Brotherhood Of The Hunt

by RWBRyan

In the aftermath of the war with the Hunters, the Brotherhood must find it's place in the world...and they are about to find out that sometimes, humanity can be more evil than anything... Sequel to the award winning "The War Of The Hunters"

9. The Stand

Chapter Nine: The Stand

Dawn. The morning dew was covering the ground. The crickets were chirping and the birds were singing. Animals were awakening and beginning their hunt for food. Up in the trees, the leaves gently rustled in the breeze. And on the ground, a line of black coated men were moving.

They were moving in a single file line of sorts. Each man had a man behind his shoulder. That man behind his shoulder also was behind the opposite shoulder of the man next to him. So they moved in what could be a blend of two ranks in one. Behind them stood a large man decked in battle gear, wearing a military helmet as well, and while not carrying a rifle like the rest or one of the bigger pieces, he still had the air of intimidation.

Carlos walked calmly behind his men, enjoying the cool air. Inside his bulletproof vest was hot, but the coolness of the air around him helped counterbalance it quite nicely. His boots were also ultra comfortable, and he felt that he could push his men forever in these. Conditions were perfect for a pitched battle. And the best thing was that no one was going to investigate.

That was right, no one. He had paid a call to the police and other authorities in the local town, and informed them of the situation. They promised to close the woods to hunters or travelers, and send no one to investigate the strange amount of weapon fire, in case the sounds should echo to the townspeople. He could hardly control his excitement.

He knew that behind his line of armed men, there was nothing that could touch him. While they were not given the bulletproof vests that he wore, they were still heavily armed enough to make mice meat out of anything in front of them. Their AR-15s were capable of firing a round each time they pulled the trigger, and he also had other men armed with some very explosive weapons. There were also some armed with fully automatic machine guns, which would only add to the carnage. They all had plenty of ammo, enough for a whole day of fighting. But there was no way that the battle would last that long, maybe not even five minutes.

A line of a armed men a hundred strong was a formidable force for anything in these parts. Even a large army of police couldn't stop that kind of power.

-Brotherhood Camp-

The refugees were scared...and they should be.

Orion had told them of what was coming last night. Not one of them had probably slept. They were huddled in groups, most staying with family or close friends, and holding each other, their scared whimpers heard all through the night. Some children were crying, and parents, those that wee there, were holding them tight to them, as if trying to protect them from something they knew they could not. Mothers would hold their children to their chests, almost as if smothering them, and stroke the crying child's back.

A loving mother...sometimes, Jason could envy those people...

He shook that thought from his head. His mother had been sadistic, true. But if not for her, he would not have been found by Orion, and he would not have been opened to this whole new world, a world of myths come alive. He guessed he might owe her in a grudging type of way. He still didn't forgive her though...

A scout had come back recently and reported that the army coming for them had begun their sweep early in the morning, and that they should be here in the late afternoon, a little before nightfall. That could work in their favor. Visibility was usually pretty bad in the late afternoon, as the sun was setting. Maybe they could sue that to possibly mask themselves and pick them off as they came. Whatever happened, they would need to use every little advantage they could. Especially against the firepower and numbers they were looking dead in the eye.

He sat down on a rock and looked around at the brothers. Tents were being pulled down, for they would not do to not be mobile when the army came. The tents would be stashed somewhere hidden, in case the brothers ever needed to make use of them tomorrow. And that was a big if. They wouldn't need them in Hades.

Jason looked at the brothers preparing in other ways. A group had been conscripted to sharpening everyone's blades. Others were making as many arrows as they could before the thuggish army was in the vicinity, and others were making those special arrows, the explosive kind. The plan was going to depend on whatever shock they could give them.

The refugees would be positioned several hundred yards back from the main defense line, to be ready to bolt the moment that word was given to them. The brotherhood would then fight with everything they had, and but those people as much time as they could in order to get away to somewhere half-way safe. If they could inflict a substantial amount of casualties on the army of guards, then maybe they would be too shocked to give a reasonably fast chase.

But that was a long chance. Just how much damage could they do to this modern army? This was not the huntresses. They were relatively equal in number and firepower to the huntresses. They may have had Artemis, a full-blown goddess with them, but the brotherhood had had the power of Orion at their back, enhanced as he had been. They would have laughed at an attack by the huntresses, so sure they were of their abilities.

But an attack from an army equipped with modern weaponry, and of about four times their number. Those odds were virtually suicidal to go against. But the brothers were not suicidal. That was not in their nature. They simply were fighting for something other then themselves now. Jason could not understand it, and the rest probably did not either. But there was something stirred within them when they rescued those people, and now ere confronted with a fatal situation. Death or flee and leave them. The answer was not even debatable...

Within Orion's tent, he sat there, meditating as hard as he could. He thought of the situation before them, and tried to find a possible way that they could overcome it. To his sadness however, he found that he simply could not do so. The army coming for them would be able to decimate them. But it would not decimate them, Orion vowed, without the fight of their life.

