Titans and their sea monsters.’
‘The war is still on?’ Joel cried.
Stella nodded. ‘Their language is different to mine. Very ancient. But from what I can understand, a large village not far from here was destroyed by the Shadow Titans a few days ago. Everyone is scared. They fear the Olympians have abandoned them.’
‘So the weapon is not here?’
‘I do not think so.’
‘That’s not good enough,’ Emily said. ‘We have to be certain. Show me where you found the box.’
Stella directed Joel to where her parents pulled the golden box out of the rock. They were followed by the large group of construction workers.
‘It was there,’ she pointed.
‘Everyone, stand back,’ Emily warned.
Emily used her powers to crack open the ground where the golden box was found. She lifted huge chunks of solid rock and broke them up in the air until they were only dust.
‘It’s not here!’ Emily repaired and replaced the rocks back in the ground. She shot an accusing eye at Agent B. ‘We’re too early! If it hadn’t been for you, we would have arrived at the right time and I could have destroyed that weapon by now.’
‘How was I supposed to know I would throw you off ?’ Agent B defended.
Emily was stopped from saying more by a horrendous roar. It was coming from the sea.
Pegasus tried to rear and opened his wings.
The construction workers were the first to react. They threw down their tools and ran away from the temple. Mike started to growl and bark as he charged the edge of the cliff.
‘Mike, come back!’ Emily ordered. But the dog refused to obey. She used her powers to lift him from the cliff edge just as a huge tentacle crested the top and slammed down where Mike had been standing.
‘What the … ?’ Joel gasped.
‘It is a sea serpent,’ Paelen cried. ‘Everybody run!’ He started to kick at Brue’s thick neck. ‘Brue, you must move! It will devour us all!’
More of the huge sea-monster appeared as it crawled over the cliff edge and its hideousness was revealed. It had many heads, each with a mouth full of sharp teeth that snapped and snarled at them. Its slimy, grey body looked like a giant squid with at least eight long tentacles that flipped and flew in the air, reaching for them.
‘It’s the Hydra,’ Joel shouted as he pushed Stella’s wheelchair.
‘That’s not the Hydra,’ Stella corrected. ‘It’s a sea-serpent!’
‘It doesn’t matter what it’s called,’ Agent B yelled. ‘We’ll be just as dead!’
As they ran, more sea-monsters crested the far side of the cliff, blocking their escape.
‘We’re surrounded,’ Joel yelled.
Faced on three sides by the huge, ferocious monsters, the group huddled together. Joel caught hold of a long pole from the construction site.
Emily raised her hands and the Flame flashed.
Behind her, Paelen cried out as Brue dropped him to the ground. She rose up on her many legs. Suddenly the large, gentle creature threw back her two purple heads and howled in fury. Large deadly teeth filled her mouths and her eyes blazed red.
The Mother of the Jungle gave one last look at Paelen before charging the closest sea-serpent. As the serpent lunged forward to bite, one of Brue’s heads flashed to the side and caught hold of one the serpent’s necks, tearing its hideous head away from the body.
On the ground, Paelen helped Stella over to a pile of uncut marble. They hid behind it while Paelen called instructions to the group. ‘Do not just stand there, Emily, fire!’
Beside her, Agent B picked up a pole and was jamming it at one of the mouths of the nearest monster. But the heads were quicker and avoided the pole.
Sea-serpents were everywhere. Emily didn’t have time to think. Only react. She shot flames at the nearest, but they had little effect beyond irritating the creature further.
Emily concentrated harder and turned the raging flames into a laser-like beam. The creature attacking her rose up on its tentacles and prepared to lunge. She directed the laser beam and severed all the heads at once. In its dying rage, the sea-serpent collapsed against the newly built columns of the temple and knocked them all down.
There was no time to celebrate. No sooner had Emily killed one creature than another rose from the sea to attack.
‘Emily, behind you!’ Stella warned.
Emily turned in time to see sharp teeth plunging towards her. Reacting instantly, she cut the head off with her Flame and jumped to the side to avoid it as it hit the ground. She turned her powers on the body of the creature and it collapsed in a dead heap.
Pegasus was doing his best to fight, but the ageing stallion was no match for the giant sea-serpent. Tentacles caught hold of one of the stallion’s wings and hoisted him off the ground as sharp teeth bit deep into one of his rear legs.
