Chapter 2

The missile flew through the air but never reached it's mark. As Cain mentally screamed at his legs to make them move a blue flash appeared to his right, zooming in towards him. As the figure reached him, he felt arms reach around him and pull him out of the arrows path. An audible grunt was heard and they fell to the ground metres away from where he had prostrated himself.

He looked to his saviour to find a beautiful, fairy-like girl staring back at him, pain clouding her pale blue eyes. Old memories pushed at his mind as he felt a faint trace of recognition. He noticed her eyes staring downward and, following her gaze, he was directed to the golden arrow that was protruding from her lower abdomen. As she collapsed in his arms, guilt filled his heart and he cursed himself for his own weakness. Had he been strong enough to resist, this girl would never have been injured saving him. Though questions about her presence here floated around in his mind, he knew there was a much larger concern less than fifty metres away from them.

An expression of dark rage filled Artemis' face. "You have caused me to injure a maiden. I shall show no mercy!" Cain stood up and brandished his blade, which he had the presence of mind to hold onto during his short flight. His teeth gritted in vexation, he could not say a word. Artemis glared back at him with equal anger as she raised her bow. Eyes of raging green fire peered out from behind the glowing arrow as she took aim.

Cain dove forward and to the right in a roll, narrowly avoiding the golden glow that would have seen to his demise. He rolled once more as he heard the creaking of the bowstring being pulled back once more and another arrow landed exactly where he had finished the last dive. The lightning fast arrows were next to impossible to avoid and Cain knew that his luck would not last.

Landing on his feet, he immediately charged towards the mound that Artemis stood on. With his left hand he pulled a knife from his bandolier and whipped it her way. The Goddess effortlessly sidestepped out of the gleaming knife's path and drew back her bow again. Cain had never intended for the dagger to cause any real damage, instead using it as a distraction to close the distance. Cain cut with a downwards chop of his sword but the huntress leaped away with the speed of a being such as she.

Cain kept up the assault, amazed he had somehow put a Goddess on her heels. It was then that he noticed her mocking smirk. She was playing with him! Warning bells rang in his mind as his cautious nature won over his anger. He glanced around and saw that the wolves who had been unnaturally quiet up until this point had formed a ring around both Goddess and human, creating an arena. He looked further to his right to find that the silver-haired girl was still lying on the ground, yet she seemed to be stirring.

He needed to end this swiftly. Judging from the amount of blood staining her clothes she would not survive long without medical attention. "Artemis!" he shouted. "To think that a 'puny mortal' such as myself has survived for so long. Have you lost your skill with age?" The reaction to such an insult was instant. Artemis' red hair began to float around her head as divine energy built within her.

"You dare insult me?! I am your superior in every fashion! Fine, weakling, I shall show you my true power!" she screamed in rage. Suddenly, her body began to shake and change as reddish fur began to sprout from her skin. Cain watched in shocked amazement as the huntress' form began to change. In a matter of seconds, her limbs had elongated, her chin had grown a snout and her body became much more muscular. The human body had been replaced with that of a werewolf.

Artemis howled into the night and her chorus of wolves followed suit, an eery song echoing through the trees. She glared at Cain with feral eyes as her voice was heard, though her mouth did not move. "Feast upon the image of the ultimate hunter, you pathetic insect! Feast upon the last image you shall ever bear witness to!" Cain brought his sword up to block as Artemis charged, her left hand swiping across.

As his sword fell in line with her claws, they began to glow silvery-white. The next thing Cain knew, he was holding half a sword, the other half flying through the air to implant itself in the dirt. Before he could react, Artemis slashed across with her right arm. Almost in slow motion, Cain watched as her glowing, silver claws hacked across his chest, cutting through his armour and reaching the iridescent gem his necklace held. The blade-like nails sliced through the gem and there was a sudden brilliant flash of light and energy that encompassed everything in the surrounding area.


When the light finally dissipated, Cain found he was lying on the soft grass some metres from the rock he had previously been duelling on. Battle instincts immediately kicking in, he pushed away questions about the explosion and his head swivelled from side to side as he got to his feet, trying to find his otherworldly opponent.

Just as he began to search, a scream of rage directed him back towards the centre rock. Artemis stood at the pinnacle of the platform once more, staring down at Cain with a look of pure hatred and disdain. Curiously, Artemis leaned heavily against what appeared to be a spear of pure darkness. He noticed that the wolves that had been so strangely surrounding and worshipping her were now, even more strangely, running back into the woods they had come from.