There was no way they could win. But there was a chance to get those people to safety, even at the cost of their lives. The vote had been unanimous. Not one brother objected. They would make their stand here and now, in the face of a truly evil thing, and they would spit in it's eye before giving it one hell of a fight.

He thought about something. What if there was a chance that he could...call to her? Maybe make an appeal of some sort? But how? There was no way of making a rainbow anywhere. The sun was not up. He decided to try a different method.

He sat up straight and tall, and blocked out all outside noises and thoughts. He focused on her face, that face that haunted his dreams. Her smile, the way she moved, and her eyes. That might have been the strongest attribute to Orion, her eyes. The moon was in them, and he was still as breathless looking into them as he was when he first laid eyes upon her.

He felt a strange tingling in his head, and a smile crossed his lips at what followed...

Outside the tent, the brothers were working tirelessly to prepare. Weaponry and arrows were made and sharpened. Explosives were filled with powder. Brothers were up in the trees, finding out the best firing positions that would enable them to fire and remain unseen.

Jason was directing logs being set up to make a kind of barrier to protect them in whatever ways they could. Anything that could possibly stop bullets was set up to crouch behind. They were needing to but time. Time for the others to get away. And so as long as they could stay alive, they could give them that time.

-Several Hours Later-

Jason lay in the early afternoon warmth, the sun having passed over it's center point some time ago. He guessed it to be around two o'clock. Before too much longer, he would be fighting for his life and the people behind him, against odds that would make Athena herself go weak at the knees.

Brothers were whispering to themselves in the quietness. It was strange in that there was absolutely no bird calls or the sounds of bugs or animals. It was dead silent in the woods. And it might be even more dead silent by nightfall. It seemed as though nature itself knew of what was coming, and it was bracing for it. Jason sat behind the log that he was using for cover and stared off into the woods, looking for any sign of movement. Just because the scout had guessed that they would be coming in the late afternoon did not mean there was not going to be any scouts sent forward.

But the woods were silent. Even the wind had stopped blowing. It was the world on mute. Brothers were still muttering to each other and themselves, possibly making peace with the gods and themselves before judgment came for them. Many were probably going through the same flashback s as he was, to various high points in their lives. Oh gods, was he really doing that.

Yes he was. As he lay there behind that log, memories came to him. They say that your whole life flows before your eyes before you die. But he thought that was when you actually were dying, not when you were just anticipating death. But the images of his life were before him, and he decided to enjoy the show, to take his joy in whatever he could before the final arrow was fired, before his final swing of his sword.

The memory of the first time he met Lord Orion came, dark and cold, yet filled with hope at the end. The rain crushing against his shivering and hurt body. His mother and sister laughing at him as they out their cigarettes out in his flesh. The rush of holding back his scream, as not to give them the satisfaction of his pain. Then the thudding sound as their bodies hit the ground, and the large towering man that stood before him.

The calm words spoken to him as he lay there. The face of Orion appearing out of the blackness of the night, bringing out something that had laid dormant within Jason, but had never been completely suppressed. He took the weak boy into his arms and brought him to safety. He fed and clothed him and revealed to him what he was, and how he had come back.

He saw images of his first practice fights with Orion, his test of will. He remembered the coursing through him as he got up from the ground after Orion pounded him. He remembered the small smile on Orion's face as he weakly charged him for the final time before Orion stopped him and told him that he had just proven all he needed to know.

He remembered the initial training, and the nights that Orion had sat with him, going through all the legends and myths that turned out to have been true all along. And then he remembered bringing Micheal and Gabriel to Orion, and the first time the ceremony for officially entering the brotherhood was done. Then Mikhail and Darren afterward. All through the line to today.

And now they were all facing the toughest challenge they had ever faced in their whole lives. The huntresses were a joke to this. This would be the fight of their lives, and it may very well cost them their lives. But every minute that they could hold those monsters back, every second, was one more second those people had a chance to get away. And that was going to be all they needed.

He laid down and close his eyes, allowing his mind to calm itself and brace for the trial of fire to come...

-Near the Camp-

It was going to be getting dark soon. Carlos swallowed his impatience though. It would not do well to be seen as impatient in front of all his troops.

They had been combing the woods for hours now, through most of the day. And he was slightly impatient now, for he would have loved to have immediately found the camp and then decimated it. Then they could have spent the rest of the day celebrating the end of those boys and then reclaiming their property. He had even reconsidered his previous position on them. After they killed off the boys, then the people who came here to help get his property back could have their way with them. The women and girls were fair game, and they could dispose of the boys as they wished. He could always find replacements. There were plenty of those in the local towns around here.

He grinned as they continued to walk. He noticed noticed the lack of noise around them, except for the crunching of their boots on the ground. It was strange to not hear the wildlife around them. Not even a bird was singing in the trees. Hell, he had not heard a cricket for a long time either. What, was nature itself suddenly aware that hell was about to be raised and gone wild?

