by Tracey West
Athena placed the thread over the stick and rock. She started twisting the thread to spell two words: “spear” and “shield.”
The rock and stick began to glow with magic. The stick bubbled and twisted into a long spear!
“Whoa!” yelled Hera.
The flat rock started to shimmy and smoke. After a few minutes it floated up into the air and then suddenly came back down with a plink! It had transformed into a shield of hammered metal.
“Wow, nice!” Zeus said.
“Something tells me I’m going to need some power—and some protection,” Athena said. “What about you, Hera? Want me to clever you up a sword?”
Hera frowned thoughtfully. “Well, I’ve got my slingshot,” she said. “But maybe—”
“Look! The feather!” Zeus cried, interrupting her.
The feather was speeding back down the mountain toward her—not just flying but speeding, as though it were being chased.
That was because it was being chased. An enormous dragon, whose head grazed the treetops when standing, slithered after the feather at magical speed. It had no legs, like a big snake, and shiny blue scales covered its body. Its huge jaws were open wide, revealing dozens of sharp teeth.
“It’s the dragon!” Zeus yelled. “Bolt, large!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Unbeatable Dragon
Bolt instantly transformed from a short dagger into a large lightning bolt. The feather returned to Hera’s hand, and she held it up. Athena added her Thread of Cleverness.
The dragon roared as the magical objects exploded in bright light. Athena held up her sword and spear. Hera pulled her slingshot out of her pack.
Zeus hurled Bolt with all his might. The sizzling lightning spear struck the dragon on the side of the head. The dragon’s whole body trembled.
“Yes!” Zeus cheered. “First try!”
The jolt sent five of the dragon’s teeth flying right out of its mouth! The creature let out a high-pitched screech.
“Bolt, again!” Zeus yelled.
Zap! Bolt struck the dragon, and its body sizzled. More of the dragon’s teeth fell out of its mouth and landed in the dirt. The dragon thrashed angrily.
“Bolt—” Zeus began, but Athena interrupted him.
“Zeus, wait!” she cried out. “Look!”
To Zeus’s horror, the dragon’s teeth had transformed into soldiers! The soldiers wore shiny blue metal breastplates that looked like the dragon’s scales. Each soldier wore a blue metal helmet and carried a big sword and a shield.
The soldiers growled and rushed forward to attack the Olympians.
“Bolt, return!” Zeus yelled, but Bolt had already zapped the dragon again. Twelve more teeth fell out, and twelve more soldiers sprang from the ground.
Athena removed her cape to expose the aegis. “Turn to stone!” she yelled at the soldiers.
But the aegis had no effect on them! They kept charging.
“Hera, behind me!” Athena cried. She held up her large shield and bravely kept the soldiers at bay with her spear.
Three of the soldiers converged on Zeus, their bright blue eyes glowing weirdly as they glared at him. Zeus held Bolt in front of him.
Zap! Zap! Zap! He struck each of them, knocking them back. But they didn’t stay down for long. Instead they sprang up again and kept coming!
“I can’t hold them off much longer!” Athena cried. “They’re unstoppable!”
“Bros to the rescue!”
Zeus spun around to see Hades driving up in his chariot. Ares, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Hestia rode in the carriage with him. Hermes flew overhead. And Artemis and Poseidon rode on the backs of the two chariot horses. Poseidon was waving his trident, which was still glowing with extra power.
“Hey, dirty dragon! Looks like you need a bath!” he yelled.
“Poseidon, no!” Zeus yelled, but Poseidon was already hitting the dragon with a heavy blast of water, right in the face! All of the dragon’s teeth fell out this time—dozens of them. Each one that hit the ground turned into a warrior in blue armor.
The Olympians’ jaws dropped.
“Oops. That’s where those blue guys came from,” Poseidon said. “My bad.”
Artemis jumped off the horse and began shooting at the soldiers with her arrows. The projectiles just bounced off the skin of the soldiers.
“Ugh, this isn’t working!” Artemis yelled in frustration. Hestia ran after her and started hurling fireballs at the soldiers’ feet. But the dragon soldiers marched right through the flames, unhurt and not slowing down!
