The Oracle of Delphi (Greek Myth Fantasy Series) (16 page)

Fifteen

Andromeda stood above the couple, now wondering if it had been such a good idea to hit Perseus over the head with the shield. His body collapsed upon the goddess, trapping her underneath him - not at all what Andromeda had meant to do.

She had wanted to stop her husband from kissing Nerina again. She had meant to pound the idea right out of his brain that the woman was enticing and more beautiful than she. She didn’t want him lusting after the sea nymph or wanting to couple in interesting positions with anyone beside herself.

Nerina shouted out to her sisters. “Get him off of me!”

The nymphs rushed to her aid, pulling Perseus off their sister and placing him face down in the sand.

“He said your name is Andromeda,” sneered Nerina, standing up and facing her.

“Yes, I am his wife,” she said proudly. “And you will not touch my husband again.”

“She has taken the shield,” came the cry of a nymph.

“She has hurt Perseus,” said another, getting down on her knees to cradle his head in her lap.

“You are Andromeda, daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia.” Nerina’s eyes narrowed, and she took a step closer.

She had been recognized. Andromeda looked around, realizing she was the target of fifty angry nymphs. If only Perseus hadn’t said her name aloud. Then mayhap she would have a chance to escape.

“N - no. I’m n - not that Andromeda,” she stuttered, placing a hand on Perseus’s shoulder and shaking him, trying to wake him.

“Yes, you are,” Nerina accused her. “Your parents bragged that your beauty is beyond that of the sea nymphs.”

“No! They didn’t mean it.” She shook Perseus again. He stirred slightly and groaned. “They meant that I was plain and ugly compared to you, Nerina.”

The sea nymphs surrounded her. She dropped the helmet, pulling the sword from the scabbard, barely able to hold it up even with two hands.

“Our father has sent the sea serpent to destroy your village. Every day more and more die, waiting for you to return and offer yourself to the sea serpent as the only solution to the problem.”

“That’s not true. A demi-god can kill a sea serpent. Perseus is going to kill it, you’ll see.” She held the sword outward, but its heaviness drew the tip to the ground.

“Hah! He can’t even control his own lust, so how do you expect him to slay a sea serpent of the gods?” Nerina asked. “Look at him. He’s weak. He’s no demi-god. He can’t even raise himself up from the ground to protect you.”

She looked at Perseus who rolled back and forth moaning. Three sea nymphs rubbed his head and temples. A knot the size of an egg started to swell on his forehead. Her hope of him being her hero diminished when she realized Nerina might speak the truth.

“Perhaps you’re right,” she said, lowering the sword. Nerina’s persuasiveness was strong, convincing Andromeda that Perseus was not of hero material.

“Stay with us,” Nerina cooed. “Remove your clothing and feel how it is to be a sea nymph.”

Andromeda shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts and think this through. But before she knew it, the sea nymphs had stripped her of her clothing and she stood among them like one of their sisters with the sun warming her naked body.

“Let me unbraid your hair,” said Nerina, walking behind her and using her nimble fingers to loosen it. “Now come and swim with us. Feel the power of the sea.”

“Yes.” Andromeda felt herself agreeing, and stepped over Perseus as she followed the sea nymphs out into the water.

Perseus sat up, rubbing his head which throbbed and felt like he hadn’t slept in a week. He hated to awaken from the midst of a dream of fifty naked sea nymphs, but knew he must. He needed to get the shield of Athena so he could continue upon his journey.

Something bright blinded him as he stood. The shield of Athena beckoned him from the sand. Then he saw his winged shoes on the ground along with his sword. The helmet of invisibility lay nearby along with a trail of what looked like a woman’s clothing.

“Andromeda, swim out farther. Follow us,” came a voice from out in the water.

He suddenly realized his dream was not a dream at all. He had been seduced by fifty lusty, buxom sea nymphs and had almost submitted to their pleasures. That is, until Andromeda thought to crack him over the head with the shield. It appeared that Andromeda was getting along fine with the sea nymphs now. He saw her head bobbing up and down as she swam playfully along with the girls.

“No!” came Andromeda’s voice, making him question his previous assumption. “Leave me alone. I don’t want to swim out farther.”

What he had thought was a playful swim was actually just one more of Nerina’s ploys.

“Andromeda?” he called, hurrying to the edge of the water. “Are you all right?”

Then he heard her scream. She struggled against the nymphs to keep her head above water. He saw them holding her under, attempting to drown her. He ran into the water preparing to follow, but then retreated. They were too far out for him to reach her before Andromeda drowned. And with fifty nymphs to ward him off, he didn’t stand a chance of succeeding.

An idea hit him, and he ran back to the shore. Quickly, he put on the winged shoes and strapped his sword around his naked waist. Then he plopped the helmet of invisibility on his head and took off in full flight over the water to save his wife.

He reached her quickly, but was not able to see her. He heard her voice crying out for help and saw the hoard of nymphs pushing her under the water. Nerina swam off to the side, shouting out orders.

“Make sure she drowns,” ordered Nerina. “We won’t have mortals saying she is more beautiful than us.”

“Yes, sister,” the nymphs cried in unison and dunked Andromeda under, this time not letting her come to the surface.

Perseus used his invisibility to his advantage, diving under the water unseen. His wife was struggling in their arms when he spotted her among them. A vine was tangled around her leg and Perseus used his sword to sever it. Then pushing sea nymph after sea nymph out of the way, he took hold of Andromeda and brought her out into the air. He dragged her coughing body over the surface of the water, flying above her, but keeping her head from going under again. The winged shoes weren’t strong enough for the two of them or he would have flown away with her in his arms. The sea nymphs screamed, thinking Andromeda had special powers since they could not see Perseus.

