by Joan Holub
Hermes didn’t answer. He was too busy having fun! He zipped up into the air and then flew in a loop above them.
“Wheeeeeeeeee!”
Hera folded her arms. “Well, now he’s just showing off.”
“Hermes! What’s the message?” Zeus yelled up to him.
The boy zipped back down and hovered in front of Zeus, his feet not touching the ground.
“Find the force that sings,” Hermes reported, and then he flew straight up again.
“The force that sings?” Hades asked.
“That’s what she said,” Hermes called down as he swooped across the sky above them. “I told her it didn’t make sense, but she said you would figure it out.”
Athena started to whisper the message over and over. “Force that sings . . . force that sings . . .”
Hermes hovered in front of Zeus again. “Well, nice meeting you guys. See ya. Got things to do. Places to go.” Then he started to fly away.
“Wait!” Zeus yelled. “Don’t go!”
Hermes stopped and looked back. “Why not?”
“Because Pythia was right—you’re an Olympian,” Zeus said. “The fact that the flying sandals work for you proves it. They are your magical object, just like the magical objects we all have.” Zeus gestured toward the other Olympians and their objects. It made Zeus miss Bolt even more. “That means you’re one of us. We’re all gods,” Zeus explained.
“And we’re destined to take down King Cronus and the Titans,” Poseidon chimed in.
“You mean that King Cronus over there?” Hermes asked, pointing into the woods.
The Olympians spun around, ready to fight—and saw nothing but trees. Behind them Hermes was laughing.
“Made you look!” he said, doubled over.
“That wasn’t funny,” Hephaestus grumbled, slamming his cane into the ground.
Hermes laughed again. “I’ll tell you what’s funny. Thinking that a bunch of kids like us could take down King Cronus.”
“We’re not just kids. We’re Olympians,” Hera told him. “And it’s going to take all of us to do it, so even though I hate to admit it, we need you, Fly Guy.”
Hermes flew over to her. “Fly Guy? Not bad. Listen, I’m no fan of King Cronus, but if you really think we can defeat him because of destiny, then you’re nuttier than that almond tree over there.”
Zeus was getting angry now. Who did this Hermes person think he was, anyway?
“You think we can’t do it? We’ve already defeated Titans, like Typhon.”
Hermes raised an eyebrow. “That windbag?”
“And Hyperion. That dude could throw a mean fireball,” Poseidon remembered.
“And we’ve battled lots of monsters,” added Hestia. “Like the Stymphalian birds.”
Hermes looked impressed. “That was you guys?”
“Yes,” answered Zeus. “And the more Olympians we meet, the stronger we get.”
“Please come with us,” said Demeter sweetly. “Just go on one quest with us, and you’ll see what we mean.”
“You mean the quest to find the force that sings?” Hermes asked. “That just sounds plain silly.”
Athena piped up, “I think she means the horse with wings. The horse that stole Zeus’s Bolt.”
Hermes looked intrigued. “A horse with wings? Now, that sounds interesting. I’ll go. But if we’re going to do this, we should get started. Let’s move it!”
He began to fly off.
“Wait! I need to ask Chip which way to go,” Zeus said.
“Who’s Chip?” Hermes said, flying back to them.
Zeus touched Chip. “Chip helps us get where we need to go. Chip, which way to the horse with wings?”
A black, glowing arrow appeared on Chip.
“To the west!” Zeus cried.
CHAPTER FOUR
A Magic Wand
They marched along. Hermes flew ahead, quickly becoming a dot in the sky ahead of them.
“He looks like some kind of bird,” Hestia mused.
The shape in the sky got bigger as Hermes flew back toward them. He stopped and hovered in the air.
“Can’t you guys go any faster?” he complained.
“Sorry. We don’t all have winged sandals, you know,” Hera huffed as she hurried along.
“Yeah, but you’re Olympians, right? Don’t you have some magical way to get around? Or do you have to walk everywhere?” he asked, flying alongside them.
