The Angelus Brothers Chronicles - The Golden Hind

CHAPTER TWO

Kaia kept her head low as she made her way around the outskirts of the village, keeping her horns concealed beneath her hair. She wanted to know what the humans were so excited about, had they seen her sisters? Had they escaped Artemis?

"I'm not joking." Said a short fat middle-aged man. "Heracles really is coming here to capture the golden hind."

"Why would Heracles come all this way for that? There's deer everywhere." Called out a tall thin man from the crowd.

"He's been told he has to by King Eurystheus, it's one of his labours to atone for killing his children." She paused behind the corner of a hut and listened to the villager's talk.

"So how do you know about it?"

"That trader that came through yesterday. He's telling everyone."

"Just a trader's story to sell his wares. Remember when people started coming here because someone claimed the hinds breathed fire?" Shouted a short plump woman.

"Heracles is the son of Zeus, he's not coming to our town. Those hinds will keep stealing our wine."

"Only been one of them for months now. Haven't seen the whole herd in a long time."

"I heard Artemis caught them, maybe she missed one."

"Artemis would never miss."

"Heracles is coming!" The throng of voices was too much for the doe. How did humans ever hear each other? They all called out at each other, talking over each other.

Kaia turned and walked away from the village as quickly as she could, she needed to get back to the peaceful quiet of her forest. Once she reached a nearby hill and was able to hide from sight she changed back to her deer form and ran as fast as she could back to the thicket she once shared with her sisters, without drawing the attention of the arguing villagers.

She lay down and sighed, what had she done to the goddess to make her take away her sisters? Was this Heracles really coming to hunt her? Tears welled in her large golden eyes, she was so lonely, she missed her sisters so. 'Goddess please' she thought to herself 'please goddess, come back and take me too. Please, I don't want to be alone.'

***

Heracles knelt by a stream and scooping water into his hands washed the sweat and dirt of the road from his face, it was hot and all he wanted to do was find a tavern and perhaps a pretty wench or two. Looking up he sighed when he found his half-sister, her armour glinting in the sun, standing before him watching his every move.

"Not pleased to see me, baby brother?" Heracles was not a small man, at six feet and ten inches in height he dwarfed most of the much smaller humans, but the goddess made him look small at her nearly ten feet in height.

"What do you want, Artemis?" She pouted.

"Such a warm welcome little brother." He gave her a disinterested look and scooped more water out of the stream and took a drink. "You're on your way to catch my hind." Looking up at her again he looked irritated.

"I don't have a choice."

"I know. I've given her some... Gifts, to help her try to evade you. But should you catch her, remember she belongs to me and I will be displeased if she is harmed."

"Since when are they yours?"

"Since I caught the other four and harnessed them to my chariot and let the fifth go so you had another labour worthy of you, little brother. She is a gentle creature, alone and scared. It is beneath you to harm her, she's a child"

Standing up he faced his goddess sister and bowed his head slightly.

"I won't harm her." Hearing the goddess sounding compassionate and protective softened him a little to her, she was usually so cold and aloof.

"See to it you don't, or I won't be so friendly next time we meet." With that Artemis vanished as if she had never been there. Sighing heavily the half-human son of Zeus turned from the stream and started back to the road. He couldn't win, if Hera wasn't on him then one of Zeus' other children were. It was hardly his fault he was born. It wasn't his fault Zeus couldn't keep it to himself. Angry at his lot in life and irritated he couldn't now just kill the hind but had to catch and babysit it, a deer rumoured to be faster than any horse that his sister had aided, and that could possibly be able to breathe fire too. He marched down the road toward Ceryneia muttering under his breath that it would solve all his problems if he killed the damned creatures and let Artemis kill him. At least then the gods would leave him be. Oh who was he kidding, Hera would only feel the need to hound him in Tartarus.

Ceryneia was a small village surrounded by miles of vineyards. As Heracles passed row after row of grape vines he began to notice the people tending them were stopping their work to stare at him. At least the villagers would know he was coming and should lay on food and drink for him. He'd made up his mind that he would lay it on thick that he was here to save them from the fire-breathing beast that stole their wine and terrorised their village. They would worship him like the god his father was and maybe a few of the village wenches would offer him their bed. Since he murdered his children the only comfort he now found was to be drunk and between some strange woman's thighs. At least there he could forget that he was trying to impress an absent father and was serving a King so inferior to him it made his bile burn in his stomach. It galled him that he couldn't even bring his companion Iolaus as that apparently invalidated his labours, at least with Iolaus by his side he had a friend to drink with and take solace with when no woman was available. But, he mused, even that pleasure was taken from him just like everything in his life.

As he reached the edge of a village a crowd was already forming, he heard a voice shout.

"See? I told you he was coming." Pushing out his huge barreled chest and squaring his shoulders he gave the people his most charming smile.

"Good people of Ceryneia, I am here to free you from the beast that terrorises your village." As he expected the people cheered as several girls swooned at the sight of his huge muscles and handsomely chiselled face. He pushed a curly lock back from his face and gave them his most winning smile. "I am weary from my travels, would any of you good people be able to offer me a meal and maybe a stable to bed down in for the night?" As he expected there was an uproar at the idea of their saviour, the son of Zeus, sleeping in a stable and virtually everyone offering him a meal. He followed the villagers to the village tavern making a mental note of which girls he would ensure to give plenty of smiles and compliments to. It was almost too easy with these provincials, they were so excited to see the real Heracles, son of Zeus himself that they would virtually offer their daughters and food to him.

As he was seated a mug of ale was placed before him with promises of a meal as soon as it could be cooked. He grinned at a buxom blonde who blushed and looked at him from beneath her lashes. At moments like this, he could forget the awfulness of his life for a while, the adoration of people was heady and intoxicating and he lapped it up.

Artemis, concealed from view, was watching the spectacle disapprovingly from the corner of the tavern. Why her father favoured Heracles was beyond her comprehension. She glanced around as her brother Apollo appeared beside her.

"Are you really going to let him take your hind?"

"Yes." Apollo raised a blonde eyebrow and eyed the throng of worshippers around their mongrel brother

"I don't see why, they are your favourites and I do admit they look rather magnificent pulling your chariot sister." Artemis smiled ruefully.

"Because brother dear, if he doesn't harm my beautiful hind there is no harm done. However, he harms her and he's disrespected me, a full goddess, the goddess of the hunt. Our father will not get in my way if I punish him for such a grievous affront." Apollo laughed at his sister's deviousness.

"Why sister dear, you are quite brilliant." She smiled coldly at their half-brother.

"I assume you will want to help your dear sister take revenge on the mongrel?"

"What sort of brother would I be if I didn't?" They vanished from their corner as if they had never been there, the villagers and Heracles completely unaware they ever had been.