"So, worm, you seem to have sealed my authorities of the Hunt and the Bow. You're more clever than I expected, mongrel." though her voice was full of venom there seemed to be a hint of wary respect lingering in its midst. I sealed her authorities? My necklace... He felt a great sadness well up inside his heart as he realized the gem had been destroyed. Though it had been a symbol of what had happened, he kept it nearby as yet another reminder to not step beyond his bounds.

Ironically, that's exactly what he did at this very moment. In spite of the mood, he smiled wryly to himself. Seeing his grin, Artemis held the spear in an offensive position in front of herself. She seemed to be calm once more and Cain was genuinely frightened by how quickly her mood seemed to turn. "Never the less, I will honour you by mounting your head in my trophy room as you have been an interesting opponent." she declared with that irritating tone of superiority.

Cain raised his sword to greet her inevitable charge when he realized that he still held the lower half of his former weapon. In this brief moment of confusion, Artemis dashed forward, spear tip leading the way. Thinking quickly, he threw the sword handle at the swiftly approaching Goddess, which she easily deflected with a flick of her wrists. Using this to buy him a few more milliseconds, Cain pulled the larger dagger from his bandolier with his left hand while his right went behind his back to the concealed duplicate.

As the spear's dark tip reached for his heart, Cain crossed his daggers in an X and narrowly deflected the weapon past him while his body nimbly moved to the right. Cain noticed that the Goddess was not moving as fast or as skillfully as before and he suspected that the blast had injured her as well as sealing her authorities, though she was still a step above a normal humans abilitie's. Knowing he had to use every advantage he had, he moved to close the distance between them and keep inside of the longer reach of the spear.

Realizing his plan, Artemis leaped backwards to create more ground and put Cain on the defensive again. She thrust repeatedly, forcing him to backpedal and side step as he frantically blocked and deflected. As he attempted to deflect yet another thrust, the tip nicked his right hand, causing a small trickle of blood to begin to flow. Immediately, the flesh around the wound began to grow cold and Cain dove to his left, out of her reach.

"Ah, you seem to have discovered my precious weapon's attributes." Artemis sneered. "Death itself flows through this spear and, like a poison, it slips into your system." As she continued, his hand started to become numb. He gripped his dagger fiercely, refusing to drop the blade. Coming to the conclusion that he was not going to speak, Artemis once again pushed the offensive. She slowly drove Cain down the hill as he even more desperately avoided that deadly tip.

Both began to sustain minor wounds as they continued their dangerous (and frankly one sided) dance. Artemis scored a grazing slash to his left side as Cain failed to push the weapon far enough, but in return he drew a line of blood down her right arm. Both paused in shock at the implications that a mere steel dagger would cut a Goddess' skin before Artemis once again thrust forward in absolute fury.

As Artemis swiped the spear across at face level, Cain ducked underneath and once again moved inside its reach. His right hand swung across, weakly stabbing into her side as his left blocked the return diagonal downwards chop. Can thought he might finally have a chance when Artemis kicked out with her right foot. His stamina fading, he could not avoid the blow in time and was sent stumbling backwards.

At this point they had neared where the initial conflict had begun and Cain glanced down to find the white haired girl lying on the ground. He looked into her blue eyes and knew that unless he acted quickly, this night would end with both of their deaths. This needs to end now! I need to do something unexpected. He thought as he dodged yet another attack. He considered his chances but they looked grim, his right hand was almost completely numb and his left side began to weaken as well.

If I'm going to die, I'm taking her with me! He screamed at himself as an insane opportunity presented itself. Artemis thrust once more, straight into his chest. Rather than block the strike, Cain ran himself onto her spear. She stood still, caught completely by surprise at his suicidal move. Cain screamed in absolute agony as the spear exited his back, narrowly avoiding his spine. He continued to charge forward and Artemis' eyes widened further as his blades flashed out, both finding the soft flesh of her neck.

As Cain collapsed on top of the Goddess, the spear became black mist and disappeared into the night sky. Both fell to the ground, landing side by side. Cain looked up through pain clouded eyes to find Artemis staring back at him with a look of respect in her hate filled eyes. "Congratulations Accursed One, you have slain me. I pass back to the myths while you remain on this world. I wonder which of us will suffer more..." somehow, she managed to say this through her blood drowned throat before finally becoming silent.

As blood poured from the huge hole the spear had left in his body and intense pain reverberated through his core, his vision began to fade. Through his blurred sight, he could see a figure slowly approaching. He struggled to keep his eyes open but at last his strength ran out and his eyelids slowly shut.