Fire covered the ocean like an unnatural crest. Each little wave shifted the fires that should not exist and spread them further. Pieces of wood and ropes were consumed entirely before the ashes mixed with the glowing waters. Bigger chunks of the former warship were sinking heavily towards the ocean floor, never to be seen again. The explosion had been so great that some remains even still rained down on the distant edges of the beach. Whatever did not fall to the flames’ all-encompassing greed was spilt unto land and laid there unmoving.
In the midst of this wreckage lied another remnant of ages long gone. The Gorgon was curled up on the sandy ground, utterly unmoving too. She had been caught in the explosion and suffered incredible pain and damage. It was nothing short of a miracle that it hadn’t torn her to pieces. Although her current state was not much for frail hearts to witness either.
Her body was beaten and wrought down, but her mind was still quite alive. It was focused on only one thing: The girl that was lying not too far away, wounded just like her. Yet where the Gorgon regenerated and replaced, the girl was merely gifted with human flesh. In her blind rage she left her side to relieve her frustration, no, her fear on the fleeing humans.
All this power she had at her disposal, completely meaningless… if it wasn’t enough to save even one girl.
Medusa coughed up something she did not even want to identify and managed to regain feeling in her limbs. Perhaps these continuous attacks had put a limit even to her unnatural regeneration, but she was not going to rest. Her fingers tore into a wooden plank below her and her feet pushed aside the sand. All her scales had been blown away and only left pink flesh. The snakes on her head had managed to survive only due to her arms shielding them, but in return those limbs were scorched black and numb.
“Eugenia…” She coughed the name in a forlorn way and dragged herself up by the statue of a cowering man. The beach was a battlefield, covered in statues, corpses and destroyed ship parts. It was a sight that not many could have endured for long. Yet to her it seemed to fade away at the seams of her vision.
She limped past the camp and over the stairs until she reached the small pile of linen that the girl was resting on.
So pale. So frail. Heavy breathing carried her chest up and down. Pearls of sweat all across her skin. The wound, still red from the drying blood, like a fiery scar on snow. Her eyes were closed, but her face distorted.
Medusa knelt down next to her and touched her face tenderly. It was hot like a campfire. The wound must have taken its toll on her. She could see the priestess’ mouth move every now and then, forming silent words. Who was she talking to? Who awaited her inside her dreams?
A selfish part of her hoped that it was a fragment of herself.
Her eyes lacked focus from exhaustion and pain, but she kept watch over her human partner nonetheless. She owed it to her… so many things.
Eugenia coughed painfully and then turned a little in her delirious sleep. Her hand shakingly extended towards the only gathering of warmth around her. She took Medusa’s rough hand.
“…mother…” She whispered with a tear running down her pretty face.
Medusa’s heart clenched painfully. In response she pressed her other hand on the girl’s hand as well and held it tightly. She might not have been the one to give the girl relief in her pained mind, but she would substitute for anyone that could. If the memory of her beloved mother was what she needed to get through this, then so it should be.
An anxious feeling spread throughout her mind. This situation, it appeared similar to something that the girl had once told her. Mentioning her mother might not have been a coincidence. Wasting away with a high fever, with the one closest to her unable to do anything. Fate would not repeat itself, right?
That thought was so horrifying that she had to clutch Eugenia’s hand for support instead rather than giving it.
Those sweats were intense and her body was heating up far too much. She was no healer, no herbalist and no medico. To her any and all signs could mean everything and nothing. The only one who could tell her what was happening was the one that was suffering right now.
“Thirsty…” And that was when Eugenia opened her mouth. This was different from her subconscious muttering, her presence was clearly awoken. “…w-aa-ter…”
“I will fetch some for you.” Medusa replied with a strong voice. She needed to sound reassuring.
Swiftly she moved towards the camp and got what she needed. It was convenient that the expedition left so much behind again. Going all the way to the underground basin would have taken too long for her impatient heart. For convenience she thought of moving Eugenia directly into one of the tents, but it was uncertain whether moving her in this state would negatively affect her condition.
How had she treated a fragile thing so carelessly before? The way she left her to freeze in the cave now weighed like a heavy rock on her conscience. She just didn’t know what to think anymore.
The water seemed to relieve some of Eugenia’s pain as she swallowed slowly and coughed every few drops. Control over her throat was apparently limited. That was how weak she was already.
“My body is burning.”
“You are heating up. It must be a fever.” Medusa said weakly.
