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Informationen zum Autor 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 has also written several picture book texts. She is widely respected for her lively retellings of myths. Her 12-book series, Greek Beasts and Heroes, was published by Orion in the U.K. Beasts of Olympus is her first series published in the U.S. Klappentext Will Demon's latest quest bring down the wrath of Zeus? Demon's life on Mount Olympus has never been busier. Thanks to the awful heroes down on Earth, he has a whole slew of injured beasts to care for. And worse still, the goddess Psyche wants Demon to "borrow" Zeus's prized eagle for an urgent mission. But is her task worth the risk of offending the king of the gods? Chapter One: Mad Maenads The little horse’s wings flapped slower and slower as he flew over the sea. The smell of salt filled Demon’s nostrils, and gentle waves splashed and rippled below him. The water was so clear that he could even see tiny shoals of fish darting about the seabed. The sharp peaks of Mount Pelion cut into the pale pinkish-blue dawn sky ahead, with tiny coves and beaches of blinding white sand strung at its feet like a necklace. “Come on, Keith,” he said, patting the shiny black neck. “Only a little farther. You can do it.” But poor Keith had no breath to spare for even a small whinny. He spread his wings wide and began to glide downward, lower and lower, until Demon’s toes were nearly skimming the water. “Hey!” shouted a familiar voice. “Watch those big feet of yours!” Demon looked down. There was his friend Eunice the Nereid, King Poseidon’s Official Handmaid to the Hippocamps and Damsel to the Dolphins, surrounded by her dolphin charges and riding her own dolphin steed, Seapetal. But Demon had no time to greet her. Just then, Keith’s wings gave one last weak flap, and the winged horse collapsed into the water. “Help!” Demon scrambled off his back as Keith started to sink, trying to hold the small beast up and swim at the same time. Then a wave hit him. Demon swallowed a big gulp of seawater and began to choke and thrash, letting go of Keith. Why couldn’t he breathe? Had King Poseidon’s spell for keeping him alive underwater worn off? Almost immediately, a smooth dolphin body lifted him up, and he clutched at the big fin, spluttering frantically as water and snot ran out of his nose and down his chin in slimy streams. Demon didn’t care how disgusting he looked, though. “S-save K-Keith,” he gurgled. He needn’t have worried. Eunice already had things under control. Two dolphins were under Keith’s wings, and were swimming him in to shore. As soon as he felt the land under his hooves, he staggered up onto the sandy beach and collapsed again, whinnying pathetically. Eunice and Demon were not far behind. Eunice stumbled toward Keith on her flipper feet, and Demon managed to wheeze out a brief thank you before he fell to his knees beside the little winged horse’s head. He stroked Keith behind the ears and made soothing sounds, then unknotted the sacks that were tied to him. Demon peered inside them. Luckily nothing had been damaged by the seawater—including the precious notebook Athena had given him as a reward for saving the phoenix, the ball of fire-ant nectar, and the precious phoenix feather. “Where in all the world’s oceans have you come from?” Eunice asked. “And what were you doing flying over the sea? If you needed transport, I could have taken you in Poseidon’s chariot. He trusts me to drive it on my own now, you know,” she added in a proud voice. “Long story,” said Demon. “I’ll tell you in a minute. Right now I need to get some sand flowers out of my sack for Keith here.” Reaching in, he pulled out a handful of damp yellow blooms. “Come on, Keith,” he said, holding them out. “Have a few of...
