Ch. 8
"Queen, Queen! The belt of the Amazons has been stolen!"
"What?" Hippolyta exclaimed. She stood up and stared at the both the Amazons that had come in. "Explain this to me, now!"
One of the Amazons stepped forward. "We were standing on the walls. Suddenly we heard sounds of a struggle. We went there to investigate." The Amazon then seemed to hesitate for a second.
Hippolyta though didn't seem to notice and tapped her foot impatiently. "Continue!"
"When we arrived at the place where the belt is kept we found two of our sisters who were on guard there. Or at least what was left of them," the Amazon finally said.
"What do you mean, what was left of them?" Zoe asked.
The Amazon looked at her, clearly horrified. "The only thing we found was their armor and a big pile of dust. It looked like they had... withered away/ We immediately went inside to check on the belt; it was gone. We then heard a noise outside. We went outside and saw a creature flying away."
"Did you see what it was?" Hippolyta demanded to know.
The Amazon shook her head. ''No, my queen. Just a figure in the distance.''
''Take us there.''
Everyone in the tent of Hippolyta stood up and followed the two Amazons.
"This is where we found our two sisters."
Everyone turned to look at the ground. The only thing that was left of them was a pile of dust along with all their armor and weapons which seemed to be entirely intact.
"What could have done this?" Selene said.
"Oh, I know many things who could have done this," Perseus said. He crouched down next to the pile of dust. Perseus inspected a chest piece. Perseus' earlier assumption was wrong: their armor was not entirely intact. There seemed to be a hole just under the armpit where a sharp object, probably some sort of sword, had pierced through.
"How did the figure that you saw look like?" Perseus asked the Amazons.
They looked over to their Queen who nodded slowly to them to tell Perseus.
"We didn't see much: only the outline of the wings. They looked almost... reptilian," one of the Amazons explained.
Perseus looked thoughtful for a second. "That narrows down what it could be. It could be a dragon but I don't know why a dragon would come here, let alone steal the belt. A drakon along with some other monster ally is maybe more likely, but they can't fly. That leaves only one, but that would be..."
"What?" Selene asked.
Perseus turned to look at the two Amazons. "When you saw the creature, did you feel some kind of primal fear? An instinct to just run away and hide? The type that makes you feel that it is not meant to be seen by mortals?"
Both of the guarding Amazons bit their lips and shuffled their feet nervously. Perseus had hit the nail right on it's head.
"I know what stole your belt," Perseus said to Hippolyta.
"What did, Perseus?"
"Kampê."
"That should be impossible: Kampê is still trapped inside of Tartarus," Artemis said.
"All signs indicate that it is her who has done this. The bodies that turned to dust, the reptilian wings, the sense of fear. She's also smart enough to steal the belt," Perseus explained.
"Perseus is right, milady," Zoe said. "The question is, how did we not notice her?"
"Manipulating the mist? A concealment potion? Maybe she can conceal herself? There's a million ways she could have done this," Perseus said. "The real question is her motive for this. Why did she do it?"
"That cursed creature Echidna probably sent her," Artemis said. "She has to take out the Amazons if she wants complete power of the Persian Empire."
"And she did that by taking our belt, weakening us considerably and strengthening their whole army," Hippolyta finished. "So, what do we do now?"
"I'll have to inform the other gods of this. Echidna on her own is already bad but now also Kampê. I fear more powerful monsters will join Echidna's cause," Artemis said.
"Monsters such as?" Perseus asked.
"Chimera, maybe? Scylla and Charybdis are in the Sea of Monsters now, but they could escape. In the worst case even Typhon."
"Typhon is trapped under a volcano, right?" Zoe said.
"Yes, but if Echidna has somehow gotten Kampê out of Tartarus I don't doubt she can get Typhon out of his prison with the help of the belt of the Amazons," Artemis remarked.
"So what do we do now?" Hippolyta asked.
"I say we hunt for Kampê," Perseus suggested. "If we take her out it will be a big blow to Echidna's army of monsters. We also need to get the belt back: if Echidna get's her slimy hands on that she will be almost impossible to stop."
"So who will go?'' Artemis asked.
''I suggest a small hunting party. Kampê is easy to track: it leaves a foul scent everywhere it goes,'' Perseus frowned in thought. ''I think Zoe, Selene, Artemis and Hippolyta should go. The best of the Amazons and the best of the Hunters.''
''What about you Perseus, aren't you coming?'' Zoe asked.