Hera jumped into the chariot and stood next to Demeter. Together they pelted the soldiers with stones from their slingshots. The stones bounced off their foreheads.
Apollo and Dionysus sang, “The dragon soldiers dropped their swords!” But the attackers didn’t obey the song—they just kept coming!
Hermes flew above them, aiming his wand at each one. Zeus knew that Hermes could use his magic to turn just about anything into a bird. But like the other magical objects so far, the wand didn’t seem to work on the dragon soldiers at all.
Zap! Zap! Zap! Zeus kept zapping them with Bolt, but the shocks did nothing. He grabbed his other magical object, Chip.
“Chip, is there any way to defeat these soldiers?” Zeus asked.
“Hey-tip are-ip as-ip ard-hip as-ip eeth-tip!” Chip replied.
“They are as hard as teeth,” Zeus repeated. So that was why arrows couldn’t pierce them, lightning couldn’t shock them, magic didn’t work on them, and fire couldn’t burn them. It was why Athena’s aegis didn’t turn them into stone—the soldiers were already made of stuff as hard as stone. Zeus’s stomach sank.
“They’re teeth!” Zeus yelled to the others. “They can’t be defeated!”
“Never say never!” Ares yelled, running toward the soldiers with his spear in hand. He reached back and threw his spear at one soldier, and it came right back to Ares like a boomerang.
Zeus hated to admit it, but he knew there was no way to get past the soldiers.
“Retreat!” he yelled. “Into the chariot!”
They ran for the chariot, with the soldiers in hot pursuit. The dragon screeched and lunged at Poseidon, and grabbed him in its toothless jaws.
“Let go of me, you big slimy worm!” Poseidon yelled.
Zeus’s mind raced. Hades’s chariot could take them to safety in a blink. But they couldn’t leave Poseidon behind.
Just then Athena called out, “Hermes! The dragon isn’t made of teeth. The dragon is flesh and blood!”
Hermes nodded. “Right!” he said. “I can transform it. But we need to get Poseidon out of there first.”
“Got it,” Hades said, jumping out of the chariot. He put on the Helm of Darkness and immediately turned invisible.
Zeus and the others continued to fight off the dragon soldiers as Hades and Hermes tried to save Poseidon. Zeus wasn’t sure what Hades had in mind, but after a few seconds he saw the dragon start to shake. Then it began to make a sound in its throat, a sound almost like laughter.
Finally the dragon opened its mouth, and Poseidon fell out and tumbled to the ground. Invisible hands pulled Poseidon away from the dragon. Above the dragon Hermes aimed his wand at the beast.
Sparkling white light flowed from the wand and hit the dragon. The dragon thrashed as the white light engulfed its body. Then the light exploded, blinding the Olympians.
When Zeus’s eyes came into focus, he saw that the dragon’s body had been transformed into an outline of sparkling stars. Hermes pointed his wand at the sky.
Whoosh! The stars flew up into the sky in the shape of the dragon. The Olympians cheered.
Then Zeus heard Hades’s voice. “Good thing that dragon was ticklish!”
Hera tapped Zeus on the shoulder. “Do we have to leave?” she asked.
Zeus nodded. “We can’t defeat the soldiers. We have to go. We’ll find some other way to get to Cronus.”
&nb
sp; She nodded and started to gather the Olympians into the chariot. Artemis was still shooting arrows, trying to slow down the dragon soldiers.
Zeus didn’t want to retreat, but there was no other way. They had failed. But maybe Pythia had had something else in mind. Maybe this was how things were supposed to happen.
Suddenly the ground beneath his feet began to shake. He heard loud thumps behind him and whirled around to see Briar, Kottos, and Gyes—the three sons of Gaia!
CHAPTER NINE
The Heart of a Hero
Mom said we have to come help you,” Briar said in a defeated voice.
“Great!” Zeus said. “But I don’t know what you can do. These soldiers are as hard as teeth. We can’t—”
Kottos bent down and picked up one soldier each in four of his one hundred hands. Then he squeezed.
Poof ! The crushed soldiers turned into white, chalk-like dust.
“They might be hard, but our hands are strong,” Kottos said.