“Our powers don’t work like that,” Zeus said. “We each have powers connected to our magical objects. Like you and your sandals.”
Hermes nodded. “I have a magic wand, too.”
Hermes reached behind his back and produced an unusual-looking staff. It was gold, with two snakes wrapped around the base and two wings at the very top.
“Where’d that come from?” Hades asked.
“I told you, it’s a magic wand,” Hermes replied.
Hera put her hands on her hips. “So what does it do?”
“Lots of things,” Hermes said, shrugging.
“Like what?” Hera asked. “Show us.”
“Are you kidding? This is a super-special important magical wand. I don’t do tricks with it, like someone in a traveling show,” he said.
Hera shook her head. “Just as I thought. It’s not really magic.”
“Think what you want,” said Hermes, and then he started whistling as he flew ahead of them.
“Hey, find us a place to camp!” Zeus called after him. “It’s going to be dark soon.”
“Will do!” Hermes called behind him.
Poseidon walked up next to Zeus. “Do you really trust that dude, Bro?”
“I’m not sure yet, but he’s got a good view from up there,” Zeus replied. “And we need to set up camp soon.”
“My feather could have found us a good spot,” Hera pointed out.
Zeus sighed. “Listen, we need him to stick with us. He is annoying, but he could help us out.”
Hermes zipped back in front of them. “I found a great place to camp up ahead. Follow me!”
Hermes flew low to the ground as the others followed him. They walked over a small hill and down into a valley on the other side. Hermes flew to a creek and stopped.
“Not bad, right?” he asked.
The others caught up to him.
“It’s pretty nice,” Hera admitted. Hermes nodded to a fallen log. “It even comes with a place to sit.”
He did a little bow and waved his hand. “After you, my lady.”
Hera rolled her eyes but sat down on the log, tired after walking all day. Demeter and Hades joined her.
“I’ll start a fire,” Hestia offered.
Hera reached for her pack. “I’ve still got some chee—ow!”
Hera jumped up from the log, frantically brushing off her arms and legs. It looked like she was doing a funny little dance—but she didn’t look too happy about it!
“Ants!” she yelled. “They’re all over me!”
Hades and Demeter jumped up too.
“There’s so many of them!” Hades wailed.
Zeus looked over at Hermes, who was laughing. “Ha! You got ants in your pants!” Hermes said.
Hera’s face was bright red. “You mean you did this on purpose?”
“Just trying to lighten the mood,” replied Hermes. “You guys are so serious, with all this stuff about battling Titans.”
Hades brushed ants off his arm. “I like jokes, but not ones that make me itch!”
Zeus turned to Hermes. “I know you’re just trying to be funny, but we have a good reason to be serious. King Cronus is totally evil. If we stand any chance of taking him down, we’ve got to stick together.”
Hermes nodded. “You’re right,” he said. He held out his hand. “Let’s shake on it.”
Zeus reached out to shake Hermes’s hand. He felt something wriggling in his palm, and jumped back with a shout. A tiny garden snake fell to the ground and wiggled away.
“
Gotcha again!” Hermes said, grinning.
“Hey!” Zeus cried. “Why’d you do that?” Zeus’s heart was pounding. He hated snakes—even little ones!
“Come on,” Hermes said. “Admit it. That was pretty funny.”
Zeus was not about to admit anything.“Let’s find another camping spot,” he said. He turned and walked away from the creek.
Hermes landed and walked next to him. “Man, you guys really are no fun. I don’t know if I’ll be able to hang out with you for much longer if it’s going to be like this.”
Zeus didn’t answer. He just kept walking. He felt like telling Hermes to just fly away, but he couldn’t. He had to keep the Olympians together—even the annoying ones.
Hera, on the other hand, did not have Zeus’s patience.
“You know, Hermes, if you don’t like it, you can—”
“Hera, stay out of it,” Zeus snapped. “We all need to—aaaahhhhh!”
“Zeus!” Athena cried.
The ground had suddenly disappeared beneath his feet!
CHAPTER FIVE
Bears . . . or Birds?
