Artemis POV

It has been 6 hours since we left Perseus in the infirmary. The hunters were getting restless because of the presence of a male who they didn't know about. Most of them were unhappy, it was visible on their faces. I had given them chores to take their attention off this topic. The truth was I too was curious. He had only told a basic summary about him, but I knew he was hiding some major things about himself. That was the reason I planned that he would be telling my hunters about himself and not me. Meanwhile, I had checked on him once. He seemed to be fine, he was sleeping; his wounds other than the puncture mark had closed and faded and seemed he would be better after his sleep. So I had left him be.

It was around 4.30 in the evening. I was in the planning tent with my lieutenant and the second and the third in command; the four of us planning on the next hunt and trying to find the next place suitable to set up camp. That was the last peaceful moment of the day as chaos ensued.

The ground started shaking but it shook rhythmically. Thump-thump-thump. I realized in horror, using my sense of the forest domain, that it was, or rather were, hordes of monsters. There had to be at least 200 of them.

"Zoe! Girls! An army of monsters is approaching from the south of the camp. Gather your sisters and form a defensive formation. Do NOT attack. There are too many. FAST!" I said in an alarmed voice. They understood and were off in a flash.

I exited the tent and started incanting, trying to put a defensive shield on the camp borders. This would not hold for long but would give time for the hunters to gather. I knew this was going to be a bloody fight. My Hunters were very skilled and were also a havoc-wreaking war machine when working together. But this time we were outnumbered, severely. We may win but it wouldn't be without casualties. Even thinking about it made by heart sink.

Meanwhile, the Hunters, all 48 of them, had gathered, dressed in silver light armor and holding shields and spears while their bows were slung over their shoulders. This was a rare scene since they scarcely ever used shields and armor. They had arranged themselves in a modified phalanx, such that they were attacking and defending themselves at the same time. They said in unison, "ORDERS MILADY!".

"Monsters. South of the camp. Atleast 200. Defense formation. Do not attack. Hold your ground." I commanded and I myself joined their ranks. As soon as I gave my command, the first of the monsters came into view. They were all over. The line of monsters was spread a quarter-mile horizontally. Among the monsters were 5 Lydian Drakons, The Chimera, and leading them was The Minotaur. My Hunters' squad shuddered; monsters generally attack individually but they were arranged in a phalanx formation, they were here as a unit. The hunters were staring at imminent bloodshed. My heart sank even further. There was no way we were getting out of this.

As soon as the unit of monsters all gathered, they charged head-on. The enemy phalanx rammed into my shield spell and it cracked. One more hit and it will be down, I thought.

"Hunters hold ground" I shouted. "FOR OLYMPUS" they shouted back and fell into a fighting stance.

The enemy phalanx charged again and this time the shield spell broke, shattering into a million pieces of light. At once the unit backed up and the drakons came forward. My hunters went forward and, bless their brave souls, took on 3 drakons at once while I was left with 2 of them.

Knowing that arrows were useless against those armored scales, I dematerialized my bow and took out my twin hunting knives, and charged the nearest one. Both drakons spat acid, dodging both I crashed into one, planting a foot on its jaw. It skidded back a few meters. I rolled away just as the second one charged at me and parried its claw with my knives. The first one was back on its feet and started circling me and the other drakon. As I parried another claw, I sensed the other one charging from behind. I jumped out of the way at the last moment as both drakons collided, but I was not unscathed, the last moment jump caused me to graze my left shoulder with the drakon resulting in a deep cut which was bleeding Ichor. The drakons had collided head-on and both were knocked out. Wasting no time, I summoned my bow and sent an arrow each to the drakons' weak points and watched them turn to gold dust.

I was spent. The cut on my shoulder was bleeding heavily. I used so much energy on 2 drakons, how was I to take on the entire monster unit. I turned towards the hunters, they had defeated a drakon but were struggling with the other 2. Their formation was forgotten as each fought for oneself, many of them being injured but fortunately no injuries. They were gaining the upper hand on the second drakon but the third had been forgotten by the hunters. The third one was silently creeping on them from behind. Too late I realized what it intended to do. It was trying to take out the hunters from behind using its spiked tail.

