Olympus: It's Not Just a Game

Chapter 46

"Nancy!"

Nancy looked down, still dazed, from her tower of rock. Karl was creeping up it, hand over hand. "We did it! We killed the dragon! We set you free!"

Nancy wept, tears streaming down her face. Noah's sudden death, the terror of the avalanche, and the surprising end of her master, the dragon—it was almost too much for her. She sank down in a heap on her stone column, and laughed and sobbed alternately. Karl clenched his teeth and continued to climb.

Then there was a sound like Oriental chimes, a flash of light, and a puff of smoke. The smoke cleared, and there beside her stood the sinister figure of the wizard, ReMora. Behind him stood Wheeler, straight and tall on his own two legs.

"Very impressive work, youngsters," the wizard flattered. "You took out Lord Peter! Karl, I see you must have used the fireball spell."

Nancy looked shocked. "He did not! It was my brother, Noah, that did it, and he didn't use any of your nasty old magic!"

"Noah?" The wizard looked around innocently. "I don't say any Noah, here. Where is the boy? I want to congratulate him!"

"He's dead," Karl hissed, climbing another half step up the sheer face of the column.

"Dead? How sad. Still, I suppose it's a good trade – one untrained boy for a mighty warrior. Not the way to win the game, of course, but quite respectable. I imagine he'll get a nice little monument with his name on it."

"We didn't come here to win the game," Nancy snapped. "We came to set Karl free."

"Karl free?" The wizard put on a confused look. "I thought they were trying to set you free, little girl. Karl, are you a prisoner?"

Karl's voice almost mechanically replied, "I am not a prisoner. I am here of my own free will."

The wizard looked relieved. "Goodness! For a minute there, I thought there might be a problem. No, my dear, you were the prisoner. Karl has been trying to set you free!"

Nancy's eyes narrowed. She whirled to face the wizard's son. "Wheeler, you tell him! He's your father. Make him understand!"

Again, there was a slight hesitation before Wheeler spoke. Then his lips opened. "Nancy, we've been tricked. Karl has done all this to mislead us. He isn't a prisoner at all!"

Nancy felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach. She paled slightly, but her natural stubbornness would not surrender to mere evidence. "Wheeler, what's got into you! He's been kidnapped!"

Wheeler's mouth opened and shut. "He ran away, Nancy. He doesn't want to come home."

"He's just taking advantage of you," the Wizard added. "All this business about wanting to escape is a trick. Face it – he let you sell yourself into slavery so that he could run around and play games. But I've come to rescue you!"

"Rescue me?" Nancy was instantly suspicious. "I don't need you to rescue me. You're the one who told Wheeler that Karl was in storage!"

"Not Karl, my dear, not Karl!" the wizard replied quickly. "Don't you see? He's run away, and now is dealing with the consequences of his own actions. As long as he can get a free ride from us, he'll never come home."

"I don't believe you," Nancy protested.

"Having you sell yourself into slavery was a brilliant move on his part," the wizard hissed. "He gets the fun, and you get locked up in a black hole with nothing to do. If he can take you as his own slave, he'll never have to come home. Can't you see I'm trying to help you?"