“The wound is…” She stopped herself and turned her head away.
“D-Do you think it got infected?” Medusa worried and spilled some water over it to clean it out. The sudden cold sensation made the girl shiver in response.
“What… kind of thread did you hand me…?” She asked with sweat pouring down her face.
Medusa froze up. She subtly grabbed the dirty needle and threat behind her and threw them down the hill.
“Who knows? Whatever was lying around?” The guilt was rising.
“You remembered to… clean it first?” The girl said while drifting off repeatedly.
Medusa plunged her nails into her own thighs.
“Sorry, there was no time, right?” Eugenia seemed to understand and smiled forcefully. “This fire… is spreading through my body… I can’t breathe very well…” She touched her throat as if it was tied up by rope. “It’s not your fault.” She added as if she could read the Gorgon’s mind.
“If I had been faster, Typhos would not have hurt you.” Medusa bit her lip until she drew blood.
“…I am glad… you are alive.” The priestess replied with a hint of happiness beyond the sweat.
“It will all be meaningless if you do not pull through as well.” She replied seriously and touched the girl’s forehead again. Her hair was hanging down in sweaty lines and covering the linen below, spread like tentacles of a squid. Her skin was downright sizzling.
“I am sorry-” She tried to apologize again, but was then caught in a cough fit that was so severe that she curled up and fell back limply. When she retracted her hand… there was red.
Medusa’s mind was aflame. Seeing this hint of red on the paling hand was making her lose her composure. This was too unnatural, too extreme. The girl was not acting like a wounded soldier, but rather like someone who was truly sick. This ominous feeling would not leave her chest.
With a stoic mien she went down on Eugenia’s side… and licked the wound.
“Uwaah!” Eugenia jerked around in surprise and her face lit up from something other than the fever for a second. “What are you doing?!”
“This taste.” Medusa said quietly as she received weak kicks to the gut repeatedly.
“I don’t taste like anything!” The sick girl got loud, which only lead to more coughing.
Medusa ignored her protesting and rushed over to the place where they had their final showdown with Typhos. The scattered pieces of his statue were spread all across the yard. They seemed to mock her with their large presence. And at the center, where a red spot had formed a small puddle, she found what she was searching for.
The dagger.
Medusa took the finely crafted jewel imbued dagger into her hand and then put it to her face. Her nose was still affected by the lingering smell of burnt flesh, but she managed to notice a hint of something else. She put her tongue to it and then licked across the flat side of the blade. There was the iron taste of blood, naturally, but additionally…
Something bitter that stung her senses and made her mouth feel slightly numb.
“Poison.” She realized, now devastated.
Her eyes hastily scanned the ground for more evidence and she found it in an assortment of rings. They had been stuck to the statue’s crumbled hands, but one was different from the others. The one with a skull carved into it was slightly bent. With ease she snapped the compartment open and saw fine dust flow out of it. It dispersed in the air before she could take a better look, but it was all too clear what it was.
The scholar had poisoned his blade before stabbing Eugenia. Perhaps even before he took her hostage.
Poison. Poison! The most cowardly, pathetic, human way of empowering their weapons!
She wished that she could smash the scholar’s statue again a thousand times in retribution, but there was nothing more that could be done. He always had a backup plan. Just how tenacious could one ‘hero’ be? He was the worst kind of loser. The type who would not allow anyone else to win.
Medusa broke the dagger in her bare hands and let it fall to the ground. What could be done? She could survive any poison, but Eugenia? Impossible. Even if she had only received a small dosage spread over the edge of the blade, she still seemed to be dying. Medusa had wished to deny it, had deluded herself until the final moment. The truth was unavoidable, though. Eugenia smelled like death. Her presence was fading like the candlelight in the autumn wind.
How could she face her now?
----------------------------------------
“Is that so?” The priestess replied calmly.
“Do not force yourself to act strong.” Medusa had finally explained the circumstances to her, but the girl’s response was not one of despair. “I… I have failed you.” She clutched her hands to fists.
“I already told you, it’s not your fault. Typhos really planned for everything, that’s just the type of man he was.” She had regained some strength, perhaps from the certainty she had finally gained. Her milky eyes were opened and her breathing had calmed itself enough for her to speak normally.
“Is there not some medicine that can cure poison?” The Gorgon asked like a child. Indeed, if it concerned medicine and human sickness, her knowledge was no better than a toddler’s.
“An antidote, huh?” The girl wondered. “There are some poisons that can be counteracted. I have heard of such cases from the grand priestess once.”
