Pegasus the Flame of Olympus Read Online

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Also by Kate O'Hearn

SHADOW OF THE DRAGON

Role One: Kira

Role 2: Elspeth

Other titles published past Hodder Children'south Books:

THE STONEHEART TRILOGY

Stoneheart

Ironhand

Silvertongue

Charlie Fletcher

Ice Angel

Otto and the Flying Twins

Otto and the Bird Charmers

Otto in the Fourth dimension of the Warrior

Charlotte Haptie

Copyright © 2011 Kate O'Hearn

Commencement published in Great Great britain in 2011

This ebook edition published in 2011

by Hodder Children's Books

The correct of Kate O'Hearn to be identified equally the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Human activity 1988

All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only exist reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any class, or by any means with prior permission in writing from the publishers or in the case of reprographic product in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency and may not be otherwise circulated in any course of binding or cover other than that in which information technology is published and without a like status beingness imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to existent persons, living or expressionless, is purely coincidental.

A Catalogue tape for this volume is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 ane 444 90467 three

Typeset in AGaramond Book past Avon DataSet Ltd, Bidford on Avon, Warwickshire

Hodder Children's Books

a division of Hachette Children'south Books

338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH

An Hachette United kingdom company

world wide web.hachette.co.great britain

Equally always, without the support and love of my family, my wonderful editors Anne and Naomi, and my fantastic agent, V, this book would never have seen the lite of day. Thanks, guys, yous're the best! (OTB will never dice.)

I would also like to dedicate this volume to all the horses everywhere; particularly those who suffer nether poor working weather and horrific abuse. I wish Pegasus would come to rescue you all. Without him, it will exist upwards to us to make your lives better.

My dearest reader, please help whenever and wherever you can. Driveling horses everywhere await your love and assist.

Prologue

War came to Olympus.

There was no alert. No clues that an unknown enemy was building an ground forces against them; an army whose only goal was complete devastation. One moment there was peace, the next they were fighting for their very existence. It was bloody, brutal and totally unexpected.

But for one Olympian, information technology was the perfect opportunity to fulfil a dream.

Paelen ducked backside a marble colonnade and watched the best Olympian warriors gathering to take on the invaders. Jupiter was leading the attack with his thunder and lightning bolts in hand. His married woman Juno stood on his left, grave-faced and ready. On his correct, Hercules was looking strong and prepared, as were Apollo and his twin sister Diana with her bow. Mars was there, and Vulcan with his armoury total of weapons. Standing backside them in his winged sandals and helmet was Mercury, the messenger of Olympus. All preparing to fight.

Paelen's gaze trailed over to Pegasus. The stallion's eyes blazed and wings quivered as his golden hooves pounded the footing in anticipation of the upcoming battle. Further back gathered more Olympians, all there to defend their home.

Just Paelen had no intention of fighting. He wasn't a warrior. He was a thief with plans of his own which didn't include getting killed in a battle they couldn't possibly win. War was anybody else'due south problem. He was too busy concentrating on how all-time to profit from it. With the defenders occupied in the struggle against the Nirads, a thief would be costless to enter the palace of Jupiter and have whatsoever they wanted.

But Jupiter's treasures weren't what interested Paelen. What he desired most was the shiny golden bridle worn by Pegasus.

Anybody in Olympus knew the bridle was the greatest treasure of all. It alone held the key to possessing the powerful winged stallion. With Pegasus under his control, Paelen could go anywhere he wanted and take whatever caught his eye, with no one able to stand up against him. This was the true prize, not the silly jewels or golden coins that could be found in the abandoned palace.

Every bit Jupiter called his fighters forward, Paelen crept closer to listen to his drastic spoken communication.

'My children,' he said gravely. 'We are in our darkest hr. At no other fourth dimension in history have we faced such terrible danger. The Nirad fighters have breached our borders. Even now they are making for the Flame of Olympus. If they succeed in extinguishing it, all our powers, all we take ever known, will be lost. We must cease them. That Flame is our very existence. We cannot let them succeed. If we exercise not make our stand against them at present, then everything nosotros take known will be destroyed.'

