Several days later, I set out for the forest again, seeing Medea off as I went.
For the image of that silver-haired hunter I had encountered before had not easily left my mind.
When I pushed through the dense undergrowth and reached a place so deep that no human foot seemed to tread there, I heard the soft beat of wings above me.
At that, I reflexively looked up.
A great owl was gazing down at me from above.
And in that instant, light spread outward around me.
Dazzling golden radiance cleaved through the air and unfurled, and the owl's form slowly warped.
And in its place stood a woman.
She held a spear and shield, her posture neat and utterly unshaken.
The moment I beheld that presence, I knew it instinctively.