The Angelus Brothers Chronicles - The Golden Hind

CHAPTER FOUR

Kaia stretched out on the grass and rolled, her legs kicking in the air as she scratched her back in the dappled sunlight. Rolling back up onto her hooves she trotted over to a tree and scratched her antlers on it. It felt good to be in her deer form, she'd been staying in human form of late but Heracles seemed occupied by the young female villagers so she felt she could afford a little time as a hind. The sun felt good on her coat and she galloped in a little circle stretching her legs.

Artemis split her time between watching the hind and surveying the surroundings.

"You seem anxious sister."

"I'm just surprised she's being so relaxed after how serious she's taken this since he arrived."

"Are you worried your favourite will get hurt?" She levelled him with a withering glance.

"I just want to see our dear brother lose, brother. Or do you want him to complete his labours and us to get stuck with him for all time in Olympus?" He pulled a disgusted face.

"That would be less than pleasant."

Artemis looked around sharply and watched as Heracles crept to the edge of the clearing the hind was playing in and concealed himself behind a large leafy bush. She looked back at the hind who still seemed oblivious of all the eyes currently on her.

"What will you do sister? Will you reveal yourself to them? Or will you let him catch her?" She narrowed her eyes at Apollo and reaching out behind her, grabbed a branch of the bush and shook it.

Kaia froze and stared at the bush where Heracles was concealed, he ducked lower but she could still see someone was there. Taking off at her fastest run she took off through the trees darting left and right and running for all she was worth. Cursing Heracles took off after her thundering through the trees like an angry boar.

Running as swiftly as she could Kaia's hooves clattered on the ground as she darted through the trees as fast as she could. She could still hear Heracles thundering through the trees somewhere behind her. Coming to a river she began to run along its bank then stopped and darted into the water and running across to the other side raced back round in a huge arch and leapt into the water once more. As she surfaced she was no longer the doe but the woman stood naked in the waist-deep water. Pulling her bow off her back she plunged it under the water and stood on it to prevent the current from carrying it away. Hearing the demigod crash onto the river bank she held her breath and waited.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She turned slightly making sure her wet hair was covering her horns and gasping, crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sir, I don't know who you are, but how dare you disturb my bath." Heracles turned so he was looking down river away from the naked woman.

"Apologies, I did not know anyone was here. I was hunting the golden hind." Keeping her back to him Kaia bit back her temper and huffed.

"Why? What has she done to you?"

"To me nothing. But it has terrorised the good people of Ceryneia and stolen their wine. But my reason for hunting it is I must atone for my misdeeds and King Eurystheus of Mycenae ordered me to bring him the beast."

"Beast? Surely if it's on the run and you're hunting it, you're more of a beast than she is." At her angry words, Heracles looked round at the woman and squinted at the tattoo on her back.

"Who are you to defend the animal? Why do you have one tattooed so uniquely on your back?" Cursing inwardly she briefly remembered when Artemis had touched her back and the odd sensation, that must have been what the goddess did.

"I am a priestess of the huntress goddess." Heracles narrowed his eyes at her, she glanced back at him over her shoulder and readied her hand to swoop down and grab her bow if he'd worked out who she was.

"There's no temple here."

"No." She thought as quickly as she could, her mind racing for what to say as she tried to watch his every move without him seeing her watching. "My goddess doesn't hunt in her temple, she hunts in her sacred forest so I chose to come here to worship her and care for her hunting ground." Heracles had been readying to grab his sword but relaxed, what else would a priestess be doing in forests known to all as one of Artemis' hunting grounds. It was common knowledge his half-sister adored the hinds, so the tattoo made perfect sense now he stopped to think.

"Apologies priestess." Kaia relaxed a little.

"I advise you not to hunt the favourite animal of Artemis. It will not please her greatness."

"I have already been after the creature for months if you include my travel here, if it was up to me I would never have come and would end my labours. But it is not." He bowed slightly to her and took off up river. Once he was out of sight Kaia took a deep breath. She couldn't believe Heracles, son of Zeus, had believed her lie. Stooping she retrieved her bow and slinging it back over her shoulder transformed into the hind and climbing the opposite bank raced off in the opposite direction to him.

Artemis gave her brother a look.

"How is he father's favourite?" Apollo shook his head.

"It's beyond me. How much more of a clue did the imbecile need than a huge hind to match your own, tattooed on her back." Artemis shook her head.

"A signpost perhaps."

"I must admit to being impressed with your little hind."

"She is smarter than even I thought."

"That was cheating though, shaking the bush and alerting her to his presence."

"My arm slipped." She said, smirking. He smirked back at her.

"If you say so sister, it's still not your favourite, right?" He vanished before she could respond to him. She paused a moment staring at where her hind had vanished into the trees then shaking her head. If only you knew dear brother, if only you knew she thought sadly as she longed to go after the beautiful creature. After a while, she could no longer hear her oafish brother running off in the wrong direction and vanished herself.