Hermes and the Horse with Wings

by Joan Holub

“Uh, looks like it’s two of them,” Poseidon said, pointing.

  The two angry Cronies were marching toward them.

  “Olympians! Magical weapons!” Zeus cried.

  The Olympians quickly formed a line and started to hold up their magical weapons. But before they could combine their powers, a loud roar filled the air. It sounded almost like thunder.

  The two Cronies stopped in their tracks.

  “Do . . . do you see that?” said Crony One, his voice quivering.

  The other Crony didn’t even answer. They both turned around and ran away as fast as they could.

  The Olympians slowly turned to look behind them.

  A creature as big as a house stood in the field, roaring loudly. The body was half lion, half goat—with big muscles, golden fur and a goat’s head coming off the back of its body. It had a fierce-looking tail that was long and green, and ended in a head with red eyes and sharp teeth—just like a snake. Its main head looked just like a lion—big, bold, and with very scary rows of sharp teeth—and it was looking right at the Olympians!

  “It’s the Chimera!” Zeus yelled.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Ron to the Rescue

  So what’s our plan?” Poseidon asked.

  “Quick! Let’s power up our weapons!” Zeus yelled.

  “You don’t need to. Just let me turn the Chimera into stone!” cried Athena.

  She ran forward, untying her cloak. Then she pulled it open to reveal the shining aegis underneath, emblazoned with the terrifying image of Medusa’s head.

  “Hey!” she called up to the Chimera. “Take a look at this!”

  The monster swatted at Athena with a huge paw. The Olympian went flying across the field and landed in a heap.

  “Athena!” Demeter ran to her fallen friend.

  “Weapons, now!” Zeus yelled. “Bolt, large!”

  The dagger instantly grew into a giant lightning bolt, and Zeus raised it. Poseidon extended his trident. Hades lifted up his helmet. Hestia held up her torch. Hera added her peacock feather, and Hephaestus joined in with his cane.

  The magic objects sizzled with energy. The Chimera roared loudly and sprang toward them.

  Boom! A burst of energy exploded from the weapons in a brilliant white blast. The Chimera shrieked and fell backward.

  All six magical objects were glowing now, even Hera’s feather.

  “Surround the monster!” Zeus commanded.

  The Olympians started to run. But Hephaestus wasn’t moving. His supercharged cane was moving back and forth wildly in his hand.

  “Whoa!” Hephaestus cried.

  The cane flew out of his hands! Then it soared across the field like an arrow. One by one it knocked the items out of the Olympians’ hands! Bolt flew from Zeus’s grasp. Hades dropped his helmet. Hestia lost her torch. Poseidon’s trident went flying. Only Hera held on to her feather.

  “Can’t you control that thing?” she yelled at Hephaestus.

  The Chimera was back on its feet—and it was angry. Zeus scrambled to pick up Bolt. But the supercharge had faded.

  The Chimera lunged toward the Olympians, roaring loudly.

  “Bolt!” Zeus cried, and he hurled the weapon. Bolt hit the beast with sizzling energy. It stopped the Chimera for a moment, but the monster shook off the attack as though it had been nothing.

  “Bath time!” Poseidon cried. He pounded his trident into the ground, and a powerful spring of water shot up. It hit the Chimera right in the lion’s face, but the force wasn’t strong enough to take down the beast.

  Hestia, meanwhile, was running circles around the Chimera with her lit torch. As she ran, a ring of fire sprang up around the monster. The flames leaped higher and higher.

  “Nice job, Sis!” Hades told her, slapping her hand when she returned.

  But the Chimera’s roar was louder than the roaring flames. The beast started to pat down the flames with its huge, padded paws.

  “We can’t stop it!” Hephaestus said. “We should get out of here!”

  “Let me try again!” Athena ran up to the other Olympians, her cloak flapping out behind her. Demeter was at her heels.

  “Athena, it’s too dangerous!” Zeus warned.

  Athena got right underneath the Chimera. “Come on, scaredy-cat, look!”

  There was a flash of green as the beast’s serpent tail lashed out at Athena, who cried out and stumbled backward.

  “It bit me!” she shrieked. Then she fell to her knees.

  “Leave her alone!” The voice came from overhead. Zeus looked up. Ron, flying on Pegasus, was heading toward the Chimera.

  The monster rose on its two hind legs and swatted at the flying horse. Ron steered the horse toward the ground quickly. He reached down, grabbed Athena, and pulled her onto Pegasus.

