Chapter 12: Into the Woods
"You have got to be kidding me!" Aiden mentally screamed.
Aiden… he knows better than most about failure. He knows what's going to happen when someone failed to act, what's going to happen when someone's too late to act.
That's why he's having none of it when Artemis said they have to wait before taking any action to save the supposedly "golden princess".
In the Hunter's defense, no one has any idea where she could possibly be held captive. "Well, aren't they supposed to be the almighty Hunters of Artemis?!" he kept grumbling to himself.
"Do you have a giant stump stuck in your butt or something? Sit down will ya!" Thalia yelled at him.
Aiden stopped pacing back and forth and turned to face Thalia. "Yes, I do have an apocalypse-sized stump stuck in my butt, and I can tell you that it will come out if we kept doing nothing here!" He retorted.
Aiden quickly ducked as he suddenly sensed a big rock flying toward his direction. "HAH! DODGED 'EM!" Aiden exclaimed in victorious, just before another rock hit him at the back of his head.
"Okay, WHO THREW THAT!" He yelled while rubbing the back of his head.
"You're awfully loud, and that's saying something for a boy in an area full of girls, you know that right?" Sasha remarked.
"You do know that with that attitude, you'll be a dead meat here if it's not because of your importance to the quest, boy" Said another girl, her words came out as more of a statement rather than a question.
Aiden sighed, "I'm serious here, we can't just sit around here calmly. Who knows what those people are currently doing to Midas's daughter…. Aren't you girls supposed to be the protectors of maiden?" he said.
Thalia just stares at him, it was very subtle, but by the way Aiden talks, she can sense that he's truly concerned about the matter at hand. This is just one of his traits that seem to be rather… odd for her. She can see that there are a lot more to him under all his sarcasm and wit, something that she can't quite put her finger on. "You're not the only one who's concerned. I'll talk to Lady Artemis, and as soon as we can pinpoint her location, we will go." Thalia said to him reassuringly.
She then got up from the log where she sat a moment ago and heads toward the big, silver tent located around the far back of the Hunter's camp.
"Milady" Thalia said to her mistress as she entered the main tent.
"Yes, what is it Thalia?" Artemis replied.
"Have we got the location of the Princess?" asked Thalia.
"Ah, I was just about to call you regarding the matter. I've contacted Dionysus, since he was the one who granted Midas's power, I figured he would have a way to track it down. Luckily, my assumption is correct. He informed me that he can feel Midas's power somewhere around Oregon. Around the wilderness of Mount Hood to be more precise" Artemis said.
Thalia nodded at the information, "So when do you want us to depart milady?" asked Thalia.
"Have a rest for now, the four of you will depart tomorrow"
"Have you ever been to Oregon before Thalia?" asked Aiden.
"I'd appreciate if you don't have any conversation with me until we landed safely on the ground, thank you very much" Replied Thalia who's currently still curls up behind Sasha's back.
Aiden just rolls his eyes, hearing the daughter of the God of Sky complaining about being high above the ground is really something. He on the other hand, is having a blast with the experiences. Having the strong winds hitting his skins and running through his short, black hair has been the best part of being in the same party as the Hunters
In no time, they can already see hectares upon hectares of woods beneath them. They have arrived at the Mount Hood area.
"Well, we're here… I think we should narrow our search area by focusing on off limit area for tourist. I don't think the bad guys want to deal with foreigner passing by their base of operation" Aiden stated.
"That you're right, we'll land there!" Sasha said. And the three Gryphons landed in a small clearing between the dense forests.
"We have landed safely on the ground now Lieutenant!" Aiden said jokingly.
"Shut up!" Thalia snapped.
Aiden walks down to the flowing river. His jaw dropped seeing the natural beauty around him. The smell of the trees, the sound of the rivers, the chirping birds… "Stop gaping, we're not here for vacation" Rey said from behind him.
Aiden sighed, "You gotta ruin the moment do you?"
Aiden walks back to where the rest of the team gathered. "So… what do we do from here?" he asked.
"My brother met Midas once, he told me that the kind of enchanted gold that Midas created has a really strong aura..." Thalia said. She glanced around the woods for a second. "This means it has a higher concentration of mist around it…" She walks back and forth around the clearing as if she's looking for something.
"What are you doing?" Aiden finally asked.
"Thanks to Chiron, I learned how to control mist… a bit. This gives me the ability to sense it…" She said. "And… I feel higher concentration of mist coming from… THIS direction" She pointed to a direction.
Aiden raised an eyebrow, "You sure?"
