Typhon and the Winds of Destruction Read online

  As soon as he’d asked the question, an arrow appeared on the stone—an arrow clearly pointing up. Zeus had found Chip in the temple at Delphi, where he had also found Bolt. Sometimes the stone talked to him in its own language, and at other times symbols appeared on it.

  “Chip says the beans are up there,” Zeus reported. “We definitely need to climb.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Hera said, folding her arms across her chest. “I am staying right here.”

  Poseidon grinned. “You know what, Hera? I think maybe you’re afraid of heights, just like I used to be afraid of water.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” Hera protested, but Zeus could tell by her red face that Poseidon’s guess was probably right.

  “How about this,” Zeus suggested. “Whoever wants to climb can come with me. If you don’t want to climb, you can stay here and be on guard in case the Cronies find us.”

  “Fine,” Hera said.

  “I’d rather stay down here too,” Hestia admitted.

  “Me too,” agreed Hades. “I’m more of an Underworld guy than an Aboveworld guy.”

  Demeter looked at Zeus. “I want to climb. I really want to see what’s up there.”

  “I’ll climb,” Poseidon said. “It’s way less boring than hanging out down here.”

  Zeus nodded. “Okay. Then Hera, Hestia, and Hades will stand guard.” He grinned. “Hey, you guys are the three Hs. H, like in—”

  “Horrors! The Three Horrors!” Hades cried.

  “Speak for yourself,” Hera said.

  Hestia spoke up shyly. “How about the Three Helpers?”

  “Ugh!” Hera protested. “We are more than just helpers. It’s got to be the Three Heroes. Remember, Pythia said we’re heroes in training.”

  “Well, technically all six of us are heroes,” Zeus declared. “So it’s the Six Heroes.”

  “But that doesn’t make sense,” Hera argued. “We’re the three Hs. You said so yourself. So we can call ourselves the Three Heroes if we want to.”

  “Do I have to dump cold water on you guys?” Poseidon asked. “We need to get climbing before the Cronies find us.”

  “Right,” Zeus agreed. He felt silly arguing with Hera, but she always seemed to get under his skin. “If the Cronies show up, Hestia and Hades, you can combine your objects and try to hold them off.”

  “Or maybe we can fool them again and try to throw them off track,” Hestia suggested.

  “And what am I supposed to do? Just sit here?” Hera asked, sounding annoyed.

  Zeus looked down at Chip. The arrow glowed a bright green color, which meant that Chip thought they should get moving too. Zeus reached up and grabbed the lowest leaf stem, which was as thick as a normal tree branch.

  “Let’s do this,” Zeus said. “See you later, Three Hanger-Outers!”

  “You mean the Three Heroes, Bolt Breath!” Hera insisted stubbornly.

  This time Zeus didn’t argue. He swung up onto the stem and began the long climb to the top of the beanstalk.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Into the Clouds

  Poseidon and Demeter scrambled up the beanstalk after Zeus. Luckily, the thick stalk had lots of bumps and crevices they could hold on to. The strong leaf stems were good for climbing too, and were about as wide as a Crony’s arm. But the Olympians had a long, long way to go.

  They kept climbing. Zeus could feel a chill in the air as they went higher. A little brown bird flew past his face and settled on a stem.

  Chirp! Chirp!

  Poseidon caught up to Zeus. “Hey, bird. Do you know how much farther we need to climb?” he asked it. The bird chirped and flew away.

  “Nice try,” Zeus said. “Did you really think it would answer you?”

  Poseidon shrugged. “We’re climbing a giant beanstalk, so a talking bird doesn’t seem so crazy. Anyway, I’m getting pretty tired of climbing.”

  Zeus looked up.

  “I still can’t see the top,” he said with a sigh. “It’s nothing but clouds.”

  “Maybe there is no top,” Poseidon suggested. “Maybe it just goes on . . . and on . . . and on . . .”

  Demeter hoisted herself up onto a leaf stem.

  “I think I see some blossoms up there,” she announced. “Maybe we’ll find some bean pods.”

  “I hope so,” Zeus replied.

  Demeter reached a blossom first, a white flower about as wide as she was tall.

