Zelus The Exiled God

Chapter 5

           Exhausting, that's the word she would use to describe this experience. The forest she appeared in was for lack of better words vast. Like country size vast. She had been walking around here for a week now and by her brother's instruction she kept heading east, that was a week ago and she seemed to have little to no progress. Somehow she had managed to come by streams so she wasn't completely dirty.
          At the moment the sun was setting and she needed to set up camp for the night. Another unfruitful and long day. She needed to prepare for another tedious day. She sat with her back to a tree snd let her mind wander. Apollo had told her to not worry that help would come for her and all she needed to do was survive and head east. 
          Never in her life did she think her guffy brother would be that disheveled or enter a state of depression. He refused to talk about what he saw, he only told them the gist and what to do.
He truly looked like a man that had gon to hell and back. She walked towards the stream she found and took her clothings off. It was always much better and natural for her take showers in the streams. They were so much more relaxing and the scenery only seemed to enhance it further.
          She walked slowly to the middle of the stream after scrubbing and just floated there, looking up at the night sky filled with stars, the sky shone bright with vibrant colors. After a while though the vicinity seemed to be glowing, the same colors as the sky and seemed as though it was alive, the tress creaked and and the winds picked up the leaves fluttering and glowing, reflecting the sky above it, she looked on in wonder and awe at the scene. She noticed a silhouette in the trees, a shadowy figure of what resembled a snake flying in between the massive trees, the figure got closer and closer and then she saw it. White scales that shone Like the stars, those clawed hands that snake Like body of its that seemed to weave through the trees like cloth, then came the power it gave off. Power rolled of this creature in massive amounts. Power that could destroy and recreate the world, no the universe.
On instinct she transformed into her true form her arrow nocked in her silver bow her breath held, waiting for a sign, any sign to release the arrow.

          "Pssst" She turned around ever slowly making sure to not take her eyes off the dragon. Her body trembling from fear she looked to the left, the source of the sound and there she saw a naiad or at least that is what she hoped it was. The water creature gestured to her bow and made signs for her to lower it. Then she mouthed something. Artemis didn't hear a thing and suddenly the naiad that was away was there, her hands on the bow and lowering it slowly, as slow as possible.  Making sure to be as harmless as possible she stated, ever so calmly " lower your bow. If you offend them your entire galaxy will be wasted. It will be nothing more than rocks floating in space. Now gently lower your bow. He doesn't acknowledge your existence so play this nice and slow. Let them pass and do nothing." She warned her.
         

          Pain. She felt a sharp sensation in her inner thigh. Looking down she saw a smaller version of the dragon, one that was about the size of a regular human wrapped around her upper thigh. She felt immense pain as it bit harder and deeper than before and yet the only thing she could do was check if the older one was looking her way and to her terror he seemed to be a breath away from her. She gazed at into its eyes, eyes that glowed blue eyes and had pupils in the form of a spiral. She saw something when she looked into its eyes but her attention was taken away when the small dragon clawed at her tummy. It's talons seemed to grow longer as it pierced through her flesh, ichor flowing like a crack in a dam. Not done with her it wrapped itself around her her body and it gave a faint glow and unwrapped itself flying to the bigger dragon and off they went, leaving her a trembling mess. If she even had to fight the smaller dragon she wasnt sure she would come out without missing some parts of her body.
 

          "Hi my name is Amora nice to meet you miss goddess." The naiad stretched her hand for a shake which she shakily accepted.
"  I am Artemis of the Hunt. Thank you for helping me. I don't think I would have come out alive if anything bad happened." She admitted.
"Oh don't bother they look mean and all but I promise you they are some of the kindest ones. Well these ones anyway. I have to go now, uzu is that way close to , follow the stream to where it joins the river there should be a boat to cross , the man with the boat will lead you to uzu." She pointed to the direction the stream was flowing to. "Ohh and should you meet them again, be sure to thank them . It's not everyday they just bless people ya know and say this to the guards at the gate, White Maelstrom. Tell the leader anything he wants to know no matter what it is and you shall gain their favour. Bye bye." The naiad run off after that leaving behind a still very freshly traumatized goddess. One who sank to her feet the moment she got back on land. She fell ill that night, shaking violently in her sleep, dreaming of herself having a family with kids, her Olympian family seemingly in a much better relationship, one that seemed too unrealistic compared to the current them.