Steeds of the Gods

by Lucy Coats

  “Come on, Poseidon,” shouted a deep voice just above Demon’s head. He looked up and saw a familiar figure with a black beard and a dirty face. It was his friend Hephaestus! He reached up and tugged on the smith god’s robe.

  “Hello, Heffy,” he called. Hephaestus looked down, frowning, but when he saw Demon, his soot-stained face broke into a broad grin.

  “Well, if it isn’t young Pandemonius,” he said. “What are you doing down there, you cheeky brat? And who’s your friend?”

  Demon introduced Eunice, who smiled nervously.

  “Ah, one of the Nereids, are you?” said the smith god, nodding his head wisely. Then he turned back to Demon, a stern look on his face. “There’s been an awful lot of noise coming from the Stables lately, young man—you should keep those beasts of yours under better control.”

  “I haven’t been there,” he said, hastily explaining about Poseidon and the Hippocamps. “Hermes was supposed to send someone called Autolykos to look after the beasts.” He looked worried. “Maybe he hasn’t been looking after them properly. Er, there hasn’t been a smell of … you know … has there?”

  “What, poo? Not that I’ve noticed,” said Hephaestus. He looked over at Zeus’s picture. “Come ON, Poseidon,” he roared, shaking his fist in the air.

  “Er, excuse me, Your Godnificence,” said Eunice timidly. “What is that round thing?”

  “That? Why, that’s a picture of the whole world, of course, sea child.” He pointed to the two moving dots. “There’s Poseidon, see? He’s the silver dot. And there’s Helios. He’s the gold dot. Where we are now is the red dot—and that’s the start and finish line. Zeus is judging the race, you know—and this way we can all see there’s no cheating.” He cleared his throat and looked around, lowering his voice slightly. “I’ve wagered Ares one of my magic suits of armor that Poseidon will win. He’s supporting Helios, of course, but I reckon Poseidon has the edge. Helios’s horses are ahead now, but they’ve got that heavy sun to pull, remember, and I think they’ll be all out of steam by dusk.” Demon said nothing, but he heaved a deep sigh. He was pretty much in trouble, whichever god lost.

  The lead changed several times throughout that long day. Finally, the silver and gold trails were almost at the red dot again, and as the sun sank toward the west, the gods and goddesses cheered even louder, shaking the earth with their cries. Demon’s heart began to pound in his chest. Helios’s gold dot was just in front, but Poseidon’s silver one was creeping up on it. Then, with a flash of light, the two teams burst over the eastern horizon. Zeus raised his hand, and a bolt of lightning sizzled and hissed as it hit the waves, laying out a long red finish line in front of the two teams of galloping steeds. Poseidon’s trident streamed with blue fire, which whipped out over the Hippocamps’ heads, as Helios urged his horses on with a crack of starlight. Slowly, inch by inch, the Hippocamps were catching the celestial horses, and Demon found his fists were clenched so hard that his fingernails dug painfully into his palms.

  “Come on, come on, come ON,” he muttered as Eunice shrieked and danced beside him. With a last, mighty effort, the Hippocamps drew level with their rivals, and as their noses touched the lightning finish line, two identical spears of red flame shot into the air beside each chariot.

  Zeus’s voice boomed like thunder as Helios and Poseidon reined their steeds to a halt. “I declare this race a DEAD HEAT!” he roared into a sudden silence. “You have BOTH won!”

  Poseidon and Helios began to laugh at the same time. “Good race, Sun Boy!” said the sea god, reaching over and holding out his hand to his rival deity.

  “Good race, Fish Father,” said Helios, leaning over and shaking it firmly. “The four Winds themselves couldn’t have beaten either of us today. My horses have NEVER run so fast.” His eyes sought out Demon in the crowd, and as the sun god gave him a nod, Demon felt a big burden of fear slip from his shoulders. He wouldn’t be a sunspot or have to scrub seaweed after all!

