Child of Artemis

Chapter 3

When Avalon woke up, it was night, and she was lying on a blanket with a fire crackling nearby. It looked like she was in the same forest, except farther away from where she had fought the dracaenae. Her memory was foggy, except for one thing. 'Selene? Nova?' she sent her thoughts out. Selene came up to her and licked her face. 'Hey, Selene. What happened? How's Nova?' Avalon asked her through mindtalk. Selene replied 'A demigod rescued us. Nova woke up once, but he could barely eat or drink'.

Avalon sat up. She could see her pack lying on the ground, next to her bow and quiver. She tried to stand, but she felt woozy and sat back down. Selene trotted over and grasped the bow in her teeth gently and moved it to where it was lying across two tree branches lying close to the ground. She did the same with the backpack and quiver. Going back to Avalon, she tensed as a twig broke.

A girl about Avalon's age came into view. "Oh, good, you're awake" She said when she saw Avalon.

'She rescued us' Selene told Avalon.

The rescuer had shoulder-length messy brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. Her clothes were worn and dirty, as was her hair, and almost everything else about her, but when she smiled, and Avalon could feel her spirits lifting.

"I'm Aurora, daughter of Aphrodite. What's your name?" She asked.

Avalon replied, "My name is Avalon."

"So, where are you headed to?" Aurora asked. "New York," Avalon answered. "I'm probably going to the same place as you." Aurora told her. Avalon smiled weakly. "But first, we need to get some sleep." Avalon was too tired to answer. Within minutes both she and Aurora were snoozing lightly.

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The next morning, Avalon was able to stand up, though she got a major headache when doing it. She stumbled a few steps, then had to lie down again. Selene greeted her with a whine, licking her hand. Avalon walked slowly over to the almost-still body of Nova.

Kneeling beside him, she examined the wound. It was a little over an inch deep, and stretched all across his side, exposing some of the bone beneath the flesh. Nova lifted his head a little and whimpered softly. Avalon would have to wait until a full moon to heal him. Avalon got up, and dragged herself over to her pack. She got some nectar and ambrosia and went back to Nova.

'Eat this' she thought to Nova. She put a few drops of nectar into his mouth, and he stuck his tongue out to catch the droplets. Then she broke off a piece of ambrosia and crumbled it before feeding it to him. With all the monster attacks, they would have to keep moving soon.

Selene growled, then relaxed as she turned and saw Aurora approaching them. Avalon finally got to get a good look at her. She wore ragged blue jeans, a green shirt, and had a sword hanging by her side, and she kept fingering the bracelets around her wrists, which had tiny carvings with symbols engraved on it.

"We won't get to camp for a while if we stay here until he heals." she said. Avalon answered "I know that. We have to move soon, and if we stay, we'll be monster prey. Out of all four of us, you're the only one able to fight. I don't know if Selene and I are strong enough yet. Probably not."

"Let's wait until tomorrow." Pointing at Selene, she said "Her name's Selene, right? She seems okay, but not totally recovered. You can barely stand. We can afford to wait another night."

Sighing, Avalon went to her pack. Picking it up, she walked over to a stream she hadn't seen in the dark. Aurora was filling a canteen with water. When she was done, Avalon asked "Do you mind if I bathe?" Aurora put the canteen in her own pack and said "Sure. I'll go after you." Avalon took off her shoes and stepped into the stream and lay down, enjoying the cool current flowing around her.