V.
Artetris flowed with the stream as a log. Though she could not see it in her log form, she felt it; she felt the dark magic permeating out the house and towards the Grove. Artetris cursed to herself for leaving her home behind. Once she reclaimed it, she'd never leave it again.
At the front of the house, she sensed two prime wood witches, older variants of the others who were a bit more combative and dangerous. Had she come from the front, they most definitely would have attacked her. She mentally patted herself on the back for taking caution, as much caution as she could in a forest of Wood Witches at least…though they had been relatively quiet her whole trek downstream…
As she bumped the house, Artetris sank down into the water and transformed back to her humanoid form. Her tree-like antlers rose from the shallow depths first as she quietly lifted herself out and onto the turf just near her tree house's rear. The undeniable odor of potion seeped forth from her home, and Artetris glared in suspicion as the pungent aroma singed her senses in the most unpleasant of ways. She definitely smelled the fowl fey's essence mixed in with several other scents. Had he been targeted by the witch directly? If so, how much control did she have over Herakli exactly?
And if not her, who did? And why?
Artetris circled the small tree house with care—watching, waiting, listening, and scrutinizing her enemies for weaknesses. She clearly saw how the primes seemed to argue; she could use that. She noticed the bedroom window, where she and her parents once slept, completely boarded over, and she huffed; no entry there. No problem.
The sensation of the prowling thrilled her—stalking her prey and hunting its weaknesses before striking. Her mana tingled throughout her as she continued scoping. She forgot herself in the darkness as she became one, in her mind with the air, the breeze, and the sounds of crickets and cicadas around them.
Yes. This was truly where she belonged. No more city for her unless some mega urgency called for her aid.
She caught herself and took a deep breath.
Her name was Artetris. She was the daughter of Hylea Huntress and Manevus Wizard. She was eighteen years old and a mistress of forest magics and trees. She hailed from a home on a peaceful cliff where the water always flowed over the edge in tranquility…. and she was its Watcher of the Forest—of its lands, beasts, and bees.
Artetris smiled at the new rendition of her mantra. It fit perfectly.
Inside, she could hear the old witch stir about, completely unwise to her presence. Arbottoma spoke in nonsense verse here and there as she cooked whatever her evil was brewing, and Artetris huffed, hoping to hear something related to her plans, something to help Herakli out. But Arbottoma said not a word on her heinous whims.
Peeping out from where she hid, Artetris saw that the wood witch primes seemed on alert for something. She hummed softly and closed her eyes in thought. Perhaps the lesser wood witches had alerted them to her hunt. If so, that would make signaling Herakli that much more difficult…
Unless she set the primes against one another.
The crazy thought took her mind in an instant, and her eyes popped open. Yes. Yes. She could do that! And it wouldn't take much more than her imagination as before in the Grove! If she was lucky, she could send the two of them falling over the cliff! Oh! Joyous hunting!
Artetris hid herself and closed her eyes in concentration. She imagined a branch smacking the prime wood witch closest to the cliff's edge. Repeatedly, she focused on the image, hoping for it to stick until finally, her target cried out in alarm at the other and hissed.
"Kkssss!" it said in its tongue. "You hit me again, I'll kill you!"
The second prime hissed back, and they swatted.
"Kkssss!" the other cried. "Who's hitting who you dumb lesser stick! I'll kill you…"
Artetris fought not to sniggle and laugh, but she did muster a smile of pride before going back to it and focusing on the other prime wood witch so that both would be livid. As the two simmered down a bit and returned to their watch, Artetris began once more.
Again, she envisioned a branch smacking one of them; this time, she focused on the other prime who immediately hissed and attacked.
"Stick, die!" the second prime cried, shoving.
"I'm no stick!" cried the first prime, shoving back. "You'll perish twig!"
Artetris listened to them spat and moved closer towards the cliff's edge where the water flowed.