He hoped they would find that camp soon...he had some vengeance to take...

-Several Hours Later-

It was not going to be long now.

It felt strange. All his life, Jason had fought battles against opponents that most people would quake in fear of. He had hunted the darkest creatures of mythology, survived attacks by the most evil of monsters. He had fought some of the most dangerous girls in existence, and had several times sparred with immortal goddesses. It was strange that it would come down to this. To die by the mortal hand, or the mortal bullet or knife.

Was it destiny that he and his brothers were now standing here, against some of the most evil beings they had ever encountered? Was it fate that they would be fighting for the lives of those who were unable to fight for themselves. They had all learned to hate women, even though it was put into them by a lie, by someone who in turn had been lied to himself. But even that was not completely unjustified, as Artemis really had committed atrocities against boys. Little boys whose only crime was that of encountering her camp.

Was it fate that all these things would come to pass, and here they make their stand? In a way, it would be a fitting end. Most of the brothers here had been badly abused by strangers and parents. They had joined the Brotherhood Of The hunt to escape the horrors of the world with a group that accepted them with not a second thought, to fell a kinship with those around them. And now here these people behind them, huddled and crying just a few hundred yards behind them, crouched down for cover, had been freed of such torment. And those that tormented them were now coming to get them, and the only thing between them and those monsters was the Brotherhood Of The Hunt.

Yes...it was indeed fate. They were making a stand against monsters that were far worse than anything from mythology. They were making a stand against evil that was seemingly straight from Tartarus. Sometimes, humanity can be the most evil of them all. And here they would make their stand, their possibly last stand, to give their last breathe, to make sure that at least some people may have a chance to be free of it.

Jason could not think fo any better reason to die...

Orion had rejoined them from his deliberations. he had sat meditating in the distance, and Jason was wondering what he had been doing. But now he joined them at the defense line, walking at a crouch behind them, talking quietly to each, saying a few words to each of them, just in case this was his last time to speak to each of them. Finally he reached Jason, and crouched down next to him.

"Jason, when I feel that we are about to break, or they begin to get to close, then I am going to call for you all cover me as well as you can, and I will attempt to get back to the refugees. I will tell them to run, and then I expect you all to gradually fall back, and fight as you go. Do you all have enough arrows?"

Jason nodded. Their quivers were utterly stuffed with arrows, as many as they would hold. Orion nodded.

Everything was dead silent. Orion stood up slightly and looked into the dimming vastness in front of them. It was still silent, yet he seemed to sense something. His mouth tightened and his eyes were suddenly determined.

"Positions...here they come..."

How he knew, Jason did not know. But he did as he was told.

Brothers crouched behind somewhat prepared fortifications. Logs and rocks had been positioned, anything that could naturally stop a bullet was placed in front of them. And the path behind them was also littered with natural cover, logs and trees as well. he logs were all strategically place, and the trees were naturally abundant, and thick. Clumps of them could provide some good cover for the camouflaged bowman.

Above the line, some brothers had positioned themselves within the trees, blending in with the leaves and branches. A good brother could pick off quite a few people from this position. But Jason doubted that they would be able to hold them in a solid line for long.

He took his position, and slowly peeked out from cover. He saw nothing for a while, and the brothers around him were probably hearing only the beating of their hearts gone wild. And then he heard it. The snapping of twigs and leaves. Loud fer and louder. The sound of scores of feet walking was becoming louder and louder, and then even louder. And finally, they caught sight of them. Jason did not gasp...but he took a notably sharper breathe at the sight.

They were marching in a ragged single file line. They were dressed all in black, in what looked like military style uniforms. They were mostly armed with rifles and Jason could see each of them with a side-arm to match. Those alone gave them an advantage. Brothers could load and fire their bows very quickly and accurately, but they were nowhere near the rate of fire a sa full semi-auto. And to make matters worse, some looked like they were carrying modestly sized machine-guns.

They were coming directly at them. Jason could not see where the line of them ended. Darren was right. This was an army coming for them. At least a hundred strong. Each one of them desiring to massacre the people behind them, and Jason felt the battle fury enter him. He notched an arrow, making pains to stay hidden. And then he waited.

Except for the crunching of feet, there was no sound. Jason did not even think he was breathing. All was quiet...

Orion lay at the ready some distance away from Jason, and took a deep breathe..

Brothers held their notched arrows ready to fire...

The line came closer and closer...

"Hey, what's that up there in the trees?" a gruff voice asked.

"FIRE!"

(Carlos Negrero POV)

He was about at the end of his chain. They had been combing these woods for hours on end, barely stopping to eat. The day was growing dim, the sun beginning to set on the horizon, and the air was growing cooler, thought that might be a blessing in the hot uniforms. He stayed behind his line, but his anxiousness to find the damn place was egging him closer and closer to taking the lead.