“Awesome!” Ares cheered.
“Yeah, so if you can get rid of these guys for us, that would be great,” Zeus said.
“No problem,” Gyes answered. “This is more fun than knitting!”
“Hitting, not knitting!” cheered the three brothers.
The three Titans mowed through the soldiers, grabbing them with their strong hands and crushing them into powder.
Zeus jumped into the chariot, where the rest of the Olympians were waiting.
“Hades?” Zeus said, looking around. “Can you get us to the top of the mountain?”
“Sure!” said a voice next to him. His brother was still invisible. The reins moved, and the four horses sprang forward.
“No biggie, but are you planning on staying invisible, Bro?” Poseidon asked.
“Well, we’re going to face Cronus, right?” Hades asked. “It just seems like a smart idea to keep my helmet on.”
Zeus couldn’t argue. Cronus was the most powerful Titan, and the cruelest of them all. When Zeus’s brothers and sisters had been born, Cronus had swallowed them whole, like they were lunch! Only Zeus had been spared, hidden away by their mother, Rhea.
The horses galloped up the mountain. The air grew colder and thinner as the group got closer to the clouds. The chariot landed in the courtyard of a majestic palace, on a cloud that spiraled high into the sky. Across the courtyard of gleaming white marble, two Titans sat on shiny golden thrones adorned with jewels.
One Titan was a mountain of a man with bushy black hair and a gold crown on top of his head. Next to him was a woman with brown hair coiled around her head in braids. Her brown eyes looked sad.
“Cronus,” Zeus said. “Rhea.” He held Bolt in front of him, ready to strike Cronus down if he had to.
Cronus laughed, revealing a missing tooth in his large mouth. “Are you little toddlers here to try to battle me?” he said. “Now, that’s funny.”
“There’s nothing funny about it!” Hera called out. “We defeated the other Titans. We defeated your dragon. Now we’re going to defeat you.”
The smile disappeared from Cronus’s face. “Oh, are you?” he asked. He stood up and pointed at the Olympians. All but Zeus started to float in the air, helpless to resist Cronus’s strong, ancient powers. They landed on a cloud floating above the temple, and the wisps of the cloud wrapped around their bodies.
“Flipping fish sticks! I can’t move!” Poseidon yelled.
Zeus could see that their arms were trapped in the cloud. None of them could use their magical objects.
Zeus jumped out of the chariot and charged toward Cronus, brandishing Bolt.
“Let them go!” Zeus yelled.
“I can,” Cronus replied calmly. “With a flick of my finger I can release them, sending them falling all the way down off this cloud.”
Zeus paused.
“There’s only one way you can stop me,” Cronus said. “Take your place with me here on Mount Olympus. Rule with me.”
“You asked me to do that once before,” Zeus said. “And I refused.”
Cronus’s eyes flashed with anger. “I am not asking you,” he said. “I am telling you.”
“And I am telling you, I won’t do it,” Zeus replied. “I won’t rule with you and the Titans and make everyone our slaves. It’s not right.”
Zeus looked at Rhea. “You don’t want this either, do you?”
“I do not, my son,” Rhea replied. “I have tried to sway your father, but he is unmoving.”
“Help me convince him,” Zeus pleaded. “Help me convince him that he’s wrong!”
Cronus stood up. “Enough!” he bellowed. “I’m the ruler! I’m the one in charge here! You have no choice!”
He pointed his finger at the cloud, and it plummeted. The Olympians screamed as they hurtled toward the ground.
Rhea jumped up. “My children!” she cried, and she leaped off the cloud, following them.
Zeus was stunned for a split second. Then rage exploded inside him.
“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” he thundered. He charged at Cronus and struck him with Bolt. An enormous shock rippled through the Titan’s body.
Zeus had battled Cronus once before. He knew he could win. Before, Rhea had stopped him from harming his father.
But Rhea was gone.
A fury and strength that Zeus had never felt before rose inside him. Cronus pointed both hands at him, but Zeus hurled himself at his father and jumped onto the Titan’s chest. He knocked Cronus flat onto his back.
“Stop this!” Cronus yelled.
