The sound of the crash reverberated throughout the woods. Any critter could have heard me for miles. I couldn't move through the pain and a sharp noise was ringing in my ears. As I laid in a pile of splintered wood and twisted metal, my body tried desperately to black out. I refused though, the warmth of my necklace a glimmer of hope I was not about to give up. I fought pain with all my might as I pulled myself up from the wreckage. The warmth was ebbing away… I had to fight it. I had to find my mother. She was close, so close. This was my one chance. Today I would begin a long hunt to track her down.

I let out a little laugh. I was going to hunt for my mother when I was supposed to be on a hunting trip with the goddess of the hunt herself. As I stood up I gave a little prayer to Artemis asking that she bless this trek of mine. Maybe she wouldn't mind me skipping out so long as I was still hunting something, even if that something was my mother.

Brushing myself off I got a little shock. You know how normally you pray and there's no literal answer? Like you don't go "God teach me patience" and then a big booming voice comes down from the sky that says "Sure, I got you mortal bro"? Instead, god's supposed to send some really annoying person into your life that teaches you how to not punch people in the face. Yeah… not the case this time. I got my answer, and quickly too.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind at all. In fact, care if I join you?" Said a voice from behind me, I tried to turn around and nock an arrow, but all I did was knock my own butt to the ground. Even though I was on the ground I still clambered to get an arrow, only to realize my bow wasn't strung. Chiron told me to string it up before I left so it would be ready to fire at any monsters. Instead I ignored him, keeping it unstrung so it would be easier to carry. I figured, I'm hunting with a goddess, what's there to fear. That's what happens when you don't listen to Chiron I guess. He may be a horse, but he's still a wise ass. "Hey what's wrong?" I wasn't about to pay any attention to the voice. After watching my foster father turn into a monster, I was fully aware of the fact that they could talk. Giving them a moment to attack would be bad so I quickly strung up my bow.

"For the love of Zeus… what happened to this chariot? Were you in it when it crashed? No wonder you look like the underworld boy." I wasted no time, with my bow strung I quickly nocked an arrow and fired, rather blindly, at my opponent. With the bow in my hand my gifts given to me as a child of Apollo kicked in allowing my vision and body to steady. With my head a little clearer I was able to get a good look at my target for the first time. But what I saw made me drop my bow my bow.

It was a young woman, roughly my age, carrying a silver bow and dressed all in white. Her hair was done in a fishknot braid going down her back, and though she carried a bow there was no quiver to be found. Two daggers roughly the size of my arm were sheathed at her waist, held on by a strip of green cloth tied around her dress.

But these just made her look like a normal hunter. It was her eyes, her deep silver eyes that gave it away. Her eyes shone bright that night as they gave off the glow of the moon. In their presence I felt powerful and weak, strong like the world couldn't touch me, and weak knowing they never could.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"It's fine," said Artemis. "You're obviously much shaken from the crash you just had to deal with. You were disoriented and in an unfamiliar place. I don't blame you for firing at an unknown presence. You were merely trying to remain the hunter while being hunted yourself. You refused to become prey, and so you fought."

"There's no need to worry, I'm here now. Here drink this, it's nectar and has the same effect as ambrosia. It will help you recover."

I took it and well… you know the drill. Tasted some of my mother's sweet tea, got all teary eyed. That's how it goes you know. Artemis didn't say anything for a while, knowing her huntresses I wasn't surprised. They were all rather, not cold but business like. No nonsense sort of people. So I was expecting it I guess. I was surprised though when she finally asked me what was wrong.

"It's just…" I said. Speaking was a lot harder than I thought it would be. "When I was a kid there was this woman, a foster mother, who took me in for a pretty long time. I loved her quite a bit and I cherish the few memories I still have of her. Every time I drink nectar or eat ambrosia, heck even when I ate at the dining hall at camp, the food always tastes like her cooking and I get all teary eyed from the memories."

Artemis looked away, almost like she was trying to hide something but I thought nothing of it. I was just glad to still be alive after nearly shooting her in the head with an arrow. "I see you crashed my chariot young man. I have to pull the moon across the sky with that you know."