Perseus grinned. ''Thank you for thinking so highly of me, but I know my limits. This is too much for me to handle as a mortal. I hunt small-time monsters, not things that can kill gods.''
Artemis nodded. ''That's settled then. It will be a sort of quest to kill Kampê.''
She looked over at Zoe, Hippolyta and Selene. ''You will have to leave now and travel through the night, while I inform the council of this development.''
Hippolyta, Selene and Zoe all nodded in agreement.
''I will cloak our presence so that Kampê won't be able to sense us,'' Hippolyta stated.
Hippolyta turned to Zoe and Selene. "Grab your supplies and weapons: we will be leaving in 15 minutes. There is no time to lose.''
Perseus watched as the tree women slowly disappeared into the darkness of the night and then sighed. His emotions told him to grab his own weapons and run after them. Perseus however knew his limits: he could not take on a monster such as Kampê directly. It would be sucide. One touch of one of the monster's poisonous blades and Perseus would shrivel away until there would be nothing left of him.
Perseus sighed again cursing that fact and then walked back to the Hunters' camp, or rather his spot a good distance away from the main encampment. Perseus fell onto the ground and immediately fell asleep, still exhausted from the battle earlier that day. Unfortunately his sleep did not give Perseus rest.
Perseus was like an eagle, watching from the sky a battle. It was between Kampê and the quest members that had set out to destroy it. The members of the quest were fighting with all their might but Kampê was simply too powerful. Perseus tried to zoom his vision in on Kampê, to see why it was so strong. Then Perseus saw something on the Kampê's waist. A belt: it glowed with power. Perseus could hear it humming as Kampê took down the members of the quest one by one until there was no-one left. Then Kampê looked directly at Perseus grinning...
Perseus woke up and immediately jumped up to defend himself. He sighed when he realized it had been a dream. And yet it had seemed so livid. Perseus wondered if he had seen the future. Was this what was going to happen? Perseus looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to rise. Perseus guessed it was still early in the morning. Zoe, Selene and Hippolyta had probably stopped somewhere now to rest and allow Artemis to catch up.
Perseus stared at the sky, thinking what he should do. He couldn't just leave his friends right? Even if it meant basically committing suicide by going after them? Perseus hit himself on the head and sighed. ''Why do I always have to get involved?'' he mumbled to himself. Perseus then jumped up and grabbed his weapons. He also put on his armor as quickly as he could: there was indeed no time to lose. Lastly he grabbed his mantle and left the kamp ready to find the rest of the group and Kampê.
Perseus dropped his bow and supplies on the ground and laid down on his back. He was absolutely exhausted. He had basically ran all day trying to close the distance between him and the rest of the group. Now it had become too dark for Perseus to see properly: he also hadn't brought any torches with him. That wasn't the only reason though: the forests up in the mountains were completely undisturbed by humans: a prime place for monsters to live. Perseus didn't want to get attacked when he could barely see anything in front of him.
Perseus started on making a fire: as he had left the home of the Amazons it had become increasingly colder. Perseus was pretty sure he was on the edge on what was considered the Amazon's homeland. He had followed the tracks of the main hunting group. Perseus had noticed that there were only three people walking on this path. Apparently Artemis wasn't with them yet. Perseus watched the flames slowly begin to engulf the wood when he heard voices. Male sounding voices. Perseus quickly threw sand over his fire and hid behind a big tree. Perseus waited for a minute or so but it seemed he was in no immediate danger.
Perseus slowly peered around the side of the tree. He saw human like figures walking with torches in the distance. Perseus couldn't make out who or what they were because of all the trees and bushes that covered them. Perseus crouched down and snuck through the bushe closer to the figures, wanting to know who they were. Now there was only about fifty feet between them. Perseus peered up over the bushes. The figures were definitely not human. Perseus at least had never seen humans that were eight feet tall, had arms with weird symbols on them and teeth that were as sharp as a lion's.
"Laistrygonian Giants,'' Perseus mumbled.
There were about ten that Perseus could see and probably a few that Perseus couldn't make out in the darkness. He kept looking at them as they slowly went out of Perseus' sight. Perseus suddenly went stiff: he had heard the slightest sound of the rustling of bushes behind him. Were there more behind him that he hadn't seen? Perseus slowly turned around and grabbed his knife from his belt holding it tightly. Perseus now really sensed something or someone getting closer. Perseus felt his muscles tighten as the presence approached.
Perseus jumped up as a human looking thing came in his sight. He kicked at the shin of the figure and jumped on him/her with his knife ready to slit its throat when he recognized the face of the one who he was attacking.