"Hmm… 30% sure" Thalia said. And the four begin their walk.
"How long are we supposed to walk…" Aiden whined
After what felt like hours, the four of them are still walking toward the direction Thalia had pointed to them.
"You know this is exactly like last time, only much worse because at least last time we're sitting down" He said.
"You better stop whining or I will have to get there and stop you myself" threaten Rey.
Aiden is actually not the whiny type. In fact, it's not the walk that's tiring him. It's the fact that they've been walking through the woods for what feels like hours without anyone saying anything. The silence is frustrating his mind, so he figured he can melt the situation a bit.
"Stay alert guys, we're already near" Thalia said.
A few minutes of more walking finally got them to a camp located near a running river. The four of them climbed up a tree to scout the area, while of course, trying not to be seen by hiding behind the branches of the trees. There are 4 men wearing black cloaks securing the camp. Each one of them is carrying a golden sword. On the farthest back of the camp, there is a big cage that is also made out of gold.
"Why do I get the feeling that we hit the spot?" Aiden said.
All four of them draw their bow and arrow and each one of them are aiming at different guards. And on Thalia's mark, they released their arrows simultaneously.
"So Jay, have you watch the new season of-UGH" the man fell to the ground before he can finish his sentence as an arrow pierced his shoulder. Not giving a chance for any of them to react, the rest of the guards also took an arrow to their body parts, before they even processed what's going on.
"Ah shiet… I missed" Aiden silently grumbled to himself.
"So… now let's check if these guys are actually who we're looking for, and not just a random camper that just happens to be a big fan of cloak and golden swords" Aiden said as he jumped down from the tree, followed by the Hunters.
"Stay alert, we don't know if there are more of them around here" Thalia said.
Aiden crouched at the side of one of the motionless body, one that has an arrow stuck in his left shoulder. After staring at him for a while, Aiden slapped the man's face as hard as he can.
"OWW! You… FUCK!" The man screamed in agony as he rubs his right cheek that starts turning red.
"See? This one still alive" Aiden smirked.
Thalia walks toward Aiden. "I'll handle this one, you go find the key to that cage" She said.
Aiden gets up from his crouching position and starts to examine other bodies. Meanwhile, Thalia is interrogating one of the guards.
"Who do you work for?" She asked him.
"Just kill me!" The man screamed at her face.
"Don't worry, the time for that is later… What do you need Midas's daughter for?" Thalia asked again.
The man didn't budge. Thalia is starting to run out of patience. She twirls the arrow stuck in his left shoulder, creating an agonizing pain.
To her surprise, the man just grits his teeth and shakes his head rapidly, trying to endure the pain with all his power. She wonders what it is that made him so persistent.
"Found it!" Aiden held up a key. He jogged to where the cage is located, followed by Sasha and Rey, who were also looking for the key.
Once he gets to the cage, what he saw inside it shocked him. He saw a stunningly beautiful girl locked behind the bars, she seems to be around his age or maybe older by the looks of it. She has a long, blonde hair, and a pale skin that is covered with scars and bruises. She seems to be asleep. Aiden quickly opened the door of the cage and slowly approached her.
"Hey…" He slowly shakes her body.
The girl opened her eyes, her amber eyes made contact with Aiden's silver one. The two just stare at each other. "Move out of the way boy" Rey knocked Aiden down to the side.
"Are you okay?" asked Rey to the girl.
"W-who are you guys? Why are you here?" The girl hesitantly asked.
"You know… saving you and stuff" Aiden said as he got up from the ground, brushing off the dirt from his body.
"We are the Hunter of Artemis, what's your name?" asked Sasha.
"Z-Zoe…" the girl answered.
Rey helped her gets up on her feet. "We'll get you out of here Zoe"
They get out of the cage only to be greeted by a panic Thalia rushing toward them. "Guys… we might have a problem." she said.
As soon as she said that, the five of them hear a loud growl coming from the woods on their left. The trees in the distance were shaking in rhythm with the sound of pounding. The five stood there, unsure what to expect, when suddenly, an elephant sized bear emerged from behind the trees. The abominable brown bear was enormous in size, and it had a lot of battle wounds and arrows stuck in his thick hide.
"I-is that…" Sasha said.
"Smokey the Bear?" Aiden continued.
Well, this has been a slow chapter. But we finally meet Midas's daughter! I just think it's an interesting concept to collaborate Aiden who is related to silver with Zoe (Midas's daughter) who is related with gold.
That's all for this chapter guys…
Bye for now.