“Then perhaps?” She glanced at the camp. If Typhos had brought along poison, maybe he had also taken the cure with him just in case.
“There might be… one.” She nodded while wiping her sweat with her sleeve. Before she could say anything more Medusa was already tearing through the camp and opening every sack, chest and barrel. She was searching for any hint of a healing herb or substance that could save Eugenia. When she found herself empty handed she even jumped into the ocean to dive for the wreckage and search for it there. It might well have been on one of the ships, so the one that had sunken to the seafloor was her last hope.
Fish and algae were making way for her as she adjusted to the water pressure and threw aside rocks and pieces of the reef. There were fairly few things left in one piece from the sunken ship and even less of them were containers. She finally reached the last chest her eyes could find in the darkness. She cracked it open with one finger and then reached inside. There was a small clay amphora inside. With a shred of hope she ascended the ocean and jumped back on land. Before she could even dry she had already opened the amphora. Inside it was a familiar pungent smell.
Old watery wine that had long passed its days of enjoyable consumption.
Medusa let go of her last hope and let it shatter on the ground.
Defeated, the Gorgon returned to Eugenia’s side, but was greeted by her sitting upright and holding a piece of parchment in her hands. It seemed so out of place that she almost felt thrown into the past.
“Do no strain yourself!” She scolded her in the present.
“It is hard to write while lying down.” She replied jokingly and rolled the parchment up in her hands. She had pressed a charcoal piece into it to write something. “You didn’t find anything, right?”
Medusa only shook her head. It was too hard to speak the truth out loud.
“I honestly didn’t believe that there would be something so convenient.” She admitted and leaned forward a little. The pounding in her side must have returned. “Outside of centers of medicinal wisdom like Eretria, I would not have expected any antidote anyway.” She spoke of another distant place Medusa had never seen.
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The human world was constantly changing, new cities were born and old ones were torn down or replaced. Even seemingly eternal cities like Athens crumbled to the sands of time eventually. Perhaps Medusa had once seen the harbors of that city in her past, but she would be unable to tell what it was named back then. The help Eugenia needed was so far away. A human could only thrive among humans. She should have realized that. Maybe she did, but the kind words spoken by a foolish girl had given her hope, if even just for a time.
“If this is how I die…” The girl said slowly. “…I do not mind.”
“Do not patronize me.” Medusa lowered her gaze and frowned.
“I mean it. At the very end… I made my own decision.” The priestess smiled beautifully.
What could she possibly respond with to that?
“I said that I would not allow you to die because of me. That hasn’t changed even now.” Eugenia suddenly leaned forward and shakingly held up the parchment for the Gorgon to take. “But if I die without doing one last thing, then Typhos will have won.”
“Stop saying such things…” Medusa could hardly bear for her to speak of it so openly. When had she become so weak that the mere mention of death would crumble her stoic face? She held the parchment in her hand, but had no will to read it.
“Medusa.” Eugenia called her out directly. “If I die here, Lady Athena will avenge me… What Typhos said before, it opened my mind. I don’t believe that Lady Athena is fair about this. She has been waiting for a reason to get rid of you… is that true?”
At the brink of death even a priestess would question her faith, was that it?
“Yes.” She admitted reluctantly. It was cruel to make her confront these facts at the doorstep to the Underworld. But she could not bring herself to lie either.
“I am glad that my final actions will end this madness then.” The girl said with a melancholic smile.
“What do you mean?” She did not follow.
“That letter is for Lady Athena.” Eugenia explained. “I wrote it for her eyes only.” She added as Medusa tried to roll it open. “When she comes to Sarpedon to confirm my end… when she comes to smite you… give her that letter. I wrote down what truly happened inside it. Everything that happened since I arrived here, without a single lie or missing detail.”
“…what?” Medusa clutched the parchment tightly in response to her words.
“She must recognize my handwriting. Lady Athena is wise and cannot be fooled. She must recognize it.” She insisted.
“So what? What are you trying to accomplish here?” She asked with a dry throat.
“If I die then there will be no one who can take your side… Nobody will attest for you. That is what Typhos wanted. This island is outside of the gods’ perception, so whatever happens here does not exist to them. Except for the one thing that transcends the barrier… a bond between a mortal and the divine.” She held her pulsating wound and took a deep breath. “Once the last drop of life leaves my body, you will be alone. But with this letter there will be something left that can protect you. Lady Athena is prideful and strong… but that means she cannot act in a way that defies her ‘justice’. She cannot commit to a wrong even if she is all alone.”
