Hunter: Fate & Fury

Chapter 1

There was no going back now.

The sun was a bright ring in the sky that appeared low enough to reach out to touch. As if proving that thought possible, I could feel its heat removing the last of the hold the cold I'd left behind still had. My vision blurred, a mixture of gold and black as the brightness shocked my eyes; they couldn't adjust fast enough from the darkness we'd left behind. Closing my eyes I could still see the glowing circle behind my eyelids, and shielding them with my hand, it took a few cautious looks around to get them to focus again.

It wasn't just the dark, and cold that had been left behind. Spinning around, there was no clear guide as to where the portal had been, and worse than that - any sign of my friends. Well, fuck.

With the eclipse in front of me, and nothing else other than the forest around me, I wasn't sure what to do or where to go. Kara had said it never felt like Hecate disappeared for long, so maybe there would be some kind of timer to this and the way out would reappear. I had been holding the key, so since I had the golden ticket, only I was permitted entry. Things were making some sense, which was a good first step or it was until Apollo appeared from the light, looking equal parts confused and relieved.

"We need to move." He greeted, his eyes going up and down over my body. "You're okay?"

"Well, yeah. That's a bit much." I motion to the sun.

"It's going to get a lot much when the eclipse is over. Sun god, remember? I am fucking powered up the max right now and if that moon gives it an inch of space it's going to get hot."

Apollo made a point. He wasn't just glowing, he was radiating with the bulk of the light in the clearing coming from him.

"What about the others?" I shield my eyes, attempting to get a look around the field. Apollo didn't need to answer, I couldn't feel anyone here.

"It's just us." He turns me around, and we start towards the tree. "Got the key?"

"Yeah, it's," not in my hands. I feel over my clothes and then turn back to where I'd been standing. "No. No, I don't."

"I'm starting to get the feeling you just walked into a trap and I got pulled into it too."

"We don't know that." I protest.

"Really?" He motions around us. "None of this seems suspicious to you?"

Maybe a little. "Fine, it's not looking great. But we also didn't know what to expect so let's work with what we've got."

I'm not sure if it's my eyes playing tricks on me, or if something does move ahead of us within the trees. Apollo either doesn't notice or doesn't care as he runs right towards it and each time I call out his name, he doesn't stop, just tells me to stay close. I run faster, pushing myself to catch up as we hit the tree line. Instantly his glow weakens; the darkness swirling around him like smoke rising from a fire.

"I know this place." He whispers the second I stop beside him. "I've been here before, as a child with Artemis and our mother. I don't know why I didn't remember it before."

"Really?" He never spoke about his mother.

That wasn't about to change. The frown on his face deepened, making me think it wasn't a happy memory either as he looked around now as if he was searching for something. Apollo suddenly charged ahead, dusting off the darkness around him as he was simply squatting away a pesky mosquito. It was hard to keep up, and when I was about to suggest we stop, the trees gave way to another clearing as identical as the last one and what we left behind. What neither of us expected to see as Cain and Artemis, and from the look on their faces, they weren't expecting us either.