Timothy Boggs - Hercules Legendary Joureneys 02 by Serpent's Shadow Page B

else he could do.
    Except maybe run, but it was probably too late for that.
    When at last the sea tower reached fifty feet into the air and the sea churned and boiled at its base, the water began to slide away from the shadow. Slowly. Bubbles of foam floating away like tiny stars, the waves reversing themselves to shatter against the base.
    All of it without a sound.
    The water continued to fall, as if sculpting the shadow—head and broad shoulders first, then sculpted chest and muscled arms, finally the waist and legs. On the featureless head was a crown, in the left hand a trident, in the right something else Hercules couldn't make out.
    The sea calmed.
    The figure looked down.
    "Oh," it said in mild, pleasant surprise. "It's you."
    Hercules nodded, and waved an apprehensive greeting.
    Instantly the figure began to shrink so rapidly that Hercules had to turn away to keep from getting nau-seated. When he looked back, the figure was only a head or two taller than he, using the trident's base to push itself toward the beach.
    "Hello, Uncle," Hercules said, still unsure if he was welcome or not.
    "It's been a while," Poseidon replied. In the moonlight it was difficult to tell his age. His voice was an old man's, but his physique denoted tremendous power. "Sorry about the display there. I thought you were some high priest trying to score points with a divinity. Scares the hell out of them, usually." He held out his right hand. "Tuna sandwich. You want some?"
    Hercules chuckled. "No, thanks, Uncle. You eat tuna?"
    Poseidon shrugged. "I rule them, doesn't mean I don't get to eat them now and then. They're dull, anyway. Like clams. It's a rule of the sea, Hercules— you absolutely cannot have a good conversation with a clam."
    Hercules waited.
    "Oysters, now, they're different. Every once in a while they come up with a real pearl of wisdom."
    Hercules groaned.
    Poseidon laughed, and began to walk east, gesturing his nephew to get moving or be left behind.
    Hercules got moving. Poseidon was well aware of his nephew's anger at Zeus, and had judiciously re-frained from taking sides. Sympathy was there, however; Hercules sensed it each time they met. In the manner, in the careful choice of words ... in the way Poseidon hadn't flattened him into the sand or punctured him with the trident for interrupting his dinner.
    "Lovely evening," the sea god said, admiring the sky flowing with bright stars. "I really should get up here more often. Starfish don't quite have the same panache, if you know what 1 mean."
    Hercules said nothing. His uncle moved with the languid motion of the sea. Nothing would hurry him.
    Sooner or later he'd want to know why he was called. Patience was required.
    "Alcmena is well?"
    "Very well, thanks, Uncle."
    "And your friend? Iolaus?"
    "As always."
    Poseidon finished his tuna in a gulp, spat onto the beach some bones that immediately formed an uni-dentifiable creature, and said, "Let 'em figure that one out, harebrained mortals."
    He meant the scholars who insisted on trying to learn what made the sea do what it did, without taking Poseidon's sometimes whimsical nature into consideration. It was the god's delight to throw them a curve once in a while, just to confuse them.
    The night was cool, the sea breeze gentle. In the distance the sky glowed faintly with Themon's light.
    "I give up," Poseidon finally said.
    "Hera," Hercules told him.
    Poseidon stopped, looked down at him, and shook his head. "Considering my position, Nephew, I really shouldn't get involved." A ghost of a smile flitted across his lips. "What'd you do to piss her off this time?"
    "Nothing."
    "Of course not. Except for a couple of Nereids of my acquaintance, that woman holds a grudge longer than anyone I've ever known. Including humans, I might add." With a nod they began walking again. "So what does this have to do with me?"
    "Themon's summer festival."
    Poseidon stopped again. "You're involved with that?"
    Hercules cocked his head in a shrug. '