Chapter Seventeen - The Hunt Is On

Celyn and I walked over to stand with Hunter who was already waiting in the semi-circle with the other girls that had been sent to guard the area all standing around Lady Artemis and Zoë. I guess the borders around our makeshift camp were probably more than safe enough now that there was a goddess among us.

"I had heard from Zoë about your encounter with the she wolf," Lady Artemis said. "That she is a member of Lycaon's pack is worrying enough without the added complication of her also potentially being a necromancer."

"What do you mean 'potentially' a necromancer?" Trinity asked, limping over. "We saw those Vrykolaka bodyguards of hers. They tore us up pretty good."

"It is possible she is working alone," Zoë said, speaking up. "However, it is also unlikely. Werewolves value pack over solitude. Where there is one, it is just as likely for there to be many. In that case she may be the necromancer, or there may be a hidden figure we do not yet know about."

I shifted from foot to foot, suddenly feeling anxious as the hunters carried on in a whispered conversation around me. From what I could gather, it had been over two decades since the hunt had encountered the king of werewolves. That meant that while some of the girls like Zoë, Trinity and Phoebe had fought against Lycaon and his pack in the past, others like Hunter and even Celyn had not.

"I will be with you today," the dark-haired goddess said, her unseen aura radiating as a physical force of power despite her preferred small stature. Not for the first time I wondered what she would look like to my aura sight. The temptation to peek was strong, but I remembered the warning and valued my eyeballs not being melted. "However, I can not fight for you. Unless he makes an appearance personally, I am bound to a supporting role in this battle."

"Why is that?" I asked, speaking up for the first time.

"It is part of the Ancient Laws passed down by my father, the King of the gods. We, that is to say the other gods and goddesses, are restricted in our interactions with mortals. I am allowed more freedoms than most, given my hunt skirts the line of what one could consider 'mortal'; their Oath and my Blessing give them a limited form of immortality. They will never grow old, however they can still fall in battle. As such, their lives are still guided by the Moirai. The Ancient Laws prevent us from interfering with the machinations of Fate, and if one is fated to fall in battle, my active presence could be considered an interference."

"What would happen if you did save someone?"

"As with any law that gets broken, there would be a trial to determine my guilt and punishment," she said. "Though, in matters between the gods, you will find it is often the mortals who bear the brunt of the punishment."

I thought back to the stories I had read about during Uncle Joe's attempts at homeschooling me. From what I could recall, the goddess' words rang true. Still, I was a little surprised to hear her admit as much out loud. Before I could comment on it, my thoughts were interrupted by a series of wolf howls cutting through the sounds of the surrounding woods. One look at the goddess in question was enough to know she had read my thoughts.

Just then the pack of wolves that traveled with the Hunt burst through the tree line and fell in line in a circle around us. One stepped forward and lowered it's head toward Zoë before letting out a low whine. The Lieutenant nodded her head, then looked back up.

"Our quarry has been found," Zoë spoke up, addressing the hunt. "Gather thy weapons, but leave your packs behind. We must carry only what is essential so we may travel more quickly. Worry not, we shalt return to this place once the battle is over. Those who art still injured from the last skirmish will remain behind to rest and keep watch over our possessions."

I glanced around at the group and noticed the wounded still outnumbered the able-bodied. Would there even be enough of us to make a difference?

"Hey, lighten up, Skipper," Phoebe said, shoulder checking me with a smirk. I noticed that her sling was off. Her smirk turned into a grin; "I told you it'd heal up quickly enough. And now that we've got Lady Artemis with us, we can really kick some ass."

"But didn't she say she couldn't fight for us?" I asked.

"She can't do anything directly," the muscular girl said. "There's still a lot she can do indirectly, though."

My face must have shown my confusion because she just laughed before punching me in the shoulder and jogging over to grab her gear. With a shrug and a wince, I turned and headed over to Zoë's tent to grab my knife. A slight breeze picked up and I had to stop myself from tugging at the hem of my borrowed chiton. It really was comfortable, surprisingly, and I could almost forget I was wearing it - until the wind hit my exposed legs.

My knife was right where I had left it, wrapped up in a bundle of burned clothing. I let out a sigh. Even though the girls teased me over it, Uncle Joe had bought that outfit for me. He'd done so much for me, really. I felt a slight stinging in my eyes and glanced around, sure there must still be smoke from my wild fire earlier.

Nope, just emotions. With a sniff, I wiped my eyes clear with the back of my hand and pulled the knife from its sheathe to check the blade. Aside from a slight dulling along the tip, it looked to be in usable condition. Just to be safe, though, I also grabbed a whetstone. Whether in the kitchen or in the field, a dull knife is an unsafe knife after all. Once finished with my preparations, I made my way over to the rest of the group - grateful that I wasn't the last one up as Celyn had rushed up to join right behind me.

In total only nine of the hunters, plus myself, were able to move forward. I frowned, not liking those odds considering the last time we were at full strength and they still managed to stomp us into the metaphorical curb. Admittedly those two heavily muscled monsters had already been dealt with, but if the woman was a necromancer, there may be more waiting for us. Could the ten of us deal with even one of those guys on our own? Let alone a group? If worse came to worse, I could go supernova like I had before. But, would the woods survive that?

I snapped out of my thoughts as I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I found myself staring into the goddess Artemis' eyes. For a moment, I felt myself falling, alone, into a silvery pool that seemed to reflect the moon's light itself despite only being mid-afternoon. I had a brief moment of panic as I felt myself submerge, gasping for air as I broke the surface only to find I was still dry. The fire inside me reacted, blazing just beneath the surface - a desperate inferno.

"Calm yourself, Penelope," Artemis said, her tone gentle and her voice sounding distant despite how close she was standing to me. "You will be just fine."

Pulling myself from the water, I felt a surge of calm wash over me, and took a steadying breath. The fire within me calmed as well. Moments before, I could feel my inner fire as a rolling inferno. Crackling and threatening to consume me, to burn bright and free. Now, it was calm. The fire still burned, still crackled and rolled, still yearned to be free, but now it lacked the rage fueled by fear. The fire inside me was alive! It felt emotions as I did, but had no filter. No, I was the filter. Whenever I was angry or afraid, it would rage. When I was calm, it was calm.

"Come," Zoë said, and I found myself able to break eye contact with Artemis. The vision passed and I was suddenly back in the clearing with the rest of the hunt. "Our prey awaits us. The hunt is on!"