“You believe she is that noble?” Medusa asked with a hollow voice.
“It is because she believes herself to be noble that she cannot help it. Typhos has taught me a few things as well.” Eugenia chuckled.
Medusa held the letter in her right hand, but did not avert her eyes from the girl in front of her. Her trust in Athena, although warped, was still as strong as the foundation of the temple. Anything build on top of it may crumble with time, but the foundation weathered any storm and attack.
“I am simply happy that my final action meant something.” The priestess seemed to experience a dizzy spell and fell forward. Medusa instinctively caught her with one arm and held her upright. “Even someone as weak as me… could protect someone as strong as you.” Her smile was unbroken even as her body was crumbling under the poison.
The Gorgon’s heart of stone was pounding. The fissures inside were tearing open and each raging beat was filling her with unknown fire, like a grand furnace.
“I wonder… did I manage to be useful to you…?” She was already slipping and whatever words left her mind now were just the honest instincts of a dying animal.
The Gorgon’s arm was stiff as it held this frail life up in an endless moment.
“This might be my last… chance… so I wanted to tell you something…” She whispered, as her voice lacked the strength to go any louder. “This feeling… is selfish… but don’t think badly of me…”
The Gorgon’s mind broke.
“I…” She was leaning forward to reach Medusa’s ear. The last words of a maiden should be spoken only to the one dearest…
Medusa pulled Eugenia towards her. To the girl’s surprise she was embraced. Without a word she tore the parchment in her hands to pieces. They floated away inside the ocean breeze and traveled across the seas.
“What are you doing?!” Eugenia was shocked, but she was not allowed to comprehend as she was already dragged upwards. In a moment she was carried in Medusa’s arms as if she weighed naught but a feather.
“I do not need to be protected by someone like you.” Medusa declared loudly. “You will not allow me to die because of you? Human arrogance knows no bounds!” She said with a snort. “The one who will decide my fate is me alone. You will just bend to my will as it should be!” She flapped her slightly scorched wings wide open as feathers fell to the ground from the barely recovered holes.
“You don’t mean-?” Eugenia struggled in Medusa’s arms, but there was no way to resist this primal strength.
“Eretria, you said?” Medusa smirked. “How hard could it be to find?”
“Wait, no way!” Eugenia weakly hit the Gorgon’s shoulder. “You can’t do this! The gods will punish you!”
“Then let them try!” Medusa flapped her wings repeatedly and they took off into the air.
“Medusa, listen to me…!” Eugenia said with desperate tears. “The expedition thinks you are dead! The cycle is finally broken… You can live a peaceful life without humans or gods hurting you!” She clutched to her chest with all her might and begged her to reconsider.
She was right of course. That was Eugenia’s end goal. The letter would pacify Athena and the human expeditions would end (except perhaps for one last attempt to raid the treasures during which she could have hidden). For someone who wanted harmony, like Eugenia, this was the perfect ending. Her life was meaningless compared to the change she could have finally brought to a vile cycle like this.
“FOOL!” Medusa burst through the clouds ahead and already sailed through the air as the island got smaller and smaller. “I did not ask for peace. I did not ask for anyone to spare me the pain. The only thing that I want right now…” Her cursed eyes looked ahead determinedly as she broke through the barrier of storms. “…is for you to live.”
Eugenia gave her a pained expression of disgruntled surrender. It was far too late for them to stop now… and if she was truly honest… she felt happiness.
Of course Eugenia’s consciousness slipped away as she clung tightly to Medusa. She had been on the brink of fainting this entire time, but this last exchange took all her remaining strength.
Medusa noted her irregular breathing and sped up her pace. With the dark clouds above and the pitch black ocean below it was hard to tell which direction they were going. Was Sarpedon behind them? To their left? Did she go north or south? This barrier of storms was no better than the Labyrinth of Crete. She had to give respect to the human sailors who bested these raging storms and found their way to her lair. The occasional floating empty ships or pieces of boats were proof of abundant failure as well.
At first the temperature just dropped, but eventually it became almost freezing cold. The clouds above rumbled with thunder. Zeus’ anger was engraved in each darkened storm cloud. The moment Medusa felt her skin get used to the cold it began to pour intensely. The rain added to the freezing cold and soaked her body completely in seconds. Eugenia in her arms was also hit by the unforgiving rain and shivered subconsciously. The dress given to her by Typhos was not made to resist this weather.
