It's On

"Nakula, Uchchaihshravas, I've found news," Sahadeva screamed out of breath as he broke into the middle of a training session at a dead sprint.

"Sahadeva, what's wrong?" Uchchaihshravas replied, laying his seven heads atop Sahadeva's shoulders.

"It's about Balius and Xanthus. Peleus's son, Achilles, was gifted these two divine and powerful horses that pulled his chariot during the Trojan war. They have been in many battles, but none more important than the Trojan war. But they do have weaknesses that we must attack. Xanthus can understand and talk human language, but Balius cannot talk. The prince of Lycia, Sarpedon, killed Padasos, the third horse in their clan, during the war leaving just Balius and Xanthus," Sahadeva informatively spoke.

"Whoa, so they lost their third musketeer in battle? But what is their weakness, and what's the plan of attack?" Uchchaihshravas asked, unimpressed.

"Well, Patroclus was the caretaker of these animals. He fed, groomed, taught them, and did everything with these three horses. When the prince struck Patroclus dead on the battle field, the horses immediately revealed their weakness. They stopped at a dead stand-still, motionless, weeping right there on the battlefield..."

Sahadeva couldn't even complete his sentence or his plan of attack when two horses with riders astride were breaking into a run towards their field. It appeared the horses would sprint followed by a brisk walk. They were barely visible to the naked eye, but Nakula and Sahadeva knew that it had to be Castor and Pollux astride Balius and Xanthus as promised. Sahadeva zoomed in with his eye glasses and saw the following image:

"Attention!" Uchchaihshravas hollered with his trainer Nakula right by his side standing at attention.

"Sahadeva, go inform the village the time that they've been preparing for is here," Nakula insisted.

Sahadeva ran quickly to inform the entire village, and within minutes the village in its entirety was ready for battle, heading to the field to stand behind Uchchaihshravas.

***

As the horses drew closer, an army comprised of hundreds of individuals walked in unity far behind the horses. Castor and Pollux weren't arriving for battle with Balius and Xanthus alone. It appeared that they were prepared for a showdown. All of the Greek army was involved.

"Uchchaihshravas, stand strong. You have mastered your new skill, and it should only be put into action if need be as a final straw in the war. I do NOT want it revealed to them if not needed, for the heavenly warfront would be warned and have time to prepare for it," Nakula insisted.

"Nakula, you have my word. I will defeat Balius, Xanthus, Castor, Pollux, and the entire crew without the use of my new skill unless needed."

The very next moment the divine twins Castor and Pollux bolted right in front of Uchchaihshravas, sliding to a stop. Uchchaihshravas reared, shifting his seven heads around furiously and kicking his front hooves in the direction of the horses to assure them that he was not afraid.

***

Before the exchange of any words between the Indians and Greeks, the armies from both sides walked closer and closer, battle ready. The Greeks raised their hands up in unison appearing as if they were surrendering to the Indians before war even began.

"Halt!" Castor hollered, and the entire army lowered their hands, raised their weapons, and stood at attention as if it were all just a hoax to trick the Indians. The troops appeared to have several hundred members, as the line seemed never-ending.

***

Nakula and Sahadeva jumped astride Uchchaihshravas, who immediately tried to unleash the war with a loud grunt and hoof-swipe across Castor and Pollux's faces.

"Not so fast, Uchchaihshravas!" Pollux screamed.

"We warned you to fear Balius and Xanthus once. We will not warn you again. You can lower your stance, drop your weapons, and walk away before anyone gets hurt. This is your final warning."

Author's Note:

Balius and Xanthus are an immortal pair of horses given to King Peleus and Thetis (Ocean goddess) as a wedding gift from Poseidon. They were later passed on to Achilles as discussed in the text, but I wanted to highlight their weakness of being weak in the moment that they lose someone they care about. Instead of Achilles having hand of the horses as in the original, Castor and Pollux are the horse handlers, and they believe that these horses are more advanced and all around better than Uchchaihshravas. That is the reason they believe they can take over India and win the war. Nakula and Sahadeva are strong characters who thrive off of the intelligence of Sahadeva. In this story, I keep Nakula as the trainer for Uchchaihshravas, and Sahadeva as the character of knowledge. I also wanted to keep the trick that Nakula taught Uchchaihshravas a mystery, and unleash it as the final straw for war or as a way to defeat the heavens (you will have to wait and see). The war has now started, but the Greeks seem to want to keep it as an argument instead of a war and talk through why the horses are better instead of prove it through actions. This speaks measures that Uchchaihshravas is willing to break war lose, while Castor and Pollux hold Balius and Xanthus to minimal options and insist the Indians back down. The story ends with a cliffhanger from the start of war with tensions high. How will the war occur and end?

Bibliography:

Balius and Xanthus on Wikipedia.

Patroclus on Wikipedia.

Header Image: Newstead Warf troops on Wikimedia Commons.

Image One: The Battle of Beersheba horses accessed on Flickr.