“NO!” Zeus cried. “I must put a stop to YOU! Once and for all!”
He zapped Cronus again, and the Titan’s body sparked and shuddered. Zeus climbed up to his father’s face and pinned Bolt to his forehead.
“You are only this strong because of me, Zeus,” Cronus said. “Don’t ignore your destiny. I can show you how to harness your power! Together we can be great!”
Zeus’s heart was pounding. One command to Bolt, and Zeus could silence Cronus forever. That was supposed to be Zeus’s destiny, wasn’t it? To take Cronus’s place? Wasn’t that the whole reason for his journey?
“Bolt!” he cried, and then, to his surprise, a black, swirling portal appeared behind Cronus.
Zeus heard Hades in his ear. “He didn’t get me, Bro!”
Sweat poured down Zeus’s face. With the help of Bolt, he could send Cronus through the portal that Hades had created, and into Tartarus. But what if Cronus escaped? Wouldn’t it be better to finish him off so that there would be no chance of his coming back?
Then Zeus heard his mother’s voice in his head. Everybody has the potential inside them to be good or evil, she had told him. What matters are the choices we make.
Zeus understood that. But sometimes, knowing the difference between a good choice and a bad one wasn’t so easy.
Still, he had to choose.
“Release me, Son!” Cronus cried. “Rule with me!”
With a deep breath, Zeus made his choice.
CHAPTER TEN
Mount Olympus
With the strength of a thousand thunderclaps, Zeus pushed Cronus. The Titan stumbled backward and fell into the portal.
“Noooooooooooo!” Cronus wailed as the portal sucked him in.
Zeus stared at the swirling black hole, wondering if he had done the right thing. Hades removed his helmet.
“He should be stuck down there for a while,” Hades said. “The Furies are all riled up, and Thanatos is happy to have a bunch of prisoners again.”
“I hope they can hold the Titans,” Zeus said, frowning. And then he realized something. “The others!”
He ran to the edge of the cloud and looked down, but all he could see were clouds floating below. Hot tears filled his eyes. Even though he had just gotten rid of Cronus, it didn’t matter if the entire group was still out there.
“They’re . . . they’re gone,” he said quietly.
“Looking for us, Bro?”
Zeus whirled around
at the sound of Poseidon’s voice. The god of the sea was clutched in one of Briar’s hands. The other hundred-handed giants marched next to Briar. Between the three of them, they held each and every Olympian!
Zeus’s heart leaped. Poseidon jumped down from Briar’s hand, and Zeus hugged him.
“You guys are okay!” Zeus cried.
Poseidon nodded. “These guys are good catchers,” he said.
“I guess you could say they came in handy, then,” Hades joked.
“Rhea helped,” Hera said. “She swooped down and grabbed the cloud, and that slowed us down as we fell.”
“Is she okay too?” Zeus asked, and as he spoke, Rhea stepped out from between the giants, smiling.
Zeus ran into her open arms. “You’re all right!” he said.
She nodded. “Yes. Are you?”
Zeus motioned toward the portal. “Yes,” he said. “Cronus is still alive. He’s in Tartarus.”
“And I shall follow him,” she said. “Hades, your Furies will need some help keeping the Titans imprisoned this time.”
Hera, Demeter, and Hestia ran up to her. “But you’re our mom, and we hardly even know you! Can’t you stay?” Hera asked.
Rhea shook her head. “I wish I could,” she said. “But for too long I stood by while Cronus did bad things. Now I must make sure he can never harm anyone again.”
She hugged each of the girls and then called Poseidon over.
“I must say good-bye to you too, Poseidon,” she said. Then she turned in the direction of Hades. “Maybe you’ll let your brothers and sisters come visit me once in a while.”
“Of course, Mom!” Hades said. He took off his helmet and turned to Zeus. “I guess I’ve got to go back to the Underworld. Now that, you know, everything is over.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Zeus said, and he started to feel sad. He had known for only a short time that Hades was his brother. Zeus didn’t want to lose him now. He took a deep breath. “So, good-bye. For now.”
“For now,” Hades said. Then he smiled. “Hey, have you heard that the Underworld is really popular? People are dying to get in.”