Will took a deep breath as he watched Denny, Philippa, and Hunter fly off. He stared as they disappeared into the distance. Keep them safe, dad. As best you can. He prayed to the sea god. Keep me safe too, dad. Keep Kyle and Marina safe. Keep everyone safe. He sighed, turning to Kyle and Marina. He was glad that Kyle and Marina, not only were able to stay together, but that they were coming with him. Besides Hunter and Penny they were his closest friends. He knew that whatever quest that was coming up wasn’t going to be easy. He needed to stay focused. Now, was not the time to be worrying about Penny. She was strong. She could take care of herself.
Will sighed and crouched down, putting his backpack on the ground in front of him. He nervously searched through it, making sure he had everything he needed. He was also busy trying to convince himself that he needed to double check supplies. In reality, it was an excuse to delay leaving. He checked several times, wishing that he didn’t have to go. He knew that having a god as a parent would help, but that only went so far. Everyone here had godly parents. That didn’t stop people from dying in the war.
“Well, we should leave soon.” Will said, finally breaking the silence that had presented itself. “Let’s meet back here in20 minutes. That okay with you two?” Will said, raising his eyebrows. Kyle and Marina both nodded. Will nodded briefly before turning toward the Big house. He looked back a moment and saw Kyle and Marina holding each other. He sighed and cursed under his breath, feeling terrible for bringing them along. He had seen Kyle’s reaction when Marina got hurt. He had seen Marina’s reaction when Kyle got hurt. It was sad and it was heartbreaking. Two people that cared about each other that much, but were thrown into a situation such as this. Constantly being forced to defend something much bigger than them and constantly being in danger. Will needed to talk to the most important person in his life, right now.
Will took a deep breath as he walked into the infirmary and immediately let his eyes land on Penny. He closed the door quietly out of respect to the sleeping people and walked to Penny’s side. She was sleeping peacefully, unfortunately. Will was hoping that he would get a chance to talk to her, but it just felt good to be by her side. He gingerly took her hand in his and held it as she slept. He prayed to Demeter and he prayed to Apollo and he prayed to his dad. She needed to get better. He sat there for a while. About 10 minutes. He knew that he had to meet Kyle and Marina back at the stables soon. He finally sighed and kissed her hand lightly before leaning over her and kissing her on the lips. She moaned softly and adjusted on the bed, a small smile spreading across her face. Will took a deep breath and walked out, headed back to the stables.
“You ready, Will?” Kyle asked as he walked up. Will nodded and cleared his throat.
“Yeah. I’m ready to go.” He added, looking at the two of them.
“You doing okay?” Marina said quietly. She could obviously tell that something was wrong with Will. It made sense. Will wasn’t trying very hard to hide it.
“I’m fine. Just a little nervous.” He explained quietly. “Well, a lot nervous actually.” He grabbed his bag off the ground and sighed as he threw it onto his arm. He put his hands together and rubbed them. “So,” He started, a nervous smile on his face. “Shall we get this over with?” He said with a chuckle. Kyle and Marina shared a look and then nodded. Will nodded back and headed into the stables, leading Hurricane out and hopping onto the winged horse’s back. Once Kyle and Marina were ready, they took off into the sky.
They flew toward Texas. It was a long flight and Will knew that. He wished that the pegasi could be a mattress or something, so that he could maybe sleep while he flew. It was kind of a dumb wish, but it was nice to think about something other than the quest and the injured Penny back at camp.
“You okay, boss?” Hurricane asked Will, turning back to look at him slightly. Will had almost forgotten that he could communicate with horses.
“Yeah, buddy.” Will replied, patting the horse’s neck. “I’m fine. Just a little tired. Really nervous.” He looked over at Petunia with Kyle and Marina on her back. “How you holding up? Can you make it all the way to San Antonio?” The Pegasus scoffed.
“I may be old, but I’m still the fastest horse in the stables.” He said with a neigh. Hurricane once told Will about the time that Henry Ford had ridden him. “Hank was always a good character. I’m glad he turned into something.” He had said the time he told him the story of hearing ‘Hank’ growing up and being successful. “Even though that Assembly line thing was my idea!” Will smiled softly at the memory and patted him on the neck.
“What about Ulysses? He’s one of the fastest I’ve ever seen.” Will said, trying to get Hurricane worked up. It was always funny to see the old horse go off on some random thing. Hurricane let out a snort and an angry whinny.
“Uly? That stuck up little pony?” Hurricane shouted with a neigh. “Listen, boss. Uly couldn’t fly his way out of a feed sack!” Will laughed and relaxed a little on the back of his horse, feeling glad that he had someone to talk to.
“You up for a break, buddy?” He asked, patting him on the side.
“I can go all day, but if your rear is getting sore we can set down.” Hurricane said, causing Will to roll his eyes a little. He steered over to Kyle and the sleeping Marina.
“Hey.” Will said quietly, not wanting to wake Marina up. “You want to set down for a little while? Stretch our legs and maybe find a bite to eat?” He asked, glancing at Marina who had her arms around Kyle and her face buried into his back. Will smiled softly and looked at Kyle again.
“Yeah. I can feel Marina’s stomach growling from here.” He said with a small chuckle. “I think I see a clearing over there.” He said, pointing down to a small grouping of trees. Will nodded and they started to descend. “Oh. I know where we are.” Kyle said as they descended slowly. “That looks like Churchhill Downs. We’re near Louisville.” He said, pointing toward a big racetrack
“Good. Do you know some place we can get a bite to eat?” Will asked Kyle, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow, not mentioning his grumbling stomach out of embarrassment. Kyle scoffed as they got closer to the ground aiming for the middle of the racetrack.
