Chapter 14: Tricks and Games

"Slow up!" Luna yelled out of breath. Damn him...

Artemis came to a halt on a boulder that was three times the size of him. Luna was not familiar of their location and path.

"I thought you were taking me to the witch." Luna stood at the base of the rock.

"We are," He answered and jumped down to her, "Can the princess not keep up?" He teased.

"Please..." Luna snorted and allowed her pride to take the best of her, "I'm just not familiar with this route."

"It's shorter than the route you took last time." He rolled his eyes, "This way, princess."

Luna growled, I liked him better when he was embarrassed. Luna watched Artemis slowly walk away from her. He's not running anymore. How close are we to her castle?

"Luna!"

She turned swiftly, but saw nothing behind her. "Hmmm..."

"You're falling behind princess!" Artemis taunted her.

Luna looked up at him and saw a devilish smile and two tempting icy eyes. Why does he keep calling me that? Luna shook her head and stepped forward.

"Luna!"

She gave a funny look at Artemis and yelled, "Stop calling my name!"

Artemis stopped and looked confused, "I never called your name." He laughed, "You're hearing things."

"Luna!" That voice came from behind and as soon as she snapped her head around something smacked into her face.

"Ow!"

Artemis was immediately at her side, "You alright?"

Luna jumped back a bit surprised at his swiftness, "Yeah, just some bug ran into me." She rubbed her cheek with her hand.

Artemis grasped for Luna's hand and noticed her scars, "What happened?"

"I.. don't know. " She stammered. His grip is strong. She avoided his eyes and blushed, "Don't worry about it."

Artemis glanced at her other hand and saw more red scars. "It was from that horse, wasn't it?"

Luna tried pulling her hand out of his grip and growled, "Let go of me."

Artemis gave her hand one last squeeze and then released his grip. He sighed, "We're turning back."

"What!" Luna snapped. She poked his chest hard, "We are not turning back now!"

"You're not fighting the witch injured!" He snapped back.

Luna flinched, That's the first time I've ever seen him lose his temper.

"Luna," He lowered his voice, "Go back."

She floated a few inches off of the ground in order to look at him straight in the eye, "Not even over my dead body are we heading back now."

He grabbed her waist and pinned her to the closest tree. She struggled but his grip was too strong. Luna's heart raced and his woodsy pine scent with his gorgeous blue eyes was not helping the situation.

"We came make arrangements then." He smirked and pulled a silver blade to her neck. His lips grazed her ear.

"You know," Luna chuckled with a smile, "When I first met you, I would have thought you would kill me in a heartbeat, but now, I know that you won't."

"You sure about that princess?" His breath on her neck was hotter than any flame that she has ever produced and it made her insides melt. She cleared her throat and tried to keep her strong stature. He pushed the blade harder against her neck and she noticed that it was dull.

Luna smirked a sly smile, "I know that you couldn't do it."

Artemis pulled away from Luna's ear and brushed his lips against her cheek. He growled deeply from the bottom of his throat and pushed off of Luna. With slight agitation, Artemis returned his blade to his sheath and turned, "Follow me."

Luna let out a breath that she did not realize that she was holding and sighed, but then face palmed herself, What the hell am I doing?!

"Luna?" a voice squeaked.

Luna looked down and saw a Harvest Sprite with a bluish gray cap and tunic. "Neptune!" Luna gasped and knelt down. She held out her palm for him to climb up on, "Did you follow me out here?"

Neptune nodded and looked down, "I'm sorry for running into you."

So it was him... "That's okay," Luna smiled , "Are you alright? Artemis nor I didn't hurt you, right?"

"I'm fine!" He smiled with a nod, but then he panicked, "But you guys won't be soon! The witch took Mercury and has set a trap close by here!" Luna's eyes widened and she thought, I've got to tell Artemis! She skipped over fallen branches and jumped across stones in order to find her companion. She spotted him in a clearing and raced to him, "Stop! It's a trap!" The ground puddled and gurgled before it gave away from below Luna.

She screamed and watched Artemis yell out, "Luna!"

"Ungh..." Luna groaned and shifted her position on the ground below her. She lifted her body to a sitting position and she rubbed her head pained, "Where am I?"

"You okay, princess?'' Artemis grumbled painfully.

Luna noticed two things; one, she landed on top of Artemis, and two, her legs were stradled around his waist. Luna flared red and stumbled off of him, "I... I'm... f...fine!" She struggled, "Are you okay?!"

He gripped his side and it took him a few moments to sit up, "Yeah..." He smirked, "And I've never felt better."

Luna glared, "Pig." She smacked his chest.

"Look whose talking," He laughed, "You know, you're not the lightest princess ever."

"Stop calling me princess!" She yelled at him a bit flustered. Luna got on her feet and looked around, "Where are we?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly.

Luna examined the poorly fit room and found a stone tablet on a pedestal in the center of the room. She read, "Tricks and games is what I like to play, but just be warned you haven't got all day."

"What does that mean?" Artemis hovered over behind Luna.

He makes me uncomfortable... Luna looked over her shoulder, "It means that the only way out of here is to play the game." Her eyes darted towards a drop of blood that slid down his face. She gasped, "You're bleeding!"

He touched his cheek and smeared the blood off, "It's nothing."

Luna hesitated a bit before she reached for his forehead. It was damp and warm, That's definitely blood. She gulped, The quickest way to heal him is by giving him a breath of life, but that's like a kiss! I can't do that! Luna removed her hand from the wound and moved her face closer to his to get a better look, That's definitely not stopping anytime soon. Luna closed her eyes tightly and quickly said, "Please don't think anything of this." Before Artemis could respond, Luna raised her lips to his forehead and blew cold air onto his wound. Her father had drilled that spell into her head over and over again during her training to become a witch, so she knew the spell by heart.

Luna could feel Artemis freeze up, "W-why… did you do that?" He stuttered and blushed pink.

"Because…" Luna answered embarrassed and stumbled on what to say, "I…" She blushed when she thought I care about you, but what came out was, "It was the quickest way to heal you."

Artemis dropped his head and sighed, "Couldn't you have done it any other way?"

"But…" Luna started as Artemis walked past her. She did not bother finishing her sentence, Did I hurt him? She groaned, "Artemis, wait up!"

His voice turned cold, "Hurry up, Luna."

Luna stopped and cursed at herself silently, I really screwed that one up. Luna's insides churned with guilt, I thought that… It pained her to even think about the idea of him having feelings for her. Why did he even lead me on? Luna closed her eyes and breathed deeply. I just have to get out of this hole and then I can be free of him. She opened her eyes and felt a tear slide down her cheek. Luna did not care if he saw as she walked past him, I want him to know how much that hurt me. "Let's go." Luna darted ahead of Artemis and she did not care if he followed her.

"Why the hell are you in tears?" Artemis caught up to Luna and pulled her back.

She slapped him and a fire sparked in her eyes, "Don't you dare touch me."

He let go of her and Luna could see that he was angered.

Good... She thought, Let him be angry. Luna continued to walk ahead of him towards the first "game".