by Lucy Coats
“ALL RIGHT!” Demon yelled. “I’ll feed you as soon as I’ve mended Doris!” He looked at the box. “Come on,” he said. “A Hydra stomachache should be easy after what we’ve just been through.”
Ten minutes later the Hydra was sleeping contentedly, little whuffling snores coming out of its nine heads, and Demon was busy shoveling ambrosia cake and golden hay into mangers. Soon there was the sound of happy chomping. His own stomach was grumbling urgently as he went to get his wheelbarrow, brush, and shovel. Could he risk popping over to Hestia’s kitchen to see if there was a spare something he could eat? No, he decided. He didn’t want Aphrodite complaining again. The fewer gods and goddesses who wanted to turn him into little piles of ash, the better. He stuffed several pieces of ambrosia cake into his mouth at once and chewed them down thankfully. They didn’t taste half bad after a whole day of Underworld adventures.
Demon tipped barrowload after barrowload down the poo chute, but there was a deathly hush from the hundred-armed monsters below. Maybe they were too busy regrowing the arms the Skeleton Guard had cut off, he thought, feeling a little bit sorry for them. He swept and shoveled till he was totally exhausted, only just avoiding the giant scorpion’s stinger, which made him think of Orion down in the Underworld. He wondered how Orpheus was doing, too, feeling sad that they hadn’t had a chance to say good-bye. When the Stables were spick-and-span again, he put all his tools away and slumped down on a bale of golden hay, feeling Helios’s rays warming him through.
“Pleased to be back?” asked the griffin, coming out of the Stables and pecking him gently on the shoulder.
“SO pleased,” said Demon, with an enormous yawn, snuggling up against its warm yellow body. “Home at last,” he mumbled drowsily as his eyes closed.
“I wouldn’t get too comfortable, stable boy,” the griffin whispered in his ear. “Another Important Visitor turned up here last night.”
But Demon was fast asleep and didn’t hear him.
GLOSSARY
PRONUNCIATION
GUIDE
THE GODS
Aphrodite (AF-ruh-DY-tee): Goddess of love and beauty and all things pink and fluffy.
Dionysus (DY-uh-NY-suss): God of wine. Turns even sensible gods into silly goons.
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.
Hera (HEER-a): Zeus’s scary wife. Drives a chariot pulled by screechy peacocks.
Hestia (HESS-tee-ah): Goddess of the hearth and home. Bakes the most heavenly treats.
Persephone (per-SEFF-uh-NEE): Part-time goddess of the Underworld, part-time goddess of spring.
Poseidon (puh-SY-dun): God of the sea and controller of natural and supernatural events.
Zeus (ZOOSS): King of the gods. Fond of smiting people with lightning bolts.
OTHER MYTHICAL BEINGS
Arachne (uh-RACK-nee): Used to be a weaving woman until she ticked off the gods. Now she’s a weaving spider instead.
Charon (CARE-un): The ferryman who rows the dead across the River Styx. One-way trips only.
Eurydice (yuh-RID-ih-see): Orpheus’s true love. Enjoyed frolicking in the fields until she died of a snakebite.
Heracles (HAIR-a-kleez): The half-god “hero” who just loooves killing magical beasts.
Ixion (ick-SYE-on): King who pushed his father-in-law into a pit of hot coals. Now tied to a wheel in Tartarus for eternity.
Lethe (LEE-thee): Spirit of … something … can’t remember … ah yes! The spirit of forgetfulness.
Naiads (NYE-ads): Fresh-water nymphs: keeping Olympus clean and refreshed since 500 BC.
Nymphs (NIMFS): Giggly, girly, dancing nature spirits.
Orion (uh-RY-un): A giant heroic huntsman, best known for wearing a belt made of stars.
Orpheus (OR-fee-us): A musician, a poet, and a real charmer.
Satyrs (SAY-ters): 50 percent goat, 50 percent human. 100 percent party animal.
Silenus (sy-LEE-nus): Dionysus’s best friend. Old and wise, but not that good at beast-care.
PLACES
Arcadia (ar-CAY-dee-a): Wooded hills in Greece where the nymphs like to play.
Styx (STICKS): A dark river separating the Underworld from the land of the living.
Tartarus (TAR-ta-russ): A delightful torture dungeon miles below the Underworld.
BEASTS
Cerberus (SUR-ber-uss): Three-headed guard dog whose only weaknesses are sunshine and happiness.
Cretan Bull (KREE-tun): A furious, fire-breathing bull. Don’t stand too close.
Griffin (GRIH-fin): Couldn’t decide if it was better to be a lion or an eagle, so decided to be both.
Hydra (HY-druh): Nine-headed water serpent. Hera somehow finds this lovable.
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.2dbean.com.
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