She refocused her mind on the two fighting primes and saw them closing in on the cliff edge as the second prime shoved the first to the edge. No love seemed lost between them much to her amusement and pleasure. Artetris pulled an arrow from her quiver and set it on the ground to gather grass. She would have to time things just right…
The second prime moaned an angry moan and shoved the other for the edge, sending her falling back. With her mind, Artetris quickly shot her arrow and a vine between the two so that the second prime would trip and fall with the first right over the edge. As planned, the unwitting prime caught against the taut line and cried out in confusion as she took a fall with her victim. Both cried out "Nooo!" before their voices vanished into the thick below. Several crashes and cracking noises reached her ears, and Artetris chuckled with glee at her success.
The witch was next…
Artetris returned her attention to her hijacked home as she heard movement. She dismissed the arrow and vine before Arbottoma appeared from the door. The Tree Witch rushed to the edge in investigation, kicked her feet, and threw a tantrum.
"You idiots!" she cried after them. "Not again!"
Artetris grinned with pride. She loved this enemy's misery.
On cue, she heard Herakli lumbering forward to engage her. Arbottoma jumped and hissed out towards the presence she felt. Artetris quietly spied as he slowly moved as if hesitant.
"Huh?" Arbottoma proclaimed, her golden hair flowing with mystic power as she floated and scanned the land. "Who's there?! Intruders! Fear my bottomless hole!"
The Tree Witch stopped her magic, however, upon seeing the bear approaching.
"Oh! Acteo!" the witch exclaimed. "How's my hair look? Go on. Be honest."
Artetris' raised an eyebrow. Acteo? Who the heck was that? Acteon's brother? Artetris snorted and slowly crept out and towards the witch, a javelin at the ready…
The air suddenly grew cold, and the Wood Witch Grove sang out in alarm.
"Watch her, the Watcher! Watcher! The Watcher!" the chanted.
Artetris spat as Arbottoma turned around in confusion to find her. The witch hissed and dodged as her javelin flew, hitting nothing.
"Gah!" Arbottoma cried out. "You sneaky thing you! Acteo lured you here did he? Good. Good. We'll need that spear of yours for our hunt of the Artemis Band…
"Acteo, I have the brew ready! We can get to work quickly!"
Artetris stood up and conjured a second javelin.
"What are you on about witch?" Artetris demanded, glaring. "Herakli, who is this Acteo person she keeps calling you? Is that the voice you heard? If I kill her, will it end him?"
"Uh…" Herakli replied a bit uneasily.
"Oh!" Arbottoma exclaimed, snapping her twig like hands and facing Herakli. Artetris shot a look to her. "I get it. You're the other side of the bear body! The young one who thought I could resurrect the friends he slew under the influence of Acteo's power… That's the one. Acteo probably let you have control to lure the young wench to us. Genius!"
"Genius?" Artetris repeated in confusion before balling her hands in anger and throwing her javelin at the witch who yelped and dodged again before peeping around the tree from safety. Artetris glared towards Herakli, and he groaned and shifted uncomfortably. "Acteo?! A potion… That's…that's not what you told me! Just what in the Nightospherian hell is going on here? Herakli, you'd better explain, or you're dead!"
"What?" Herakli replied, shaking his head. "I don't know what she's talking about! I came to her for a potion to heal my friends! I never asked for a brew against the Watcher! I wanted you to come home! Things got bad with you gone! I'd never lure you here for her."
"Herakli…" she spoke, boiling with anger. She did not like this, not one bit. What had he not told her. "Explanation. NOW!"
"I…" he started to say before trailing off and looking down towards the ground.
The witch chuckled from her safety spot with malicious glee but said nothing Clearly, she held great interest in seeing how things played out. Artetris' anger and confusion fumed. So greatly did she wish to hunt and kill them both for making her look foolish!
But she couldn't. She needed to hear Herakli out. She wasn't a huntress for huntress' sake any longer. She was…guardian of the forest and trees…the Watcher. Artetris took a deep breath and held her anger in check and spoke a bit calmer.
"Why did you come here?" she asked him. "What happened?"
"I…" he started again. His anxiousness unsettled her, and she folded her arms. Herakli growled somewhat in frustration before speaking. "I've been wanting to tell you since earlier…back when we first met and you asked me about this bliz. I kept trying to think of a way, but it…never really wanted to come out… It was eating at me thought… and clawing away inside… I'm sorry…"
His words bothered her.