  “It’s so pretty!” she cried, touching it gently. Then her eyes lit up. “I see a pod!”

  She carefully walked along the stem, putting one foot in front of the other, like she was walking a tightrope. She didn’t seem nervous at all to be up so high. When she reached the long green pod, she touched it. It automatically opened. Three shiny green beans, each the size of her head, were nestled inside.

  “Could these be the Magic Seeds?” she asked excitedly.

  “Let me ask Chip,” Zeus replied. Steadying himself against the stalk with one hand, he held out the stone amulet with the other. A bright red X appeared on it.

  “No,” Zeus reported, and Demeter looked disappointed. Then a green arrow appeared on Chip, pointing up. “We’ve got to keep climbing,” Zeus said.

  “I still think we should have just chopped this thing down,” Poseidon muttered. Then he stepped ahead of Zeus and pulled himself up into the leafy canopy. He vanished into the green.

  Zeus’s arms started to feel the strain as he kept climbing. He pulled himself up to another stem, right next to a huge white flower bud.

  “Boo!” The bud popped open, and Poseidon jumped out.

  Startled, Zeus almost lost his footing. He quickly grabbed on to a leaf to steady himself.

  Poseidon was cracking up.

  “Not funny,” Zeus said, still shaking. “I could have fallen!”

  “Sorry,” Poseidon said. “This climb is getting kind of boring. I had to do something to liven things up.”

  Zeus climbed onto another stem. His head was surrounded by clouds. He reached through the cloud cover, grabbed the next stem overhead, and pulled himself up.

  “Wow,” he gasped. “Guys, I think this is it!”

  The top of the stalk ended at what Zeus could only guess was some kind of island in the sky. He stepped out onto a field of grass with blades as tall as he was. But what really shocked him was the enormous house that loomed in front of him. The building was made of bricks of red clay and had a roof of rough wood shingles. The large green door had what appeared to be some kind of dragon carved into it.

  “Squishy squids!” Poseidon cried out next to Zeus.

  “That is a very big house,” Demeter remarked.

  “It is,” agreed Zeus. “And whoever lives in it must be big. Really big.”

  “Do you think it’s a Titan?” Poseidon asked nervously.

  “Maybe,” Zeus replied. “But this house is bigger than any Titan’s house we’ve ever seen.”

  Demeter looked around. “I don’t see any seeds lying around out here.”

  “Let’s go into the house,” said Zeus. “There’s nothing else up here, so the seeds must be inside it.”

  “How are we supposed to open that door?” Poseidon asked.

  “I don’t think we’ll need to,” Zeus said. “Come on.”

  They walked through the tall grass until they reached the massive front door. The crack under the door looked almost large enough for them to crawl through.

  Poseidon got on his knees. “I don’t see any huge feet in there.”

  “Can you slide under?” asked Zeus.

  Poseidon cautiously scooted forward. The top of his head bumped into the bottom of the door.

  “Ow!” he cried. He slid back, rubbing his head.

  “I’ll fix things,” Zeus said confidently. He whipped out his sizzling thunderbolt. “Large, Bolt!”

  Once the bolt expanded, Zeus used it to shave off some of the wood at the bottom of the door. Whack! Whack!

  “Try again,” he suggested to Poseido
n.

  Poseidon pointed toward the crack with his trident. “After you.”

  Zeus ducked under the door, keeping Bolt extended just in case. He emerged into a huge, wide room filled with a giant table and chairs. Each looked big enough to hold two Titans. Across the room was a massive bed—at least, that’s what he thought it was. He couldn’t tell for sure from way down on the floor. He didn’t hear or see anyone who might live here, though.

  “The coast is clear,” he called to his friends.

  Poseidon and Demeter joined him.

  “What now?” Poseidon asked, looking around.

  Zeus checked Chip for directions, but the stone was blank—and silent. “I guess we should look around,” he replied. “There’s no red X on my amulet, so maybe that means the seeds are here somewhere.”

  “It’s going to take forever to search this place,” Poseidon grumbled. “And we don’t even know what we’re— Aaaah!”

  Zeus spun around and saw a huge, furry ball rolling toward Poseidon, who started poking at it with his trident.