Medusa grinded her teeth and hugged the girl closer. All she could do was to share as much warmth as possible. Faster than any bird she pierced through the storm’s wind currents. They got so fast that it seemed to slice her skin with each heavy breeze!
She flew straight ahead for minutes, but the darkness only got thicker. The lightning in the black clouds formed horrific and alien shapes. She could have sworn that she saw the shape of long tendril like tentacles, and the fangs of a large beast.
With a surprised yelp she almost lost her balance when the air sizzled and lighting missed them by a range that was far too close. She had to lower her altitude to avoid the deadly sparks above.
SPLASH!
With a last second reflex she turned around midair to shield Eugenia from the large tidal wave that reached several parasangēs above the ocean’s surface! The greedy maw of the ocean itself was opening up in whirlpools and unending waves to devour them whole. Saltwater splashed against her skin and wings, making them heavier and heavier until they were like lead.
The fangs of the ocean below and the cage of the clouds above, they were deadlier than she had ever seen. As a former deity of the seas she certainly knew the ferocious strength of the great blue, but this was different. There was nothing natural about it. The ocean and weather had a mind.
Eugenia twisted in her arms. The heat of her fever exceeded the cold of the rain. Her frail heartbeat was echoing inside Medusa’s chest as well.
She would not yield.
This was the final barrier. This storm of epic proportions, nature’s sword, was the last thing keeping her from saving this girl. Thunder roared so loud that it might have shattered her ear drums if she had not shielded Eugenia’s ears with her hands.
The waves grew ever taller, beyond the natural limit. They were the wheels of his chariot, the will of his mind.
The snakes hissed and pointed forward as if to snap at the enemy that their master could not see. Their instincts were correct.
“Show yourself, you coward!!” Medusa yelled into the storm to surpass even the loudest of thunder.
The waves rumbled and crumbled like towers of fortresses, barely missing the Gorgon’s legs. The rain turned to hail and pelted her relentlessly. Yet these tiny stings of pain only served to enrage her.
“Show yourself, ruler of the seas!!” She called him out again. Each attack of the storm was just another slap in her face. It was just another insult to someone who once stood eye to eye with this being.
Clip clop… clip clop… clip clop…
Like metal ringing against metal, yet also like satin brushing across silk, the loud storm was pierced by the sound of hooves. It was impossible for this low sound to overpower the raging death around them, yet this sound transcended noise. It overcame the distance to the ear without crossing it.
As if phasing from the fabric of the storm itself, a white stallion galloped across the tidal waves. Ignoring their forward momentum, the waves kept still and crashed into each other, but always only so far that the horse could stand upright on top of them. It was an eerie scene that would have shattered the mind of most mortals.
Medusa’s vision had seen past the illusion already and focused on the stallion’s black horse eyes. Despite the raging winds that tossed her around and the rain and hail that threatened to scrape away at her skin… their intertwined gazes were not broken.
It was as if the world had fallen silent at its loudest primal shout.
“Poseidon!” She spoke his name without reverence or respect.
The stallion galloped in place and kept its empty gaze fixed on her alone.
The god of the oceans, the seas, the weather and so much more was blocking her path. This was his barrier, his final resistance. One of the three greatest gods of Olympus that ruled over one of the three aspects of the world. No opponent would have been more perilous. And yet she felt nothing but contempt for this old stallion.
“You will not stop me!” She shouted with bile in her voice.
The white stallion neighed so loudly that it rivaled the thunder above their heads! Steam sprang from its nostrils and the very fabric of the world around them seemed to be compressed until it hurt to breathe. The force of a god’s will was frightening and all-encompassing. She knew this feeling too well, for everything she suffered in her exile was due to this man’s actions.
Back then she had been full of pride… naïve… and weak.
Not anymore. Not today. She was not going to back down this time. There was only one path and it was right through this divine wall!
“You owe me, Poseidon! Athena has you in her grasp for your crime, but I am the one who will pay for it until the end of time.” She said something quite unlike her. Every word she spoke was degrading to herself. That was her newfound strength. If pride could not win against the gods then she would abandon it in a heartbeat.
The horse neighed again, defiantly.
“You will let me pass! I will return to my prison without complaint, I will even forgive your crime-!”
A gigantic tidal wave towering higher than a mountain suddenly rushed towards her! Medusa was pushed back by the cold water that was like a wall. At the last moment before impact she had thrown Eugenia far above herself to protect her.