"What have you not told me?" she asked, listening for the witch and anything else. Things had suddenly grown eerily silent. "What did I not hear before. Tell me all."
Herakli sighed and spoke.
"Okay," he said. "Okay…well….
"The story was that I came here seeking help after a bad hunt, and that was true. But I…didn' tell you what the hunt was. It wasn't even really meant to be a hunt. It was…the power, the curse that came to me I…hunted the crazy white deer to try and win back my girl and my friends after being a…a pretty cowardly jerk to them before.
"That's when all of this started…"
Artetris' arms dropped, and her breath left her.
The white deer…
"Acteon…" she softly muttered in horror. "The Forest Haunter….No. My mother slayed him…"
"Your mother slayed the anguishing Acteon, true," Arbottoma spoke up from her spot. Artetris watched and listened to her attentively. "She slayed the old hunter; however, she missed out on slaying the new one, his pure, vengeful spirit, Acteo."
"No…" she muttered. Herakli whimpered and his head continued to hang down.
"Yes," Arbottoma said with glee. "Acteo and Acteon had split long before your mother slayed the latter…but who could tell when neither ever appeared together! Acteon had had enough of vengeance you see…but the same could not be said for his vengeful spirit itself. It still wanted to see Artemis' beings destroyed like Artemis herself. So it split from Acteon and latched onto another elk! And so, thus, was Acteo born!"
"No, no…" Artetris repeated, grabbing her head in frustration. Had she been out there, she would have known. "You're lying!"
"No child," said the witch, solemnly shaking her head. "It does not benefit me to lie here. I speak truth…for once. Ha!
"Acteon tried to warn your mother but died before he could…or so Acteo says. That juvenile cub there did not kill Acteon but Acteo, his vengeful spirit…and now he carries that monster's curse inside his own body! But that was by design, for a bear body is more destructive! Without a Watcher to warn him of hunting cursed beasts without the right tools, that bear became a prime target for Acteo's will! And to the dryad's end, Acteo works….for me! Ahahahaha!
"Does my hair look dingy? I've had this rug for almost five years now. I should find that hero boy and make him give me more!"
Herakli stood in grave silence, and Artetris gulped while looking towards him. No amount of her killing the witch would do them any good. To kill him—that would be her only way to save him.
"Herakli…" she lowly muttered towards him.
What…had he done?
Arbottoma heinously sniggled as if tickled rose by the entirely awkward situation. Balling her fists, Artetris stood her ground despite every part of her desiring to run from and to never look back on the trouble she had thrown upon herself as her duty as Watcher.
Herakli paused and awaited her signal to keep talking. She breathed deep and gave it to him, "Herakli, I have not heard enough out of you. Speak, Friend. Let me hear you."
Herakli inhaled deeply and spoke on., "Right….right.
"I wanted to be stronger and show them how I had changed. So I told them how I would make amends to my cowardice by facing and killing the White Deer, the Great Hunter—Acteo—who was hunting the forest. That I wouldn't come back without having faced him, the forest's greatest terror, and lived."
Artetris nodded.
She knew of Acteon's White Beast and his legend—the vengeful spirit of the human hunter whose curse by Artemis' own hands in response to him finding her bathing nude in a river had driven him mad with vengeance and led to more than a few millennia of pain.
To walk the lands in immortal terror, the hunter becoming the hunted again and again unless the Watchers killed him, and many had chosen not to—such had been Acteon's curse so much so that Acteon fell into despair and hate, seeking to end Artemis' kind.
But never would one have imagined that vengeful spirit taking a form of its own.
Herakli hung his head and continued. Arbottoma yawned rudely.
"After searching around for days," Herakli said, "I finally did find him, and I faced him. He hunted me in the instant we locked eyes, and I thought that I was going to die. But in the end, I stood against him and killed him!"
Herakli proclaimed that part of his story with a semblance of pride, but Artetris shuddered. Some things weren't worth hunting without the right tools, especially not demons of the ancient past. Her poor idiot friend…
Herakli continued, "After killing him, my body turned white, and it felt strong. But then this…this voice told me that he could make me even stronger if I went to see the witch Arbottoma. At first, I refused him and went home, but strange things…they started happening, and my friends all began saying how I had turned into a monster. I wasn't sure what they were talking…but then I…started to blank out a lot…and waking up in cold chills with blood all over me and carcasses on the rise. Everyone would tell that I'd done it, but I…could never remember. I started lashing out and hating my friends and family…"
Artetris gulp and stared at him in disbelief. The air suddenly felt colder than ever. Herakli kept his head towards the ground as tears began falling.