But the goddess sister wasn’t so easily fooled.

“It’s Perseus,” Nerina called out. “He has the helmet of invisibility on his head. Get him.”

They gained on him, and Perseus had all he could do just to stay ahead of them. The sea nymphs controlled the water, and their powers pulled Andromeda out of his hands. He dove beneath the water and grabbed her, but when he came back up, the sea nymphs surrounded him. He looked all around but could see no route for escape.

Then the sound of the conch shell splitting the air sent the sea nymphs scattering as Nereus came to meet them, riding with one large foot each on the back of two dolphins. He skittered over the water and stopped right in front of Perseus, dismounting and letting the dolphins swim away. Perseus held Andromeda close to him. She still breathed, but her eyes remained closed.

“Perseus, show yourself,” ordered the god.

Perseus took off the helmet, treading water to stay afloat.

“What is happening here?” Nereus asked gruffly, looking at his favorite daughter Nerina.

The goddess swam forward and rested her head against her father.

“This is Andromeda, Father. We tried to persuade her to be a sea nymph and stay with us, but she fought us.”

“You more than likely tried to drown her, didn’t you?”

“Perhaps just a little.” Nerina batted her eyelashes and looked towards Perseus. “But she tried to steal Perseus away from us.”

Perseus looked away before he fell under Nerina’s spell again.

“Andromeda is my wife,” he told the sea god. “She helped me get the shield and break me from your daughter’s spell.”

“He has the shield?” Nereus surveyed Nerina through squinted eyes.

“Yes,” she admitted, “he does. It is only because of the girl.”

“Either way, I cannot go back on my word. He has the shield and so he shall leave here unharmed. None of you will touch him or his wife again.”

“But she deserves to die for what she did,” whined Nerina.

“She will die,” he agreed, “but not now. When she gives herself as a sacrifice to the sea serpent to save her village, her life will be over.”

Perseus listened in horror. So that was the sacrifice Andromeda had been talking about. Why didn’t she tell him? No wonder she was so persistent in trying to get him to slay the sea serpent and so afraid to confront the sea nymphs. Now everything made sense. He looked down to her and watched her long blond hair floating around her shoulders. Her ivory face bathed in sunlight, her body bare to the sea, she did indeed look like one of the sea nymphs, only more beautiful.

“She will not die at the mouth of a sea serpent,” Perseus informed him. “I will kill the beast before that ever happens.”

“You are welcome to try,” Nereus said with a chuckle. “But the oracle has suggested the only way to stop it is by her sacrificing her own life.”

“Suggested,” he repeated the god’s word. “That doesn’t mean it is a prophecy.”

“Perseus, you are the son of Zeus but you are no hero. If you are lucky, you will be able to slay Medusa. You will find the Gorgons on the small island down the beach about a half-day’s ride from here.”

Perseus thought he would be overjoyed to get this information, but the news of Andromeda being used as a sacrifice overshadowed his joy. He knew he now had to find a way to accomplish two tasks, and with only a few days time left before he would have to catch a boat to bring him back to Seriphus.

“Go before I change my mind,” grumbled the sea god, sending a wave to aid Perseus and Andromeda to the shore. She stirred and opened her eyes as he pulled her from the water. He helped her to her feet, scooping up her clothing and the shield along the way.

“Let’s get away from here quickly,” he told her, watching the sea nymphs following them in the water. “Let’s get the hell out of here while we still can.”

*   *   *

Andromeda barely remembered Perseus pulling her from the water and cradling her in his arms as they rode down the shore far away from the sea nymphs. She slept most the day against his chest before they came to a stop somewhere along the beach.

“Wake up, Princess,” he told her. “We’ll stop here and make camp for the night.”

She opened her eyes to see Perseus staring into her eyes with admiration. She looked down to her body to see clothing upon her, but Perseus wore only his braies. He helped her from the horse and settled her upon the ground. The beach was deserted, and she figured they inhabited an area far from civilization. She looked around, and to her surprise the sun was still high in the sky.

“Perseus, it is not even close to evening. Why are we stopping for the night?”

“Because,” he said, tying the horses up in the shade. “I think we need to talk.” He sat down on the shore, letting the waves wash over him. The sun felt hot upon her shoulders, and the seawater cooled her feet as she walked toward him.

“Talk about what?” she asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me the oracle suggested you sacrifice yourself to the sea serpent to save your village?”

Her heart stilled for a second. The sea nymphs must have told him.

“I don’t want to die,” she said in a soft voice.

“I don’t want you to, either. Now tell me all about it.”

She hugged her arms to herself, staring out to the water but not really seeing anything. Her mind caught up in her past, she felt her body shiver as she relived the experience.

“My parents were always so proud of me,” she told him. “Though I was an only child and a daughter instead of a son, they still cared deeply for me. My father used to bring me with him when he traveled. He would always let me sit atop his horse with him. I felt like a queen with the royal way he treated me. Then one day my parents bragged of my beauty to their friends. My father even went as far as to say I was more beautiful than all the fifty sea nymphs of the sea god Nereus.”

“He was right,” Perseus whispered, but Andromeda put a finger to his lips to hush his words.

“You must not say that,” she warned him. “My father did, and Nereus punished his entire kingdom. That is when the god sent the sea serpent to devour the people of Thessaly one by one. My father tried to stop it, but didn’t know how. I suggested he go to the Oracle of Delphi to seek his answer.”

“So in trying to help him, you only endangered yourself?”

“Exactly,” she agreed. “When my father returned, I ran to him eagerly to hear his answer. But he wasn’t smiling. He told me I was to be sacrificed to the sea serpent. He said it was the oracle’s request and we could not deny it.”

“I am sure he was confused, Andromeda. He couldn’t really have meant to sacrifice you.”