Dancing in the Legendary Sea - Chapter 4 Part 1

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‘First, I have to move this man. If I leave him like this, he will be swept away by the sea.’

Lokira quickly looked around. There was a small eroded cave on the coastal cliff. For a rat, such a hole to hide in would be the size of a closet. Therefore, the man would be able to hide in there. She felt relieved as she found a solution for him. However, she quickly got frustrated when she realized the limitations of her strength as soon as she looked down at him.

‘What do I do?  I can never move him with my own strength.’

Just one of this man’s forearms would be too heavy for her slender self. She had never lifted anything heavier than a broom in her life. It meant there was only one thing she could do. Suddenly, the high priest’s scolding lingered around her ears. However, just by coming down here and checking on the man, she had already committed a tremendous crime. As she thought about it, an exciting feeling arose.

‘I broke one rule, so what if I break two or three?’

Lokira took a deep breath. To use her power, she must first strengthen her psychokinetic strength. She needed great concentration. It was very easy for Roxias to use his power. It was as simple as breathing, but Lokira wasn’t as skilled. She didn’t use it often enough, so it would take time to activate it.

‘He will float. I’m going to make him float.’ She intensely focused her will in her mind. She visualized that his large body was rising as vividly as possible.

However, the man didn’t even move. Lokira clicked her tongue and stretched out her hands, and she eagerly tried again as the challenge excited her.

‘Float! Float!’

This time it worked. It wasn’t flawlessly done but the man’s body trembled and floated a little.

‘Okay .. done!’

Her face brightened with a sense of accomplishment. She had made shells float before, but this was the first time she had made something this big float in the air. She wondered if her power was more useful than she thought. However, as Lokira was distracted by her achievement, the man’s body dropped to the ground halfway on the way to the cave.

Startled, she shook her hands in the air, sweating. Then the man’s body began to move little by little in the air according to the magic waves she emanated. Next up was endurance.  After walking five steps, she put him down. She had to take a rest every five steps. She was exhausted because it was the first time she had ever used this much power. After struggling for a while, she finally did it. She slowly put the man down on the cave floor. It was a hollow space just like the small room where she lives. The cave was dark and the floor was full of sand. It wasn’t a comfortable place but at least he was safe from the ocean waves and the frequent winter rains in the Mediterranean Sea.

‘I’m sure this is enough. When he wakes up, he can use his boat to leave.’

Lokira felt relieved as she didn’t let the injured man die. Then, she became worried about his wounds. She laid him on his back and knelt beside him to see them better.

“He’s still bleeding.”

His right eye bulged out. A story that the high priest had told in the past came to her mind.  Some pregnant women who visited the temple to give birth under the sanctuary’s protection sometimes experience shock from excessive bleeding.  She didn’t take it to heart because it was a story that was insignificant to her. But what if this man was suffering from a similar shock?

“I hope you’re not sleeping forever. It’s already hard for me to help you this much.”

While wondering how this man could get to Delos, she looked at him with suspicion, and her hand tilted the lamp unknowingly. A drop of hot oil fell and sizzled on the man’s cloak. Did he feel the hot oil on his cloak? At the moment, the man who was lying still like a corpse, flinched. Lokira was frightened. The man coughed violently. His chest started to move up and down, and an unexpected murmur popped out.

“Don’t be funny, crazy woman……!”

“Are you talking to me?”

Surprised, Lokira tried to stand up, but she couldn’t because the man’s large hand grabbed her neck.

“You don’t think I can kill you?!

“What on earth are you talking about?”

Lokira was dizzy from the unexpected move. Her neck was hurting. If he used a little more strength, she would be strangled to death. At that moment, the man coughed again. The sea water came out of his mouth. It was followed by painful groans. Only then did Lokira notice that he actually hadn’t woken up yet, and his eyes were closed. The violent hand naturally lost its strength and slipped down.

Was he delirious? Or was she seeing things? The man’s large body twitched for a moment.  It was as if the axis of the earth was shaking. It was not long before his anxious tone, as if there was something repressed, came bursting out.

“Oh my God…go away, go, go, Merope… ·!”

It was the name of a woman Lokira had never heard in her life. He wasn’t talking to her.