"I don't know much about what happened…" he said. "All I am sure of is…they're all gone now… Two dead…and the rest all hiding from me in fear… I thought that the witch could resurrect them. So I told the voice…I would come here since the Watcher was gone and would not resurrect the dead in the first place."
Artetris grabbed her head at his words, partially covering her ears. She had not heard that! She didn't hear him say how she had abandoned them to the forests' dangers and madness. She had come back now…
"I killed my friends…" Herakli sobbed. "My girl…and him…"
What had he done?
What had she?
Artetris turned away from him, her fists balled in frustration.
"You were trying to tell me that you had killed them before…weren't you?" she asked.
Herakli said nothing to deny her words. She cursed herself and looked at the ground, her pride in defeat. Everything finally made sense. She shook her head in shame. If only she had listened…
If only she had never left…
If only…
"Herakli…" she said, holding her head. "I am so…sorry…."
"I came here to ask her for power," he replied, emptily. "The voice in my head kept pushing me, and I wound up here, but after that… I… I… I don't know what happened. Everything went black…
"Next thing I know…you're chasing after me for slaughtering King. I've been trying to figure it out all day…and I did, but I wasn't sure what you'd do or say when I told you… Plus, I wanted the witch to die… No offense."
"Eh…" Arbottoma remarked, shrugging. "I'm a witch. If you don't want me dead, I'm doing it wrong."
"This is all my fault!" Herakli said, looking towards Artetris. She calmly watched him back. "I just wanted to see my ex…and my friend again… If only I never hunted that dear!"
If only… Artetris' mind played the echoing words over again and again in her head in madness.
If only…If only…
Her head throbbed as she struggled to focus.
Her name was Artetris. She was the daughter of Hylea Huntress and Manevus Wizard. She was eighteen years old and a mistress of forest magics and trees. She hailed from a home on a peaceful cliff where the water always flowed over the edge in tranquility…. and she was its Watcher of the Forest—of its lands, beasts, and bees.
And She was its Watcher of Forest—of its lands, beasts, and bees….
The last part, her new part, struck her suddenly with inspiration like a sharp arrow to the head from nowhere.
If only… Not only…
She was. She was.
As Arbottoma cackled into the night sky, the wood witches cheered in triumph at their eminent retribution. Artetris, however, cared not for their arrogant wails. She looked up at Herakli, her madness focused positively for once in her life. Her will quickly grew firmer as she grasped her image tightly.
She was… She was…
"You can't waste time wondering on if-only's, " Artetris said, invigored. Herakli looked up at her with interest. "We can never truly say how past events might have played out 'if only'. If only I had stayed out here, I might have stopped this from happening…
"Or I might have been hunted by this witch at my young age and killed. It is truly impossible to say 'exacts' based solely on conjectures.
"I ran to the city, but I got stronger…and now…I'm more certain of who I am, of where I belong, and of who I must be with the strength I gained—of who I can and wish to be. It's that simple.
"I am Artetris, the Huntress Wizard. I am the daughter of Hylea Huntress and Manevus Wizard. I'm eighteen years old and a mistress of forest magics and trees. I hail from this home on this peaceful cliff where the water always flows over the edge in tranquility….
"…and I am the Watcher of the Forest—of its lands, beasts, and bees.
"Who we are…and what we do now. That's what matters. Never you mind 'if only's'. Worry more about the gift that is our present."
Herakli's eyes brightened at Artetris' words, and she smiled. Everything was clear to her. Once again, things around them had fallen silent, but Artetris did not care. Confidence flowed through her as it had not since her thrill of the hunt that afternoon. She kept Arbottoma in the back of her mind, waiting for some sign of her move. She felt the witch glaring at her conviction.