  CHAPTER 11

  THE ORDER OF OCEAN

  “Let us care for our gallant beasts,” said Poseidon, raising his trident, “and then we will feast and salute each other’s victory.” Demon knew that was his signal. Heading down the cliff path again, he ran to the Hippocamps’ heads. Their sides were heaving, and they looked tired, but Demon could see they were happy.

  “HOORAY! HOORAY! HOORAY!” they whinnied as Helios and his horses finally pulled the sun beneath the horizon and dusk fell.

  Poseidon clapped Demon on the shoulder. “Well done, stable boy,” he said. “We didn’t win, but we didn’t lose, either. I’ve never known them to go so quick as they did today. Whatever you’ve been doing to them, it certainly paid off. Don’t suppose I can persuade you to stay here and look after them full-time, can I?”

  “Well, Your Mighty Marineness, I’d love to, really,” said Demon carefully, “but I don’t think Zeus would be very happy about it, and it wouldn’t be fair to my beasts up on Olympus.”

  “Well, I suppose not. But if they get sick again, I’ll be calling on you. You can be sure of that. Now take these poor beasties back to their stalls and give them a good feed and a rubdown. Then come back to the feast. You deserve a reward for all your hard work.”

  “SEAWEED! SPONGE! SLEEP!” neighed the Hippocamps eagerly as they galloped around the island to their stable. Demon took care of them, then made his way up to the banqueting hall, wiping the worst smears off his tunic as he went.

  It was as magnificent as the undersea throne room. The towering walls were banded with stripes of lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl, and under the pale-blue crystal ceiling, sparkling yellow stars whirled and shone, speckling the room with twinkles of moving light. Water lapped around tall columns of white coral, and on a raised dais carved with sea creatures was an enormous shell-decorated silver table where the gods and goddesses were sitting. Smaller silver tables led down in a series of steps from each end of the big table, eventually dipping down into the water so that the sea folk could eat comfortably.

  Demon looked around the noisy room buzzing with chatter. Where should he sit? Then he spotted Eunice and her Nereid sisters, who were waving and beckoning from a table just below the dais. “Over here, Demon,” they called.

  Helios had decided that as he was joint victor, he’d bring half the feast from his kitchens. There was stuff Demon had never eaten before, but it all looked yummy. He wasted no time in filling his plate.

  The evening passed in a blur of eating and drinking, and just as Demon was stuffing in one last morsel of sun cake, Poseidon banged on the floor with his trident. The whole banqueting hall shook.

  “Brother Zeus,” he said loudly. “I have borrowed your stable boy, and much as I should like to keep him, I must return him to Olympus. But first, I would like to reward him. Stand forth, Pandemonius, son of Pan.”

  Demon nearly choked. “What, me?” he whispered to Eunice. She gave him a little push.

  “Yes, you! Go on, don’t keep him waiting!”

  Demon wriggled under the table and walked up the steps, sandals sloshing slightly and very aware of his slightly grubby tunic, to kneel in front of Poseidon’s seat. He didn’t dare look up, with so many gods and goddesses staring at him.

  “You have done me great service, son of Pan, and I hereby award you the Order of Ocean, and the freedom of my seas. You may also ask a reward of me.” Demon did look up at that, totally amazed.

  Poseidon was holding out a large speckled cowrie shell with golden edges, hanging from a heavy golden chain. Demon scrambled off his knees and leaned forward so the sea god could hang it around his neck.

  “Now, Pandemonius, what reward can I give you? Jewels, pearls—perhaps some golden treasure?” Demon shook his head, speechless. He didn’t need any of those things. Then he caught a glimpse of Eunice, and suddenly he knew exactly what he was going to ask for.

  “Well, Your Serene Saltiness, maybe there’s one thing. C-could you possibly make my friend Eunice the official Keeper of t
he Hippocamps? The Tritons don’t seem that interested in looking after them, a-and Eunice is really very good with them and the d-dolphins—m-much better than she is at brushing hair.” He stopped abruptly, aware that he was babbling a bit.

