Chapter 15 - I Am The Girl On Fire

"Get 'em boys!"

"Fire!" Zoë commanded.

The two muscle-bound men rushed forward with a snarl, teeth bared and fingers ending in razor sharp claws. They were fast, too. Faster than you would think for being as big as they were. The twang of bowstrings releasing signaled the flight of arrows from behind me. With the exception of one or two arrows sticking their mark, the rest seemed to bounce harmlessly off their muscular chests.

"Kill them all!" The woman shouted, her voice going shrill.

The man on the left swept a bulging arm, knocking three girls to the ground as he barrelled past to charge at the archers. The other guy got caught up fighting with Phoebe who had already drawn out a hunting knife in preparation for the fight. She swung wide, but he ducked quickly under the blade and delivered two rapid punches at her unprotected ribs. The sickening crack of bones breaking just further proved his muscles weren't only for show.

As Phoebe collapsed to the ground in pain, two other hunters quickly jumped him from the sides. He moved like a blur, laughing as he first grabbed the girl on his right by the throat and then whirled around to launch her directly into the girl on his left. As the girls went down in a tangle of limbs, he lunged at them with a heavy kick, sending them both flying several yards away.

The back line archers were faring only slightly better in that they were nimbly keeping out of the grasping claws of the first guy. Unfortunately, their arrows were proving just as useless at close range as they had from a greater distance. Meanwhile, Zoë had unleashed a rapid fire volley of arrows at the mysterious woman, causing her to retreat into the cover of the trees. The lieutenant of the hunt drew her knife and followed after, unwilling to let her quarry escape so easily.

"Gods, they're tearing us apart!" Hunter exclaimed, then cursed as the big guy turned his attention to us.

"What do we do?" I asked, side-stepping quickly as the big guy lunged for me and slashing at his hands with my knife.

"I don't know, do something," Hunter shouted, launching several hidden throwing knives at the man's back. He growled, spinning around to face her - his eyes flashing dangerously. "Do anything!"

What could I do? Our weapons were proving to be little more than irritations to these guys. Thinking back to the fight against the hydra, I had an idea. With a quick thought, I channeled fire through my blade once more. It would no doubt be reduced to slag after this fight, but weapons could be replaced. We couldn't. I swung out at the man, and grinned with satisfaction as he recoiled from the flames, turning away to put distance between us.

"Oh, so you don't like fire?"

Like a bolt from the blue, I was struck by sudden inspiration. Was it a terrible idea? Probably. Was I still going to do it? Definitely! Without giving myself a chance to second guess my actions, I clenched my eyes shut tight and allowed the flames to engulf my entire body. The fire started at my hands, then spread further up my arms, passed my elbows. This was the furthest I had allowed my flames to reach, and instead of panic, I suddenly felt free. It was almost as if I had been restrained my whole life and didn't even realize it until just this moment. I giggled as the warm flames burned higher up my arms, over my shoulders and across my chest, spreading faster with each passing second.

Finally the flames stopped spreading, and I stood a human-shaped pillar of burning fire. Sure, I'd 'lit up' more than a few times while Ari had helped me practice control back in Uncle Joe's apartment, but this was something on an entirely different level altogether. Before, I'd only burned up to my elbows. Always maintaining strict control to ensure I didn't hurt myself or those around me. Now, however, I didn't want control. I wanted to be free!

I closed my eyes for a moment before activating my other sight. The intense glare of the fire dropped, and I could see clearly through the haze of heat once more. My fire burned around me, rippling in orange and violet swirls far more vibrant that ever before. I couldn't help myself as I laughed out loud. This new freedom was exhilarating! I thought I heard someone scream my name. Turning, I saw Hunter looked terrified. Why was that, I wondered? Oh, yeah. The scary men were still hurting my new friends. I turned to regard the heavily muscled man that had just moments ago been attacking me, his muddy red aura stood out starkly against the black and white color of the wooded area around us.

The man-shaped monster seemed to be afraid of fire on an instinctive level, and this new development must have proven to be a step too far for him. I could see he was sweating, and I doubted it was because of the heat. His eyes were wide as saucers, his face pale and his legs were trembling slightly. He was scared. 'Good,' I thought, as I took a step toward him. He took a step back.

"What's the matter?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. Dimly, I registered that my voice sounded strange, as if the words themselves were cracking like a log in the fire with the intense heat my body was putting off. "Don't you want to play with me?"

His eyes widened. He turned to flee and I leapt forward, propelled by a sudden burst of flames, crashing into his back and sending us both toppling to the ground. The monstrous man screamed in pain and fear as he struggled and thrashed, trying desperately to escape or at the very least dislodge the burning source of agony from his back.

"I guess you do feel pain after all," I taunted, the flames coming from my hands growing more intense even as I reached around to wrap them around his face and throat.