Artetris huffed and summoned her mightiest weapon with a whisper, one she had left behind in her youth—the Javelin of Artemis, Diana. The weapon resembled a giant leaf blade ceremoniously wrapped to a dragon bone pole with more leaves. She heard Arbottoma hiss at Diana's presence while Herakli stared at the weapon in wonder and awe.
"Acteo!" the witch cried, but nothing happened. "Gah! Is that bear's hold on you that great? Fine!"
She vanished into the house. Artetris leapt across the running stream and approached Herakli slowly with Diana in hand. The witch was of no interest to her. Her friend was the bigger problem. She stopped before her friend and sadly smiled at him.
"Whatever she has up her sleeve, it's going to kill you," Artetris bluntly stated. Herakli listened attentively. "I'm sorry Herakli, but as Watcher, I cannot allow a witch to bring your friends back. Death would be none too pleased if we took them from him after they were his."
He hummed sadly at her words but nodded with a soft smile.
"As for your curse…I" she spoke a bit more solemnly, and he looked up to her once more. She paused and took a deep breath before speaking. "It can be broken. Acteo can be slain… But to do so I must slay you."
"Oh…" he responded somewhat sadly. "I…I see…"
His head dropped in sadness, and Artetris closed her eyes in solemnity as she raised her mighty spear. If she didn't act before the witch, they would both die, and Herakli's soul would be wreathed with that guilt within Acteo for all time if he hurt her or anyone else. She had to free him. She had to save her friend the only way she saw how.
"It looks like I'll have to keep that Watcher's promise I made you…" Artetris remarked, grasping her javelin tightly. "I am…not happy about that one bit…"
Herakli choked a sigh as if holding back his tears. Aretris closed her eyes and allowed her own to flow before him.
"Right…" he managed to muster, his head hanging. "I'm glad I met you…Artetris…"
She took her stance with the javelin, ready to strike….
"I am glad…and honored I met you," she said.
"Hey! Hold the donk up, forest wench!" Arbottoma cried, leaping past her onto Herakli, before Artetris could strike him. "Ignore me, will you? I'll fix your buns!"
Artetris stepped back in shock while Herakli roared out in confusion and anger at the witch upon him; he thrashed about and slammed into the nearby wood witch trees, much to their terror, as he tried to throw Arbottoma loose, but her wood-skin arm wrapped around him like tree vines and held fast. Artetris narrowed her eyes in focus and readied her arrows. As she thrusted them forward, vines stretched from their tails and wrapped their prey around the legs and body. Herakli roared out in surprise as he tripped and fell backward, smashing Arbottoma beneath him.
The Arba Yaga groaned weakly at having been smashed while Herakli lay dazed. Artetris took note as the witch's grasp upon Herakli vanished, and she heaved a sigh of relief and smiled at having stopped the fiend from moving. Her smile, however, faded as the witch dropped an object to the ground from her free hand, an object shaped very much like a heart. It looked very much like an animal's heart, and it soon dawned on Artetris what kind.
Arbottoma had dropped the fowl fey's heart.
Artetris stared at it and then towards Arbottoma herself before becoming filled with rage and deciding she'd kill the witch too.
"So that's it!" she exclaimed. "You had Acteo kill King to craft a potion that would restore his life inside Herakli's body! How sick can you be?"
"I worked hard to craft my potion!" Arbottoma snapped back in madness. Her eyes spread wide as she struggled to raise Herakli off of her enough to fly out and up, high into the sky. Artetris grimaced and readied her arm for her javelin to fly.
But the air suddenly went cold and forced Artetris to stop and cover herself in comfort. Herakli stirred from the ground and rolled so that he stood above the heart meant to kill his hold on his body forever. A sudden sense of dread filled Artetris as he took note of it and sniffed it in disgust. Arbottoma cried out in summons.
"Acteo! Wake up!" the witch exclaimed as the wood witches ominously chanted around them.
"No!" Artetris cried, charging forward with Diana.
But Herakli suddenly stood up tall. With a roar of terror, he smacked her and the spear aside, sending her face-first into a tree. The wood witch trees all cackled and sung their horrid chants anew. In unison they sang to Arbattoma's summon:
"Acteo, huntsman of old!
"Slay the Watch! Avenge our soul!
"O fair! O great old Acteo!"