"NO!" I yelled, bracing for what was going to happen. I was too far away to stop it. I shut my eyes not wanting to watch my hunters' fate. When nothing happened, I opened my eyes. What I saw left me amazed. A 10 feet tall and 20 feet long wall of water was blocking the drakon's tail from hitting the hunters. The hunters had killed the other drakon and turned around to see what would have happened if the wall of water had not interfered. Our eyes followed to the source of this show.

Standing outside the infirmary tent was Perseus, still wrapped in bandages, eyes closed in concentration as controlling the water. Beads of sweat had formed on his brow from the sheer amount of water he was controlling. The water now traveled around the drakon and started enclosing around it. Once it had enveloped the drakon, Perseus groaned as he turned the water into ice, leaving its neck exposed. The hunters were too shocked to even move. I quickly notched an arrow and shot the drakon's exposed neck. Just as the drakon disappeared, the ice changed back into the water as it crashed back on the ground. The monster army, which was just staying back until now, enjoying as the drakons almost destroyed the hunters, were staring wide-eyed at the show of power from the demigod.

The Minotaur, seeing this said, "Beware, hunters, we return in half an hour to defeat you"

The army started retreating. We looked back to see Perseus stumble and fall on his knees. I rushed towards him and put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. His forehead was covered in sweat.

"I am fine Milady." He said as he got up. "It has been a long time since I used this much power, that's why I stumbled. But tell me MIlady, why did you not wake me up when you were attacked. I could have helped"

The hunters had caught up and were now surrounding him. "Who are you boy?" one of them asked.

Perseus respectfully replied, "Miladies, I am Perseus Achilles. I was offered the position of the Protector by Lady Artemis as a trial for a week. Miladies, I will explain afterward but for now, we need to defeat the army. Please let me help you."

"As if we will accept help from you boy" the same hunter replied.

"Yes, he will help" I replied overturning her opinion. "It is his job to do so"

The hunters were displeased at this but kept quiet. Perseus nodded and said, "Since I have been given the role of helping you Miladies, I Perseus Achilles, swear on the Styx, Ganges, and Huang-Ho, to do anything and everything in my power to protect each hunter and Lady Artemis herself till my dying breath. I also swear to not cause harm to any hunter consciously or to look at them inappropriately."

As he completed his oath, thunder rumbled sealing it. But at the same time, gushing of 2 mighty rivers was also heard, as if sealing his oath. Now I had heard about these rivers and knew they were in the East, but nothing else. So I asked, "I know about the Styx, but why did you swear on the other 2 rivers?"

"They are the 2 holiest rivers of the East and work in a way similar to the Styx. Miladies, as I said, I will explain later" he replied. Then hesitantly he asked, "Milady, I lost my twin swords in the battle with Gration. It was a gift from my late mother. Could you please spare me 2 swords? It is my weapon of choice."

"And what makes you think we will help you, boy" replied a hunter from the back.

"Yes, we will help him. It is the least we can do. We already owe him our life." This time it was Zoe who answered.

"Yes Perseus, you can have my twin silver swords. As I rarely use them since I have my hunting knives, you can use the swords. Atlanta, go fetch them from my tent" I said and Atlanta immediately went to my tent.

"Do you have any more weapons Perseus?" asked Zoe. He nodded and said, "Miladies, please back off a little." The group of hunters including me, who were still surrounding him reluctantly backed up a few steps. Those who were behind him broke the circle and joined the ones facing him such that he was now surrounded in a semi-circle. Perseus himself backed up a little before he closed his eyes.

"Dhanush Pradan-ha" he said in a language I recognized as Sanskrit. As soon as he said that, a bow appeared in his hands. I and the hunters gasped simultaneously. The bow was BEAUTIFUL. Its body was pure silver which glowed with an aura of its own. In the middle was a blue jewel that seemed to be radiating with power. The silver bow was engraved with electric blue and emerald green strips like a helix. It was gorgeous. It radiated beauty as much as it radiated raw power. I thought my bow was beautiful, but today it lost to Perseus' bow in the battle of beauty.

