"Come on!" the general bellowed. "Keep up!"

We ran for almost ten minutes, occasionally looking around corridor after corridor, checking if we were being followed. I took in that time to look at my surroundings, because every time I was taken anywhere in the palace or in the city, I was blindfolded the whole time. We passed several large chambers, all of which were made of the same black and grey marble the Throne Room was made of - like the whole palace had been infused with the color of an oncoming lightening storm. 

Then, we came to another set of high doors. As soon as we got them open – they had to be opened by large chains – the first thing I saw was pure daylight.

I had to cover my eyes; due to the fact that's it's been months since I last saw daylight. As soon as I opened them, I was amazed at what I saw.

I stood staring at a city that was floating in the middle of a storm cloud.

The city was full of houses, palaces and mansions, made entirely of grey and white marble stone. The roads were rough cobblestones and a variety of mixed graphite pebbles. It was impossible for a city this huge to be floating in the middle of a seriously big storm cloud – which by the way was covering the city of Denver below, its light's barely noticeable. Old fashioned Greek lanterns hung from the marbled mansions in front of us, their fluorescent lights so captivating. People busied themselves about their normal day routine and business – making new weapons, or building new houses. I saw a group of teenagers making a chariot made of pure cloud vapor, reining horses to the chariot as its second wheel was attached in place. In the distance (which was over two hundred meters away) a golden archway rose up to touch the highest peaks of storm cloud vapor, which made me think that whoever created this place was probably thinking big on his designs.

That someone must've created this city like they were trying to build their own Olympus. Whatever the case, they obviously put a lot of effort and love into this whole project and did a fantastic job of it all.

"My father made this city," I muttered, "didn't he?"

Maximus nodded slightly.

"He did build this city, but he created it with the help of his other son Aeolus, the master of the winds. Don't forget: he built Atlantis, so why couldn't he build another city–" He waved his hands out in front of him, indicating the storm metropolis, "–such as Cyclone City?"

The old general had a point. My father, Poseidon, was also the legendary god and creator of Atlantis. I always loved hearing my dad teaching me about his great circular city in the middle of the Mediterranean Ocean. My father talked about how he fell in love with a mortal woman and had six sets of twin sons and, just to give them a home on the island they were living on, willed an entire city to crash out of the waves and thus Atlantis was born.

What got me most interested was the fact that the legendary city sunk beneath the ocean and vanished forever.

And now I've found out that the Stormbringer had created a city sighted in the clouds of a storm. If he was that powerful, then why isn't he–?

Marcus, a girl's voice echoed in my head. Marcus, what do we do?

I looked at Chloe. She was using her ability to speak telepathically with me. Even before Proculus enhanced it completely, Chloe and I could speak in each other's heads almost fluently.

Maximus came forward. "What do we do now, Dimascio?"

I looked at the weary general and my sister. Then I turned my eyes back to the horses that were still being harnessed to the now fully built chariot.

Just then, their bodies flickered with thunder and storm vapour, like their bodies had flickered with pure electricity. I tried to remember the names of those horses, but I didn't get anything.

I pointed to the misty creatures. "What kind of horses are those?"

Maximus looked at the horses. "Anemoi thuellai Pegasi – or if you prefer the Latin version, they're called Ventus stallions. They ride much faster than the wind. They even know how to fly, since they have wings made of Typhoon energy."

This impressed me. "Okay then. Me and Chloe can get those horses and ride out of here, while we got the chance."

Chloe was at my side instantly. "Marcus is right. We know how to ride winged horses such as these. Our father let us ride a few when we were younger. We know what to do."

The elderly general pondered this. "Alright, but you and your brother are own from this point on. We won't be of any more help to you."

We were about to walk forward, when suddenly the gates started to close.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" an angry voice bellowed behind us.

Chloe looked back. "Oh crap," she cursed.

I looked where she was looking. Proculus, and a vanguard of warriors, stood by the chains, sawing them with a serrated sword. The chain–link was starting to shake with strain.

The Prince stared at us with pure malice. The left side of his face was bloody from where Maximus bashed him with his sword hilt.

"You two are not escaping this city," he snarled. "Even if you escape, where will you go? You've got no chance."

Chloe drew her bowstring backwards and sent a powerful shining arrow at the chain–link. I thought I imagined it but I thought I heard it make a whistling, screaming noise as it flew at the chains. It shattered with an explosive force, sending shrapnel everywhere, leaving my ears ringing and popping. The gates started closing even faster.

"Run!" my sixteen–year–old sister screamed.

We barely got through. As Proculus screamed in fury as the doors almost slammed shut, we dived forwards and tumbled down several marble steps of the temple. We came to a stop. A couple of soldiers hauled me to my feet.

I looked at our group. There were only ten of us left, not enough to fight an army.

Maximus came forward and gripped my shoulders.

"We're getting you and your sister out of here," he told me, "right NOW!"

All the soldiers we had drew their bows back and aimed at the doors, while we ran towards the charioteers.

"Stop right there!" Maximus ordered.

One of the charioteers looked at us and paused. "What's wrong, Lord Maximus?"

"We need those horses for these two," the general answered quickly, indicating Chloe and me.

The guy just stared at us. Then he waved his hand at the horses. "All yours," he said.

Maximus looked at us. "Get on, now!"

I quickly climbed onto the black and dark grey Ventus Pegasus. It reared up in anticipation, desperate to run, sensing the raging storm inside my chest.

"Whoa," Chloe exclaimed, as she climbed onto her white and brown horse. "You've got yourself a wild horse there, bro."

The elderly general came forward. "Get out of here, NOW! He's ramming the doors down!"

Just after he said it, the gates exploded. The noise caused my ears to ring, making me cover my ears. When I drew them back, my right hand came back red with a little drop of blood.

Storm soldiers charged out of the temple, several of them getting turned into broken glass by our warrior's arrows.

Proculus literally stormed out the entrance in the form of a tornado, ripping our soldiers to shreds.

He took human form again and looked in our direction. His eyes widened in shock.

"STOP THEM!" he yelled at his men. They rushed forward.

"Get out of here!" Maximus repeated. "Go, NOW!"

I looked at my sister. "Chloe, go now! I'm right behind you!"

Chloe spurred her horse. "Hyah!" The horse whined and galloped off.

I whipped my horse's reins and the stallion screamed. It bolted off, following my sister's horse behind.

"NO!" Proculus screamed from far back. "GET BACK HERE, DIMASCIO!"

"See ya, brother!" I screamed back.

Just then, my Venti Pegasus leapt off the ground. The air bended around the horse and wings spurted from its sides. They were made of pure black vapour, the supposed feathers smelling of ozone. No way could the stallion fly, but fly it did. As soon as it glided over the edge of the storm cloud, it tucked in its wings and shot downwards.

The last thing I saw before my sister and I plummeted to the city of Denver was Cyclone City, gleaming with its marbled houses in the black storm cloud. We were finally out of Cyclone City.

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