The Hunters
On a freezing winter morning, the wind was howling through the trees of a forest. The ground was covered in a coat of pure white. Nothing disturbed the uniformity of the shining snow, except for a dozen of footprints leading deeper into the woods.
The Hunters of Artemis had just closed camp after a cold night in the wild. They were now continuing their quest, searching for a monster the local dryads had seen a few days earlier. Lady Artemis was absent, for the winter solstice was drawing near, and so she left for Mount Olympus. Thus, she put her lieutenant, Thalia Grace, in charge of the hunt.
As the girls were walking, carefully looking for traces of the monster's passage, Thalia suddenly stiffened. She looked at the others for confirmation: they had all felt the presence of something else watching them.
"Stay on guard," she told the group. They kept on advancing.
Minutes had passed when, suddenly, Thalia heard a rustling coming from bushes nearby. "Stop moving!" she ordered her maidens as she heard a potential threat approaching.
Thalia waited for a count of ten. Nothing happened. As she started to relax her shoulders a little, an enormous animal leaped over her. In a blink, all the Hunters reached at their bow and shot an arrow at the monster. It immediately fell on the ground, dead.
As Thalia let out a breath, relieved, she heard one of the Hunters gasp. Thalia turned around, and tensed at the view before her. Not everyone got out of the altercation without a scratch. A young-looking Hunter was clutching her stomach, her hands drenched in blood. She had been attacked by the monster before it was killed.
Thalia couldn't believe it. A Hunter had been wounded under her watch. She would never forgive herself for it. She rushed at the girl's side, and caught her right before she fell. Only then did she realize who it was: looking up at her was Maia, a rookie they had found in Seattle only two weeks ago.
"Maia, stay with me," Thalia told her as she felt her go limp into her arms. She couldn't afford to lose anyone.
Phoebe, who was the best healer among the Hunters, settled down beside Maia and inspected her injury. After a few moments, she lifted her head and glanced at her lieutenant. Thalia raised her eyebrows, silently inquiring about the importance of the damage. She apprehended the answer. Phoebe responded, unfortunately, with a slight shake of her head. Thalia's stomach turned.
"The wound is poisoned," Phoebe declared with finality. Thalia felt sick. "Maia, I'm so sorry," she told the young one. I shouldn't have let this happen."
"No," replied Maia, taking everyone by surprise. "It's my fault; I shouldn't have frozen in front of the danger. She was barely able to whisper, but she kept on talking. "I chose the path of the Hunters; I'm the only person to blame for not being good enough. You shouldn't feel guilty about this," she finished. Talking this much must have taken all her energy; her breathing was getting shorter by the second.
"Dying during battle is the noblest way to leave, Maia," Phoebe told her. "Never will we think you weren't good enough. You will not be forgotten."
Maia tried to smile, but it was so painful it rather came out like a cringe. Then, her pale face slowly relaxed, and her head rolled back. As Maia's life flew away, her skin lost the faint glow that accompanied the Hunters' immortality.
A single tear rolled down Thalia's cheek. Carefully, she put the body down, staining the snow with red. She slowly backed away, as Phoebe prayed for Artemis to place her blessing on the deceased girl. Plants grew from the ground through Maia's body until she was buried in a nest of snow flurries and wild flowers. After everyone else said goodbye, Thalia kneeled over the bush and whispered, "Rest in peace, Maia." And, though with much less enthusiasm than they had had earlier, the Hunters started moving again.