Chapter 60: Artemis

For some reason, I couldn't get that girl out of my head. And why had that moron deposited us upon the moon? Taking my chariot, which was conveniently waiting for me, I drove me and my hunters back onto the surface of the Earth. I saw them there, frozen in time. Then, I got the feeling something wasn't quite right. Hadn't the girl slowed time, not stopped it? Ignoring that fact, I took an arrow and shot it into one of the offending demigods. It disappeared in a burst of fire. Strange. No, impossible. My arrows never miss. Could it be?

Suddenly, one of the figures creaked, groaned, then transformed into a small, black creature, which immediately vanished.. "It's a trap!" I yelled to my huntresses, but it was too late. I sensed someone- something cloaked in darkness, but it was too late.

One of my hunters got killed immediately in a flash of razor claws. Blood spurted out of a deep wound under the ribs. Her eyes were glazed. Tearfully, I said, "Goodbye, huntress. You have served me well." and her body became a constellation among the stars.

What was that thing? For a second I saw glowing green eyes. Then they vanished again. I used my aura to create a protective silver barrier around the huntresses and notched my bow, preparing for attack.

Chapter 61: Pranu

My little troupe saw a bright silver aura up ahead. "Is it that Artemis again? She vanished last time. What a chicken." Caiyi said in a bored tone.

"Y' think she needs help? That looks awfully similar to a barrier to me." Tim said.

"Nah, she'd probably be fine on her own. She's a goddess, remember?" Caiyi again.

"Let's check it out! We can beat up Artemis again!" Ruidi yelled, excited. "If that is her name. I don't think that's it though. I think she's lying. Maybe she's even one of Daedalus' minions! We can gather where Nick is!"

"We should go look and see anyway." I replied, ending the conversation.

When we entered the clearing, we saw a gruesome sight. Bodies, torn into shreds by claws, lay scattered on the ground. Artemis stood in the middle, silvery light radiating off of her like a beacon in the darkness, shooting arrow after arrow. The arrows seemed to have no effect- they simply dissipated before hitting their targets. The huntresses also had their bows nocked, and were trying to kill the monsters. They were being attacked by... three pairs of glowing green eyes! Only three!

I laughed. "C'mon, guys, let's go already. Soon there won't be enough monster to go around." We drew our weapons and prepared to attack.

With a battle cry, the boys charged forward and swung their heavy weapons at the green eyed demons. A very loud bang erupted as someone's sword made contact with the metallic monster skin. Tim's sword clattered to the floor as he grabbed his arm in pain. The monster just laughed evilly. Ruidi and Caiyi, who were both startled by the sound of the clash, stared at each other and nodded. They started swinging madly at their opponents. BANG BANG BANG (they each took notice to swing a little lighter than Tim). Before long, they were both exhausted.

How is this going to work? I thought.

Suddenly Artemis started shooting her arrows again. None of them hit the right spot.

I saw Alex and Shirley whispering back and forth while the others were whacking away at the monsters.

"HEY GUYS, a little help here!" I yelled at them. They stared up at me, Alex held up a finger, meaning one more minute. They lowered their heads and started whispering again.

Ugh, don't they know how much trouble we are in? I thought. As if reading my mind, Bhavana told me, "They are planning, they always do that during times of need."

I ducked as a monster clawed at me. I slashed at it. No use. The demon was moving closer, sensing that I couldn't do anything to hurt it. It leapt at me and I swung my sword, the amount force was so large that my sword flew out of my grip. The monster once again moved closer and stared at me with its cold green eyes. I was frozen of fear. That's when Alex called out, "THAT'S IT!"

"GUYS, AIM FOR THEIR EYES!" Shirley shouted.

Immediately, Artemis took her arrow and aimed for the green glow. WHOOSH. The arrow buried itself into the slimy goo.

"AGGGGHHHHHH!" The monster bellowed and collapsed onto the ground. Another monster was stabbed in its weak spot by Caiyi and Ruidi. The last one however, had no one guarding it. It sensed the danger and knew that we found their "off" button. It quickly did something and disappeared.

"Where'd it go?" I asked.

"I'm not sure... should we try to follow?" Ruidi replied.

"No, I think we should continue this quest. We are really off track," Alex objected.

"Actually, what if this monster can help lead us to where we want to go?" Shirley pointed out.

Everyone's face grew a small grin and nodded in agreement.

"Then we'd better hurry up if we still want to follow it," Tim stated, his broken arm healed earlier.