Ares and the Spear of Fear

by Joan Holub

  Soon the rest of the Olympians were dozing, and after Poseidon had rowed for a while, the others took turns rowing through the night. The sun was rising as the boat reached the opposite shore.

  When they woke up, they saw Poseidon proudly holding up a string of fish.

  “I caught them myself,” he bragged. “It’s a god-of-the-sea thing. These fish practically jumped into the boat. Bro, a little fire, maybe?”

  “No problem,” Zeus said. He gathered some dried seaweed and made a fire on the shore using a spark from his thunder-dagger, Bolt. Before long they were eating the delicious fish.

  “Now, that’s what I call breakfast!” Poseidon said, licking his lips.

  Hera leaned back and gazed at the blue water of the channel, sparkling in the morning sun. “I wish we didn’t always have to run,” she said with a sigh.

  “I know, but Hades, Hestia, and Demeter need us,” Zeus said impatiently. “Come on. We’ve got to go. It’s a day’s walk to Delphi.”

  They all knew Zeus was right. So they climbed to their feet and began the long walk to the temple at Delphi to search for the oracle, Pythia. They stopped only to eat some of the farmers’ fruit and cheese from their packs when the sun was high in the blue sky.

  A few hours later Zeus saw the white columns of the Delphi temple rising on a hill in the distance. He stopped.

  “There it is,” he said, and memories came flooding back to him. Getting Bolt and Chip, meeting the other Olympians, fighting Titans and Cronies—this was where his adventure had started.

  “Should we just walk up to it?” Hera asked. “What if the Cronies beat us to it and are guarding it?”

  Zeus nodded to the invisibility helmet Hera was carrying. “Maybe you can make like Hades and find out.”

  “What? Oh, sure,” Hera said, realizing what her brother meant. She slipped on Hades’ helmet and immediately became invisible.

  “Be right back,” she said.

  The boys anxiously waited for her.

  “I hope Pythia is okay,” Apollo said worriedly. “It’s not like her to do a disappearing act like this.”

  “I know,” Zeus agreed.

  “Well, if this Pythia tells us to battle, then I am ready!” Ares said, waving his spear around.

  Poseidon opened his mouth to say something insulting, but Zeus stopped him with a look. The Cronies were already fighting them. The Olympians didn’t need to fight one another, too.

  Suddenly Hera appeared in front of them again.

  “Well, I did a circle around the temple,” she said. “No sign of Cronies. Or Pythia, either.”

  “She must be inside,” Zeus said. “She’s got to be. Let’s go.”

  They walked up the hill toward the temple. It really is magnificent, Zeus thought. Shaped like a cylinder, it stood on a platform ringed with tall, white marble columns. Its inner chamber was surrounded by marble walls, and the whole structure was topped with a red stone roof.

  The Olympians cautiously started up the marble steps.

  “Pythia?” Zeus called out. He tried to see inside the inner chamber, but all he could make out was darkness.

  Sssssssssssss.

  “What’s that?” Ares asked, jumping back.

  Ssssssssssss.

  “Snakes alive!” yelled Poseidon.

  An enormous python snake slithered out from the inner chamber toward them. The Olympians raced back down the stairs, hearts pounding.

  The snake’s body was as thick as one of the marble columns. Its shimmering brown scales were highlighted by a pattern of gold markings. Two glossy black eyes as big as dinner plates stared menacingly at the Olympians, and a red tongue darted from its mouth.

  “Who isss it?” the python asked as its impossibly long body slithered around the columns. “Who dares disssturb the greatessst python who has ever lived? The ssslitheriest ssserpent who has ever hisssed?”

  “That is one stuck-up snake!” Poseidon remarked.

  Suddenly a black-haired woman wearing glasses appeared in the entrance to the chamber.

  “Pythia!” Zeus yelled.

  “Don’t worry about me, Juice—I mean, Zeus!” she called out. “The python has me trapped here, but I’m fine. However, I need to send you on a new, urgent quest. Right now. Pronto!”

  “You are in great danger, we all fear. You cannot let us leave you here!” Apollo sang.

  “I don’t plan to leave her here,” Zeus said firmly. “We’re going to rescue her.”