''Artemis? What are you doing here?'' Perseus whispered.
''I could ask you the same thing Perseus.''
Perseus stared at her for a second.
''Get off of me,'' Artemis whispered harshly.
''Right,'' Perseus said as he stood up and helped Artemis get on her feet again.
As she stood up she looked at the disappearing lights in the distance before looking at Perseus. ''Laistrygonian Giants."
Perseus nodded. ''A whole group of them, about fifteen to twenty-five."
''They serve Kampê," Artemis said.
Perseus sighed. ''Bad news. How do you know that?''
''I asked my brother; he saw them together with her.''
''Right: forget you were a goddess for a second,'' He stood up. ''Let's go back to my camp."'
'So what are you doing here Perseus? Didn't you say something about knowing your limits?'' Artemis inquired.
Perseus snorted. "I think I might be insane for going. There was something I saw though that I just couldn't ignore.''
"What is that then?"
''This may sound stupid, but I had a nightmare. I saw Hippolyta, Selene, Zoe and you fighting Kampê. You four couldn't beat her because she was wearing the belt. It was weird because it seemed so real. Kampê even looked at me directly before I woke up. Anyway, after I saw that I just couldn't stand to stay around and let you risk your lives while I did nothing.''
''I understand,'' Artemis said.
''So why are you not with the rest?'' Perseus asked. ''You would join them after your council meeting right?''
''Hippolyta is concealing them well. I can't find them that way. So I was following their tracks, same as you,'' Artemis explained.
''Why couldn't you sense me then?'' Perseus asked.
Artemis looked over at him. ''It is curious... I can't sense you.''
Perseus laughed. ''Now I can say that even the Goddess of the Hunt can't find me, so good am I at concealing myself.''
''Don't let it get to your head.''
Perseus smiled smugly. ''Already have."
Artemis rolled her eyes at him. ''We should get some rest: tomorrow is going to be a long day.''
''You're right,'' Perseus answered. He laid down on the ground, using his sack as a pillow. ''Good night, Arty.''
This earned Perseus a firm kick on his leg.
''Don't call me that.''
''Worth it," Perseus said grinning while rubbing the spot where Artemis had kicked him.
''Just go to sleep Perseus.''
"Right," Perseus said and he laid back down waiting for the sleep to come. Sleep did come too him soon. As did the nightmare.
Perseus was like an eagle, watching from the sky a battle. It was between Kampê and the quest members that had set out to destroy it. The members of the quest were fighting with all their might but Kampê was simply too powerful. Perseus tried to zoom his vision in on Kampê, to see why she was so strong. Then Perseus saw something on the Kampê's waist. A belt: it glowed with power. Perseus could hear it humming as Kampê took down the members of the quest one by one until there was no-one left. Then Kampê looked directly at Perseus grinning. She walked over to him and stuck one of her ungodly swords into Perseus' chest. He could feel his body slowly withering away...
Perseus awoke with a loud gasp reaching for his sword. Soon after he realized that he had been dreaming again.
''Having trouble sleeping?''
Perseus looked to his side to see Artemis there sitting on a dead tree stump. ''You too?'' Perseus asked.
Artemis shook her head. ''I am a goddess: I don't have to sleep.''
Perseus sighed and laid back down again. ''I had the exact same nightmare as last night.''
''Really?''
Perseus nodded. ''Yeah, just as terrible as last time. Only now I died at the end as well, making it even more depressing.''
Artemis frowned at him. ''If you were a demigod I would assume it was a prophetic dream.''
''It's probably just nothing,'' Perseus said as he stared up at the sky. Deep inside him he knew it was not nothing. Having the exact dream two nights in a row was a bad sign. Perseus only hoped this wasn't really the future.
The next morning he and Artemis continued following the tracks of the rest of the members of the quest. Judging by the tracks they were getting closer to them by the hour.
''Why do we always end up together,'' Perseus thought out loud. He was standing next to Artemis who was inspecting more tracks.
''What do you mean?''
Perseus shrugged. ''Well, we always are together on these sort of hunting trips.''
''That's apparently what fate has in store for us,'' Artemis said looking back at the tracks.
''I met them once, the Fates,'' Perseus said.
Artemis turned around and stared at him. ''Really?''
Perseus nodded. ''They said something about me having a important role to play in fate or something like that.''
''Interesting. Even I have only seen the Fates once,'' Artemis said. She looked back at the tracks to find out in which direction they needed to go.
