Page 20 of Meduso
I nodded. I hoped he would reach this conclusion. I was delighted by the request. “Yes, Perseus. I won’t leave your side.”
We laid still for the remainder of the night, in each other’s arms. For the first time since being home at the palace, I was able to peacefully fall asleep. And from here on out, it would be tranquil, because I planned on laying with Perseus every night, so long as he would have me.
We both woke up the following morning with smiles on our faces. I knew we would need to rise and start his training right away, yet I had no desire to release myself from our embrace with one another. However, I eventually gave in to the inevitable and got up out of the bed. He, too, followed in pursuit.
“What do you want to start off with first?” I asked.
He rummaged through his belongings in the main room, pulling out a bow and a few arrows. That easily answered my question, but he made the obvious known to me. “Let’s practice with archery.”
We headed down to the beach with a few other tools at our disposal. Perseus headed into the forest to chop off a stump from one of the already dead trees, making quick work of it. Together, we sat on the ground, carving it into a perfect circle.
As I rolled the handmade target back towards the beach, Perseus sprinted by me, having already chopped another piece of wood, creating a stand for the target to sit on.
Show off!
“Now don’t judge me. It’s been several years since I last used a bow and arrow,” Perseus admitted.
“I’m not here to judge. Just here for the support.” It was true. There wasn’t much I was able to help with here, besides running toward the target to retrieve his shot arrows once he released them.
I stood further down the beach, able to make out the tiny dot that was Perseus holding his bow, ready to release the arrow. The arrow dashed in the air and struck the target dead on, right in the center.
Unbelievable! Then back to back, two more shots were fired and again, they were right on the mark. I encouraged Perseus to back up even further, but no matter how far the distance he put between him and the target, it was a flawless shot every single time. Dare I say that he would make a formidable opponent, even for Artemis?
I myself was getting a decent exercise, having to jog back and forth from him to the target and vice versa to return the arrows to him after each firing round. Eventually, I found myself panting, deeply gasping for breath, when I returned to him. “I think you’re a sure win for archery. Care to train for a different event?’”
He nodded, much to my relief. I don’t think I could go on jogging for much longer without passing out right on the warm sand of the beach.
“Dictys mentioned something about a discus throw last evening, did he not?” Perseus inquired.
“Yes. I recall him mentioning that.”
“I’m not sure where we can acquire a discus from,” Perseus stated.
“Let’s take a break and head back into town. Perhaps Dictys may know of where we can retrieve one at.”
Perseus agreed with my recommendation and we hiked up the trail to learn Dictys was not at home. “He went up to the fortress to attend a meeting with his brother. What can I help you boys with?” Clymene asked us.
“Do you know where we can find a discus?” Perseus asked.
“Hmmm. Give me a moment.” Clymene left the room. We were able to hear her searching through a few things in the adjacent room. Soon, she returned with a metallic round object. I could not quite tell whether it was made of iron or lead.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” she asked.
Perseus took it from her and scrutinized it. “Yes. This is exactly what we need. Thank you, Clymene!”
“Of course. Just watch where you throw that thing! Make sure no one is around you when you do use it,” she advised.
“We won’t!” Perseus yelled back to her as we were already walking out of the house and making our way back down towards the beach. I’ve never seen a discus thrown in my entire life, so I was extremely curious to see how the process worked.
“I’ve only ever seen it done once,” he shared. “You stand like this, and hold the discus so it rests against your forearm.” Perseus stretched out his arm to illustrate the action he was describing to me. I became distracted with the tightness of his muscles as they contracted while he spun. “Then, you just release it into the air, and off it goes.”
This time, Perseus performed the actions all in one sequence, in their full entirety. As he let go of the discus, it traveled far down the beach, except I was expecting him to throw it straight. Instead, the discus curved off and missed the shore of the beach entirely, landing in the nearby woods.
“Clearly, I’ll need to practice this event more,” he confessed.
I chuckled. It was refreshing to see that Perseus was still part human and made some errors. I would be vexed if he was perfect in everything he did. This gave him something to work on and to improve upon himself with. And with this discus throw, even I was able to offer my insight to help him better his skills at the sport.
Start out with your feet more spread apart.
