"I haven't seen Poseidon yet," Julia whispered to Markos. "What's he like?"
The two of them were following Hermes and Brody toward the hippodrome.
That was the stadium where the chariot races would take place.
Hermes had arranged to meet Poseidon there.
"We don't see Poseidon as much as the other gods," Markos told Julia.
"As the god of the sea, he prefers to stay beneath the waters.
Well, except when he wants to spend time with horses, that is."
"I didn't even know Poseidon was the god of horses," Julia said. "We didn't learn that in class."
"He created the horse out of sea foam to impress the goddess Demeter," Markos said.
"Oh, cool."
Julia looked around as they entered the hippodrome.
The place was deserted. "So where's Poseidon?" she murmured.
Suddenly they heard a crack of thunder, and rain poured down on all of them.
Julia ducked and covered her head with her hands.
A second later the rain stopped as quickly as if someone had turned off a faucet.
Standing before them was Poseidon. He had a flowing beard tangled with seaweed, and he was holding a trident.
Behind him were two teams of snorting horses. Each team was hitched to a chariot.
"Poseidon, my friend!" Hermes greeted him. "You're right on time."
"You always deliver my messages quickly, Hermes," Poseidon replied with a nod.
"Of course I'm on time when you need a favor."
"This is the champion I told you about," Hermes said, gesturing at Brody.
"I'm sure he's destined to beat Zeus' mystery mortal."
"Hmm." Poseidon looked Brody up and down. "Allow me to introduce my own champion."
A man jumped out of one of the chariots.
He was very tall, with broad shoulders and curly dark hair.
"This is Drakon," Poseidon said. "I thought it would be interesting for our mortal heroes to train against each other."
"An excellent idea!" Hermes agreed.
Julia wasn't so sure. "Brody isn't ready to train against anyone yet," she whispered to Markos.
"First he needs to learn what he's supposed to be doing!"
But Brody was already striding toward the chariots. "Is this one mine?" he asked.
"Brody, look out!" Julia cried as a horse lunged toward him.
Brody jumped away just in time to avoid a bite on the shoulder. "Wow, this horse is pretty aggressive," he said.
"They don't like standing around," Poseidon said.
"They'll settle once they get moving. Won't you, my pets?"
He stepped over and stroked the nose of the horse that had tried to bite Brody. The animal nuzzled him happily.
Brody climbed into the chariot. "Giddyup!" he called, whipping the reins up and down so they slapped the horses' rumps.
The animals didn't seem to like that. All four horses leaped in place.
One of them reared, while another kicked at the chariot.
"Easy, boy," Hermes called to Brody. "We don't want the horses to dump you before you get started."
Julia was growing more and more worried.
"Is this safe?" she asked Markos as both teams sprang into a gallop.
"Of course not," Markos said. "It's the most dangerous event in the Games.
The crowd loves it, which is why it comes last." He shrugged.
"Well, that's one reason it comes last.
I imagine there's another reason—if an athlete gets killed, he's already finished all the other events!"
Julia gulped. Brody had no idea how much danger he was in.
He was grinning as his chariot sailed around a turn, chasing the one driven by Drakon.
"Faster, boy!" Hermes shouted.
Brody snapped the reins again. The horses surged forward, which made Brody lose his balance.
He grabbed the edge of the chariot to keep himself from falling out.
But at the same time, he dropped the reins.
"Steer, mortal!" Poseidon thundered at Brody. The sea god turned to Hermes.
"Your champion isn't much of a driver, eh?"
"Give him time," Hermes responded with a smile. "He's a fast learner."
"Fast learner?" Julia muttered. "I definitely never thought of Brody that way before."
Markos heard her. "What do you mean? Brody learned how to throw the javelin and discus almost immediately."
Julia didn't answer. She held her breath as the chariots sped along the straightaway.
The horses' nostrils were flaring, and Brody's team was gaining on Drakon's, even though Brody's reins were flapping free.
"Grab those reins, boy!" Hermes shouted. "Oh, never mind. I'll help you, just this once."
Hermes' winged sandals lifted him off the ground and carried him swiftly through the air.
He snatched the reins out of midair and tossed them to Brody.
"Thanks, dude!" Brody called breathlessly.
"Watch out!" Hermes warned him. "You're about to crash!"
The horses had felt Brody pulling on the reins again, and they didn't seem to like it.
Now they were heading straight toward the stands!
"Turn, boy! Turn!" Poseidon called.
Hermes landed beside Poseidon. "You were right, my friend," he said. "This is interesting!"
Julia couldn't believe the two gods were acting so casual. Brody could be killed!
She watched him pulling the reins in all different directions, but that only seemed to make the horses gallop faster.
"Use the reins to steer the horses, Brody!" Julia yelled.
"Pull the reins in the same direction!"
Usually Brody didn't pay attention to her advice.
But this time he did. He yanked the reins to the left.
It worked! The team veered left, just missing the stands.
Somehow Brody managed to steer the horses back on the track, where they spotted Drakon's team and took off after them.
Julia sighed with relief. "That was close!" she whispered.
Things didn't go much better after that.
Brody's horses mostly ignored him and chased the other team.
By the end of the day, Hermes was clearly displeased. "Well, you survived," he told Brody.
"But you'll have to get much better at this if you expect to beat anyone—especially the mighty Alcides."