Part 10
It was as if Helaine had magnified her vision a thousand times--had penetrated the lush leaves of the trees, seen right through the branches and park. As if she had caught a glimpse of the ugliness that plagued the Isle.
Acadia, the hinds' best healer, had fallen to a barbed arrow. No she lay in a near fevered fit inside the cave that the hinds had retreated to. With Acadia wounded, the number of hinds still on their feet lessened. Willow stood at the mouth of the cave, ushering in her remaining sisters. She had called for an immediate retreat. The attacks had worsened tenfold since only the day before. And now there were no prisoners being taken. Orarin's hoards had mercilessly hewed down the hinds' ranks as if they were cutting wheat for the harvest. There could only be one explanation. "Rhena!" Willow called. In seconds, Rhena appeared at her leader's side.
"Yes, Willow?"
"Have the front of this cave sealed off, you know how. All of our sisters, save Helaine and Serena, are present. But they know of the back entrance. When they need to get in, they will know how."
"I will."
"Then gather Briannon and Harmony and meet me in the side cavern to the right. We need to hold a council and discuss what our next move is going to be."
"I understand." With that, Rhena rushed off. Willow sighed wearily and looked down at her hands. She had not been in her human form for the longest time. Hinds always fought better in their hind form. And since Orarin's men had orders to attack any young women with dark hair and brown eyes, being in human form had not helped them escape any. But now in the cave there was more room if everyone remained in human shape. 'I feel so restricted as a human. As a hind, I am so much more free, the wind in my hair as I run, the communication with other creatures…now is not the time for such thoughts. I must focus on the present. I cannot afford to think of better days if I do not have a plan to free my sisters so that we may experience those better days again.'
Willow turned and walked swiftly into the side cavern that had been turned into a base of operations. A map lay on a large rock in the center of the cavern. It contained all the secret entrances to caverns, caves behind waterfalls, hidden trails through the forests, and the like, known only to Artemis's chosen. This knowledge was their best defense against Orarin's men. So far, their archers were hardly making a dent in Orarin's army. And hinds knew nothing of combat or the use of any other weapons. "We are not warlike creatures!" exclaimed Willow in frustration.
"No, we are not." Harmony replied as she entered the cave with Rhena and Briannon behind her. She saw the invisible burden that lay on her leader's shoulders, and the pain that it was causing Willow was quite visible. "You cannot blame yourself for that. Artemis did not intend for us to be warlike creatures. The first hinds did not even have a knowledge of archery. Artemis had to teach us when it became obvious that men sought after us for our golden skins and the power our blood possesses."
"Our blood," Briannon echoed. "That must be why we are under such ferocious attack. Orarin must have aspirations to have power over the gods."
"Which gods?" Orarin's men dress differently than Greek men do, and their accents certainly are not Greek." stated Rhena.
"It does not matter. We should nto waste our time guessing at which god or gods Orarin wants to kill. We need to focus on our survival. Are all of our sisters present in these caverns?"
"Yes, Willow, all but Serena and Helaine."
"Are you sure sending Helaine to get help was the best idea? It was Ares, the god of war, who appeared to her in her dream and told her to seek that friend of hers, Hercules. How do we know that it isn't Ares who is behind these attacks?"
"It is not Ares, Rhena. He may have a bad side, but we are not on it. And even if Ares was behind Orarin, it would not matter. Helaine knows Hercules, she trusts him. He is also Zeus's son. We could use his help."
"But only one half-god isn't much." Briannon said warily.
"It's more than we have now. Any help we can get, we need." Willow countered.
"What about Serena? We can't just lave her sitting in that shallow little cave forever. Orarin's men are bound to find her eventually."
"She needs to be there to protect Helaine when she comes back. Especially if Helaine was not able to get Hercules's help. Besides," Harmony closed her eyes, "Helaine is near. I can feel it. I'm sure all of you can too." The others paused, sending their senses out. Within seconds, they all nodded.
"So what do we do now, Willow?" Rhena asked falteringly.
"We wait. There are just too many men out there, we don't stand a chance against them by ourselves. We wait here and pray to Artemis that she sends help."
Well, what do you think I should do next? I've got an idea or two, but I'm not going to bother writing them if no one asks me to, 'cause I've got an idea for a different fic that I could work on. So please review!