  “On it!” Ares said, brandishing his spear. “It’s battle time!”

  Then he charged up the stairs, right at the snake!

  CHAPTER FOUR

  A Fierce Foe

  Before Ares could get near the python, it lashed out and wrapped around his body. Then the python gleefully slid around the columns, dragging Ares along with it.

  Crack! Ares’s spear hit one of the columns and snapped in two. He was left with a short, broken stick in his hand.

  “You think you can harm me with a ssspear?” the snake hissed. “What a sssilly boy you are!”

  “We have to help him!” Hera cried.

  The python released its grip on Ares and tossed him into the air. Then it caught him again before he could hit the ground.

  “Whooaaaaaa!” Ares wailed.

  “Bolt, large!” Zeus commanded, and in an instant the lightning bolt grew as tall as him. He turned to Poseidon, who raised his trident high.

  “Get ready for an awesome combo, snake!” Poseidon yelled as he moved to touch the trident to Bolt. They had discovered by accident that when the magical objects touched each other, they gave off a big burst of power.

  But before the objects could meet . . . Whack! The serpent lashed out again, knocking Poseidon and Zeus off their feet. The boys lost their grips on their weapons as they went flying backward—snapping off part of Ares’s half-spear.

  The snake tossed Ares into the air again. When it wrapped around him once more, Ares started poking the snake with his broken stick.

  “Take that! And that!” he yelled. But the python just giggled.

  “That tickles-s-s!” the snake hissed.

  Hera’s blue eyes lit up, and she picked up a random feather she’d spotted on the steps. The green feather had blue and orange markings on the end that looked like an eye.

  “A peacock feather,” she murmered to herself. “Perfect for tickling!”

  She raced up the steps and started tickling the python’s belly.

  “Ha-ha-ha-ha!” the snake laughed. “Ssstop it!”

  Several yards away Zeus slowly sat up in the grass. The snake had knocked the wind out of him. He looked down at his empty right hand.

  “Bolt! Return!” he yelled, and the magical lightning bolt zipped back into his palm.

  That’s when he heard the voices behind him.

  “I can’t believe they won’t let us carry the urn no more.”

  “I know! Just ’cause we dropped it a bunch of times. No fair.”

  Zeus turned to see the two Cronies Otus and Ephialtes cresting the hill behind him. Their loud, deep voices carried down the hill.

  “And then they sent us out here on a wild duck chase,” said Otus. “Looking for lost Olympians.”

  “I think it’s called a wild goose chase,” Ephialtes said.

  “Whatever,” said Otus. “I don’t see no geese here, though. No Olympians, either. Just some boy holding a lightning bolt.”

  Ephialtes squinted down the hill. “Hey, ain’t he an Olympian?” he asked, pointing at Zeus.

  Zeus ran toward the temple as fast as he could. He had to warn the others!

  “The Cronies have found us!” he yelled as he raced up the steps.

  Meanwhile, under the tickle-feather, the python couldn’t control itself any longer. “Ha-ha-ha. Hee-hee-hee. Nooo!” He giggled, letting go of his grip on Ares. The red-eyed boy landed with a thud on the stairs. Apollo helped him get to his feet.

  Ares turned to Hera, angry. “Why did you butt i
n? I was just about to get him where I wanted him!”

  “You’re welcome,” Hera said in a huff, rolling her eyes and tucking the peacock feather in her belt.

  “Did anybody hear me? We’ve got Cronies on our tail!” Zeus yelled.

  “Run!” Pythia called out from inside the chamber. “Your next quest is to find the Spear of Fear. A group of warmongering girls called Amazons possesses it, but it truly belongs to Ares, god of war.”

  “Woo-hoo!” Ares cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

  “But what about Hades, Hestia, and Demeter?” Zeus asked. “They’ve been captured!”

  “You must first find the spear. That is my strongest vision. Do that, and all will fall into place,” she replied. “As for me, I’ll be fine against this blowhard python. It’s really just full of hot air!”

  Annoyed, the python slid back inside the chamber and started chasing Pythia around. At that moment, Otus and Ephialtes appeared at the bottom of the temple stairs.

  “Olympians! Four of them!” Otus yelled.