  “I think that’s just a dust bunny,” Demeter piped up.

  Poseidon paused. “Oh.” But he kept poking it. “Maybe it’s an evil dust bunny!”

  Zeus scanned the room. More dust bunnies dotted the floor, along with boulders that he realized were probably breadcrumbs. But no seeds.

  “I think we’re going to have to climb up high to get a better look,” he announced. He nodded to one of the legs of the bed, a tall wooden post that was as big around as the leg of a Titan. “Let’s try that.”

  They dodged more dust bunnies as they made their way toward the post. Carvings in the post allowed them to grab hold as they climbed. A few minutes later they tumbled out onto what looked and felt like a big, soft field.

  “It’s a bed,” Poseidon realized.

  “With a cute bedspread,” Demeter remarked. “See? It’s got pictures of little mice on it. Maybe whoever lives here isn’t a big, scary monster, after all.”

  Suddenly Chip began to talk. “Anger-dip! Anger-dip!”

  By now Zeus knew the amulet’s language well. Chip spoke Chip Latin, which was kind of like Pig Latin, only you moved the first letter of each word to the end of the word and added “ip.”

  “Chip says there’s danger!” Zeus translated.

  Creeeaaaaak! The sound of the door opening—the door they’d crawled under only minutes before—made Zeus jump. “Quick, hide!” he whispered.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Typhon

  The three Olympians raced along the bedspread. They threw themselves underneath a big pillow at the head of the bed. As soon as they were hidden, Zeus cautiously peeked out, curious to see who lived in the house. Next to him Poseidon and Demeter peeked out too.

  “Whoa!” Poseidon exclaimed, and Zeus clapped a hand over Poseidon’s mouth.

  The giant entering the room had a craggy face with dark eyes and a shaggy black beard. His chest and arms were muscled and strong. Two wings covered with shiny black feathers grew from his back. Instead of legs the lower half of his body was made up of a tangle of giant living snakes. They wiggled back and forth as he slithered across the floor into the house.

  “That is definitely a monster. Probably another of Cronus’s Creatures of Chaos!” Zeus whispered.

  The giant paused and sniffed the air. His huge nostrils flared. Then he began to chant.

  “Fee, fi, fo, fun.

  I smell the blood of an Olympian.

  Be he alive or even half-dead,

  I’ll gobble him down until I’m fed.”

  The three Olympians retreated farther under the pillow.

  “Uh-oh! I think he smells us,” Zeus hissed, hoping the pillow would muffle his words.

  The giant looked around the room. “Come out, come out, wherever you aaaaaaare!” he called. His last word sounded like the bleating of a goat.

  “Don’t move,” Demeter whispered.

  Zeus didn’t think he could have moved even if he’d wanted to. He was frozen with terror.

  His heart pounded as the giant began to slither toward the bed. Had he heard them? Zeus tightly gripped Bolt, and Poseidon held his trident in front of him. But the giant only tossed his green cloak onto the bed. Then he changed direction.

  He slithered up to the big wooden table and picked up a giant-size stone sugar bowl. He lifted its lid and grinned.

  “There you are, my friend. I’d almost forgotten where I put you last! Awk! Awk! Awk!” His laugh sounded more like the cackling of a bird than a real laugh. Then he reached into the bowl and plucked out a boy with spiky hair as golden as Hera’s.

  “He’s our size!” Zeus exclaimed in a whisper.

  Shiny crystals that looked like sugar clung to the boy’s clothes. Zeus could see that the boy was quaking with fear. But that didn’t stop him from confronting the giant.

  “Put me down, Typhon, you big bag of wind! I don’t like you, and you are NOT my friend!” the boy shouted.

  “Did he just rhyme on purpose?” Demeter wondered quietly.

  The giant chuckled, sounding something like a frog croaking. He dangled the boy from his fingers.

  “Aw, come on, little Olympian,” he said in his loud, gruff voice. “I won’t really eat you. Not as long as you continue to please me with your music, anyway.” The giant grinned wickedly and let out a wolflike howl.