Paelen listened to the murmurs of the crowd and felt the tension growing. His optics were even so locked on Pegasus. The stallion shook his caput and snorted, causing his gold bridle to requite out an enchanting tinkle that no other forged aureate could always make.

Hearing the determent's song made Paelen'due south fingers itch to accomplish out and snatch it from the stallion. But he controlled himself. This wasn't the time to make a motility. His nighttime eyes were drawn dorsum to their desperate leader.

'We who never die, at present face our destruction,' continued Jupiter. 'Merely information technology is not only our globe we must defend. All the other worlds nosotros guard will autumn if the Nirads defeat usa. We fight for them!'

Jupiter raised his lightning bolts in the air and their ferocious booms echoed throughout all Olympus. 'Will y'all join me?' he cried. 'Will you rise against these invaders and bulldoze them dorsum to where they came from?'

Paelen'due south eyes grew broad at the sight of all the Olympians raising their arms to Jupiter. Pegasus reared on his hind legs and opened his wings in salute. Battle cries filled the air.

'For Olympus!' howled Jupiter as he turned and led his warriors into boxing.

1

Emily put her hand on the window and felt the drinking glass shaking from the heavy peals of thunder cracking overhead.

All solar day the radio had been reporting on the unexpected and violent storms raging up and downward the east coast of the U.s.. Where Emily lived, in the heart of New York City, the tempest was at its worst. Sitting alone in the apartment she shared with her policeman father, she never imagined that a simple thunderstorm could be this bad.

She clutched her cellphone and felt guilty for lying to her father. He'd only called to bank check on her.

'All the police take been summoned in to work, dear,' he explained. 'Nosotros're doing double and triple shifts. The urban center's a madhouse because of the weather condition and they need everyone on duty. Exercise me a favour, volition yous? Keep away from the windows. In that location are lightning strikes all over the city, and our top-floor flat is at particular risk.'

Still, despite his warning and her promise to go on away, Emily sat in the large window seat and watched the raging storm. This had ever been her female parent'south favourite spot. She used to call it her 'perch': her special place to sit down and watch the world moving around twenty storeys beneath. Since her death, Emily found herself sitting at that place more and more often as though it could somehow bring her closer to her mother.

Just not only that, from this vantage point Emily could see the top of the Empire State Building and sentinel it suffer the storm'southward onslaught. Her father had once told her that the building itself worked as a giant lightning rod to protect the other buildi

ngs around information technology. But as more than and more than forked lightning struck its tall antenna, she wondered how much more it could accept.

Emily hugged her knees to her chest to keep from trembling. She'd never been frightened of thunder when her mother was alive. Somehow, they'd e'er establish means of making foul weather fun and exciting. Just now, all alone with her father at work, Emily felt her mother's loss as acutely as the day she died.

'I wish you were here, Mom,' she whispered sadly as she gazed out the window. As they had washed endless times before, Emily's eyes filled with tears that trailed down her cheeks.

Suddenly at that place was an always louder peal of thunder and vivid flash of lightning. Information technology struck the Empire so hard, the antenna at the superlative of the building exploded in a wink of electrical sparks and flying debris.

Emily could hardly believe what she had simply witnessed. She wiped the tears from her blurred eyes every bit all the lights in the tall building blinked out. Immediately later on, the lights in buildings around information technology went out. The darkness spread like a grape-juice stain on the rug, equally the metropolis was hitting with a blackout.

Emily followed the progression of the coma as she peered up Broadway. Block afterward block was going dark. Even the street and traffic lights were out. It wasn't long before the ability outage reached her block, plunging her flat building into darkness. She leaned further against the glass and tried to meet where the blackout ended. It didn't. The whole city was in darkness.

