From the sudden quiet, totally devoid of the sound of rustling birds, came Andy’s voice next to me,“There is a helmet sitting on the altar. I’ll close my eyes and turn away, so you can have a look.”

I waited a moment for Andy to turn about, then took off my headgear and approached the dais. Andy was right, there was a metal helm resting there. Curious, and a little afraid, I picked it up, finding it was lighter in weight than it appeared. At least to the eye, it seemed very plain, though it had a chinstrap to keep it fastened. With a deep breath, I placed it on my head.

Instantly they calmed and stilled. I buckled the strap below my chin and found it was actually fairly comfortable. But how would I know it was truly safe to look Andy in the eye? Turning away from him, I called out, “The helm fits, and it soothed them, just as the goddess said it would. But I still dare not look upon you first, without knowing for-“

I heard Andy snort behind me, “-We have no other alternative! Are you really suggesting we try and find someone else? I don’t mean to be cruel, but humans are not used to seeing pretty women with tails instead of legs. We’d surely frighten anyone we found half to death, whether you turned them to stone or not.”

I admittedly lost the gist of what Andy was saying when the realization hit that Andy was implying I was pretty. I smiled to myself and felt giddy with a foreign kind of excitement.

I heard Andy walking towards me and squeezed my eyes shut in refusal, “What if it doesn’t work?”

As he walked to stand in front of me, I felt his hands touching my shoulders, squeezing them reassuringly. “I believe the Great White Goddess would not deceive us, it is not her way. Open your eyes.”

Terrified of hurting Andy, but realizing he was right, that we had no other choice, I let my eyes open. Andy was right in front of me, his eyes blue like a clear, autumn sky. Instead of the color fading to dull stone, instead of his flesh hardening forever into its current shape, he smiled! It was radiant and beautiful!

I looked up as he leaned back, noticing for the first time how very tall he was, he had been bending over a bit. “See, I am fine! What an incredible gift!” He called out to the night sky, “Thank you, Queen of Phantoms!”

I was still awash in emotion. Andy was moving, looking me in the eye over and over again, but still alive. He was alive! I watched him moving back and forth, gesturing with his arms, and I felt as free as when I looked at the creatures of the forest, or when I had looked at my mother.

Now that I could see Andy so clearly, directly and not via reflection, I could see so many details I had missed before. How lean and toned his chest was, where his tunic parted. His face was so angular, with its pointy cheekbones and strong jawline, it was hard to look away. His eyebrows were so perfectly sculpted… I was afraid I would make a fool of myself by staring, so I forced my eyes to the ground. “It is an incredible gift, indeed. Let us return to Damica and make our way homewards. Your family doubtless misses you-“

Andy turned and flashed me a winning smile, “-It’s late, we should make camp in the forest tonight. Tomorrow, I will deliver you safely to your caves before returning to my village. But we still have so much more planning ahead of us!”

Though Andy’s air of excitement was contagious, I wasn’t sure what he meant. “What for?”

Andy grinned triumphantly. “I know exactly where Mount Olympus lies, and how best to get us there!”

Notes

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