by Lucy Coats
“He . . . er . . . he’s not coming up here, is he?” he asked nervously.
“No,” said Artemis. “But, come to think of it, he did send you a message.”
Demon gulped.
“W-what was it?”
“He said to tell you that the position of keeper to the ghost dragons is still open,” the goddess replied.
Demon shuddered. That was definitely not a job he wanted.
“I think I’ll pass,” he said firmly.
“A sensible decision,” said Artemis. “And now, I think that we should have a feast in honor of the unicorns’ recovery.”
Demon’s tummy rumbled loudly. He couldn’t remember when he’d last eaten, and he was suddenly VERY hungry.
“What a brilliant idea, Your Amazing Archeriness,” he said, grinning. For all her threats, Artemis was pretty nice for a goddess, he thought.
* * *
A short while later, six beams of light fell out of the sky. Electra had summoned her sisters to the celebration. Before they sat down to the feast, they poured handfuls of starshine into the new lake, which sparkled with a million rainbow colors in the light of dawn. All the unicorns gathered around to drink, and as they did so, their coats began to glow with health. The last effects of the pomegranate disappeared as if they had never been.
“Why did you follow me?” Demon asked Electra as he tucked into mushroom patties as light as air and little baked chestnuts rolled in honey and crunchy brown sugar. He didn’t know where Artemis had conjured the feast from, but he suspected Hestia had had something to do with it.
Electra’s shining cheeks turned a little pink.
“Well,” she said slowly, “I’ve always been the curious one of us seven. I like to learn new things—and you’re so fascinating with those pipes of yours, and, well . . . I liked you. I don’t have many friends, other than my sisters,” she said, turning even pinker.
Demon felt his own cheeks mirroring hers.
“Well, you can be my friend if you like,” he said. “Only next time, perhaps you might like to let me know you’re there. It’s a bit hard to be friendly when I can’t see you.”
“Hey, Demon Boy,” Alcyone called over in a teasing voice. “What are you saying to my sister to make her turn the color of Eos’s curtains?”
Her words fell into a sudden deep silence.
“What?” she asked, sounding puzzled, as the unicorns all crowded around, sniffing at Demon suspiciously. “What have I said?”
“Did I hear you ri-hi-hight?” Moonshadow neighed, rearing up. “Is Pandemonia a BOY?”
Artemis held up her hands as his hooves thudded to the ground.
“Yes,” she said. “He is.”
“You lied to us, Beloved Goddess,” he trumpeted. “You broke our rules!”
“Yes I did,” said Artemis, rising to face him. “And it was for your own good. Has he done you any harm? No. He has healed you. So what if I disguised him a little?”
Moonshadow’s head fell, and he let out a breathy sigh that smelled of moon and stars.
“Very well,” he whinnied. “It is true, he has done us a great service. So from now on, while he is in our lands, he shall be an honorary girl, and he shall have the protection and goodwill of all unicorns.”
He stamped one hoof.
“Come here, Pandemonia.” Demon approached him warily, keeping his eyes on Moonshadow’s very long, pointy horn. The stallion kneeled in front of him. “Take my horn, and break off the tip, then take it to our Beloved Goddess.”
Demon flinched back.
“Won’t that hurt you?” he asked. Moonshadow let out a snort of horsey laughter.
“Not at all,” he said. “It will grow back in a trice.”
So Demon set his hands on the horn, which felt warm and smooth, like silk over heated honey, and snapped off the very end. Moonshadow was right. It grew back at once. He took it over to Artemis and put it in her hands.
Taking a piece of the silver twine she had used to pull down the moon, she twisted both ends around the broken bit of the horn, winding it around and around so that it hung from a long string. Then she put it over Demon’s head, tucking it down into the front of his tunic.
“There,” she said. “May the favor of the unicorns be with you always.”
“Thank you, Your Celestial Shininess,” he said, bowing. “And thank you, Moonshadow.”
He stepped backward, tripped over the hem of his dress, and promptly fell over.
“Please can I take this off?” he asked plaintively. “And lose the long hair?”
Artemis and all the Pleiades laughed.
“Certainly not,” the goddess said. “Moonshadow has already had enough shocks for one day . . . Pandemonia.”
Demon sighed.
He supposed, all things considered, a dress and long hair weren’t really that bad. And the garland did smell awfully nice.
He reached for another mushroom patty and turned to Electra.
“So, my invisible friend,” he said. “About this being-a-girl stuff. Do you have any handy hints?”
THE GREEK GODS
Aphrodite (AF-ruh-DY-tee): Goddess of love and beauty and all things pink and fluffy.
Artemis (AR-te-miss): Goddess of the hunt. Can’t decide if she wants to protect animals or kill them.
Chiron (KY-ron): God of the centaurs. Known for his wisdom and healing abilities.
Demeter (duh-MEE-ter): Goddess of plants and the harvest. The original green thumb.