  Four? Zeus thought. There was him, Apollo, Ares, Hera, and Poseidon . . . Poseidon? He didn’t see his sea-god brother anywhere.

  “Poseidon!” Zeus yelled.

  “I haven’t seen him since the snake tossed him,” Hera said.

  “Go!” Pythia ordered from inside the temple. “Now is not the time to help me or your missing friends!”

  Zeus hated to leave without Poseidon, but he knew he had no choice. He quickly aimed Bolt at the two approaching Cronies and zapped them both.

  “Ow! Ow!” they complained, jumping up and down.

  “Let’s go!” Zeus called.

  The four Olympians ran around the temple and headed downstairs when they reached the other side. The python stuck its head out of the temple as they passed. The sharp end of the broken spear was sticking out of its mouth.

  “Thanksss for the toothpick!” it said with a laugh.

  “I’ll be back for you, or my name isn’t Ares, god of war!” Ares shouted, shaking his fist at the snake.

  But the snake just grinned.

  “Ssso long, losersss!”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The Amazons

  It didn’t take the Olympians long to lose Otus and Ephialtes. But even though he, Hera, Apollo, and Ares were safe, Zeus felt awful.

  “We shouldn’t have left Poseidon behind,” he kept repeating as they made their way along a dirt road.

  “Poseidon is safe, I must believe. Or Pythia would not have let us leave,” Apollo rhymed.

  “Yeah,” agreed Ares. “Besides, he was always bragging about how brave he was. He can take care of himself.”

  “No Olympian left behind,” Zeus muttered, kicking a stone with his sandal.

  Hera put a hand on his shoulder. “I miss him too. But Pythia hasn’t steered us wrong yet.”

  Zeus sighed. “I know.” He pointed at the peacock feather tucked into Hera’s belt. “Hey, nice work with that thing, tickling the snake.”

  Hera smiled. “Thanks. I got lucky finding the feather. I’m going to hang on to it. Peacock feathers can mean good or bad luck, depending on who’s holding them. This one was definitely good luck for us,” she said. “Besides, it’s really beautiful, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it is,” Zeus agreed.

  Then Hera’s smile faded. “It feels weird with only four of us. How will we ever find all the Olympians if we keep losing them along the way?”

  “I guess we just have to stick to Pythia’s plan and trust it’ll work,” Zeus replied. “Can you use Chip to help us find the land of the Amazons?”

  “They live in the Scythian Mountains,” Apollo informed them. “It’ll take us weeks to get there.”

  Hera groaned. “Of course. Nothing is ever easy with Pythia.”

  Ares turned to face them. “Well, I’m going, even if I have to go alone! That spear is mine! With it I’ll inspire fear in my enemies! I’ll be the greatest warrior ever!” he crowed.

  “Nobody’s going off alone again,” Zeus said firmly. “We’ll stick together all the way to the Scythian Mountains, no matter how long it takes.”

  Hera held Chip in the palm of her hand. A green arrow appeared on the stone, pointing north.

  “Onward!” Hera cried out.

  They walked all afternoon, and Apollo made up songs as they traveled.

  “The four Olympians walked and walked.

  They walked and walked some more.

  They walked and walked and walked and walked,

  Those brave Olympians four.”

  “I don’t know, Apollo,” Hera said, shaking her head. “That was a little . . . repetitive.”

  “Well, we aren’t doing much besides walking,” Apollo said with a shrug. “What else am I supposed to sing about?”

  “Maybe that shiny aegis?” Ares teased. “I have never seen a shield so gold and shiny. And the tassels! What kind of weird armor is that?”

  Apollo looked down at the aegis he wore. “I think it’s kind of impressive.”

  “If you’re going to a costume party,” Ares said, snorting. “Ha!”

  They kept going until just before sundown, when they made camp under a rocky ledge. Their food was running out, but they managed a meal of some leftover carrots and cheese crumbles that had fallen to the bottom of Hera’s pack.

  “I wouldn’t mind some of Poseidon’s fish right now,” Ares said.

  “I don’t care about the fish,” Zeus said. “I just miss Poseidon.”

  Apollo slipped off the aegis. “This thing sure is heavy,” he said. “I’m not sure if I want to keep wearing it.”