Perseus shrugged. ''I don't believe that someone's destiny can be set in stone..."
Artemis interrupted him. ''Perseus, do you see that?''
''What?'' Perseus said crouching down next to Artemis.
''These marks are a lot deeper than the ones before.''
Perseus frowned. ''They started running for some reason. You think they got attacked?''
Artemis nodded and stood up. ''Come, we have to find them quick. They may be in trouble.''
Perseus also stood up. Together Artemis and he started running down the path through the dense forest. Perseus tried to keep up with Artemis, but she was way too fast for him. Soon he was left behind running on his own. Perseus sighed. ''So much for being friends. She just leaves me alone.''
Perseus came to a sudden halt when he was stopped by someone's arm. It was Artemis who dragged him down to some bushes to hide. '''What's the matter?'' Perseus whispered.
''Look there,'' Artemis said.
Perseus looked forward. They were looking at a clearing between the trees, about thirty feet away. A big encampment was set up there. Perseus cursed under his breath: big figures were sitting around campfires. Too big to be human. ''This the camp of the Laisytronian Giants,'' Perseus said.
''Look closer.''
Perseus stared closely. Then he saw what Artemis meant: Zoe, Selene and Hippolyta were bound to big poles on the other side of the camp. They had obviously fought with the Giants, indicated by the various wounds they had but otherwise they looked okay.
''Shit,'' Perseus whispered. ''What are we going to do?''
''You, Perseus, distract them. I will free them,'' Artemis said already starting to run silently away.
''Wait, how do I do that?''
Artemis was already gone. Perseus cursed and stood up. He walked over to the clearing. ''Time to improvise,'' he mumbled.
''Greetings friends!''
All the Giants from the camp looked up at him. They all immediately jumped up and grabbed their clubs. ''Looks like more food has decided to show up,'' one of the Giants said grinning. He was a lot bigger than the rest: he was most likely their leader. The others all laughed in shouted in agreement. Now Zoe, Selene and Hippolyta all looked at him too. Perseus ignored their questioning gazes and focused on the Giants. At least they were all looking at Perseus.
Perseus shook his head. ''No, that's not what I am here for. I doubt you would like the taste of me anyway, because I'm not a demigod. No, I am here because I bring a message from Kampê: you are to bring the prisoners to her at once.''
''She said we could keep them just a few hours before. Why would she suddenly change her mind? How do we know you are speaking the truth, human?'' the leader shouted.
''Err, yeah,'' Perseus said rapidly thinking in his mind for an explanation. The Giants were smarter than Perseus thought. ''Do you really want to risk disobeying Kampê?'' Perseus eventually shouted.
This had the desired effect. All the Giants looked at each other fearfully and started whispering among eachother. Kampê was apparently also feared by her fellow monsters. Then again, she wasn't really your run-of-the-mill monster.
''Very well, human. Send word to Kampê that we will bring her the prisoners,'' the leader said.
''Why should we do that?'' another one suddenly said. He was almost as big as the leader of the Giants; from the look on his face it was clear that he was a rival of the leader.
The leader of the Giants turned to him. ''Do you really want to risk Kampê's wrath, you idiot?''
''So what? She is just one monster! We can take her out easily!''
''If you really think you can take her out you are even more stupid then you look,'' the leader shouted.
Perseus saw that behind Artemis had already cut Zoe loose and was starting on Selene. Zoe was standing with a bow in her hand looking at the Giants. It seemed that Artemis had also already stolen their weapons back. None of the Giants looked at the prisoners, as they were too busy discussing.
Some other Giants started agreeing with the rival Giant while others were shouting that they shouldn't risk it. Not soon after two groups were beginning to form, about equal in numbers.
''I am going to take the prisoners to Kampê right now,'' the leaders said pointing towards the prisoners, luckily without actually looking at them. ''The only way to stop me is to challenge my leadership and try to kill me,''
The other Giant smiled. ''It would be my pleasure.''
Both groups roared their battle cries and charged at each other. The camp was plunged into utter chaos. Clubs were being swung around wildly and bones started cracking. Perseus quickly rushed over to Artemis and Zoe to help them free Selene and Hippolyta.
''Seems your distraction worked well, Perseus,'' Artemis said.
The Giants were still battling with eachother. The casualties started racking up, as heads were being smashed in by clubs and necks were being snapped. It was all a very gruesome affair. Perseus reckoned that more than the half of the Laistrygonians had already perished. There were about ten left still fighting.