  They all flew back toward the other Olympians. The horse landed, and Hera and Hades gently lifted Athena to the ground. Athena’s eyes were closed, and her skin was a pale green.

  Then Ron took off again. “Let me finish this,” he said.

  “Ron, you can’t do this by yourself!” Zeus told him.

  But Ron flew straight toward the snarling, thrashing beast, and across its back. Ron took out his sword.

  Before he could swing, the goat’s head chomped on to Ron’s toga! It pulled him off Pegasus’s back and sent Ron flying.

  Pegasus whinnied. Angry, the horse circled the Chimera and then flew toward it.

  The Chimera’s lion head roared as the beast reached for Pegasus with its claws.

  Zeus zapped the Chimera again with Bolt. That stopped the monster for a second, and Pegasus flew out of danger.

  “We’ve got to go!” Hera urged. “Athena needs help!”

  Zeus’s mind was racing. If they ran, the Chimera would chase them. Even if they somehow outran the beast, it would only attack the village. They had to stay and fight. But how could they defeat it?

  “Look!” Demeter cried, pointing.

  Hermes was flying right toward the Chimera, his wand extended in front of him.

  “Time for some magic!” he called out.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Stars in the Sky

  Hermes’s wand glowed with blue light. He aimed the wand at the Chimera, and when the blue light hit, the Chimera let out a mighty roar. But that didn’t slow the beast down.

  Zeus’s heart sank. Bolt’s zap hadn’t stopped the Chimera. So the wand would surely fail too.

  Then something strange happened. The Chimera’s body started to glimmer and shimmer. The Olympians watched, wide-eyed, as the monster seemed to dissolve in front of their eyes into glittering dots.

  Then Hermes pointed his wand up at the sky. The first stars were shining in the deep-blue heavens. The shimmering body of the Chimera flew up into the air, and the glittering dots scattered across the sky, joining the other stars.

  “He did it!” Poseidon cheered. “He defeated the monster!”

  Hermes flew down to the other Olympians. Ron, whose white tunic was now stained with dirt and grass, walked up, leading Pegasus.

  “How did you do that?” Zeus asked Hermes.

  “I’m not exactly sure,” the boy admitted. “The powers of the wand seem to be connected to the sky. I can turn things into birds and stars and clouds. But I also used it to get rid of a bad cold once.”

  “You mean you can heal with that thing?” Hera asked. “Then get over here and help Athena!”

  Hera and Hades were cradling Athena. Hermes flew over to them, with the others running behind.

  “She got bitten by the snake part of the Chimera,” Hades reported.

  Athena’s skin was still green, and she was letting out little coughs every few seconds.

  “Whoa,” Hermes said. “Looks serious. But I guess I can try.”

  He waved his wand over Athena. Nothing glowed or shimmered this time. Everyone held their breath.

  I hope this works, Zeus thought.

  Athena’s eyes slowly began to flutter. The green in her skin
began to fade.

  “It’s working!” Hades cried.

  Athena slowly sat up. “What happened?”

  “The Chimera’s snake tail bit you,” Hera told her. “But Hermes came back and turned the Chimera into stars. And then he used the wand to heal you.”

  Athena smiled weakly. “Thank you.”

  “That’s not all that happened,” Zeus said. “Before Hermes got here, Ron and Pegasus flew into the fight. He got you out of the way before the Chimera could hurt you any more.”

  Athena turned to Ron. “Thank you, too, then,” she said. “That sounds very brave for somebody who’s afraid of everything.”

  Ron’s cheeks turned pink. “Well, I was in the village, and I heard the big explosion.”

  “That was us charging up our weapons,” Zeus informed him.

  “I knew you were in trouble, so I jumped on Pegasus and flew in,” Ron continued. “When I saw Athena lying there, I didn’t think to be afraid. I just wanted to help.”

  “Just like a true hero,” Demeter said with a smile, and Ron blushed again.

  “Your uncle will be proud of you,” Hestia said.

  “Even though he’s horrible,” Hera reminded everyone. “He sent the Cronies after us!”

  Ron looked shocked. “No way! He did that?”

  Zeus nodded. “Yes, right before the Chimera attacked.”

  Ron frowned. “I don’t think I’m going back there, then,” he said. “Pegasus and I can fly anywhere we want. Right, Pegasus?”

  He patted the horse’s nose, and Pegasus whinnied.

  “That’s right, young man. The world is your clam. Or maybe it’s your oyster?”

