And a destiny he could not fathom.
She sensed his mood, touched his cheek lightly with her hand.
"Would I could remove this curse from you. Understand that it is
not given even to me to see the final scene. Yet my love will be
with you. Ah, 'tis time. The moon is sinking into the sea, and I
must be a-wing ere it fade from sight. Fare the well, my
wanderer. Return safely to me."
He looked at the moon, now half hidden by the horizon. Turning
he found her gone. The beat of wings above the ship, and the
silhouette of an owl against the moon, marked her going.
Demo stood, disconsolate, listening to the quiet lap of the
waves against the bow, the groan of taut hawsers, the gentle
flap of furled sails in a light breeze. Tomorrow a different
adventure - one from which he might not return. Well, morning
comes swiftly. He sought his bunk, slept well, rocked by the
gentle swells of the vast ocean.
The chariot rode smoothly and swiftly over the surface of the
sea, pulled by a brace of stallions even a warrior might ride
eagerly. Led by the dolphin they raced he knew not where. To
search for Oceanus, whom he had never seen; to look for Proteus,
who changed form at will - what strange adventure this. Perhaps,
what hopeless adventure.
Yet they pressed on. The sun rose and lightened a glistening
sea, deep blue mirroring the blue of the sky. And as far as
sight could see, nothing. Only the endless surface, stretching
from horizon to horizon.
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