''Let's get out of here before they notice us,'' Selene said.
Suddenly they heard one of the Giants shout loudly. ''The prisoners are escaping!''
The Giants all turned around to see their prisoners now free and all with weapons in their hands, along with two others.
''Treachery!'' the Giants shouted. They all stopped fighting among themselves and charged the quest members.
Perseus grabbed his trusty hairpin and let it turn into Riptide. ''Seems we have to fight after all. Everyone, pick two Giants.''
Perseus turned his attention to the two Giants he would have to take on. They were both a lot bigger than Perseus. Both were around eight feet tall with arms as big as logs. One was carrying a massive club and the other had a large spear in his hand. They were both covered in blood from the brothers they were just fighting with.
Instead of letting them overwhelm him by being defensive, Perseus took the offensive route. He ran at them, Riptide snugly in his hand. The Laistrygonians were clearly not expecting this as they slowed down slightly and hesitated. This gave Perseus the opportunity to land the first hit. He jumped at one of the Giants and kicked him with all his strength. The Laistrygonian stumbled backwards from the blow giving Perseus the chance to focus on the other one.
Perseus dodged a strike from the club aimed at taking off his head and slashed at the Giant's hand with Riptide. With one clean gash Perseus took the hand of the Giant right off. The club dropped to the ground. Blood sprouted out of the stump and the Giant screamed in agony. Perseus had to turn around though as the other Giant had stood up again and had come to avenge his disfigured brother.
Perseus grabbed his knife from his belt and threw it at the head of the Giant. He batted it away with his hand though and kept steadily advancing on Perseus. With all his might the Laistrygonian threw the spear at Perseus. He could just barely bat it away with his own sword but was left exposed. That gave the Giant the chance to attack Perseus; he swung his mighty arm towards Perseus. Perseus was ready though and with two hands directed the punch away from him. The momentum of the punch let the Giant to fall to the ground. Perseus grabbed his sword from the ground and got ready for the finishing blow.
Suddenly he got hit in the back by something really big. Perseus was thrown to the ground, also knocking Riptide out of his hands again. The Giant with only one hand left had tackled him in an effort to save his fallen brother. The fully intact Laistrygonian grabbed his spear from the ground and walked over to Perseus who was lying on the ground without a weapon.
''It seems this is your end, treacherous human.''
The Giant raised his spear and let it come down. Perseus rolled away though and grabbed his bow from his back. He drew back the string and shot an arrow in the throat of the Giant with the spear. He dropped the spear as his hands clutched his throat. Perseus immediately jumped up and ran over to the spear. He picked up and turned around to see Giant with one hand charging him. With all his strenght Perseus rammed the spear through the Giant's hearth. He stood stiff for a second before dropping to the ground. Perseus slowly pulled the spear out of the Giant's chest.
Perseus looked around him to see how the others were doing. The only Giant still standing was the original leader, who was fighting Zoe. Perseus threw his spear at the Giant. It lodged itself into the Giant's shoulder, giving Zoe the chance to slit the Laistrygonian's throat. Perseus looked around him again and sighed in relief. With the leader killed all the Laistrygonian Giants were dead.
''So how did you get captured?'' Perseus asked. They were all sitting in their camp. Everyone, except Artemis of course, was exhausted after the battle with the Giants and they decided to set a camp up early to rest.
''They surprised us: they ambushed our camp. We tried to escape but they were with too many and we didn't have our weapons with us. They captured us and brought us to their camp, probably to eat us.''
Perseus shuddered. ''That sounds horrific.''
Zoe shrugged. ''Luckily you two showed up. Speaking of you two, why are here Perseus?''
''Err, I was kind of bored, so I went into the forest. There I saw the Artemis and, you know, I thought why not? I'll come too.''
''Well, it clearly paid off. Thanks for saving us, Perseus and Lady Artemis,'' Selene said.
While Hippolyta and Zoe nodded in agreement with Selene. Artemis meanwhile stared at him with a questioning gaze, probably wondering why Perseus had lied. Perseus slowly shook his head hoping she would understand. His dream about the battle with Kampê wouldn't do them any good to hear.
''We should get some rest, we are going to need it,'' Zoe said.
Artemis nodded. ''Now that the Laistrygonian Giants have been dealt with there is only one thing left to do:''
''Finding Kampê and killing her,'' Hippolyta finished.
Author's Note: Next chapter will conclude this arc with the Amazons. As always I'll try to update as soon as I can but I'm always very busy so no promises.