Their trek up the mountain reached a point where the chariots could not navigate the rugged terrain and they had to leave them behind, even the horses would have trouble with the trail and Hercules hobbled them to a long line between a pair of short stubby trees where they had easy access to the scrubby grass and a small stream that trickled down the mountain. They made their way on foot to the third temple, a shimmering gold edifice with marble lions crouched at the door and carvings of such intricate beauty they almost seemed to come alive on the golden surface. Amphiaraus stared at the temple for so long Artemis actually sat down to wait before he looked at Autolycus. "This one is yours I think."
Autolycus smirked and tucked his knife back in his belt. "I like the shiney ones."
Tracey let out a light laugh and shook her head at Autolycus.
"Try to stay focused will you? And try to resist the urge to stuff your pockets with every piece of shiny that you get close to..." She said, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "You'll have a hell of a time walking up the rest of the mountain with it weighing down your pouches."
"Madam, I am always focused. Just not usually on what you might think is important." He winked at her and walked to the temple and vanished inside while everyone else settled down to wait.
Artemis started pulling things out of her basket, herbs, stones and little bits of things were soon spread in a semicircle around her as she ran her hands over them her eyes half closed and unfocused. Iolaus watched her warily. "What's she doing?" He finally asked softly.
Tracey looked up from her leather bound journal and pen she had pulled from her satchel to write in and watched Artemis for a time too. She studied the items on the ground around her and then gave a soft shrug of her shoulders.
"I can't say for sure, but it is a spell. Not one that I recognize mind you because I've only been a part of one spell so far and that was a money spell. The normal one we use when Artemis and I go to our conventions to sell the crafted items we make." Tracey replied, starting to scribble in her journal again and singing softly in Elvish for a time. "Artemis, will you educate us a little on what magic you're weaving now?"
Artemis lowered her hands to her lap and frowned at the spell components in front of her. "I was trying to reach out to the New God but it's like there's a wall there."
She shuffled things around on the ground adding new items, taking some away. Tracey looked up from her writing again and gave Artemis a confused look, her brow furrowed.
"Why would you do that on purpose? Obviously this new God has a beef with mortals and if that is the case and he's slaying people needlessly then what makes you think he won't try to slaughter us without a second thought?"
Artemis picked up a little pewter charm and rolled it between her fingers. "I don't think he can right now, at least not this group of mortals on this mountain. Not without pissing off the rest of the Gods."
"You have a point there but still, but why do you have to test the theory?" Tracey said with a slight grimace. "Perhaps Olympus is putting up the wall to keep you from getting through to the new God instead of the the new God keeping you away."
It was somewhat of a rhetorical question, but she would have preferred to let things be until they got to the top of the summit and figured out what was going on. Artemis nodded and started packing up her components. "Perhaps. In any case I've had zero luck. Anyone want to see me pull a rabbit out of my basket?"
"You can do that? Hercules asked curiously.
Artemis laughed and finished putting away her toys. "No… its a joke."
"If she could pull a rabbit out of her basket then she wouldn't need me to go hunting for us." Tracey said with a laugh and a shake of her head. "Her specialties lay elsewhere."
With a smile directed to Artemis and another laugh, she went back to her journal and started humming again.
Hercules watched Artemis carefully, she seemed so unassuming, Tracey was the stranger looking of the pair and he had assumed the more dangerous given her abilities and her standoffish nature but he'd watched Artemis spar with Atalanta. She was a fighter and used to taking care of herself though she favored her right arm. He wondered at the bulky bracer wrapped in leather, she never took it off and he was wondering if she even could, she always took great pains to keep it dry too. And now he had cause to wonder what else she was hiding, she was a sorceress, he'd met a few of them and they were always half mad and dangerous as a coiled serpent.
He glanced at Amphiaraus who was staring in the direction of the temple and sighed softly, there was no help to be found there, Amphiaraus would tell him that the Gods worked in strange uncanny ways and they were usually not understood by mortals until it was all over. He glanced at Atalanta who was sharpening her sword, she wouldn't be any help either, she was a straightforward sort, see the threat, take it out, clean up after and Iolaus wouldn't be much help either, he told a good story and was becoming a decent fighter but lacked the experience to glean deeper motivations. And since Autolycus was in the temple he was out of options but he was a patient man, his greater size and strength meant that he had to move more slowly, think things through more carefully, be more cautious and while some in the past had mistaken his slow deliberation for idiocy he was still alive and they mostly weren't.
He felt someone watching him and looked over to see Artemis settling next to Tracey a leather journal in hand but her eyes were fixed on Hercules and her dark eyes seemed to see right into his mind, she nodded once and turned her eyes to her journal.
The sun had reached and passed its zenith when the temple vanished and Autolycus staggered towards the camp looking like he'd been hollowed out. He staggered to them collapsing to his knees and taking fast shaky breaths.
Tracey took a moment to study him over before putting her journal back in her bag and taking up her waterskin and handing it to him so he could drink. She looked him over to make sure that he wasn't bleeding or hurt and found him just to be shaken. It was something that she supposed she could look forward to after her encounter with the temple and had to cheer for all of them because they had three out of four victories under their belts, but she wasn't going to jinx them just yet.
"Take a few minutes to relax and then we'll head to the next temple." Tracey said quietly, looking over to Hercules and giving him a nod.