She jumped every bit her cell burst to life. With trembling easily she flipped information technology open and read her father's name on the small-scale view screen.

'Dad,' she cried. 'You won't believe what just happened! The top of the Empire simply blew upward! Lightning hit information technology and information technology exploded. Pieces went flying everywhere!'

'I merely heard,' her begetter said anxiously. 'Are you all right? Did anything hit our building?'

'No, everything's fine,' Emily replied, hiding the fact that she was far from fine. She was actually starting to get very frightened. 'Merely the power'due south gone out. From what I can come across, it's nighttime all over the city.'

Emily heard some other voice in the groundwork. Her father cursed before speaking to her once again.

'Nosotros're getting reports that the blackout has spread to all the boroughs and is now striking New Bailiwick of jersey. This is a big one, Em. And from what I've just been told, it's not going to exist fixed anytime before long. I need you to get into the bathroom and fill the tub with h2o. Then fill whatever you can in the kitchen. Nosotros don't know how long this is going to last and nosotros'll need that water.'

'I volition,' she promised. Then earlier she could stop herself, Emily asked weakly, 'Dad, when are you coming home?'

'I don't know, honey,' he answered. 'Hopefully presently. Look, do y'all desire me to call Aunt Maureen and inquire her come up over to stay with you?'

Emily loved her aunt, but she didn't desire to sound like a baby. She was thirteen, subsequently all; certainly onetime enough to accept intendance of herself. 'No, cheers, Dad, I'm fine.'

'You lot're certain?' her male parent asked. 'I'm sure she could use the visitor.'

'Yeah, I'm sure,' Emily said. 'The storm's just got me a bit freaked. Just I've got lots to practice hither. Besides, information technology'southward likewise dangerous for Maureen to come over in all this so have to climb xx flights of stairs. Really, I'1000 fine.'

At that place was a hesitation in her father's voice before he said, 'All right. But if y'all need me or anything at all, I'chiliad just a telephone call abroad. Empathize?'

'I practise. Thanks, Dad,' Emily said. 'Now I'd better become earlier the water shuts downwards.'

Emily ended the call and used the low-cal from her cellphone screen to guide her into the kitchen. She quickly found the emergency flashlight and crossed to the bath.

This was the standard operating procedure for blackouts. Fill up the bathtub with water and anything else that volition agree information technology. One of the downfalls of living in a tall building during a blackout was the pumps sending water up to the apartments soon stopped. If they didn't store all the water they could, they would quickly find themselves in a lot of problem.

She began to fill the bathtub, and so the pots and pans in the kitchen. Just equally she finished filling the terminal large soup pot, the pressure behind the water flow started to weaken. Information technology wouldn't be long before it stopped completely.

'Well, it's better than nothing,' she sighed aloud as she shut off all the faucets.

While she worked, Emily had managed to forget about the storm for a few minutes. Merely with the water off, the sound of the rumbling thunder and police and fire sirens from the city took over as the only sounds in the apartment.

Only outside the bathroom window, Emily saw some other outburst of lightning and heard more thunder. The lightning was so vivid it left her seeing flashes, even afterward she closed her optics. There was no break between the low-cal and sound, which meant this latest strike was very close.

Equally the thunder rumbled angrily, Emily moved abroad from the window. This time she would follow her father'south advice and stay well clear of them. The storm was now directly overhead – and getting worse by the minute.

ii

Paelen stared in stupor at the devastation around him. He had never seen anything like it before. The palace lay in ruins, as did every other building effectually it.

He had tried to go on upwardly with the defenders, but they had left him behind. At present in the far distance, he heard the constant booming of Jupiter's thunderbolts and saw the flashes of lightning in the sky. The vehement boxing was raging, but far from this area of devastation.

Paelen'southward heart lurched as he saw Mercury on the footing. The messenger was lying on his side, a spear sticking out of his breast. Claret matted his fair hair and his face was covered with bruises. Paelen aptitude down to see if he was still alive.