  Poseidon laughed. “Very well,” he said. “Come here, young Eunice. I can’t say I’m very surprised after all the times my Amphitrite has complained about you running away to hang around my stables!” Eunice came up to the dais, beaming like the midday sun, and stopped by Demon’s side.

  “From this moment forward, Eunice the Nereid is official Handmaid to the Hippocamps and Damsel of the Dolphins,” Poseidon announced, and the room erupted in loud claps and cheers as Demon and Eunice made their way back to their table, where Eunice’s sisters were clapping loudest of all.

  “Thanks,” she whispered to Demon. “A proper job at last! I’m so happy, I could pop like a squashed sea slug!”

  “Ugh! Gross!” he whispered back. But he didn’t really mean it. He was too happy himself. Tomorrow he’d go back to the Stables on Olympus and sort out whatever mess Autolykos had made of them, but tonight … tonight he was going to celebrate his lucky escape from sunspots and seaweed-scrubbing with Eunice and all his new Nereid friends.

  THE GODS

  Aphrodite (AF-ruh-DY-tee): Goddess of love and beauty and all things pink and fluffy.

  Apollo (uh-POL-oh): The radiant god of music. More than a little sensitive to criticism.

  Ares (AIR-eez): God of war. Loves any excuse to pick a fight.

  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.

  Hermes (HUR-meez): The clever, fun-loving, jack-of-all-trades messenger god.

  Hestia (HESS-tee-ah): Goddess of the hearth and home. Bakes the most heavenly treats.

  Pan (PAN): God of shepherds and flocks. Frequently found wandering grassy hillsides, playing his pipes.

  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

  Amphitrite (am-fih-TRI-tee): Poseidon’s wife and queen of the sea. A pretty high-maintenance lady.

  Autolykos (ow-TOL-ih-kohs): A trickster who shape-shifts his stolen goods to avoid getting caught.

  Delphinus (dell-FY-nuss): A messenger dolphin who helped play matchmaker between Poseidon and Amphitrite.

  Heracles (HAIR-a-kleez): The half-god “hero” who just loooves killing magical beasts.

  Midas (MY-dus): A king who foolishly wished for everything he touched to turn to gold.

  Naiads (NYE-adz): Freshwater nymphs—keeping Olympus clean

  hs who love to gossip.

  Nereus (NEER-ee-uss): The Old Man of the Sea. Though, with fifty daughters, they ought to call him the Old Dad of the Sea.

  Nymphs (NIMFS): Giggly, girly, dancing nature spirits.

  Tritons (TRY-tunz): Fish-tailed guards with human torsos. Probably also have fish brains.

  PLACES

  Macris (mahk-REES): Big island off mainland Greece, shaped like a sea horse. Where Poseidon has his above-water palace.

  BEASTS

  Abraxas (uh-BRAK-suss): One of Helios’s immortal horses, destined to pull the sun across the sky forever.

  Centaur (SEN-tor): Half man, half horse, and lucky enough to get the best parts of both.

  Cerberus (SUR-ber-uss): Three-headed guard dog whose only weaknesses are sunshine and happiness.

  Griffin (GRIH-fin): Couldn’t decide if it was better to be a lion or an eagle, so decided to be both.

  Hippocamp (HIP-oh-camp): Beast with a horse’s head and a fishy tail. Like a sea horse, but bigger, scalier, and dumber.

  Hydra (HY-druh): Nine-headed water serpent. Hera somehow finds this lovable.

  Manticore (MAN-tik-or): A spiky, hairy, hungry, lion-like, man-eating monster with a tail like a scorpion or snake.

  Nemean Lion (NEE-mee-un): A giant, indestructible lion. Swords and arrows bounce off his fur.

  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 him and his artwork at www.2dbean.com.

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