"Castor and Pollux, nice to finally meet you," Nakula stuttered.

Sahadeva let out a small chuckle at Nakula's remark, and Castor and Pollux slowly lowered their weapons. It was obvious that Castor and Pollux were curious about the majestic horse they were astride, and seemed a little frightened of the seven-headed, flying horse.

Uchchaihshravas spoke up, "Who are you guys anyways? Kindly, could we save this conversation for later? Nakula and Sahadeva are accompanying me to a crisis in the heavens between Indian and Greek gods."

"I'm Castor, and this here is my twin brother, Pollux. Dioscuri is our team name, and we're known for having an excellent handle on horses. We've fought many of battles, even gaining statues of our existence in Rome. But that is of no concern to you. We're here for one thing and one thing only and that is not to make friends or continue to introduce ourselves"

Pollux butted in with a few words, "We're taking over India."

Uchchaihshravas immediately reared in the air with the pair hanging on tightly, "Figures you both are Greek as well, since we already have problems in the heavens with you trying to belittle and overtake all our Indian gods. Heaven is not yours alone. You will not take over Indian land as well. You have no force as strong as us and our army. India is strong. Where is your army anyways? Why would you both come alone?"

"I want to declare a victory on land and take care of India before bringing twin tokens into the heavens to declare victory there as well. Together we will get through this, one step at a time," Uchchaihshravas thought to himself.

And with that, the task of the twins and Uchchaihshravas changed drastically, for they were beginning the fight for land with the Greeks before fighting the crisis with the Greek gods in heaven that Uchchaihshravas spoke of.

***

"Uchchaihshravas will lead us into battle with thousands strong, both men and animals. The leading horse in battle determines who wins, so do you even have a seven-headed horse that could remotely compete with Uchchaihshravas? I think you should just walk away now," Sahadeva said with great sass.

"Don't pick a fight with the unbeatable," Nakula boldly stated after.

Castor and Pollux both remained silent for a few moments, exchanging looks between each other to determine what the next step was. Did they have a horse that could compete with Uchchaihshravas?

"Castor, Balius and Xanthus would easily win in a battle between them and Uchchaihshravas. For we have the best horses there are. This shouldn't even be a debate," Pollux exclaimed.

Castor and Pollux linked arms and stared Nakula and Sahadeva dead in the eyes.

"Fear Balius and Xanthus. Fear for your land. Fear for your safety," Castor and Pollux spoke in unison as they broke the stare and steadily walked away with heads held high.

Uchchaihshravas, Nakula, and Sahadeva knew this was serious, but for some reason, they all smiled at one another.

"Nakula, I need you to increase Uchchaihshravas's training. For you are the greatest horse trainer in the world, and no matter what horse they bring it cannot compete with Uchchaihshravas," Sahadeva stated.

"Training cannot hurt? It can only ensure a victory and further prepare me for the heavenly war," Uchchaihshravas agreed.

While Nakula thought of what he'd want to train the wonderful horse to perform, Sahadeva wandered through the land to see if anyone had an idea of who either Balius and Xanthus were and if they had to capability to fly, talk, or even stand a chance in a fight against Uchchaihshravas. For they knew that the next time Castor and Pollux stepped foot onto their land it would be with Balius and Xanthus.

***

"Uchchaihshravas, I'm going to train you to do the most immaculate task in the world. Day one training will be tough, but it will get easier by the third day when you begin to pick up on it," and with that Nakula picked up his rope and clipped it onto Uchchaihshravas's bridle.

Uchchaihshravas was eager to learn, although he thought he was already advanced enough to beat any horse, but he was curious what Nakula had that would make him so much greater...

Author's Note:

Castor and Pollux were sons of Zeus and Leda in Greece. Dioscuri was a nickname given to the two of them meaning "youths of Zeus." Pollux was immortal, and when Castor died, asked Zeus to share his immortality with Castor. They had each other's back through everything. I wanted to create a battle between the Indians and Greeks, and these pairs of characters work perfectly to do that. Also, there are so many well-known horses in the Greek culture, but I really wanted to bring Uchchaihshravas from India into the picture to compete with these outstanding Greek horses. Last semester I wrote a whole storybook about Pegasus, so this time around I wanted to bring some other horses to the spotlight. In my story, I wanted to really bring the horses to life and give them character. Uchchaihshravas is discussed in the introduction, and in the next story I plan to enlighten the audience with background and descriptions on Balius and Xanthus. But for now, I wanted to leave a cliffhanger on who these horses were and how they stacked up against Uchchaihshravas, as well as on what Nakula, the great horse trainer, was training Uchchaihshravas to perform. Does Nakula already have an idea on what Balius and Xanthus are capable of and is this why he's training Uchchaihshravas?

Bibliography:

Header Image: India landscape from Wikimedia Commons

Image One: Castor and Pollux from Wikimedia Commons

Castor and Pollux from Wikipedia