  The voice was coming from a shimmering cloud. Then a figure appeared inside the cloud—a woman with long, black hair and glasses.

  “Pythia!” Zeus cried.

  Athena jumped to her feet as the Oracle of Delphi appeared in the middle of the Olympians.

  “Pythia, where have you been?” Hera asked.

  “Well, dear, I did not visit sooner because I knew the only way Hermes would join you would be if he met you himself,” she said. She straightened her glasses. “I see that worked out.”

  Zeus smiled. “Yeah, it worked out pretty well.”

  “So what’s our next quest?” Poseidon asked.

  “It’s not just your next quest—it’s your last quest!” Pythia announced. “You have only one more Olympian to find.”

  “Who is she?” Hera asked.

  “Where will we find him?” asked Hephaestus.

  “The future is foggy, as always,” Pythia said, squinting through her glasses. “I think you need to go to . . . the Land of Apes.”

  “What’s an ape?” Hades asked.

  “I don’t think we have any in Greece,” Athena said.

  “Wait . . . wait . . . ,” Pythia continued. “Maybe it’s the Land of Grapes. That’s it! The Land of Grapes!”

  “That makes more sense,” Hephaestus grumbled.

  “Well, I’m not going anywhere until we find Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Ares,” Zeus said.

  “And you shouldn’t,” Pythia said. “For this journey, you will need all of your powers combined. You will face your most dangerous monster ever.”

  “More dangerous than a Chimera? Flipping fish sticks!” exclaimed Poseidon.

  “What kind of monster is it, exactly?” Hera wanted to know.

  Pythia squinted again. “I can see it. It’s very . . . very . . . Oh my !”

  The cloud began to shimmer, and Pythia started to disappear.

  “No! Wait! Tell us more!” Zeus yelled.

  But Pythia was gone.

  “So we’ve got to go fight another monster?” Demeter asked.

  “Can’t we rest first?” Hades asked.

  Zeus looked up at the sky filled with shimmering stars. “Of course,” he said.

  “Let’s get to the village,” Ron suggested. “The villagers are really nice. I’m sure they’ll put us up for the night.”

  “Last one there is a loser!” shouted Hermes, and he swiftly flew toward the village.

  Zeus shook his head. “He’s annoying, but I’m sure glad we found him.”

  “And now we only have one more Olympian to find,” said Hera.

  “And then I guess we fight King Cronus once and for all,” added Poseidon.

  Zeus thought about this. Poseidon was right. Once they found the Olympian, it would be time for the big battle. Zeus had never been sure that they could do it. But with each Olympian they met, they got stronger.

  Zeus couldn’t believe there was just one Olympian left to find! But he knew that first they needed to reunite with the other four Olympians so that they could embark on this last quest together.

  He grinned and broke into a run.

  “We’re right behind you, Hermes!” he yelled.

  About the Authors

  Joan Holub has authored and/or illustrated over 140 children’s books, including the New York Times bestselling picture book Mighty Dads (illustrated by James Dean) and Little Red Writing (illustrated by Melissa Sweet). She lives in North Carolina and at www.joanholub.com.

  Suzanne Williams is the author of over fifty books for children, including the award-winning picture book Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg). She lives outside Seattle, Washington, and is online at www.suzanne-williams.com.

  Together, Joan and Suzanne write the Goddess Girls, Heroes in Training, and Grimmtastic Girls series.

  ALADDIN

  SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Joan-Holub

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Suzanne-Williams

  DON’T MISS THE OTHER ADVENTURES IN THE HEROES IN TRAINING SERIES!

  Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom

  Poseidon and the Sea of Fury

  Hades and the Helm of Darkness

  Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire

  Typhon and the Winds of Destruction

  Apollo and the Battle of the Birds

  Ares and the Spear of Fear

  Cronus and the Threads of Dread

  Crius and the Night of Fright

  Hephaestus and the Island of Terror

  Uranus and the Bubbles of Trouble

  Perseus and the Montrous Medusa

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the authors’ imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.simonandschuster.com

  First Aladdin hardcover edition April 2017

  Text copyright © 2017 by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

  Illustrations copyright © 2017 by Craig Phillips

  Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com.

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.

  For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Series designed by Karin Paprocki

  Jacket designed by Karina Granda and Nina Simoneaux

  Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia

  The text of this book was set in Adobe Garamond Pro.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2016960781

  ISBN 978-1-4814-8832-7 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-8831-0 (pbk)

  I
SBN 978-1-4814-8833-4 (eBook)