The smell of burning hair and flesh filled the air as he struggled even harder to escape, but still I held on until he finally collapsed to a smoldering heap of ash and dust on the ground beneath me. I stared at what remained of the monster for a moment, watching it burn away with a detached sense of fascination before remembering the fight wasn't over yet.

"One down," I muttered, turning my gaze toward the second man who had already begun to back away as his companion was reduced to cinders in front of him. "One to go!"

I must have blacked out at some point. One minute I was blazing like the sun, burning brighter and hotter than ever before. I was life and light unrestrained. The next thing I knew, I found myself sprawled out on the ground. Beneath me was a pile of smoldering ash and dust. Looking around, I noticed several members of the hunt were scrambling in an effort to put out multiple small fires that were threatening to spread to the trees surrounding our found clearing. I was death and chaos unleashed.

My stomach lurched as I sat bolt upright, scrambling on hands and knees away from where I had been lying. The sudden movement caused a wave of nausea to take over and I soon found myself vomiting the contents of my stomach on the ground in front of me. A couple of the girls looked over, startled by either my sudden movement or the loud retching, but made no move toward me. After a moment, the nausea passed and I managed to stand upright and began staggering to the far side of the clearing where there was a rocky outcrop just past the treeline near the bank of the creek.

Hugging my knees to my chest, I closed my eyes. Instead of blackness, I saw rolling flames yearning to burn free once more. Without the roar of the flames laughing in my ears I could clearly hear the men's screams as they burned alive. My stomach lurched and I felt like I was going to be sick all over again.

The leucrocotta. The hydra. I'd killed monsters before, so why was this time so different for me? I knew the answer. It was because those monsters had dropped their human disguise. Realistically, I knew that those men had really been monsters. The fact that they disintegrated into yellow dust served to confirm that much, if nothing else. If I hadn't killed them, if I hadn't taken them out first, they would have killed us. Or worse.

"Penelope," Zoë's voice cut through my thoughts, causing me to snap my head up to look at her. "I will not ask thee how you are holding up. That much is apparent by your demeanor."

I pulled my knees tighter to my chest as she sat down next to me.

"I hear we have thee to thank for dispatching those creatures," she said. "Though, you seem to have done quite a number on thyself as well as thine surroundings. I would have thought thou would be helping clean up, though the state of thine clothing would perhaps explain your isolation."

"Am I a monster?" I asked, looking up.

The older girl laughed then. Not even a small laugh, either. She actually doubled over and was soon gasping for air. A couple of the other girls looked over in concern, having clearly never seen their lieutenant in such a state.

I frowned; "I killed..."

"The true monsters," Zoë interrupted. "They might at one point in time been men themselves, but Lycaon's curse and that woman's twisted magic had warped them into something even more monstrous. I believe the now common term would be vampires, though there are many inaccuracies in the current tellings. If it helps thee to know, they were likely already dead before even we encountered them, and by destroying them, they may perhaps be at peace."

"But..."

"Penelope, listen to me. Thou might have lost control of thine powers, but even in that state thou kept thy focus directed at thine enemy. I understand thou art concerned - possibly even feeling the first stirrings of fear over what thine power is capable of. I can only tell thee what I have observed, if thou would listen?"

I nodded, swallowing a lump in my throat, and let her continue; "Thou stepped in to protect others, at thine own expense. I truly cannot tell thee how many of the so-called Heroes of old, Heroes whose stories are still told to this day, would have hesitated where thou did not. it is because of you that those girls, our friends and sisters, were still alive by the time I got back from mine chase. Thine actions this day were heroic, Penelope Jackson."

"Really?" I asked, my voice a whisper.

"Truly," Zoë said with a soft smile. "And, I have no doubt Lady Artemis herself would agree. Now, come. We must get thee outfitted in something more appropriate than those rags thou art wearing."

I looked down at my outfit and groaned. It was only then that I realized my clothes were burned beyond repair, now just tattered scraps that hung loosely from my body and only barely maintained the illusion of modesty. Using the scraps to cover what I could, I followed the lieutenant back to the clearing. The fires had been put out and the girls had already tended to the wounded and were lounging around - few of them had even decided to splash around in the creek. The Hunt fell silent when they saw us approaching, and for a moment I was worried about what they were thinking. And then they began to cheer, a raucous noise that sent birds in the nearby trees flying.

"Great job back there, Skipper," Phoebe said, her shoulder in a makeshift sling. She noticed my glance and shrugged with a slight grimace, "It's fine. Couple hours and it'll be good as new. Wonders of nectar and ambrosia combined with our natural healing factor. Now hurry up and get dressed, Hunter tells me you never finished your squirrel."

I shot the white-haired girl in question a look to which she simply grinned and stuck her tongue out at me. Real mature. I shook my head and rushed to catch up to Zoë, ignoring the teasing whistles as I passed by the others. They really didn't think any less of me. Maybe I shouldn't either.