Thump! Thud! Bump!
“Oof!”
“Ow!”
“Hey!”
Zeus and the other Olympians fell through a hole in the ground. They slid down a steep, slippery dirt slope and landed at the bottom of a pit.
Zeus sat up, stunned. “Is everyone okay?” he asked.
Everyone except Hermes, who managed to fly above the hole, had fallen with him—Hades, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Hera, Demeter, Hestia, and Athena. Some of the Olympians had landed on top of one another.
“Get your elbow out of my eye!” Hephaestus complained to Poseidon.
“Get your foot out of my ear!” Poseidon shot back. “It stinks!”
“I’m all right,” Hera said, getting to her feet. “But what just happened?”
Zeus looked around. They appeared to be in a pit that had been dug out of the ground. A huge mat of grass had fallen into the pit with them.
Athena spoke up. “It looks like a trap. Someone dug the hole and put the grass mat on top so that whoever walked onto the mat would fall inside.”
“Who would do something like that?” Hades asked.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
The Olympians tensed.
“Did you hear that?” Demeter asked in a whisper.
GRRRRRRRRR!
Everyone looked up to see two creatures looking into the pit. They looked like bears, with brown, furry faces and mouths full of sharp teeth.
“They kind of look furry and cute,” Demeter remarked.
“Cute? Do you see those teeth?” Hephaestus shot back.
Then the bear creatures started to talk.
“Look at that, Brrrotherrr!” said one.
“I see. So many tasty trrreats!” said the other. They both laughed.
“I think I’ve heard of these guys,” Hades whispered. “They’re half human, half bear—and all bad!”
“What do you want with us?” Hera yelled up to them.
The two bear men laughed. “Why, we want you for dinnerrr, of courrrse!”
“Good luck trying!” Hera shot back. “We’re not some mere mortals, you know. We’re Olympians!”
“Sounds delicious!” said one bear, and then he turned to his brother. “Come on. Let’s go starrrt a nice firrre!”
The two bear men turned and lumbered away.
Zeus turned to the others. “Okay, they don’t seem too bright. Athena, let’s use your Thread of Cleverness to get out of here. We need to move quickly.”
“Let me handle this!” Hermes said.
The wings on his sandals began to flap, and Hermes flew up and out of the pit.
“Figures that Birdbrain would ditch us,” Hera remarked.
Zeus wasn’t sure what to think. Hermes had said he would handle things, but could they trust him?
Beside Zeus, Athena was already working quickly. She had placed a stick in front of her. With her magic Thread of Cleverness she spelled out a word: “ladder.”
In a flash, the stick transformed into a ladder that reached all the way to the top of the pit. Zeus held the bottom to steady it.
“Okay, one at a time!” he said. “When you get out, run back toward the creek.”
The Olympians scrambled up the ladder one by one until only Hephaestus and Zeus were left. Zeus supported Hephaestus from behind as the boy climbed up the ladder. Then Zeus climbed out of the pit last.
He expected to break into a run to catch up to his friends—but instead he found everyone gathered around Hermes. The boy had a little brown bird perched on top of each hand. The birds were squawking and flapping around.
“Come on. We have to get out of here before the bear guys come back!” Zeus cried.
“We don’t have to,” Demeter said. “Hermes turned them into birds!”
Hermes held up his hands. “The only dinner they’ll be eating tonight is worms.”
Zeus was confused. “How did you do that?” he asked.
“With my magic wand, of course,” Hermes replied.
“Well, we didn’t actually see him,” said Hera. “For all I know, he could be lying. Those could just be ordinary birds.”
“I’m not lying!” Hermes protested. “I flew out and zapped the bears with my magic wand before they knew what was happening. Then, bam! They were birds.”
“I think he’s telling the truth, Bro,” said Hades.
Zeus frowned. He didn’t know what to believe. He touched Chip.
“Chip, can you show us a safe way to the horse with wings?” he asked.
“Es-yip!” Chip replied. Then a green glowing arrow appeared on its surface.