Agent B charged and stabbed the neck of the monster holding Pegasus’s wing. The creature howled and dropped the stallion. Pegasus hit the ground a few metres from Emily and cried out in pain.
Seeing him hurt drove Emily to rage. But this time, knowing what was at stake, she focused her fury. The intensity of the Flame increased as she spun in a tight circle and fired everything she had at the attacking monsters. The air was filled with acrid smoke as their bodies burned. Howls and roars rose higher as all the sea-serpents were cut down.
Stella was still hiding with Paelen behind the pile of marble. She only emerged after all the serpents were dead. She wheeled herself towards Emily but stopped short.
‘Look!’ she screamed, pointing at the cliff.
More creatures were crawling over the top.
‘Em, stop them!’ Joel cried.
Emily changed her tactics. She raised her hands and used her powers to lift the creatures off the ground. Suspended high above the sea, they screamed and writhed as one. Emily used this opportunity to let loose a single blast of Flame that incinerated them all. A shower of ash was all that was left to drift back down into the sea.
Standing poised and ready for a third wave of sea-serpents, Emily waited. But when none came, she ran over to Pegasus. Blood was flowing from the stallion’s nose but much worse than that, his back leg looked as if it had nearly been bitten off – there was blood everywhere.
‘It’s all right, Pegs.’ Emily’s trembling hands reached out to heal the wounded stallion. ‘Just rest, it’s over. They’re all gone.’
Pegasus whined and laid his head down. His sides heaved as he panted heavily. Once healed, he calmed and rested.
Agent B knelt down beside her. ‘How is he?’
‘He’ll be fine.’ Emily sat back on her heels and looked at the agent with new eyes. He was covered in serpent’s blood from the fight, and hadn’t been afraid to take on the ferocious monsters. ‘Thank you for saving Pegasus.’
He nodded. ‘I told you, Emily. We’re in this together. If we are to survive, we must trust each other.’
Behind them Paelen cried, ‘Stop, please!’ Brue had returned to him and started to lick him all over. ‘Please, Brue, I am unhurt, I do not need another bath!’ He turned to Emily, ‘Help me, before she drowns me!’
Emily rose shakily to her feet and walked over to the large Mother of the Jungle. Her heads and purple fur were covered in serpent’s blood. ‘He is fine, Brue. You protected Paelen perfectly.’
Joel came up to her side. ‘Did you see what she became? She was just as ferocious as those monsters. I had no idea she could do that.’
‘Time on Xanadu has tamed her,’ Emily said, recalling w
hat she’d received from Arious. ‘On her old world, she was a deadly predator. I just hope we get her back to Xanadu before she reverts fully to her previous self.’
‘I’m just glad she’s on our side.’
Emily agreed, but then noticed his metal arm. It had a deep gouge and large tooth marks running along it. ‘Joel, your arm!’
‘I know.’ Joel tried to fold back the metal over the exposed mechanisms. He flexed the arm and wiggled its fingers. Inside, they could see the pulleys and hydraulics working. ‘Well, it may not be pretty, but at least it still works. A sea-serpent got hold of me and its teeth cut through the silver like it was butter. It would have killed me if Brue hadn’t attacked it.’
Joel lifted Paelen back on to Brue’s neck. Emily was still shaking as she sat beside Pegasus. Mike lay down beside her and put his head in her lap.
‘What were those things?’ Joel asked.
Pegasus sat up and neighed.
‘He believes they belong to the Titans,’ Paelen translated.
‘The Titans?’ Joel asked.
‘Pegasus is right,’ Paelen said. ‘I am ashamed to say I could not fight. But Stella and I observed. All those serpents were trying to get at you, Emily. Everyone else was just in their way.’
‘Why me?’
‘Because you are the Flame of Olympus. Just as Olympians are drawn to you, the Titans are too. But their intentions are not as friendly. They will seek to control you. If that fails, they will try to destroy you.’
‘Everyone wants to control me!’ Emily stood and her eyes fell on Agent B. ‘First it’s you with the CRU and now the Titans. If this is true, we’ve got to go. It’s too dangerous to stay a moment longer. I’ll use my powers to send us further ahead in time. We’ll come back here after the war.’
‘That works for me,’ Joel said. ‘If those serpents were with the Titans, I don’t want to see what else they’ve got. Especially the Shadow Titans.’
‘I agree,’ Agent B said. ‘We must leave here now.’
Pegasus remained on the ground. He nudged Emily’s legs and invited her to sit again before trying to tell them something.