“There are plenty of places around. I’m sure.” He said, gesturing to the track. It was huge and the buildings were beautiful. It was actually rather convenient considering what they needed was a place to hide a horse. A horse racing track couldn’t be more ideal. They braced themselves and landed gently in the turf, spooking several horses. Will quickly slipped off and looked at the other horses.
“Hello, my lord!” One of them said. “My name is Gerald, but they call Thursdaynightlightning here.” A white horse said, trotting over to him.
“Hello, Gerald. Hey, can you help me with something, by chance?” Will asked, stepping forward toward the horse. “It’s actually kind of two things.”
“Anything, my lord. Ask and you shall receive.” The horse said obediently. Will nodded and patted him on the nose.
“Now, that over there is Hurricane. And that’s Petunia.” He said, pointing to their pegasi. “I want you to keep an eye on them and make sure nobody looks at them too closely okay? Do you understand?” Gerald nodded and let out a snort.
“Of course, sir. Anything, sir.” He said, seemingly bowing to him. “And the other thing, my lord?”
“Right. What’s the best way out of here?” Will asked quietly. Gerald turned toward a tunnel and nodded in that direction.
“Out that way, sir! Leads right to the street.” He said firmly. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” Will shook his head and reached into his pocket, pulling out a sugar cube.
“I know I shouldn’t, but you’ve done well. Here you go.” He said, handing it to Gerald.
“Oh! Why thank you, sir! You’re very generous!” He said as he hungrily ate the cube. Will patted him on the nose and thanked him before turning to Kyle and the very tired looking Marina.
“Alright. Well, let’s go.” He said, pointing to the tunnel Gerald had pointed out. “The pegasi will be good here. Kyle, you lead the way.” Kyle practically carried Marina toward the tunnel and they managed to get out unnoticed. When they were finally on the street, Marina woke up a little bit and started walking with them.
“We should find somewhere fast.” She said groggily. Will and Kyle looked at her oddly. She rolled her eyes and turned a little pink. “I need to use the…ahem. The little girl’s room.” She said with a sigh. Will laughed and nodded.
“Alright. There’s a Strip mall. We can hang around there.” Will said, pointing across the street. They quickly crossed and hurried into a restaurant called Senor Iguanas.
“Hello and welcome to Senor Iguanas.” The hostess said cheerfully. “how many do you have in your party?”
“Where’s the bathroom? Oh and 3 in our party.” Marina said quickly, biting her lip and shifting nervously. The hostess looked at her a little surprised before realizing the urgency of the issue.
“Right down the hallway.” She said with a smile. Marina thanked her before hurrying off down the hallway. Will looked at Kyle who rolled his eyes and the two of them laughed a little as they were lead to their table. Will took a seat and glanced around a little. It seemed pretty ordinary. There were a few kids celebrating a birthday party. A few cooks on break. A few friends having a drink. Will heard a low rumbling noise and turned around to see a green iguana mascot—Or something that looked like it. It had a sombrero and a pair of sunglasses on to match the appearance of the cartoon iguana on the menu. That wasn’t odd within itself, but it seemed that no one was paying any attention to it, but it was paying plenty of attention to them. It was staring right at Kyle and Will with an unfaltering gaze.
“Hey. Hey, Kyle.” Will said, turning back to the table. “Look over my shoulder at the mascot.” Kyle raised an eyebrow and then complied.
“Yeah. What about it?” He asked, turning back and trying not to stare.
“I mean, other than the sombrero and the sunglasses, is there anything weird about it?”
“Much better.” Marina said with a sigh as she sat down. “What are we talking about?” Kyle pulled her in and kissed her cheek.
“The mascot behind Will.” Kyle whispered into her ear. “Will thinks it’s a little cree—Will. It’s moving.” He said, looking at the mascot. Will turned around and looked to see the large iguana standing up and moving toward them. As it got closer it seemed to change. It wasn’t a furry costume. The fabric became smooth, almost scale-like. Will’s eyes widened when snakes started to sneak out from under the sombrero and the legs and tail turned into a giant dragon-like bottom half. He heard the rumbling again and stood up.
“Guys. We have to go.” Will said, gesturing Marina and Kyle to stand. “We have to go now!” He shouted and shoved them toward the door just as the iguana sprouted wings and drew two gruesome swords, dripping with poison. The beast bared its teeth just as Will shot a stream of water from the pitchers on the nearby tables right at its face. He took off after Kyle and Marina.
“What is that thing?!” Kyle shouted, running toward the racetrack to get back to their pegasi. There was screaming and Will looked back to see the monster burst from the ceiling and fly straight for them.
“I think it was Kampê!” Marina shouted at them as they darted toward Churchhill Downs. The rumbling was getting closer and Will turned around in time to see it too close for comfort.
“Duck!” Will shouted and the three of them dropped in the middle of the street. There was a loud crash and the sound of brakes and Will looked up to see Kampê stuck inside a metrobus windshield, arms with sword in hand flailing wildly. “Alright! Time to run!” Will said, standing back up and taking off for the tunnel they had exited through. They entered back inside and ran across the track, carefully dodging horses that were racing at the time. They hopped the railing and the sound of rumbling again caused Will to turn around and see Kampê bursting from the tunnel.
“Hello, my lord!” Gerald said, trotting up to Will. Will looked and found Hurricane.
“I really don’t have time, Gerald. I don’t mean to be rude.” Will said as he hopped onto Hurricane’s back.
“My apologies, my lord! Anything I can do to serve you?” Will glanced at the quickly approaching Kampê and shook his head.
“Just keep up the good work, Gerald! So long!” Will said before taking off into the sky, nearly dodging a swing from the poisonous blades of the monster.
“Alright. Which way to San Antonio?” Kyle said nervously as he flew with Marina’s arms wrapped tightly around his waist. “It would be good if we hurried.”