Page 56 of Meduso
Everyone knew that Perseus would have to stay by my side. After all, my sisters could not die, so it only made sense that I had Perseus there to aide me in battle. Of us gorgons, I needed it the most as the only mortal. That part was obvious.
“Hopefully, these men will be so ill-prepared that they will forget to shut their eyes. We should have most of them finished off before the battle even begins. As for the rest, we will just have to fight each of them, one by one, until none are left standing,” Perseus told us.
And so, the sun’s apex was eliciting its last glimmer of light. Everyone took their assigned places in the forest. Once the last shed of light was no longer visible, we made our charge, each of us coming at them from all angles, backing them into the water. They had no place to run. The school of fish had nowhere to move, but directly into the net of us fishermen.
Many of the men weren’t even facing us. It was not until the shouting of some of their comrades that they turned to see what all the ruckus was about. But by then, it was too late. We made quick work of them. The first round of men could not even take a step forward before being transformed to stone. Even many in the second group of men behind them also became petrified. This battle was becoming much easier than I had anticipated.
As for the few men that remained, they were forced to have to close their eyes and lunge forward to strike at the closest gorgon to them, although their swings were aimless. They hit air with every swing, nowhere near their desired targets. Euryale snuck around behind two of the men near her and stabbed them in their backs. Stheno only had one attacker in her line of vision and she feared nothing about him. She simply moved forward and slashed the man’s throat with her sword.
The last man standing came forward, with his dagger pointed in my direction. I was ready for him. But in the blink of an eye, he was gone. He had disappeared. Actually, he was not the only one gone. Everyone was missing. The dead bodies, Euryale, Stheno, everyone. And I was no longer on the beach. I was back in my bed cave with the fire lit. I then realized, after all these years of absence, and assuming they went away, I was having another vision from the Fates.
I stood in the cave facing the wall. Perseus jogged forward with a perplexed look on his face. “Meduso! Stop! You cannot do this!” he shouted. “Please, do not do this for me! You mustn’t!”
“I’m sorry, Perseus! I have to. I can no longer put you through this. I will always love you…” I then watched my dream-self raise a sword and cleanly sweep it across my neck. My head rolled to the floor of the cave, with my blood, as black as obsidian, dripping and spreading all over the ground. Perseus fell to his knees, holding his head in his hands. He wept.
The barbaric scene ended, and the beach with the many men lying across the sand was now a blur, slowly coming into focus.
“Meduso! Look out!” One of my sisters screamed. I was unsure which of their voices the yell was coming from. Once my view became clear, I saw the man with the dagger just feet away from me, sprinting forward. All I could feel was my body being aggressively pushed to the side. Perseus had shoved me out of the way. I fell down into the sand.
Quickly attempting to recover from the blow, I turned around and horror struck my face. I could see the man’s dagger plunged deep into Perseus’s side. I screamed at the sight of it and rose to my feet, slithering towards the man. Everything that happened next felt like it occurred in slow motion. As the man pulled his dagger out of Perseus’s gut, I could see the crimson liquid drip from its tip and more blood pouring out of the laceration carved into my lover’s skin. My hands clawed at the man’s face, nails digging into his forehead and cheeks. I pried his eyelids open, despite all of his resistance. Once I saw those cold, brown irises of his, it was all over for him. His statuesque body fell into the sand. I wrapped my head around to see Perseus now stumbling backwards until he could no longer maintain his balance. His legs gave out and his eyes closed. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
Chapter 18
I could not lose him again. This was not an option. I would not know how to go on without Perseus. His knife wound was severe. My sisters assisted me with carrying him back to my cave. For the next week, I tended to him on hand and foot at every second of the day. He was coming out of his comatose state more and more as the days progressed.
I treated his deep cut with all of the medicinal herbs and plants I could possibly find on the island. Peonies, Hellebore, Yarrow Plant, just to name a few. I knew my mother’s teachings of herbal remedies would come in handy one day. Now, I would be eternally grateful to Ceto for having had to put up with my constant annoyance at learning about all kinds of plants and flowers.
“I don’t see why I need to memorize all of these. It’s not like there are any flowers here in the ocean,” I once told my mother with vexation.
“Believe me, son. There may come a time when you are on the surface where you or someone close to you is injured. These lessons will have been meaningful then.”
“But what is the likelihood that I will end up hurt or injured? I’ll be in a temple,” I reminded her. “I doubt anything drastic can happen there.”
“That may be the case, Meduso. But I want you to be fully prepared for anything life may throw your way. It could happen when you least expect it to. And perhaps you may never have to apply this knowledge throughout your life, but by the off chance that you do, you will be thankful that I taught you about these medicinal properties of plants on the surface.” And my mother’s philosophy would prove to be helpful. If she did not teach me how to use these plants as a panacea, then who knows if Perseus would be breathing right now.
Although my spirits were rising, knowing that Perseus was healing well, I still had remorse for what happened to him. I was the one culpable for him being stabbed. I blacked out during our fight with the island intruders. Had that not happened, Perseus would not have had to push me out of the way and save me, thereby taking the blow that was intended for me.
This led me to recalling the vision I had that very moment. Every day since, that premonition has haunted my mind. Were the Fates accurate with this? Would I end up killing and beheading myself in front of Perseus? It couldn’t be true. How could it be? I would never attempt to cut my own throat. Why would I ever even think to consider that? On the other hand, every prophecy the Fates have conjured up through my visions has happened in real life, thus far. Why should I think this one could be any different?
As these lingering questions continued to consume my thoughts, I noticed Perseus attempting to sit up in the bed. He let out a heavy grunt, tolerating the pain he had to endure with every sudden movement he made.
I reprimanded him. “You should not be getting up like that. Your wound is still healing, and this could exacerbate the bleeding.”
“I have to move around, Meduso. Otherwise, I will become too stiff to fight.”
“Fighting is the very last thing you should be worrying about,” I clarified.
“No. The longer I have to lay here, the greater the chance that warriors will sneak onto the island. I need to get better quickly.”
“But right now, you are in no condition to even hold a sword, Perseus. Stheno and Euryale are keeping an eye out on things while I care for you. They have already dealt with a few warriors who have arrived at the island since your fall, and they are doing just fine,” I reassured him.
“I’ll give it three more days,” he announced. “No matter if the wound is not fully healed, I will rise to my feet and continue to practice and prepare for battle.”
I let out a sigh, knowing there would be no use in arguing against his stubbornness. Perseus sensed my reluctance in agreeing to these terms he presented to me. “Come here,” he said. He reached for the back of my neck. I leaned forward to give him easier access to it. He then pulled me down to him for a passionate kiss. Our lips separated and I felt him trace his slippery tongue down my neck. I let out a light whimper at the pleasurable, yet ticklish, wet touch.
My chest pressed into his, as I now laid on top of him in bed. He let out a painful moan once I did this. I was so caught up in the moment I had completely forgotten about his injury and that any slight contact with it caused him to ache.
“I’m sorry,” I immediately apologized.