  Zeus turned to his friends, puzzled. “Did I hear right? Did that Typhon guy just call that kid an Olympian?” he whispered. Pythia had said that they might find more Olympians on their new quest. Looked like she was right.

  “And he’s a musician, too,” Demeter added.

  Poseidon’s hand tightened on his trident, and Zeus knew what his friend was thinking. That they had to rescue this boy.

  Of course they did. But first Zeus had to figure out what was up with this monster. He had a beastly body, snakes for legs, and wings, and he made strange animal sounds. Who knew what dastardly things Typhon could do.

  “Not yet,” Zeus told Poseidon. “We need to think carefully before we make our move.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  The Monster’s Lullaby

  Poseidon scowled, seeming impatient to rescue the boy. But Zeus knew it was smart to take care. They watched, hidden by the pillow, to see what the giant would do next.

  Typhon placed the boy on the table and took a seat. He ripped off a hunk of bread from a loaf before him. Then he cut a chunk of cheese to go with it. He banged his fist on the table.

  “Play!” he commanded in a voice like a lion’s roar.

  Zeus noticed that the boy had a sack slung over his shoulder. He opened the sack and took out a beautiful stringed instrument that was sort of like a portable harp—a lyre. The boy cradled the golden lyre in his arms and began to strum.

  Beautiful music flowed from the lyre, filling the giant’s house. Zeus had never heard anything like it before. It was like the sound of a waterfall cascading into a pool below, or the sighing of the wind in the trees, or the trilling of the birds in spring. Or maybe it sounded like all those things at once.

  Zeus glanced at Poseidon and Demeter. They both had dreamy expressions on their faces as they listened.

  As Typhon stuffed bread and cheese into his giant mouth, the spiky-haired boy began singing. Sunlight glinted off the crystals stuck to his tunic as he belted out his song:

  “Oh, Typhon is great and powerful.

  No other giant is better.

  And anyone who says otherwise,

  He’ll eat with bread and butter.

  He roars with the strength of a lion,

  A sound that makes others grow pale.

  His wings are as strong as an eagle’s,

  And his belly’s as big as a whale.”

  The giant frowned. “Belly as big as a whale? Are you saying I’m fat?”

  “Oh no, sir,” the boy said innocently. “The whale is the greatest creature in the sea. It’s a compliment.”

  The giant nodded, s
atisfied. Under the pillow the three Olympians tried not to laugh out loud. This boy was pretty clever.

  He began another verse.

  “Typhon burns with the flame of a dragon.

  All who see him shiver with dread.

  He walks with the power of the serpent,

  And his heart is as hard as his head.”

  Typhon frowned again. “A hard head? What do you mean by that?”

  “Only that no arrow can pierce it, oh great Typhon,” the boy replied with a little bow.

  Once again the giant seemed satisfied, and the Olympians struggled to stop their giggles. The boy continued his song.

  “Oh, Typhon is great and powerful,

  And so is his mighty stench—”

  “Aaaaachoooooooooo!” Poseidon sneezed so loudly that he drowned out the boy’s singing.

  Zeus quickly clapped a hand over Poseidon’s mouth in case he had another sneeze coming.

  “What was that?” the giant asked, half-rising from his chair.

  “I don’t know,” the boy replied, a curious look on his face. “Probably nothing. Want me to finish the song?”

  The giant settled back down. “Continue!”

  Zeus glared at Poseidon. “No more sneezing!”

  Poseidon pushed Zeus’s hand away and whispered, “I can’t help it! I think I’m allergic to the feathers in the pillow. Aa . . . aa . . .”

  Quickly Demeter pinched Poseidon’s nose with her fingers. “Try to hold it in,” she urged him.

  The boy strummed the lyre again.

  “Oh, Typhon is great and powerful.

  His arms are as thick as tree trunks.

  His breath is as strong as the North Wind,

  And it smells just as bad as ten skunks.”

  Typhon looked really angry this time. “Skunks?” he roared.

  “The skunk’s greatest weapon is his stench,” the boy explained. “Even the strongest predator fears the skunk. Just as all creatures fear you, oh great Typhon.”

  “As they should!” the giant agreed. “Well done!” He pounded the table with his fist, and then several things happened at once.