Mercury weakly opened his pale blue eyes. 'Paelen,' he gasped, 'is it over? Have they extinguished the Flame?'

Paelen wondered if he should telephone call for help. But at that place was no 1 left to phone call. From what he could see, everyone around him was either dead or dying. 'I believe information technology is still lit. I saw the others heading towards the temple.'

'We must cease the Nirads!' Mercury reached for Paelen's arm and tried to rise. 'Help me up.'

Paelen helped Mercury get to his feet. As he stood, the messenger pulled the spear from his chest. His wound opened and the bleeding increased. His legs gave out and he crumpled weakly dorsum to the ground.

'The war is over for me. I am finished,' Mercury gasped.

'No, you are wrong,' Paelen said fearfully equally he knelt beside the messenger and cradled him in his lap. 'Mercury, you must become upwards.'

The messenger shook his head. 'It is as well late—'

He started to coughing. Claret pooled in the corners of his mouth. 'Listen to me, Paelen,' he panted. 'You must bring together the fight. The Nirads must not extinguish the Flame.'

'Me? Fight?' Paelen repeated. He shook his caput. 'I cannot. Look at me, Mercury. I take no real powers of my own. I am not large and strong like Hercules and I cannot fight similar Apollo. I exercise not know how to use weapons and I am not fast like you. All I am is a thief. My but skill is to stretch my body to escape prisons and squeeze into tight spaces. And you know how I hate doing that because information technology hurts too much. I am a coward – nothing more.'

Mercury reached for Paelen's hand and drew him closer. 'Listen to me, Paelen. I know you are still very young,' he gasped. 'And I know you are not as big equally the residual of us or as strong. But you lot are clever and much braver than yous remember. It lies in you to make a departure.'

Again Paelen shook his head. 'You are asking also much of me! I am not the person yous call up I am. I am zip.'

Mercury squeezed Paelen'due south mitt as he struggled to speak. 'Yous are special, Paelen. This may be the only chance you will ever have to prove it. I know you have never considered yourself a true Olympian. Just you are one – and you carry information technology inside you to be bully. This is the time to join your people and defend your domicile. Show me, Paelen,' Mercury co

ughed. 'Show all of united states what y'all can practice.'

'Merely I … I …' Paelen stammered.

'Please,' Mercury begged. 'Help us.'

The budgeted battle cry of rampaging Nirads filled the air. It wouldn't be long earlier they arrived.

'A 2nd wave of fighters is coming,' Mercury continued weakly. 'Yous must become away from here. Have my winged sandals. My helmet is lost, just yous can still fly with the sandals. Take them and join the fight.'

'Your sandals?' Paelen cried. 'I cannot! They only work for y'all!'

Another choking coughing came from the fallen messenger. His optics started to coat over. 'I am dying, Paelen,' Mercury said softly. 'I give them to you. You are their master now. They will obey your commands.'

With a final agonized cry, Mercury airtight his optics and became still.

Paelen couldn't believe the messenger was expressionless. Somehow, the invading Nirads had the power to kill the well-nigh powerful Olympians. If Mercury could die, so could everyone else.

He lay Mercury down gently on the basis and wrestled with himself equally he thought of the messenger's final words. Function of him notwithstanding wanted to steal the bridle from Pegasus and flee. Only another office of him wondered if Mercury was right. Was there more to him than he realized? Did he actually accept the courage to join the fight? A thief was all he'd ever been. It was all he knew how to do. He did not have the powers of the other Olympians. If they were existence defeated by the Nirads, what chance did he have?

Paelen finally decided fleeing was the just pick. Why should he sacrifice his own life if the war was already lost? If Pegasus hadn't already fallen in boxing, this was the time to brand his move to capture the stallion.

'I am sorry, Mercury,' he said sadly. 'But y'all were wrong. I am not the person you lot thought.'

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