The Hunters of Artemis

Chapter 1: The past

Darkness clouded my vision. No. No! This couldn't be my time. A tear escaped from my eye and crawled down my cheek. The Fates must have cut my string. But why? What did I do wrong? I thought back on my life and winced. Well, there was that... I saw people crowding around me. There was shouting, and I felt someone shaking me. 

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't look at who it was. It could have been any of my friends... Well, not any I suppose. 

My eyelids started to droop, but I forced them back up. It was so hard. Like separating oil and water. Almost impossible. 

"Please. Don't leave me," someone whispered. Their warm breath tickled my ear, and I wanted desperately to respond, but my body wouldn't obey. Another tear found its way down my face. Someone wiped it away, but more kept coming. 

Soon, it was all I could do to just keep breathing. I would not give up my life now. No. I had to at least say good bye...

But, far before I was ready, my heart stopped. 

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Hi. My name is Kat. That's all you need to know right now. Most people don't die and live to tell the tale... Mostly because they die. But here, that's not the case.

Six years ago, my heart was broken, shattered and crushed. I hated myself, hated him, just hated life. I had wanted to end my life right there and then, but something stopped me. That was when she showed up. Artemis. She became my best friend. She consoled me, and comforted me, and helped me to realize that it wasn't my fault. 

Six years ago, I figured out that it wasn't my fault he had changed. It wasn't my fault he started dating another girl. It wasn't my fault my heart was broken. It wasn't my fault I wasn't good enough for his taste. It was his. It was all his. 

Six years ago, my heart snapped again, and my blood boiled. Artemis offered to take me in. I didn't know what she meant. She told me that I could be free. Free from love, from heartbreak, from boys. I automatically agreed. Why would I stay with the boy that left me because someone else had something I didn't?

Six years ago, I discovered that Artemis was the Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt. I joined  the Hunters of Artemis when I was fourteen. That would make me twenty years old to date. 

Six years ago, I felt free for the first time. It was an amazing feeling. I had made new friends: Atlanta Zane, Lyra Belton, Hannah Ambler, Rhea Orthys, and Robyn Snow.  Robyn and Rhea are sisters, but they changed their names. No one knows their real names except for them. All of my friends are older than me by a lot.

Atlanta is one hundred-sixty three, but looks sixteen. Lyra is nintey-nine but looks fourteen, like me. Rhea is eighty-seven but looks thirteen, and Robyn is eighty-nine, but looks fifteen.

Six years ago, I learned to hunt. To shoot an arrow over a hundred feet. To bring a rabbit back to camp. I learned how to clean a fish. I learned to cook. I learned to be care-free. To do what I wanted. It felt fantastic. 

Five years ago, I was claimed by my godly parent. Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that my friends and I are demigods. Half mortal, half Greek god. I was claimed by my father Apollo, who is Artemis's twin brother. At first, I felt betrayed by my mortal mother and my fa— step father. Then, I felt honored. It wasn't every day you find out you're not human. Although, it was kind of hard to get used to the idea that I had been lied to my whole life. That my mother had never told me who my father was. That there was a reason I was... different.

Two years ago, the Hunters fought in the war between the Titans and the gods of Olympus. There were many deaths, and many mourned. There were tears; many, many tears. Shed from both the Hunters, the campers of Camp Half-Blood and everyone else that was involved. There weren't many though

Two weeks ago, Artemis left to go hunt a certain monster. She didn't tell anyone where she was going, or when she'd come back. She left her lieutenant, Thalia, to keep the Hunters safe. Thalia is one of the bravest girls I had ever met. She was fearless. She was strong. She was the model vision of what a Hunter should be. Artemis did well to leave her in charge. 

One week ago, Artemis came back, with a new quest for a select few. I was in that select few with all of my friends. She called us to go to Camp Half-Blood, pick up some campers, and go capture a monster called the Ethiopian Pegasus, which is basically a pegasus with a horn. An alicorn if you will. She said it was one of the most respected pegasi in the world, other than Pegasus, and that she wanted it for her steed. (Don't ask me why she made getting an alicorn such a big deal. We didn't get it either.)

Today, ten of us set out to find the Ethiopian Pegasus. Everything was going fine, but I just knew something—anything—was going to ruin it.