Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire Read online

  “Yeah,” agreed Hades. “Now we can actually see the path!”

  As the Olympians moved on, Zeus thought about his mother. She was alive! Theia had said so. He could recall Theia’s words exactly: She was a wonderful woman. And absolutely determined to keep you safe from harm.

  But where was she now? Was she in danger? Had Cronus kept her prisoner all these years? Maybe because she’d refused to tell him where she’d hidden Zeus? That was so unjust! Zeus clenched his fists.

  If he had to come face-to-face with King Cronus again to rescue his mother, then that’s what he would do! As soon as he got the chance.

  Around midnight the four Olympians neared the village where they’d last seen Hera and Demeter. They bedded down under some trees by the road near the village entrance.

  At dawn they woke to the sound of familiar voices. Hera and Demeter! The two girls were walking toward them along the main road. Zeus and the others scrambled to their feet and went to meet them.

  “Hestia!” Hera and Demeter squealed when they caught sight of her with the boys.

  Hestia quickly handed off the lamp to Hades. Only Zeus seemed to notice that the flame instantly went dim again. The three girls jumped up and down and hugged one another.

  “We were just coming to look for you,” Hera told the boys after the girls had calmed down a little. “We didn’t expect to find you so fast!”

  “Look what we have,” said Demeter. She reached into a bag she was carrying. She pulled out a long metal cone decorated with beautiful carvings. It’s top was shaped like a shallow bowl.

  “It’s the torch!” Hera exclaimed.

  Hades showed them the lamp. “And we’ve got the flame!”

  Zeus’s brow wrinkled. “But how do we know it’s the right torch?”

  “Of course it is,” said Hera. “A priestess gave it to us.”

  “She said it came from a temple in Olympia,” said Demeter. “One that Hyperion took over in King Cronus’s name—”

  “And guess what?” Hera broke in. “Before the Titans took over the temple, it was named the Temple of Hera.” Her blue eyes gleamed. “Which must mean that the Olympic Torch is my magical object.”

  Demeter looked unsure. “Maybe.” She glanced back at the others. “Anyway, Hyperion tried to force the priestess to hand over the Olympic Torch.”

  Hera picked up the story again. “But afraid of what he’d do with it, the priestess tricked him. She separated the flame and torch, knowing that they only had true magical powers when united. She put the flame atop a regular torch and gave that to him instead.”

  “Then she fled the temple with this unlit magical torch we found,” Demeter said. “When we told her about Pythia and our quest, she gave it to us. But she cautioned us that only the Protector of the Hearth can reunite the torch and flame again.”

  “What are we waiting for?” asked Hades. He held up the lamp. “Somebody try it and see what happens.”

  “I’ll light it,” Hera said eagerly. Reluctantly Demeter handed her the big, unlit torch. Taking great care, Hera held the torch over the lamp’s flame.

  Everyone leaned in, hardly daring to breathe. Would the torch catch fire? Moments passed. The torch remained dark. The flame still burned dimly in the lamp.

  Hera stared at the torch. Her shoulders slumped with disappointment. “What’s wrong with this thing?”

  “Let me try,” Demeter said, reaching for the torch and lamp. But she had no more luck than Hera.

  “Maybe the priestess made a mistake,” said Hera. “Maybe this isn’t the right torch after all.”

  “May I try?” asked Hestia. Her voice was gentle so as not to rub it in that her friends had failed. Yet there was a spark of excitement in it.

  Demeter shrugged. “Sure. Go ahead.” She passed the torch and lamp to Hestia.

  The moment Hestia held the lamp close to the torch, the flame leaped to it. Everyone gasped as the torch immediately sparked high. Dazzling red, yellow, and blue lights wove together in a fiery dance. The six Olympians stared at the blazing torch in awe.

  “Congratulations!” said an approving voice.

  They’d all been so amazed by the torch that they hadn’t noticed the vent that had opened in the ground behind them. In a glittering cloud of steam, the oracle Pythia’s bespectacled face now rose before them.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Seeds of a New Quest

  Hestia stared, wide-eyed, at the vision of Pythia. Clasping the torch to her chest, she took a step back.

  “Oracle,” Demeter whispered to her quickly.

  “Oh,” Hestia whispered back. “She’s who you’ve all been talking about!”

  “Well done, Olympians!” the oracle said. “You have united flame and torch and reclaimed the Olympic Torch at last. And now it is in the hands of the Protector of the Hearth.” She smiled at Hestia.

  It was just as Zeus had suspected the moment he’d first handed the lamp to Hestia. That’s why the torch had flamed higher and brighter for her than for anyone else. She was the Protector of the Hearth.

  “The torch has great magic,” Pythia told the Olympians. “And its flame can never die out. Already, in villages and towns across Earth, the torch’s healing magic is causing people to return to their homes, their hearts filled with new hope for a better life.”

  She paused, peering out at them through her foggy spectacles. “Along with your other magical objects, this torch will serve you well and help you to help others in the difficult times to come. Especially as you continue to search for the remaining Olympians.”

  Zeus looked at her in surprise. “Remaining Olympians? But I thought there were only six of us. Me, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. We’re all here. Are you saying there are more?”

  Pythia’s eyes filled with a faraway look. Like she was remembering a truth that only she knew. “Yes. Cronus didn’t swallow all of the Olympians,” she replied mysteriously. “And so, you see, the quest must continue. For there are many more of you.”