He walked behind them when he heard something. He slowed his walk and listened hard, trying to block out the footsteps of his forces walking in front of him. He swore he heard that coming from near them. He looked up to see the line of trees in front of them. Could that sound he heard be coming from them?

He walked slowly, his forced not slowing. Obviously they had not heard it. Then he swore he saw a sort of movement in one of the trees. It could have been a breeze rustling the leaves. But there was a problem with that theory. There was no wind blowing. And the he saw further movement, and swore he saw a flash of what was a...face.

He opened his mouth to call a halt.

"Hey, whats that up there in the trees?" one of his men called out.

Suddenly a powerful voice rang out from an unseen position.

"FIRE!"

And then all hell royally broke loose.

Something shot out from the tree where he had seen the movement, and there was a small explosion in the middle of the line. It was as if a grenade had exploded right in the middle of them, and the guards in the immediate vicinity of the explosion were mangled by the explosion, and shrapnel shredded into the others nearby. Cries of astonishment rang out, and then suddenly a second object shot into them, resulting in the exact same result. Then several more, at different parts of his battle line. Carlos was taken back at the sudden explosions. They had seemed to have been shot right out of the trees, but he had seen no rocket smoke tracing it back.

A volley of arrows suddenly fired out at them, and more of his guards were falling, this time with arrows in their chests, throat and some in their heads. Arrows? What the hell were these people, ancient warriors gone mad?

"Fire back! Fire back goddammit!"

(Jason)

"FIRE!"

Orion's voice had not even died out before the first explosive arrow was launched. Jason savored the look of absolute shock on the face of the thugs as the arrow shot to the ground right in the midst of them. He saw the eyes of the ones closest to it look at it in shock before being blown to unrecognizable forms, and the one next to them screaming as shrapnel slashed into them. Then another, and another.

"Let Loose!" Orion ordered again.

The brothers all risked a second of rising up to fire a volley into the wave of black uniformed thugs. Jason saw his smack one of them straight through his throat, a burst of blood blowing out the back. Many of them fell with two or three arrows in him, and the brothers were quite good with arrows, quite good indeed. Jason immediately notched another in less than a second, and fired it again, this time taking a guard right in the chest. But he did not see him fall to the ground to die, for at that instant, a voice of their own gave the order to fire.

It was like the wind came alive when they did. The brothers all had to duck as the air around them became lethal to be in. The log Jason was taking cover behind seemed to be recoiling from all the bullets that were being fired into it. The guards might not have been able to see all of them, and so they fired blindly into the woods, simply hoping to spray the whole area and hit something. They probably would not hit much, but they would hit something for sure, which was evidenced in the scream of pain coming from next to Jason, several yards away.

The guards rifles fired away, their bullets flying out as fast as their triggers could be pulled. Machine guns were mixed in along them, and they were belching death like the likes Jason had not seen or heard before. And he heard another scream of pain. This time, he saw a brother near him, crouched behind a thick tree, take a bullet, no, several bullets, right in the face. It was utterly mangled beyond recognition as his head thumped to the ground, never to rise again.

The line of guards had been spread somewhat thin when the brothers had fired their first explosive arrows. Now it was beginning to compact, the guards at the flanks moving in closer, essentially making a semi-circle around the brothers. Orion was right. They would need to fall back pretty soon. They were never going to be able to maintain this line for long.

The fire slacked off briefly, the thugs maybe having to change magazines. Jason and mot of the rest took that moment to unleash another volley, and Jason could catch the split second view of several more guards going down. But when the fire belched from their guns once more, the air felt as though you could almost breathe in a bullet and die. Jason swore he felt one clip the top of his hair, missing his head by millimeters.

The fire slackened off once more, and Jason took the incredible risk of peeking out toward his left. And his heart took a momentary break from beating. Apparently the guards had figured out that they had spread themselves out and were no forming up. That much was already obvious. But what he saw about to come at them was what made his heart go blank.

He saw them preparing to fire. He had no way of getting an arrow over to that man's throat in time. There was just a second to scream a warning...

A flash of light...

"RPG!" Jason screamed as loud as he could.

The rocket smacked right into the front of the main line. Fire threw up from the ground and the earth itself shook. Jason felt himself thrown to the ground, which was what he was already taking cover on, hugging it, but he felt himself shoved harder onto it by the force of the rockets explosion. Obviously, they were not the only ones with explosives.

Jason fired an arrow over the side of his log without looking up. He needed to fire something back, but to risk his head was too much. He glanced over and saw other brothers doing close to the same thing, firing blindly over the side with their arrows. On the other side, several brothers were taking the risk of somewhat exposing themselves to get better shots. The group of thick trees they were in allowed them better protection then those who were crouched behind something. A brother fired another explosive arrow and managed to take about two guards down near the center.

But with the flanks of the army's line collapsing upon this position, they were going to be facing foes with huge firepower on three directions. They needed to fall back, and they needed to do it now.