We all were dumbstruck. Our mouths were wide open. He seemed to realize our reaction and smiled, "Miladies this is a family heirloom. I received it from my mother when I was 10. It also has a name, which I think would please you, especially Lady Artemis. It is called 'Moonlit'. Again I will explain later why it is named as such. But for now, we have a battle at hand"

I was still staring at the bow with wonder and little jealousy. Perseus noticed I was staring and approached me. I realized I had been staring too long and my cheeks flushed golden. Perseus was now standing in front of me. I could feel the hunters reaching for their weapons as he was a little too close to me. Perseus simply stretched his hand with the bow towards me.

"Milady, here. Try it. You saved me and now you are willing to give me your swords. It is only right that you use this bow" he said comfortingly. Reluctantly I took the bow from his hand. I was amazed once again at how good the bow felt. To me, it felt like the most balanced bow. It seemed like it was trying to get in sync with my own aura. I realized that it was not a feeling but the bow was actually shifting physically. The bow thickened at the middle, its body shrunk as it became smaller in size to match my need, the ends curved a little more and the string grew taut, also the ends now had golden encasings. I gasped again and looked at the hunters who had similar reactions plastered on their faces.

Perseus chuckled, "Milady, it is a magical bow, it shifts to match the wielder's needs. Now Milady, draw the string."

"But my quiver is empty, there are no arrows left" I replied.

"Milady, believe me just draw the string and imagine an arrow to be notched in place. The arrow assumes the form of different elements. For you, I believe it would be a silver arrow of pure moonlight."

I did what he said, I closed my eyes and willed an arrow to appear, my eyes opened to see an arrow of pure silver notched in place around which swirled a pale white light.

"Release it Milady" he said. I pointed it towards the twilight sky and released the arrow. It wooshed upwards and when it reached the sky it broke into a beautiful display of many pieces of white moonlight scattering like dandelions in a field. The hunters were awestruck. They tried to say something but no voice came out.

"It is beautiful Perseus" I finally said as I returned him his bow. He smiled warmly and said, "Use it anytime you want Milady. For now, you have to ask for it, but I will put a spell such that it will respond to your call."

"Thank you, Perseus. But from where did your family get it? And what is your arrow?" I thanked Perseus as I asked questions.

Perseus was surprised that I had thanked him. "No need to thank me Milady. I will explain the origins of the bow later when I tell about myself. As for my arrow element, or rather elements, I will show you. Just don't ask about them right now." he replied.

The hunters meanwhile had forgotten about their scorn for Perseus or rather the whole army that was to attack us. All of them were looking at him with surprise and awe. Perseus on the other held his bow, which had transformed again to match him, in his right hand. Oh so he is left-handed, I thought. He drew back the string and immediately the smell of the ocean filled the area as an arrow of green color appeared, water forming a helix around it. He pointed it towards the sky and released it. When it reached the sky, it popped and resulted in a shower of mist, like the ones you see near a waterfall. Again it was wonderful.

"So your element is water. Quite predictable" I said. He shook his head, "No Milady, it is one of my elements."

The hunters and I looked at him as if he just dropped from the sky. He just smiled as he drew the bow once more. This time instead of the water helix arrow, a white arrow appeared. All of us gasped as it was the same arrow as mine, albeit it was a little dimmer since he was a demigod compared to me being a goddess. He released it towards the sky, but unlike mine which had broken into million pieces of white light, his arrow glowed brightly and emitted moonlight, more like a full moon, and then disappeared altogether.

"How? I have not even blessed you..." I trailed off. He said, "I will keep no secret Milady. But now is not the time to explain."

He started to draw the bow yet again. "Miladies please do not react to this. I know it will surprise you. Please hold it till later" He said. For once, all the hunters agreed, apparently curious to see what new element he has. Once he had drawn the string to the max, the air crackled around us and the distinct smell of ozone filled our noses. In his bow was an arrow made of pure lightning, more like a miniature lightning bolt and less of an arrow. A distinct 'Huh' was heard from the hunters as he released it towards the sky. As it reached the zenith, more lightning came to greet it from different directions resulting in a beautiful display of light as thunder rumbled like music.

All of us were dumbstruck. For the first time ever, we saw a son of Poseidon wield lightning like he was born with it. He noticed our expression and immediately became uncomfortable, shifting in his place.

"Uh...I don't like attention Miladies. It makes me very uncomfortable. Umm...shouldn't we worry about the monsters, they will be here anytime. And..uh...umm can I use the swords please" he said, visibly uncomfortable at all the attention.