The freezing wall of kinetic energy crashed against her and threatened to tear her wings off, but with a shout that even the water could not suppress she cut through the entire wave with her claws. It was cut cleanly apart and crumbled into itself, returning to the ocean whence it came.
Then with a heavy breath she caught Eugenia before she could fall past her. With all her focus she had managed to catch her softly so as not to open the wound. The girl was on the brink of death. She could feel her energy fading through the heat of the fever. Her body was starting to steam in the contrast of the cold air around them.
Medusa felt fear. She felt fear of loss. This rage and shame inside her were nothing compared to that feeling.
“I will do ANYTHING!” She screamed angrily. “I will do anything you wish, just let me pass you this once!”
The stallion raised its head. The lustful eyes of the past were no more. There was something else inside those black eyes. For the Gorgon this expression was impossible to read. Then the stallion turned away and left behind storm squalls so intense that they almost tore the snakes from her head.
He was not giving in! This foolish old lusty coward - he was afraid of Athena’s wrath. This barrier was his duty and punishment alike. The gods had their own rules.
“If you… won’t yield…” Medusa breathed heavily as she kept resisting the intense streams against her body and shielded Eugenia. “I WILL PETRIFY THE VERY OCEANS!”
Her eyes sprang open wide and turned into slits. The limit of her curse was unexplored, for it would tear apart even herself if she were to go too far. Instinctually she knew that this was not a gift, not a power of her own. Athena had given her a punishment that was also a tool. A tool that would destroy her eventually. But right now she would use that tool to its fullest capabilities. There was no telling how long she would last, but this was the only chance she had.
The stallion stopped in its tracks on top of the waves. It was stuck. The waves below it seemed to crumble at the same time as they turned solid and then reformed.
Beyond the crackling of the storm, the world seemed to bend. The god of the ocean turned back. He saw the eyes of a monster so far gone that it should have destroyed itself, but his hooves, they were unmoving. He could not move. Not leave or advance.
The Gorgon had petrified him.
Naturally a god would not turn to stone, but she impaired his movement. The ocean around him seemed to shift between black wetness and a grey solid.
The Gorgon’s eyes started to bend reality itself.
“I will stake my life on this.” She said as her skin crumbled and revealed a granite like texture. “Because if you will not let us pass then my life is forfeit already.” She said as she shakingly embraced Eugenia.
The words came naturally. They were certainly exaggerated; a powerful rush of madness had clung to her at this moment. It was far from her normal thoughts and mind. But what was ‘natural’ did not matter to her anymore. This was the deciding moment.
Poseidon broke free of the petrification and stomped his thundering hooves once.
“I beg of you.” Medusa swallowed her pride and let go of her deteriorating curse.
The waves crumbled as if on command and the air moved again. The world that had been stuck in an unnatural grasp was now freed. And the stallion too was moving.
Moving towards her.
‘In the end… the gods will always have the final word’, she realized.
----------------------------------------
Cold and hot, loud and quiet, wet and dry… her body seemed to be pulled through an endless cycle of contradictions. She felt immense pain and immense relief. In the deepest recess of her mind she thought that she could hear her voice…
The only thing that her soul could still follow was the rhythmic beat of her heart.
And then it ended.
“Medusa!” Eugenia moved her torso up with an outstretched hand.
She regretted the motion immediately due to the intense stinging pain in her side. She bent over and held the freshly stitched wound with tears in her eyes and moans of pain. The bed below her creaked in protest at the sudden weight shift.
Bed?
Eugenia felt around with her hands and realized that she was indeed lying on a bed filled with straw. After feeling her way around she noticed there was a small nightstand next to her, with an earthen cup on top of it. It was filled with a liquid she wasn’t willing to test the taste of right now. As usual the world was dark for her, so all she could do was to listen to the surroundings and feel her way around. Instead of the raging storm she had expected she was in, this was a tranquil room. From the lack of echos she was certain it was relatively small and probably made of wood.
There was nobody here.
Without regard for her injury she crawled to the edge of the bed and slammed open the window shutter she had found soon. In an instant she felt the hot light of the sun against her skin and was assaulted by the loud noise of a bustling town.
This was a human city.
Had they made it? Her heart was convulsing in a mix of joy and confusion.
Where was Medusa? Why was she not at her side?
The priestess’ sudden awakening in a foreign city was underlined by the chatter of townsfolk. Each and every one of them had their own tales to tell. Only Eugenia was left without knowing the tale of her salvation.