The Oracle of Delphi (Greek Myth Fantasy Series) by Elizabeth Rose

comfortable with its presence, her own burning volition kept her from surrendering. She fought the mist inside her, and the mist fought back.
    I have all the answers, Andromeda. You need only to surrender to me and you can be my channel until the time comes for you to join me forever.
    The oracle’s words changed into visions in her head. Every answer to time and space vibrated through her. She knew all that would come to be of the world; she knew every living thing’s past and the future destined for each. The feeling was euphoric but overwhelming. Although she now knew the oracle was not really evil, she saw it as the trapped, lonely soul it was. Somewhere deep down in the bottomless pit resided the spirit of knowledge. But knowledge could not make an entity happy, nor could it make a person’s life any better. She saw that now. The knowledge of all time and being remained lonelier than the loneliest of men.
    She understood now why the priestess who channeled the oracle must be a virgin. It was because the channel of the oracle needed to give themselves, body and soul, to the force in order to bring it forth. And when that channel ceased to exist on this plane, she joined the others who went before her, combining her force with those in the bottomless pit. Over time, the oracle would become stronger and stronger, until eventually it would manifest as a physical being.
    She pushed the oracle’s voice from her head, wanting no part of prophecies or glimpses into the future. She no longer wanted to look to another for her answers, and she no longer wanted to be sitting upon the oracle’s throne.
    No one has ever fought me before .
    “I will not be your servant,” she cried, once more pushing the oracle’s own thoughts from her head by the power of her own mind.
    Then let it be so , the oracle hissed. You are released. There will always be another .
    Her head stopped spinning and the world came to a halt at her feet. Once again, she was able to move her hands and toes. The mist subsided back down into the depths of the pit as if defeated. Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared into the black pit feeling sympathy, loneliness and sorrow for those who were not able to push away by their own will.
    Her heart ached and her throat swelled. The oracle’s stench clung to the inside of her nostrils and she felt the urge to retch. Her body wobbled back and forth, and she could feel the pull of the oracle still trying to persuade her from the depths. Its force was strong, the urge of persuasion intense. Her mind exhausted and weak now, the thought to jump into the pit in surrender encompassed her being.
    No sooner had she thought it than she rose in the chair feeling a need to be at the oracle’s side.
    Yes, come to me , she heard the voice, her body’s actions her own now.
    She leaned forward slightly, her body wobbling back and forth, but Perseus’s voice stopped her from jumping.
    “Andromeda!” he called. “Are you all right?”
    Her mind pulled in different directions, and she knew she needed to get to the ground and away from this pit, back into the safety of Perseus’s arms. But as she tried to do so, her dizziness overtook her, and her foot slipped off the rung. The ringing of the golden chair turned into the sound of her own voice screaming as she fell into the dark pit below.

Five
     
     
    Perseus rushed toward the chair as Andromeda slipped. He lunged forward, reaching over the stone wall that guarded the pit just as Andromeda’s body fell, nothing more than a white blur. Her screams echoed in his ears, freezing the blood in his veins as he managed to snag the back of her gown and stop her from disappearing into the dark pit.
    “Andromeda!” he called over her screams. “I’ve got you. Give me your hand.”
    The girl dangled limply in his clutch, her face turning upward showing the dazed look in her eyes.
    “Perseus,” she said with a tremor in her voice. “I’m going to die.”
    Still, she did