"Jason!" a voice screamed into his ear, which was the only way he could have heard it. Jason turned to see Orion crouched next to him, a bow in his hand and a number of arrows gone from his quiver.

"Jason, when the fire slacks off, give me as much firepower as you can. I need some cover to get to the refugees. Once I am out of sight, fall back and do what we discussed!"

'Yes sir!"

Orion crouched facing the opposite direction. Jason screamed out as loud as he could, hoping some of the others wold hear him.

"When The fire slacks, give them another volley! Then when I call for it, fall back in zigzag run! Ready!"

The bullets fell among them in waves. Jason crouched behind that old log for dear life, as bullets smacked off the top parts of it. It was actually becoming shorter with all the lead that was shaving the top parts off. A brother fell from the trees above them, and when he reached the earth he did not move again.

The fire slackened as the thugs were mostly reloading...

"NOW!"

Thankfully, most of the brothers seemed to have heard his call. They each took the risk of raising themselves out of cover for a moment to to load and fire their bows as fast as they could. Meanwhile Orion took off at a full sprint down the path behind them, running in a zig-zag pattern. This was to help present a much harder target should the enemy was able to reload before he was far enough away. Jason saw Orion running, and even in the heat of battle, was surprised at just how fast the large man could run.

Thank the gods, he was out of sight when the next wave of bullets smacked into them. Jason heard one prick of the log just centimeters fro his head. Then another, and another. The guards seemed to have figured out where some of them were taking cover, and were focusing their fire on taking out the ones they knew about. Which would mean this old log would no longer be able to suit him for cover, as it would steadily disintegrate in the hailstorm of lead.

Some of the brothers were still firing, the guards thankfully not have recognized where they were. An arrow smacked into the chest of one, and he fell, his companion dropping to give first aid. As he did so, one hit him in the back of the throat. But those who were firing quickly had to cover themselves as the troops figured out their positions as well.

He heard a pop and a loud hissing sound. Another RPG round exploded near the line again, and Jason felt the damn log thrown back a bit. They had to fall back now for sure.

On his left and right, the fire was increasing steadily, as the guards on the flanks of the line were now joining the fight. A good chunk of the guards that had been in front of them were down, dead or wounded. But the rest were smart to lay down and present smaller targets now, and the brothers could not really take aim with the amount of lead flying around them.

The fire slackened for a moment...now was they're chance.

"Fall Back! Fall back NOW!"

Lady Luck seemed to have smiled on his voice, as it was heard by the brothers even in this hellish vortex of gunfire. Jason braced his muscles and then exploded from his perch, the area around him seemingly flattened by the amount of bullets that had smacked into it. He saw the more thin trees had been almost shot down, and the thicker ones, especially where brothers had been discovered taking cover, had been ravaged by ammunition. But the brothers all ran as one, in the same zig-zag pattern as that of Orion. Strangely, the guards were not firing as heatedly as they had been during the fight just seconds earlier, probably catching their breathe for a moment to mount a pursuit. A pursuit that Jason had no doubt was coming...

The refugees had huddled together throughout the whole ordeal just a hundred and a half yards in front of them. They could not see the battle itself, but the sounds were carrying easily to their hiding place. Women were weeping, men were huddled in the forefront, and children whimpered into the chests of their mothers. Garret and Elizabeth had stayed close to each other, wincing at the bursts of weapon fire, and cringing at the cries of pain.

There was movement coming for them, and several of the refugees tensed. But the figure emerged from the woods to be none other than Orion himself, sweat pouring from his face, and his legs pounding up the dirt as he ran. His large bow was in his hand, and he was wearing his standard black armor. He ran up to them and did not even pause to catch his breathe, though he may not have had to, and began to scream.

"Everybody must get out of here NOW! Make for the nearest town over. It is right in that direction!" he pointed to the way behind them all, opposite the sounds of sound of a lot of gunfire.

"Whats going on?" a refugee shouted.

"We are falling back. You all must run as hard as you can and get some distance between you and the guards! We will try and but you as much time as we can!"

Refugees began to flee. Groups tended to run together by family and friend oriented bunches. They gradually ran in the direction that Orion had pointed out, a town that was closest to them, beside the obviously corruption laden one that they bordered. Many of them ran without a second glance. One woman cried out.

"God bless you all!"

Orion nodded in response.

"May the gods guide you to safety!"

He heard a child's voice cry out.

"Orion, ORION!"

He saw little Garret trying to run toward him, with his sister holding hm back, crying for him to hurry up and run with her. Orion took a few extra seconds to run down to Garret.

"I want to fight too!" Garret said. Courage was in no small dosage, even with someone so young. Orion gave him a smile in spite of the events around them.

'It is not yet your time Garret. I have the feeling we will someday meet again, in this world, or perhaps the next. Until then, look after your sister. Goodbye..."

Without a second glance, Orion charged back the way he came, to see if his brotherhood had indeed gone through with his orders and began to gradually fall back. Garret screamed for him and tried to run after him, but his sister still held him back...