All the hunters were too shocked at the events and it seemed like they all had lost their voice. But looking at their face, it was clear that they grudgingly admitted the power Perseus displayed and the fact he was vital in winning against the monster army. Seeing that the hunters were still shocked and couldn't speak, I said, "Sure Perseus. Atlanta, did you get them?"

The shell shocked Atlanta stumbled across to Perseus and handed him 2 swords. He put away his bow and took the swords. He looked quite happy to hold them. Both blades were around 3.5 feet long and made of silver and imperial gold. The hilt was just regular iron. He experimentally gave each of them a swing and looked at them for a minute before turning towards me.

"Milady would you mind if I change the swords a little. I mean they are good but I want to make them a little different for my use." He asked politely. I nodded, "Go ahead but how will you do it. It will take much time and we can only spare a few minutes."

He just gave me a smirk and closed his eyes in concentration as he held the swords in both hands. We gasped yet again as the swords started shifting and changing. The iron hilt was gone, in place was a solid gold hilt which beautifully contrasted with the blade, and the hilt extended out a little, supporting the blade better. Earlier the blades were more like double-edged flat swords but the shape now changed to resemble an hourglass-shaped xiphos. Out of nowhere, Perseus had produced a set of beautiful swords from somewhat dull-looking silver blades.

As we marveled at its beauty, Zoe said in a 'no-argument' tone, "Perseus Achilles, you have a LOT of explaining to do. You are to win against the monsters so that you tell us everything later. If you die fighting, we will somehow bring you back to life just for you to explain before killing you again. Understand?"

"Yes Ma'am" He said and nodded vigorously. I smiled at his antics. He was already being accepted by the Hunt. I knew this because the harsh glares that were earlier being given to him had somewhat lessened. The younger hunters had openly accepted him, even smiling at him when he showed something. His acceptance was not in a way I liked, he had to make his mark by his show of power, but then again, it was a desperate measure and he did save their lives that way.

He meanwhile had moved a little farther away, apparently to try his newly redesigned swords. He held his swords strangely. The sword in his dominant (left) hand was held upright like it is normally done but the sword in his right hand was held in reverse, icepick grip. After all, he has already done, nothing about him surprised us anymore. Then he dropped in his stance. Extending his left leg outwards, he put his body weight on his right leg, dropping low. He put his dominant hand outwards in an offensive pose while his right hand with the reverse grip sword was across his front, from left shoulder to his side, in a defensive pose, his reverse grip sword defending his body like a shield. With awe, I realized that this pose had almost no flaw, a perfect combination of offense and defense.

Within a minute he returned, a content smile on his face. "Thank you, Milady. These swords are perfect" he said. "Now I believe we have to prepare for an attack, right Milady?"

I nodded. It was almost nighttime, there was just a tinge of red in the sky but that was it. The moon was already starting to rise. I looked at my hunters. They looked spent at bone tired. I commanded, "Hunters, to positions. Hold ground."

I wanted them to rest, to recover but the situation suggested otherwise. This saddened me. It turns out Perseus has a knack for reading emotions.

"Milady, I understand that your hunters are tired. Will you trust me? Just this once. I have sworn on 3 rivers to protect the hunters. I will protect them to my dying breath." He asked.

I nodded reluctantly. He continued, "Milady let the injured hunters rest. Just 10 excluding Lady Zoe will suffice. Please trust me."

"But we are severely outnumbered. We need even more. Why are you suggesting that we take only 11 hunters?" I asked, obviously annoyed at his suggestion.

"Please trust me Lady Artemis. You are underestimating yourself, after all, you are a goddess, an Olympian at that. Please believe in me and in yourself." he responded.

After a minute of debating with myself, I made up my mind. "This is a very high risk I am taking. Do you realize the consequences if you fail?" I said. "Absolutely Milady" he responded almost instantly.

Somehow, I felt newfound confidence in myself at his answer. I once again turned to the hunters, who were now in a formation. "Girls, at ease. Injured, please report to the infirmary at once. Healers, follow suit. Heal the injured. 10 oldest of you come forward. Rest fall back and guard the infirmary."

They did so with reluctance. One of the older hunters asked, "Milady, aren't we already outnumbered? Then why just 11 hunters and the boy?"

