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

nothing to help him save her. Her weight pulled against his muscles, his free hand holding himself on the edge of the precipice so they both wouldn’t fall to their deaths.
    “You are not going to die. Now give me your hand so I can help you.”
    She reached up for him slowly, the back of her gown ripping as she did so. Perseus knew her death was imminent unless he reacted quickly. He needed to get a better grip, but in order to do so he needed both hands.
    Her gown ripped further, her hands never coming close to his. She screamed again, her face matching the paleness of her robe. He thought of using his demi-god strength as he had when throwing the discus, but knew he could not control it. He used his human force instead, rather than to chance crushing her bones to powder in the process.
    He wrapped one leg around the base of the chair and used his other hand to reach down to support her. Just as he gripped her, the gown ripped away leaving only a piece of her garment grasped in his right hand. She swung from his left hand like a pendulum, eyes rolling upward, the fight to survive gone from her being. Her lips mouthed the words, “Perseus, save me,” her eyes closing and reopening as she slipped in and out of consciousness.
    Her golden cape slipped off its resting place on his shoulder in the process, floating into the center of the pit as the dark depths swallowed it from sight.
    That could have been her, he could not help but think. She could be next to disappear into the pit never to be seen again, and it was all his fault. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, he pulled her over the stone wall where she collapsed helplessly into his arms.
    He sat on the wall with one foot dangling over the edge, hugging her to his chest, feeling the beat of his heart faster than he had ever experienced.
    She looked up to him with innocent blue eyes. Eyes that held all the knowledge of the world, yet at the same time seemed dazed as if she had no idea how close she’d come to death. Her head tilted backward in surrender, her eyes closing in the process.
    “Andromeda! Are you all right?” he asked, knowing her frail life rested in his hands. She was limp in his arms, no longer coherent. His feisty princess seemed close to death.
    A door banged open from behind the rocks and five priests ran out to meet them. They surrounded them and helped them from the ledge. All the while, Andromeda lay quietly in his arms.
    “We heard the screams,” said one.
    “What happened?” asked another.
    “She rejected the oracle,” came a weak voice from across the cave. The priestess who channeled the oracle leaned against a tall rock, looking just as pale as Andromeda.
    “Priestess,” said a priest, rushing over to her side. “You should be resting.”
    “You need to take her far away from here,” the priestess instructed Perseus in a soft, urgent voice. “She is drained of her essence. You must stay at her side and nourish her back to health.”
    “Will she die?” asked Perseus, shifting Andromeda in his arms.
    “That is not for me to answer,” she said. “Will you give up your quest to save her?”
    Perseus did not like this question the priestess challenged him with. His quest to kill the Gorgon and save his mother’s life was a goal he would never abandon. But the lovely Andromeda in his arms needed his help, too. His own insistence that she contact the oracle was the reason she lay helpless in his arms right now. He could not leave her. He felt a responsibility to the girl and knew what he had to do. Could this be the prophecy the oracle spoke of before his birth? Is this how she would try to stop him from attaining his goal?
    “I will help the girl,” he answered to the priestess. “But I will not give up my quest to slay the Gorgon, Medusa.”
    “Spoken like a true warrior.” The priestess smiled and handed a small bag to one of her priests. “This will heal her in a few day’s time. Use it on Princess Andromeda if you want