Jason and the rest were doing as planned last night. The only reason they had been able to hold the line for as long as they did was because the guards had deployed themselves in search mode, being strung out in both directions. The element of surprise had worked as well, as they clearly were not expecting the explosive arrows. But once they realized they were under attack at the center of their line, they were able to unleash their firepower on them. And to add to it, the flanks of their line were beginning to close in on the action on the brothers left and right flanks, and so they would have been facing weapon fire from roughly three directions. And no mater how good they were, there was no way they could have held the line for more than maybe five minutes or so.

So they settled on this new tactic. After the initial contact, they would then begin to fall back in their special zig-zag running style, taking cover where they could, popping an arrow off at the enemy, and then bursting from cover toward the next available place that offered it. And they would maintain their zig-zag pattern to help present harder targets. No matter how good a shooter was, a moving target was always harder than a still one.

But with the amount of weapon fire pouring at them, wounding and death, even with their incredible agility and coordination, was inevitable. One could simply run into a bullet's path, or simply stop to change directions of their run just a micro-second too late. Both situations would result in death. And those RPG rounds were still a major threat.

Jason stopped and twisted his body around in another angled direction to the one they were running, and the bolted forward as hard as his legs could carry him. Just a second later, the ground upon which he had shifted his running angle threw up dirt as a shower of bullets smacked into it, intended for him.

This was the plan, to gradually wear down the forces coming at them in a battle of attrition, or at least endurance. To give the refugees enough time to put distance between them and the guards, by fighting a running battle and keeping their attention on the brotherhood, and not the refugees. Every second that they stayed a live was one more second for them.

Jason ran and then dived over a fallen tree, the tree trunk splatted with bullets as he hit the ground behind it. He notched an arrow and as quickly as he could, threw himself up, fired blindly into the mass of guards, and then threw himself to the ground. He repeated the process once more before exploding in a run toward the next sign of cover. In front of him, a brother was doing his zig-zag run and stopped to swerve in a different direction. As he did so, he apparently took just a mini second too long, and what looked like no less than seven bullets smashed into his torso and lower throat. The armor would have stopped the bullets, but there was no neck protection. He fell to the ground, gurgling blood, and there was simply nothing Jason could do for him, trying to stay alive himself. He leaped over his fallen brother and kept going.

The guards had formed now into a more square column type mass, their flanks now drawn in from the earlier fight. They ran after the boys, firing wildly, mostly from the hip. Bullets were filling the air faster than ever. Jason could swear that they had replaced the wind. He swore he could feel his hair flowing in the aftermath of a bullet's course. He deemed it an outright miracle that he had not been hit several times by now. Or maybe he had been and he did not notice. Either way, he had more important things to worry about. Like staying alive.

He dived behind a tree and assumed his firing position, He turned the corner and fired as fast as he could. But this time he felt a flash of pain and wetness behind his neck. He cried out through tensed teeth, and felt around his neck. The upper part of his back, where the armor opens up for his trap muscles and neck had had a bullet graze it. It was very much a flesh wound, but it stung like all hell. But he ignored the pain and fired a second arrow, and then did the same procedure again, with the sudden burst to ward fresh cover. Around him, his brothers were doing the same thing. He knew wounds were probably going to be inevitable for everyone. No one was good enough at dodging to escape the amount of lead around them unscathed. So he swallowed his pain and kept running and shooting. It was all he could do...

-0-

Carlos Negrero screamed at his men to push on, to finish their goal. He was loving every second of this battle. From the first shots his forces fired, to the arrival of his RPG units, it had been going rather well for them. Sure they were taking losses, but those were low payed employees. They could be replaced in a heartbeat from the local prisons.

He especially loved seeing these meddlesome boys running. They were trying to do a strange zig-zag type of run that threw off pursuers, or obviously trying to present harder targets. It was like an animal running away from it's prey. And that was how Carlos felt at that moment. Like a hungry mountain lion following a wounded deer, it's blood seeping the ground beneath it and draining it's strength. They could not avoid their bullets forever. And their wounded would suffer a fate worse then death...

-0-

Jason and the rest had been going at it for a while now. He felt his quiver was nearing empty. He had been running at a dead sprint, with erratic intervals to fire, for longer then he could remember. And he knew that if he was getting tired, then so were his brothers. What was left anyway.

He noticed the decrease of brethren still fighting this running battle. It heavied his heart to see a reduced number. But on and on they all fought. They knew what they were fighting for, and they would not give up, not while they were strill drawing breathe. The faces of those people drove him onward, making him call on reseves of strenght that he never before had summoned, not even during the final climatic days of the war with the huntresses. Then he saw it.

"There it is! Take cover there now!" he pointed at what he saw.

The brothers had prepared for this. They knew that they would not be able to last forever against the guards. Their firepower would eradicate them eventually, no matter how good they were. And so they had fought this running battle all the way to this point, to this last prepared position. It was now in sight, and Jason screamed out his command as soon as he saw it.

