The Hunters of Artemis: The Return of the Hunters

Chapter 11: And So It Begins

Dear readers,

If you've read this whole thing to this part without skipping anything, you are totally awesome. Just saying. Not that the rest of you aren't either... but the people who have are higher on my awesome scale. Just kidding... Or am I? Never mind. Just keep reading.

-flygirl1

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Walking down to the campfire with Jack and Anna, I thought back on the vision I had seen. How long had I been out? I couldn't even remember what time it was when I fell... asleep... I'd ask Atlanta and the rest of the Hunters to explain. 

As we arrived, the song they were singing was just wrapping up. It was a good time to enter. I saw the smoke billow up from the orange fire. "Guys, did I miss the Capture the Flag game?"

"Yeah. Sorry. We couldn't wake you."

I sighed. "It's okay. Not your fault I suppose..." Even though it was my favourite game at camp, there would be many other opportunities to play again. 

"Oh! Look, there they are," Jack exclaimed. He pointed over to the group of young girls sitting, smiling and laughing as they enjoyed the campfire.

I nodded and took a deep breath. I quietly stepped over to the bleachers and whispered, "Psst!" to Lyra, who was sitting closest to me.

She froze from her singing and looked slowly around.

"Psst!"

Her eyes found me and she mouthed, "Yes?"

"Can you get the others?" I whispered.

She nodded and nudged Atlanta, who passed the message on to Robyn and Hannah. They all got up and started navigating their way over to me.

"What is it?" Hannah asked. Her red hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and her skin looked even paler in the firelight.

"I wanted to ask you guys a few questions." I wrung my hands as I gained their full attention. "First question: Um... Atlanta, what exactly did you do to me?"

She waved her hand about. "I just sent you back into a memory."

Anna gaped at her. "'Just sent her back into a memory'? What? How?"

"Magic. Duh." Atlanta rolled her eyes.

"Okay... Next question: Who were all those people in that room? What was going on? I mean, I got that Rhea and my mom were fighting, and both died, and Dad was upset, and so was Robyn, but what the heck was happening?"

Glances were shot around the group. Lyra motioned to the girls and they made a small huddle. Jack cocked his head to the side and gave me a questioning glance. I shrugged; I had no idea what was happening either.

Soon, the Hunters turned around and Hannah said, "We can't say that. That's... not our story to tell."

I threw my hands up. "Then whose is it?"

Another glance. "Rhea's."

I put a hand to my forehead. "And how exactly am I supposed to ask a dead girl why she was fighting with my living mother more than a decade ago?"

They shrugged. "How should we know?" asked Atlanta.

"You're all useless!" I screamed, the fuse on my temper completely burnt out. Steaming, I stormed away from them, ignoring them trying to call me back.

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I was elected the leader of the quest, so I had to decide where to go first. The night before, I reviewed a ton of maps, trying to figure out the most logical route of escape for the kidnapper. In the process, I saw a small sticky note attached to a map of New York State.

I peeled it off of the map and read note that was written in a handwriting that I did not recognize.

And so it begins

The trip of original ten

To find the lost mother

Go to where it all began

Totally creeped out, and not knowing what it meant, I stuck it to the wall beside my bunk and turned away from it, deciding to try and sleep. 

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The next morning, I brought the note to the others. "Did any of you write this?"

Lyra took it from my hands and shook her head. "It wasn't me. Guys?"

The other Hunters took turns looking at the paper, and all shook their heads. 

I sighed. "The message is pretty weird too..."

Atlanta groaned as she read it. "You've got to be kidding me. The trip of original ten? This note is talking about the first quest your mom and Liam went on together. The one to find the Ethiopian Pegasus."

"What?" Robyn asked, taking the note from Atlanta. "This is impossible... To find the lost mother, go to where it all began? What could that mean?"

"It could be a clue..." Hannah said slowly. "Serial killers with big egos usually leave behind clues to those trying to find them because they know they'll never be caught. This could be a note like that."

Everyone looked at her. 

"What? I watched a lot of Psych the last time we had cable access," she said defensively. "The Yin Yang Trilogy," she muttered to herself as no one said anything else.

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Hannah may be onto something. Guys, where did we go first on that quest?"

"How am I supposed to remember? That was, like, thirty-three years ago!" Atlanta griped.

"We went to that little town, remember? It was named after a tree or something," Robyn said quietly. When everyone looked at her questioningly, she sighed. "I remember every part of that quest. It was the last few weeks of Rhea's life... It's not something you just... forget."

There was silence.

"Could it be Gray Birch?" I asked quietly. "I was looking at maps last night, which is where I found the note."

Lyra snapped her fingers. "That's it. Gray Birch. Where everything was named Gray Birch." She giggled quietly. "Kat always joked about it..." A sad look crossed her face as she realized that Kat was no longer there.

Anna, who had been quiet until now, clapped her hands together. "Well, we should get packing, now shouldn't we?"

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As we gathered our supplies: tents, clothes, provisions, etc, Chiron came up to us to talk one last time. He walked across the stone floor of the amphitheater, where we were setting up, and sighed.

"Children, just remember this: there are always enemies. Everywhere you go, there will be enemies. Whether they be mortal or not, they could be evil. Evil in mind, spirit and body. Just remember to be careful."

I stared at him as he clip-clopped away. "That's it? No 'good luck' or 'hope you don't die'?"

"He doesn't really do that kind of thing." I looked up to see Dad standing there in the entrance. I smiled. "I remember when I went on my first quest. He said almost the exact same thing."

"Hi, Dad."

The Hunters rolled their eyes and shuffled themselves over a few feet, farther away from Dad and I. I sighed and went to embrace my father.

"Be careful, Rhea." He whispered. "I know you'll find your mother, and I know you'll do the right thing."

I felt blood rush to my face and stared down at my sneakers. "Um... Okay."

He smiled sadly and said, "Bring her home, okay?" I couldn't imagine what he was going through. He had just lost his wife, and now was sending his only daughter off on a quest that could be deadly. No one knew what would happen to any of them. I could tell he wasn't thrilled about letting me leave.

"Okay. I will." I really hoped I would.