  Ares quickly grabbed it. “I’ll take it!”

  Apollo frowned. “I thought you didn’t like it! You think it’s silly.”

  “I never said that,” Ares said quickly. “Anyway, it’s mine now.”

  He was probably teasing Apollo earlier just so he could get the shield for himself, Zeus decided. After all, the god of war would probably need one.

  “We still don’t know whose magical object it is,” Zeus reminded Ares. “It could be for one of our friends, or an Olympian we haven’t met yet. So you’ll have to give it up when the time comes.”

  “No problem,” Ares said, slipping the shield over his chest.

  “Are you actually going to sleep in that?” Hera asked.

  “I’m a warrior,” Ares replied. “That’s what we do.”

  Hera shook her head. “Okay, whatever.”

  The four Olympians all fell asleep very quickly, tired from a long day. As the group’s leader, Zeus always slept lightly. Because they never knew when Cronies might try to attack. Right at sunrise Zeus thought he heard footsteps, and bolted awake.

  “Don’t move, Cronies!” a loud voice commanded.

  Zeus stood up. “Cronies? Where?”

  Eight girls now surrounded their camp. Each girl’s hair was braided down her back, and each one held a long, metal-tipped spear. And each spear was pointed at the four Olympians.

  “Don’t move!” warned one of the girls, a tall one with dark eyes.

  Zeus put his hands above his head. “I won’t! But where are the Cronies?”

  Hera, Apollo, and Ares were awake by now.

  “Um, I think they think we’re the Cronies,” Hera told him.

  “Ha! I thought King Cronus was forming great armies,” said the dark-eyed girl. “His soldiers are everywhere, and said to be fierce. But none of you Cronies have anything to fight with except that bolt.”

  “Well, we are still fierce,” Hera protested. “But we aren’t Cronies. We’re all fighting King Cronus. We’re Olympians.”

  “All you have is a helmet and a feather,” said another girl. “She can’t be a Crony.”

  The other girls looked to the dark-eyed girl, who seemed to be their leader. She nodded, and they lowered their spears.

  “Welcome,” she said. “I am Eurybe. We are Amazons.”

  Hera jumped up. “No way! We were looking for you,
” she said. “It’s really good luck that we found you.”

  “Maybe your peacock feather is good luck after all,” Zeus said.

  “Of course it is,” Hera snapped. “I already told you that.”

  Eurybe looked at Hera. “What are you doing with all these stinky boys anyway?”

  “I told you, we’re Olympians,” Hera said. “It’s our destiny to defeat King Cronus. And you can help us. Have you ever heard of the Spear of Fear?”

  The Amazon warriors started laughing. “Yeah,” said one of the Amazons.

  “I’m the god of war, and it’s my rightful weapon,” Ares said. “What’s so funny?”

  “Your face,” Eurybe said teasingly, and then she turned to Hera. “Seriously, blond girl, you should come fight King Cronus with us. There are no boys in the Amazon tribe. We don’t need them. What do you say?”

  Hera looked delighted and proud to be asked. For a second Zeus worried that she might accept their invitation.

  “That sounds pretty cool,” said Hera. “But I need to stay with my friends. Olympians stick together.”

  Eurybe shook her head. “Stick together with boys? Yuck! But it’s your choice.”

  She nodded to one of the Amazons. The girl pulled a spear from a strap on her back and hurled it toward Ares. It landed in the ground and fell right between his feet.

  “Here’s your spear,” Eurybe said, and the girls laughed again.

  Ares pulled the spear from the ground. It didn’t look very amazing. The shaft was made of rusty iron, with pieces flaking off here and there. The point was flat and dull.

  “Are you sure this is it?” Ares asked.

  “Maybe it just looks harmless so it fools your enemies,” Zeus suggested.

  That made the Amazons laugh even harder.

  “Have fun with that spear!” Eurybe called out, and then she and the other Amazons swiftly ran off.

  “I still don’t understand what’s so funny!” Ares fumed.

  “It is good luck that we found the spear, but something is amiss, I fear,” Apollo sang.

  “They’re just a bunch of silly girls,” Ares said. He held the spear over his head. “It’s all good. Because the god of war now has the Spear of Fear!”