The Sacred Thievery

Chapter XXVIII: Artemis.

I didn't know why she looked so young, but I felt Artemis' power from as far as I was. Jesse and Leroy looked as stunned as I was, all of us watching silently, the destructive fire now gone as Hecate's focus changed.

Artemis released her arrow. It flew to her target, almost instantly and silently, ignoring the magical barrier as if it didn't exist and piercing Jessica through the sternum, causing the empousa to dissolve into yellow vapor. Goldina, acting just as fast, raced to Artemis' side in a blur of gold and stayed there, bleating indignantly, freed of the demon's hold.

Hecate's mouth turned into a sneer, her double-headed snake following her gaze so six furious eyes locked onto the huntress. "What are you here for, goddess?"

Artemis seemed to be getting angrier by the second. "You have stolen my Hind, sorceress. You must have known I would hound you to the ends of Tartarus for what you have done to me. No one insults me and my hunters."

The hunter goddess sent another arrow, nocked and shot faster than I could see. The intricate silver fletching sprouted right in front of Hecate's feet before she could react or magically deflect it, silent yet deadly.

Hecate's face was frozen in anger, but then that anger morphed itself into laughter. She bellowed over her laughter, the sound echoing through the scorched area. "Do you think I have not planned for this? Master always had a plan. Once the Hind was trapped, I knew you would come to find me, I've been waiting. And once you were trapped, then would come Apollo and even Zeus. We are many steps ahead of you."

I was thinking about how she would plan on capturing an Olympian when she pointed upward. From the sky, what seemed like three tendrils of darkness were racing downward. We all looked up, and as they came down, they seemed to morph into jet-black chains and disconnect from the night sky they were formed from. Two shot toward Artemis and wrapped around her, instantly binding the goddess and squeezing her arms tight to her side. I didn't see them lock, but the two ends simply met and adhered to each other, locking Artemis in. One chain looped twice around two of Goldina's legs each, immobilizing her.

Leroy yelped. I sucked in a breath. I almost expected Artemis to break free from the chains and go straight to killing Hecate, or at least attacking her, but something was different about the chains. They had an unsettling aura around them, and must have been incredibly strong, because Artemis couldn't move.

"These are chains of pure darkness, forged straight from the night sky," Hecate said, a cold smile on her face. "We have her on our side as well. These were first used by Master to throw those beasts of children into the cursed pit, incredibly durable, magically strong. She will never break them with force."

I almost cursed again. We finally get help from an Olympian, and she's trapped in under two minutes, and the thing about the chains felt significant, but unable to place. I could feel her anger raising still, but the chains held fast as Hecate kept laughing, trying to get over it. When she finally did, she turned from the chained goddess to us.

"Now, to kill you three."

But before Hecate could pull any special goddess magic, a sound like the hissing of dynamite made her look back to Artemis, who was glowing a bright silver. Simply seeing her begin to brighten made my eyes burn and hurt.

Suddenly, Leroy's expression became worried, and, before we could protest, he tackled me and Jesse to the ground on our backs, shouting, "Close your eyes!" as the glow exploded, illuminating the entire area with a light so powerful I could feel it in my eyes from under my tightly-closed eyelids.

When the feeling receded, my eyelids feeling a few degrees hotter, I waited until it felt safe enough to open my eyes. I saw the goddess now free by her Hind, the black chains having fallen to the ground, now slowly disintegrating into ashes. Hecate was nowhere to be seen.