It was a improvised log fort-like area, with logs and fallen trees dragged around and then stacked if possible, to give better cover than what they had had lately. It was square in structure, with about fifteen yards length on all sides. The brothers had used the things nature had given them to make it suitable to use. To use in order to make their pursuers pay one last steep price in blood..before they were all annihilated.

In simpler words...they had made it for their last stand...

Jason and the others stopped their zig-zag run and made a dead straight sprint for their life toward this final bastion. Near Jason, an RPG round was heard firing, and a brother next to him was thrown to the ground. As he fought to get up, a furry of bullets smashed into him, and several inevitably hit vulnerable parts, forcing him to the ground. And so another soul passed to Elysium.

The RPG round had been fired from a considerable distance, and so they had a moment to get positions before the bulk of the thuggish army reached them. Lord Orion stood in the center and screamed encouragement at them. Jason's legs pounded the ground and he jumped into the makeshift fortification. Others followed, and they hit the ground within and immediately swirled around to face the oncoming army, appearing gradually in the woods nearby, still firing indiscriminately.

Jason felt his arrows were down to his lat few. He notched one and the brothers did the same. Orion was behind them, and was assuming command for the last stand of his brotherhood.

"Ready!" he commanded.

The brothers raised themselves just out of cover enough to get a clear line of fire. The guards were appearing in more numbers now, and their fire was increasing. The sprint straight for the final stand area had put some distance between them and the army, but the army was gradually appearing more and more. And their bullets would only come at them more and more, until they faced the full fury of the legion attacking them.

'Fire!"

The brother let loose at the initial targets. Their arrows sliced through the ari and tore into the first few guards. They fell, many with multiple arrows. Orion screamed another order.

"Fire at will! Fire until you run out!"

And the brothers complied, desperate to fire as much as they could before the guards could reattain their previous level of firepower. The bullets were coming at them faster and aster, as more guards were appearing behind those that fell before their volley. Jason fired again and again, taking a guard with each shot. He stayed above the logs this time, his cover meaningless now. they were all going to die, and he wanted to look them straight in the eye as he fired his last arrows.

Two bullets pounded into his armor, and a third went into his lower left shoulder, where it met the arm. These blew Jason onto his back, and the shot to his shoulder sent a spasm of pain through his whole body. He grit his teeth, not going to show weakness in front of his brothers. He slowly forced himself on his good arm back to an upright position and the used his bad arm to simply retrieve his last arrow. He happened to glance at it before he loaded it. And then he swore at himself.

It was an explosive arrow. He had had one all this time, been given golden opportunities to use it against the tightly packed guards, and he never drew it. He could be so blank at times...

He loaded it and peeked over the log wall, blinking several times when dangerously close bullets blew up chunks of wood. He scanned for a closely packed group of guards in which to fire his last, and most explosive arrow. Then he spotted the lone figure behind the main group of guards.

Something was different about him. The way he was so much more calm than his guards, who were all advancing at a crouch toward the brothers final defensive line. He wore much more elaborate clothing, and he carried only a pistol, which he was occasionally firing at them. There was a sense of something about him, and Jason seemed to realize something. In his heart, something was telling him that this was the leader of this army. This army coming to take the refugees away. And so there could only be one fate for him.

Jason slowly notched up his arrow, the pain all leaving him for a moment. He raised himself to his knees, his whole upper chest above being exposed to the weapon fire. he felt neither pain, nor the sensation of the bullets passing by him by millimeters. His whole mind was on hitting his target now.

He focused..and then fired...

-0-

Carlos had been overjoyed at the chase. Overjoyed at the sight of these boys falling dead one by one. Each one of them was going to be burned on a huge pyre, and he could already imagine the sight. he could give his employees a half-way decent burial afterward, the victory needed to be celebrated first. He could not see where the brothers ran off to when they suddenly stopped their whole charade with the zig-zag, and made a dead run for something in the distance. But they could not evade their fate for long.

He continued to follow behind his line of troops, now formed into a much thicker line, with the flanks now closer in and more guards assembled in the forefront. The firepower they would be able to deliver would be unstoppable now. It was only a matter of time. He walked with them for a bit longer before he saw the strange man-made fortification up ahead.

Apparently, these boys had been planning to use it, and Carlos had no doubt it was intended for use as a last stand. So be it. If they were expecting death, then he would be quiet eager to grant it to them. And he would not keep them waiting for long, as he had an appointment with a beautiful girl in his quarters tonight.

A volley of arrows shot from the little fort of theirs, and several more of his troops went down. But then those behind them had an uninterrupted field of fire and they opened up with a shattering hail of lead. These boys arrows were of no use against that kind of firepower. And when his RPG men get up here, that last little bastion they had made would be gone within seconds.

He smiled. And that was when he saw it.