"Trust me, Andromeda. Trust me on this one" I replied. "Follow me then, girls. We shall put another shield spell. It is not strong enough to hold off the whole army but may buy us some time."

As we reached the Southern part of the camp. I dropped to my knees, putting my palms on the ground I started putting the same spell I used earlier today. When I finished, a faint gold ripple spread out, indicating that the shield was in place. As I finished, I sensed Perseus coming towards me.

"Are you done Milady?" he asked to which I replied yes. "But what are you gonna do?" I asked curiously as I felt the hunters also looking at him with curiosity.

He said, "I assured you people that we will win with just 11 hunters. I promised I would protect you no matter what. Well, that's exactly what I am doing." He dropped to his knees the same way I did and started an incantation which I recognized as Mandarin. As soon as he finished, a flicker of white spread before disappearing. Then he started an incantation in Sanskrit, this time an electric blue light flickered. By this time he was already panting heavily. Instead of resting, he started another one, this time in Greek. Now as he was incanting, I realized what he was saying. Oh mighty forces, draw power from my being, my elements, shield us, protect what I hold dear, protect us from evil, he said. Now as he finished, a flash of sea-green appeared. Completing his incantation, he started wheezing. My respect for the selfless boy grew even more. I just couldn't stand there looking at him putting all his essence trying to put a 3 layer shield to protect the hunters while we did nothing.

I rushed towards him, helping him to stand up. The hunters glared at him for his hands were around my shoulders for support. But at that moment, I couldn't care less. He stood up shakily before muttering again," Fàng, abhikrama, vázo" He said the same word in 3 ancient languages, all of which meant 'begin'. As soon as said, a bright ripple of light of 3 different colors spread, forming a shielding dome around the whole campsite. My spell had just appeared as a wall, meaning the sky was open; but his spell was a dome such that we were protected even from the sky. Before I could marvel at this feat, Perseus crumpled to the ground, wheezing and panting, obviously having overexerted himself. But I was determined to not let him pass out. I dropped beside him and said something I thought I would never say to a male.

"Thanks a lot, Perseus. Now we can't let you pass out right now, can we? This '11 hunters' only thing was all your plan, right? Now eat this and carry out the rest of the plan" I said, handing him a square of Ambrosia. Since he was not responding, I forced it into his mouth. As soon as it went down his throat, his eyes shot opened and he was staring at me.

"Milady why were you thanking me? I was doing my duty. Also, why did you give me your spare piece of Ambrosia, you or one of the hunters may have needed it more. Also, the shield will hold off all of their attacks, you just had to shoot them down from this side of the spell. You could have done that without me" he asked bewildered.

"First off, you protected my hunt, that's why I thanked you. Second, you are already a member of the Hunt, and I would rather not lose my Protector before he has even been sworn to that position that's why I fed you with the emergency Ambrosia. Also, since this is your plan, you ought to continue till the end of it, regardless of the fact that your help is needed or not." I finished.

He just looked at me dumbfounded. "Thank you, Milady. I shall never be able to repay you. Thank you" he started thanking me over and over. I was overwhelmed by his selflessness.

"Perseus?" I said. "Yes, Milady". "Welcome to the hunt, Protector" I said and smiled at him. He returned the smile as we both stood up.

"Now that the camp is safe courtesy of your shield spell, I guess we have some monster arse to kick" I declared and we returned to where the hunters were gathered.

"Hunters, Protector, draw your bows, we are going to shoot the monsters from here since Perseus' shield spell will hold the attack from outside. Hunters form archer formation. Perseus you are up ahead along with me" I ordered. The hunters arranged themselves as told and Perseus joined me, his beautiful bow materializing in his hands.

As if on cue, a war horn resonated through the forest as the monster phalanx appeared at the edge of the forest. It was the same as when they had attacked earlier but there was a slight problem.

Earlier there were around 200 monsters, now there were around 500.

A/N: Aight guys! The chapter's over.

Took a freakin' LOT of time. But I guess it was worth doing it for you guys. Thank you guys for the support. Hope you doing good, regardless of the time or date of when you are reading. Remember, Quality AND Quantity.

Ciao

-KK42069

4587 words (except bold font)