Monsters Of Moonlight

Chapter Nine

Medusa and Blackmail Mangoes

Luna Remy Sallow-Uley

Bloody Hydra.

Wrenching the crescent blades from the scaled beast's heart, she shook off the onyx fluid coating her arms and most of her body, barely taking notice of the golden dust being left in the diseased creature's wake.

She could already feel the burns on her arms and back healing over while the deep laceration on her left shoulder began to scar over. Her body would ache for the next day or so and the fresh tissues would be tender for a short while longer.

Silently, she cursed her sister for leaving without her again, something that had become somewhat the norm in the last week and left her to walking home in favour of not wanting to disrupt her father - Isabella's presence was making life difficult enough for him as it is.

Luna honestly would not have cared that the older girl was leaving her behind as she loved the forest, the way the shadows would linger and reach for her while the wind sang a soft, hollow tune and the clouds painted the sky in harsh cinders that starkly contrasted the emeralds of the canopy. It was a beautiful sensation of senses, from the differing sensations of the land, to the contrasting colours welcoming her sight to the symphony of the earth and sky - it was calming.

The only issue she had with the abandonment was that her scent how lingered within the forest, her magic saturating the land and her divine aura present enough to draw the attention of predators - hence the third Hydra she had slaughtered within a week - along with them came two chimera and a single minotaur.

She was smart enough to take different routes each time she walked home to throw them off the scent before using the wind or shadows to take her home, always making sure the beasts could not find her father's residence. But as a demititan, the aura that entranced the beasts was increased ten-fold then the essences' of the demigods and hers held some contradicting factors, either the beast relinquished themselves to their Queen's heir or they tried to be rid of her.

Sometimes it was simple, they found her and recognised their heiress, swearing upon the Styx to her and left - though that truly only occurred with the more powerful and aware creatures. Most of the time, however, she had to earn their favour or be rid of their souls. Different beasts came with different difficulties, Hydra for instance were tricky creatures to control and kill as with the loss of one head came more, the same went for control, she had to win the favour of each conscience or strike for the dark violet scale on its chest - a weak scale and easy point of access to their hearts.

Minotaur were often more mindless then aware, their purpose amongst the gods to be protectors of jewels and expendable, easily replaced. The heartlessness in their creation hurt the demititan's heart, as did the heartlessness of her divine family at time, though she was not innocent when it came to the careless spilling of the creatures blood. As a child she had tried to help the beasts, but after a time - and several concussions - she learnt that it was safer to simply go for the kill.

Chimera were more calculated creatures however were driven with an unquenchable lust for death and chaos, their flames reeking catalyst throughout ancient societies and their ardour for massacre feeding plague. She'd never questioned slaying them, to control them was a fruitless and exhausting exercise with endless sleepless nights and countless aches.

Countless more species existed, most worse then the last and owning a place amongst the countless scars she had earnt over the years. With a sigh, the demititan looked up, admiring the darkening sky and welcoming the fresh tears of the heavens that washed away the blood painting her skin.