Azzy opened his eyes slowly, like someone waking from a nightmare rather than meditation.
Sweat trickled down his face, dripping off his jaw and soaking into his shirt. His breath came in uneven pulls at first, then steadied when he forced himself to take long, deep inhales.
He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and muttered under his breath, more to himself than to the empty lake around him. "What was that…" The shock in his voice wasn't something he could hide. "It's been… years since I even felt pressure like that." He stared at his trembling fingers. "No… not pressure. That was presence. Pure presence… divine and old."
He swallowed, thinking about the eyes that appeared for that single second. "Hera… has to be Hera. No one else looks at me like that." He rubbed his chest lightly, as if checking whether the curse left anything behind. The thought bothered him more than the pain did. "I wonder if she saw me… really saw me."
