Then he drew the Sword of Sharpness and struck once , and the Terrible Head was cut from the shoulders of the creature , and the blood leaped out and struck him like a blow . But he thrust the Terrible Head into his wallet , and flew away without looking behind . Then the two Dreadful Sisters who were left wakened , and rose in the air like great birds ; and though they could not see him because of his Cap of Darkness , they flew after him up the wind , following by the scent through the clouds , like hounds hunting in a wood . They came so close that he could hear the clatter of their golden wings , and their shrieks to each other : '' here , here , '' '' no , there ; this way he went , '' as they chased him . But the Shoes of Swiftness flew too fast for them , and at last their cries and the rattle of their wings died away as he crossed the great river that runs round the world . Now when the horrible creatures were far in the distance , and the boy found himself on the right side of the river , he flew straight eastward , trying to seek his own country . But as he looked down from the air he saw a very strange sight -- a beautiful girl chained to a stake at the high-water mark of the sea . The girl was so frightened or so tired that she was only prevented from falling by the iron chain about her waist , and there she hung , as if she were dead . The boy was very sorry for her and flew down and stood beside her . When he spoke she raised her head and looked round , but his voice only seemed to frighten her . Then he remembered that he was wearing the Cap of Darkness , and that she could only hear him , not see him . So he took it off , and there he stood before her , the handsomest young man she had ever seen in all her life , with short curly yellow hair , and blue eyes , and a laughing face . And he thought her the most beautiful girl in the world . So first with one blow of the Sword of Sharpness he cut the iron chain that bound her , and then he asked her what she did there , and why men treated her so cruelly . And she told him that she was the daughter of the King of that country , and that she was tied there to be eaten by a monstrous beast out of the sea ; for the beast came and devoured a girl every day . Now the lot had fallen on her ; and as she was just saying this a long fierce head of a cruel sea creature rose out of the waves and snapped at the girl . But the beast had been too greedy and too hurried , so he missed his aim the first time . Before he could rise and bite again the boy had whipped the Terrible Head out of his wallet and held it up . And when the sea beast leaped out once more its eyes fell on the head , and instantly it was turned into a stone . And the stone beast is there on the sea-coast to this day .
Then the boy and the girl went to the palace XXXXX the King , her father , where everyone was weeping for her death , and they could hardly believe their eyes when they saw her come back well .
So at before beside for in like of that without