Eos (EE-oss): The Titan goddess of the dawn. Makes things rosy with a simple touch of her fingers.
Hades (HAY-deez): Zeus’s brother and the gloomy, fearsome ruler of the Underworld.
Helios (HEE-lee-us): The bright, shiny, and blinding Titan god of the sun.
Hephaestus (hih-FESS-tuss): God of blacksmithing, metalworking, fire, volcanoes, and most things awesome.
Hestia (HESS-tee-ah): Goddess of the hearth and home. Bakes the most heavenly treats.
Morpheus (MOR-fee-us): God of dreams. Brings wonderful (or terrible) visions to the sleeping.
Pan (PAN): God of shepherds and flocks. Frequently found wandering grassy hillsides, playing his pipes.
Persephone (per-SEFF-uh-NEE): Part-time goddess of the Underworld, part-time goddess of spring.
Selene (seh-LEE-NEE): The goddess of the moon.
Zeus (ZOOSS): King of the gods. Fond of smiting people with lightning bolts.
THE NORSE GODS
Frey (FRAY): Shiny, happy god of peace, growth, and sunshine.
Heimdall (HAME-doll): Guardian and herald of Asgard. Has a really loud horn.
Loki (LOW-kee): The sneaky, shape-shifting trickster god of Asgard.
Odin (OH-dinn): The All-Father and ruler of Asgard.
Thor (THOR): Mighty god of thunder who has a giant hammer called Mjolnir (MYAWL-neer).
Thrud (THROOD): Thor’s daughter.
OTHER MYTHICAL BEINGS
Amaltheia (ah-mul-THEE-uh): An actual goat who raised Zeus as if he were her own.
Cherubs (CHAIR-ubs): Small flying babies. Mostly cute.
Dryads (DRY-ads): Tree nymphs. Can literally sing trees to life.
Heracles (HAIR-a-kleez): The half-god “hero” who just loooves killing magical beasts.
Naiads (NYE-ads): Freshwater nymphs: keeping Olympus clean and refreshed since 500 BC.
Nymphs (NIMFS): Giggly, girly, dancing nature spirits.
Orpheus (OR-fee-us): A musician, a poet, and a real charmer.
Pleiades (PLEE-a-deez): Seven nymph sisters who were transformed into stars back in the day.
Maia (MY-uh): The smallest of the seven nymph sisters.
Alcyone (al-SYE-oh-nee): One of the seven nymph sisters.
Electra (el-EK-truh): A shy nymph sister. She
can become invisible.
Valkyries (VAL-kuh-reez): The shield-maidens who bring fallen heroes to Valhalla.
PLACES
Asgard (ASS-gard): The chilly Northern home of the Norse gods.
Bifrost (BY-frost): A moving rainbow bridge created by Heindall blowing his golden horn.
Mount Pelion (PEEL-ee-un): A mountain on the Aegean Sea where Chiron the centaur lives.
Valhalla (vall-HALL-uh): Official party hall for the heroes and Valkyries.
Yggdrasil (IGG-druh-sill): A giant ash tree that keeps the whole world together.
BEASTS
Centaur (SEN-tor): Half man, half horse, and lucky enough to get the best parts of both.
Colchian Dragon (KOL-kee-un): Guard dragon of Ares, the god of war. Has magical teeth and supposedly never sleeps.
Cretan Bull (KREE-tun): A furious, fire-breathing bull. Don’t stand too close.
Fafnir (FAVE-neer): A fearsome cursed dragon who guards a stash of gems and gold.
Fenrir (FEN-reer): Mad wolf who has it out for Odin.
Griffin (GRIH-fin): Couldn’t decide if it was better to be a lion or an eagle, so decided to be both.
Gullinbursti (GOO-lin-burst-ee): Also known as Goldbristle, he’s a glowing golden boar and friend of Frey.
Hydra (HY-druh): Nine-headed water serpent.
Typhon (TY-fon): A terrible two-headed monster.
Unicorns (YU-ne-korns): Horses who managed to sprout a horn from their foreheads. Tend to dislike boys.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lucy Coats studied English and ancient history at Edinburgh University, then worked in children’s publishing, and now writes full-time. She is a gifted children’s poet and writes for all ages from two to teenage. She is widely respected for her lively retellings of myths. Her twelve-book series Greek Beasts and Heroes was published by Orion in the UK. Beasts of Olympus is her first US chapter-book series. Lucy’s website is www.lucycoats.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @lucycoats.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
As a kid, Brett Bean made stuff up to get out of trouble. As an adult, Brett makes stuff up to make people happy. Brett creates art for film, TV, games, books, and toys. He works on his tan and artwork in California with his wife, Julie Anne, and son, Finnegan Hobbes. He hopes to leave the world a little bit better for having him. You can find more about Brett and his artwork at www.drawntoitstudios.com.
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