For a split second he swore he saw another arrow traveling toward them. He assumed it would just hit his army and kill one of them, but this one had been fired at a strange angle, and was not oing for any of his men. It had been angled above them, and was heading for...

His mouth opened in a scream as he felt the heavy arrow rip into his chest. Blood burst from his mouth and he doubled over slightly, looking at the arrow in him with shock. He never counted on this, never. But what was really shocking was when half a second later, the arrow exploded, literally making him disappear in an explosion of blood and guts...

That was what was truly shocking...but he was quite dead before he could realize that...

-0-

Jason could not help but grin at his handiwork. The guards in the farthest back ranks stopped at the sudden shower of blood, and looked behind themselves only to see a scattering of body parts behind them. He loved the look of shock on their faces, but he could not look long, for a bullet suddenly scrapped by the top of his head, leaving a searing pain in his mind.

This time he could not help but cry out. He grabbed at the wound at the opt of his head. It was very shallow, and would probably heal, but that was unlikely, if the volume of fire and how much closer it was meant anything. Well, it did. It meant that the troops were very close now, and soon, the brothers would all be traveling to Hades.

He forced his back to the logs, and placed a had on his sword, wiping the blood that had trickled into his left eye. He glanced over to see Darren next to him, his own sword drawn, and his own quiver as empty as Jason's. Actually, most of the brothers were out by this time, and were drawing their swords. The guards attacking seemed to realize the slackening of arrow fire, and were redoubling their efforts, obviously smelling victory. Jason was smelling glory though. When the guards got very close, the brother shad planned to wait until the last possible second, and then burst from their cover. They would rush the line of thugs, and try to take at least one more down with them before going out in a final blaze of glory. It would have been a fitting end to them.

Darren grinned. He had been wounded in the thigh and right shoulder. He gripped his sword with both hands.

"I'm guessing this would be the end now, right?" he asked over the dim of gunfire.

Jason could not help but chuckle at his light comment.

"Yep old friend, this is it."

"Well LT, it's been a pleasure."

"Pleasure was all mine Darren. See you in Elysium..."

The brother all gripped their swords. The guards line was less than ten yards away. They would wait for the last...possible...second...

Orion drew his huge broadsword...

The brothers braced themselves, saying their final prayers...

The guards actually began to whoop their joy as they fired, feeling the end was near...

And in that instance, a blinding flash of light filled the area. Jason and the others grunted at the sudden brightness, and looked over the log wall to see what could have caused it. The weapon fire immediately stopped as well. When the light died out, the sight that stood between the guards battle line and the brothers final fortifications shocked them all.

In the area between the two groups, a young girl was standing. She seemed no older than twelve years old, yet power beyond imagining was flowing from her. She was dressed in a silver hunting dress, and-was an extremely beautiful child. But this was no child, and the guards seemed to realize that. Well, most of them. They all stared at this strange girl who had suddenly appeared in a flash of light with a mixture of awe and amusement.

Her silver, moon like eyes looked back at the brothers, ravaged and greatly reduced in number. And then she looked toward the army of guards, armed to the teeth with modern equipment and weaponry. Just what could the bow and arrows she was carrying do against that?

When she spoke, however, it was not the voice of a child. Well, it sounded like one, but it had power incredible behind it.

"These boys are under my protection. You all are to turn around and flee as fast as you can back to the place from wince you came."

There was a shock for a moment. And then a man called out, almost drunken sounding in his response.

"And just what are you going to do, little girl? Shoot us with your little arrows?"

People could be such idiots...

"So be it," she said. Then she turned and looked at the brotherhood, but she seemed to be looking more or less directly at Orion, who stood at his full height and took her in. He nodded, and she nodded back. And then she began to glow, brighter and brighter. Sparks of light began to shoot from her.

Artemis had come...and she was about to wipe out the whole force...and them with it if they did not act now...

"Shield your eyes! Get down!" Orion screamed to his remaining brothers. Every single one of them hit the deck.

The guards meanwhile, were not so lucky. The girl seemed to become a supernova, a wave of power, and each one of them had a second to scream before they felt themselves disintegrate.

It seemed to last for an eternity before the light died enough for Jason to risk opening his eyes. When he stood up, to his full height, he saw the area in front of them to be devastated. Trees and vegetation was scorched, and the guards were gone. Absolutely no trace was seen. The brothers all stood up in unison, and took in the devastation that Artemis...yes, the goddess they had fought against herself...had caused.

To defend them?

Orion began to slowly walk toward the goddess. He was unsteady in his gesture, as if all he had gone through in the past hour had finally caught up to him. And it had to Jason as well, for it seemed that his head wound had taken it's toll. The last thing he remembered before his world went black was Orion slowly walking to be face to face with Artemis herself...

So, did you all like it? I hope so. I was watching movies like Tears Of The Sun and a lot of "last-stand" type movies, in order to get the feel. I can only hope that you all could feel it as I did typing it. The next chapter will be the last, and then...well, who knows? Please review and tell me what you think.