“We might as well keep going, then,” Zeus decided.
Hermes waved his hands, and the two birds flew off. Then he lifted up into the air.
“I’ll go find us a campsite!” he said, and zipped ahead of them.
“No ants this time, Birdbrain!” Hera yelled after him.
CHAPTER SIX
Ron for Short
They found another campsite and settled in for the night. Zeus was too worried about the bears returning to get a good night’s sleep. But he didn’t hear a single growl that night, just the hoot of an owl. He finally drifted off when the sun was just starting to rise.
He woke up to find Poseidon shaking him. “Rise and shine, Bro! We’ve got a flying horse to find!”
Zeus sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, sure,” he said with a yawn.
Hera marched up to him. “Well, if it isn’t our lazy leader,” she said. “We’ve all been up for an hour already.”
Zeus almost started to argue that he had been up all night on guard, but he knew it was no use arguing with Hera.
“I’m up,” he said grumpily.
Demeter walked over and handed him a hunk of bread and an apple. “Here, have some breakfast,” she said with a smile.
“Thanks,” Zeus said, taking a bite of the fruit. The juice dripped down his chin, and he wiped it with his sleeve.
“I already sent my feather scouting ahead,” Hera reported. “There’s a kingdom not too far from here. I bet that’s where we’ll find the horse with wings.”
Zeus realized that he might be close to finding Bolt again, and he instantly felt more awake. He missed having his magical object by his side. “Awesome! Is everybody ready to go?”
“Yes,” Hera replied. “And guess what? Fly Guy is still hanging around.”
Zeus followed her gaze and saw Hermes and Hades laughing about something.
That’s good, he thought. If he likes us, he’ll stick with us.
“Let’s pack up and head for the kingdom, then!” Zeus called out.
They followed Chip down a dusty road. After they walked for about an hour, they found themselves looking down on a small, sprawling kingdom.
“Fancy,” Hades remarked. “Anybody know where we are?”
“No idea,” said Zeus. “But I guess we’
ll find out.”
“I think I see a fountain in there,” Poseidon said, pointing. “Boy, am I thirsty. Can we stop and get a drink?”
“I don’t see why not,” Zeus said. “And then we can ask if anyone’s seen a flying horse.”
They followed the road into a busy village center. Water bubbled up from a round stone fountain, and the Olympians ran toward it.
“Sweet, sweet water!” Poseidon cried.
Zeus walked up and bent down to get a drink. But as he tilted his head for a sip, he felt a hand on his back, and then found himself falling forward into the water!
Zeus quickly climbed out of the fountain, damp and sputtering. Hermes was right in front of him, laughing.
“Did you have a nice bath?” Hermes asked.
“That was not funny!” Zeus said, shaking the water out of his hair. “You know, if you can’t—”
“Zeus!” Hera had called his name. He turned to see her pointing to a white horse right next to them—a white horse with wings.
“We found it!” Zeus cried. Forgetting to be angry with Hermes, he ran to the horse. The other Olympians followed him.
The horse was drinking from the fountain. A boy held on to the horse’s reins. The boy had curly blond hair that grew down to his shoulders. He looked to be about as old as the Olympians, but he was short for his age.
But that wasn’t what interested Zeus. He saw Bolt hanging from the boy’s belt like a dagger!
“Who are you?” Zeus demanded.
“I’m Bellepheron, but you can call me ‘Ron’ for short,” the boy replied. “Everyone does.”
“And Ron sure is short,” Hades whispered to Poseidon, who giggled.
“So, Ron, I think there’s been a mistake here,” Zeus said. “You see, this flying horse stole my dagger, and now it looks like you have it.”
“This thing is yours?” Ron asked, looking down at it. Then he looked up at Zeus. “So who are you, anyway?”
“I’m Zeus,” Zeus replied. “And I’d like my dagger back, please.”
Ron bit his lower lip. He didn’t answer right away.
“Well, I don’t think I can do that,” Ron said, his voice shaking nervously. “I’m going to need it.”