Scratch that. Shooting her in the head with an arrow AND crashing her magical chariot. Wow, I was on a roll today. "I'm sorry miss," I said. Given I was still crying from the nectar I probably looked more pleady than I meant too. "I couldn't control it. It was like it was in Auto-pilot. In fact I didn't even know it was yours."

"I thought Chiron told you, you would be picked up?"

"He did, but he didn't say anything about a magic glowing reindeer."

"Most campers know about simple things like that. If you haven't then you must be knew. How long have you been at camp Half-Blood?"

"A day."

"Seriously? You're telling me you arrived on the day of the tournament and wanted to meet a goddess so badly you signed up and won?"

I saw her widen her stance and inch her hand towards her dagger. I quickly shook my head and reassured her that wasn't the case. "No mam. I had killed a monster the previous day with a bow. I just wanted to see if it was a fluke or if I was actually good with a bow. If I did well I figured I was probably the son of Apollo."

She kinda took a step back at that and for a second, just a split second, she looked terribly hurt. But then it turned to a look of surprise. "You mean you competed in a hunting trip with a goddess to find out if you were a good shot with a bow and then won by accident?"

"Yeah that's about right." After saying that I got a weird sight, Artemis the almighty goddess of the hunt was busting out laughing. From what I had seen so far of both her and her huntresses, I had thought she was the kind of woman who was always serious. I guess even the most serious of people still need a laugh from time to time.

"Ha, that's funny young man. You participated in a tournament with such a high prize whose earning was priceless to the other participants only to test your abilities. If I were not speaking to you now I would think you were some uncaring boastful person who looked in a mirror with every chance he had."

"Ah but these things don't matter now. Just a moment ago you sent a prayer to me did you not? Asking for me to bless the 'Hunt' for your mother?"

Whoops, guess I forgot about that. "Uh well uh… I didn't know you were here and all and I wasn't sure you would actually be listening and uh…"

"There's no need to be embarrassed. I was planning on hunting the Nemian Lion, but hunts that have a personal stake are always more enjoyable than the ones done for fun alone. So tell me, what way are we to track her and why are we 'hunting' her down?"
I explained to Artemis all there was to tell about my mother. Everything I knew and could think of just came spilling out of me. I didn't know why at the time but something about her just felt… good. Being around her made me feel safe and secure. I guess it's because she was a goddess.

Her face remained mostly the same throughout my tale. I was worried she would get bored or annoyed with what I was saying, but she just continued to listen, like she had all the time in the world. Well when you're an immortal goddess I guess you do. When I was finished she just looked off into the distance for a while before turning back to me.

"So the only thing we have to track her with is the necklace around your neck? Let's hurry then. We don't have much time."

And just like that off we went, running through the forest. You'd be surprised but she can run pretty fast, sometimes it seemed like she wasn't even touching the ground. Then again sometimes she didn't even seem like her. She seemed to always look like her regular self, but sometimes out of the corner of my eye she seemed to morph turning into all sorts of different animals from eagles, to tigers, to wolves, all in a split, barely visible, second. The longer we dashed through the trees, the more my respect for the gods grew. They may be all mighty, but they sure have the bite to back up their bark.

All things have to come to an end eventually I guess, and our journey ended all too soon. The necklace on my skin was piping hot. The heat was so intense beads of sweat began to drip down my chest and I was constantly checking to make sure I wasn't being burned by the metal. A part of me was scared it would grow so hot it would light my clothes on fire, though Artemis assured me that wouldn't happen. I have to say I was skeptical, but I'm not about to argue with a three thousand year old deity.

Finally it began to glow, bright golden rays streaming off of it in a cascade of light. Time got slower as my body moved faster. The light meant my mother was close now. Really close. A hundred feet, fifty feet. Left? No, right! I had to move, I had to go! Over this rock! Under this branch! She's here! I just have to get through this thicket Behind it! There's a clearing! She's there she's really…!

And in a single moment... my whole world came to a sudden halt.

What stood there was not my mother. It may have been as ferocious as any mother would be, but it was not my mother.

The massive beast stood on all fours. Its golden fur's gleam intensifying from light of my necklace. Razor sharp fangs that could cut through steel sat in its massive jaws and paws as large as my head were adorned with sharp talons that could tear a car to shreds.

In front of me was not my mother.

In front of me was the Nemian lion.

And in its' mouth drool oozing mouth... dangled my mothers necklace.