The Oracle of Delphi (Greek Myth Fantasy Series) by Elizabeth Rose Read Free Book Online Page B

rain-wet seat. “I am ready,” she stated, noticing the catch in her voice.
    “Good,” came Perseus’s deep voice from the bottom of the chair. “I am going to stand in the proper place. You call forth the oracle, and I’ll ask my questions.”
    “Right.”
    Perseus left the bottom of the chair, walking over to a place in front of the pit where audiences were conducted. Andromeda never felt as alone as she did right then. She gripped the arms of the chair tightly and bit her lip. Her heart raced inside her chest and she found her breathing labored.
    “Go ahead, I’m ready,” called Perseus from the floor. “Call forth the mist so we can get started.”
    She had no idea how to call forth the oracle, nor did she have any intention of doing it. She intended to climb the chair to satisfy Perseus, then announce that the oracle refused to speak through her.
    It would have been a beautiful plan had she not heard the gravelly whisper again from the pit, calling out her name.
    Andromeda, Andromeda , it called, and she couldn’t help but look down into the deep hole to see from where it came. That’s when she saw the mist. A thick mist, with a stench like a three-day-old kill, rose up from the pit to surround the bottom of the chair.
    “You are doing fine,” coaxed Perseus. “Now let the mist enter you so I can ask my questions.”
    Horrified at the thought, Andromeda tried to rise from the chair but some unknown force weighted her limbs, making her unable to leave. The mist swirled around the tripod legs of the fixture and snaked closer and closer to the hem of her gown.
    She tried to cry out when the mist surrounded her ankles and slid up her legs and under her gown, but could not bring forth a single sound. The stench that encompassed her, made her gasp for breath and she had no doubt in her mind she was going to die right there on the throne of the Oracle of Delphi.
    “Are you ready?” came Perseus’s voice from below the mist. She could no longer see him for the thick white air that surrounded her. It was a comfort to hear his voice, but still she felt frightened and very alone.
    Andromeda, let me speak through you, came the oracle’s deep whisper. She tried to block the voice from her mind, but when the mist rose up to her neck and filtered in through her eyes, her nose and her pores, she knew she had no choice but to channel the oracle’s words.
    “Yes,” she heard her voice reply. “Yes, I am ready.”
    Then once more she heard Perseus from below asking something about a Gorgon.
    Her head tingled with the essence of the oracle within her. Dizziness overtook her and she found herself spinning out of control. A heavy force entered her being, and she tried with her mind to push it away.
    Don’t try to fight it, Andromeda. You are mine now in every way.
    Perseus’s voice filtered through the mist again, becoming her stabling force back to reality. She would not succumb to the forces trying to invade her body. She would not be a victim to anyone or anything.
    Listen, for I have the answers , the voice told her. I know all that is and all that will be .
    “Who are you?” she heard herself asking, just as she had the first time she sat on the throne. But this time she wasn’t speaking to Perseus. This time she directed her question to the oracle itself.
    “I am Perseus,” she heard from below and realized she must have spoken out loud. “I come to ask the way to the Gorgon’s island. I need to find and kill the one called Medusa.”
    A sense of timelessness engulfed her as she felt this had all happened before. A ringing echoed in her ears, causing her head to go into a form of euphoria. Her body vibrated with the essence of the oracle within her, and the fear she had previously had for the being left as a calmness overcame her.
    That is it, Andromeda. Accept me. It is only when we become one that I can gain control over you.
    She did not want the oracle to gain control over her. Though she now felt