  “How many?” asked Poseidon.

  “But I was planning to search for—,” Zeus started to say.

  “Your mother is not in immediate danger,” Pythia interrupted, answering Zeus. It wasn’t the first time she’d seemed to read his mind. “You must gather the other Olympians before you seek her out.”

  She glanced at Poseidon. “As for their number, it is unclear to me at present.”

  Before Zeus could protest, or even ask his mother’s name, Pythia threw her arms wide.

  “Hyperion’s actions have devastated the land,” she said in a dramatic voice. “On your next quest you must repair it as best you can. You must find the Magic Seeds that will give this land new life.”

  “Where? How?” asked Hades.

  “Use the magic you’ve already been given,” she replied.

  “Even if we repair the land, won’t Hyperion just wreck it again with his fireballs?” asked Hera.

  Pythia shook her head. “King Cronus wasn’t happy to learn of your escape. Or that you’d reclaimed the flame. He blames Hyperion for losing the magic flame to you and has banished him.” Her image in the steam wavered and began to fade.

  “Wait! Don’t go yet,” Zeus called out. “Even if I must wait to see her, can you at least tell me my mother’s name?”

  “Mia,” said Pythia, her image growing stronger again. “Or, hmm. Maybe it’s Dia. Or Rhea. Or Leah. It’s hazy. . . .” Then abruptly she disappeared.

  “Hey, watch it, Hestia!” Poseidon complained suddenly.

  “Oops. Sorry,” she said. She’d put the bottom tip of her torch in the center of her palm and had set the torch spinning. While trying to balance it there, she’d accidentally bumped into him.

  Zeus glimpsed Hera and Demeter watching her. Demeter’s arms were crossed in front of her chest. And there was a pinched expression on Hera’s face. Were they feeling jealous of Hestia? Like the boys, she had a magical object now. But the other two girls still hadn’t earned thei
rs.

  By now people who had long been away from home were gathering in the village center. “Something’s changed,” Zeus heard a woman say cheerfully. “I feel hopeful again. And glad to be home.”

  Another man nodded. “Me too. Though a great big thunderstorm would be nice. To make things grow again.”

  A thunderstorm? thought Zeus. Pythia had said they should help repair the devastated land. Use the magic you’ve already been given, she’d said.

  Zeus pulled Bolt from his belt. “Large!” he commanded. In an instant the thunderbolt expanded to its full length. Zeus drew back his arm. Then he sent Bolt flying toward the only cloud in the sky.

  When the thunderbolt hit the cloud there was a loud crash. The sky darkened. Other clouds formed. Sparking and sizzling, Bolt zoomed from one cloud to another. Soon booms of thunder and flashes of lightning filled the entire sky.

  All at once the heavy clouds dumped their precious load.

  The Olympians and villagers dashed for cover as rain fell everywhere. It drummed the roofs of the houses. It fed the parched fields. And it collected in all the pots and urns around the well. And yet it didn’t even dim the flaming torch that Hestia still held.

  Having done its work, Bolt zoomed back to Zeus. The clouds stopped raining.

  Awestruck and grateful, the villagers cheered the Olympians. “Hooray! Thank you!” they cried out.

  Would his mother have been proud of him if she could have seen what he had accomplished? Zeus wondered. He knew that more would be needed to heal the land. But this was a start. Next they needed to find those seeds Pythia had spoken of.

  “Where to now, Thunderboy?” Hera asked. She was smiling at him for once, seeming pleased at what he’d done. They were all feeling pretty good now, having successfully completed their quest and having brought rain to the villagers.

  “I’ll check,” said Zeus. But before he could fish his amulet from around his neck, a sound like the rumble of a hundred speeding chariots met the Olympians’ ears.

  They all turned toward the sound in surprise. In the distance a great mound of earth had formed. Suddenly the mound exploded like a volcano.

  The Olympians and villagers gasped. As they watched, a giant beanstalk pushed out of the crater where the mound had been. Quickly it sprouted up to the sky until it’s tip-top disappeared into the clouds.

  “Clamoring clams, that’s one fast-growing plant!” Poseidon exclaimed.

  Zeus grinned. “And you know what? I’m guessing it grew from a Magic Seed.”

  “Only one thing to do, right?” said Hades.

  “Climb it!” they all cheered.

  With their sights set on the distant beanstalk, the Olympians set off together on their next adventure.

  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

  COMING SOON:

  Typhon and the Winds of Destruction

  Joan Holub is the award-winning author of more than one hundred and thirty books for young readers, including Zero the Hero, Vincent van Gogh: Sunflowers and Swirly Stars, and Shampoodle. She lives in North Carolina. Visit her at joanholub.com.

  Suzanne Williams is the award-winning author of more than thirty-five books for young readers, including Library Lil, Ten Naughty Little Monkeys, and the Princess Power and Fairy Blossoms series. She lives near Seattle in Washington State. Visit her at suzanne-williams.com.

  ALADDIN

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  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.

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  First Aladdin paperback edition August 2013

  Text copyright © 2013 by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Craig Phillips

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  Library of Congress Control Number 2012943206

  ISBN 978-1-4424-5269-5 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4424-5803-1 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4424-5270-1 (eBook)