The Daughter of Artemis

Chapter 3

     I woke to the sound of my front door slamming. I knew that if I wasn't being robbed, then it was my dad coming to visit. Something he rarely does, and should never do. His gruff voice called out
     "Boy! Get up!" I heaved myself out of bed. When I swing open the door, my father was sprawled across the old couch in my living/ dining room.
     "Yes, your majesty," I retorted. He looked up at me with his exhausted face. His eyes filled with rage as he stood up. He smelled of alcohol, he needed a bath and to shave. When he reached my height he glowered down upon me.
     "If you disrespect me one more time, boy, I'll sell ya to one of those slave traders after you've taken the beatin you deserve!" His breath reeked of alcohol. Mom told me once that he was a decent guy before me. She said he was handsome and wealthy. She mentioned his ego too. Mom said when she left him with me, it torn him to pieces. Spent all his money on drinking and gambling. Now he uses me for work. They game I catch, the wood I chop, and he even sells me for labor every now and then. All those hard earned bills turn into one more night at the bar, and one more drink.
     "I needed more money," he said through his drunken slur.
     "Then get a job. I'm of enough to live one my own, and you're old enough to pull yourself together and work like everyone else!"
     "You'll regret that boy." He lunged after me. Fast for a drunk man. He caught me in the chest and shoved me back into the wall. The cut across my chest began to sting. Scarlet blood started to stain my shirt. I stood up to face my father.
     "Get. Out. Of. My. House," I said through gritted teeth. He tried hitting me again. I let him slap my face. Before he could strike me again I caught his arm and forced it down.
     "Go." I threw him out of my little shack. He fell to the ground hard. I watched him stumble away.
     My breathing started to shake and the blood still bloomed on my shirt. I didn't know how to tend to a wolf wound. When I got the bleeding to stop, I left the house. All my frustration toward both of my parents came bursting through like a breaking dam. My father used me and my mother left me. She gave me dreams of what happened before. My father lack of love tore through me and ripped me to shreds. I threw the knife in my back pocket toward a tree. It was Gwynn's silver hunting knife. Gwynn. She was adopted by Artemis! She was chosen by a goddess and was never left behind, never forgotten.
     I fiddled with the silver knife. It sparkled like her eyes. The finest weapon against wolves. She gave it to me to protect me, good decision that was. I heard a rustle in the woods behind me. The last person I wanted to see stepped into view. Time to put on the brave face. I looked up and smiled.
     "Hello boy," Brina spat.
     "My pleasure, Brina."
     "Do not call me by name of I don't know yours! Besides, I wanted to tell you to stay away from little Gwyneth, her mother would be hysterical if she found out she spoke to boy."
     "And she wouldn't if she found out you were talking to me."
     "I'm just warning you. Normally I wouldn't be caught dead talking to men. This, however, is the only exception." I have her my famous smile.
     "Never smile at me like that. I'm not some woman to swoon over some boy with muscles that lives in a cottage. I am repulsed."
      "Well awfully sorry I saved her life. But it doesn't sound like I'll be seeing her again. And thanks for the compliment."
      "What compliment!"
      "You mention my muscles, clearly you're impressed.
      "Of course not! You arrogant scum! I'll make sure you'll never see again!"
      "Lesson learned, Brina," I said bowing. She left grumbling.
      When I got back I replaced my wrappings. They seemed to be oozing a yellowish green pus. I have never been scratched by a dangerous beast. Gwyn would know what to do. Sorry Brina, I'm gonna see her again. I didn't know how, but it was better then nothing.
      If she's the best hunter, surely Artemis would have her be out again. The clearing was not more than a mile away. There I sat and waited. She never showed up, not a single hunter came by. My wounds started burning. I had to find her, I had to find the hunter's camp. It shouldn't be hard. There was a trail of smoke smoldering above the trees.
     The smoke was a dead give away. It took me ten minutes to arrive a gate. Some girl was their pacing back and forth. Smart, Xander. You are about to walk straight into a fortress of women. Mom always told me I could never have been Athena's child. Here goes nothing. I thought to myself. I snuck over to the front of the gate. She heard something and look in my direction. She didn't see me though. I needed a diversion, so I threw a large stone in the opposite direction. She bought the bait and hurried off to see what the matter was. I quickly clump up and over the fence. Before I could even take a step, I ran right into somebody. Oh great you just got here and you already blew it. I thought. I figured that with my luck it would be Brina, or worse, Artemis. However, it was only her daughter. Lucky me.
      "What are you doing here," Gwyn whisper shouted.
      "Looking for you, Gwyneth," I teased. She responded  punching my bad arm. I gave a inhaled sharply.
      "Oh my gods, I'm so sorry! I forgot, although I shouldn't have. I was just on my way to see you. Not like that course, but your wounds," she took a breath. "I need to check them. It's imperative that I do." Gwyn finished red in the face.
      "Do you nervous ramble?"
      "I'm not nervous around you, if that's what you think. I'm nervous because we're standing out in the open and whispering quite loudly."
      "Sure," I said, wiggling my eyebrows. She drag me off to a far edge of the camp. The camp was full of off white canvas tents. It was only lit by torches, and bonfires. We finally halted at the very last tent in the far south corner. She pulled the slit in the tent out and shoved me inside. The tent was lit by a few lanterns. The tent held a cot, big enough for one person, and a shelf filled with different herds and medication. Gwyn ordered me to the cot while gathering things for my injuries. Just as before, I stripped away my shirt and olds wrappings. She went right to work clean it up.
      "Do you know what the greenish-yellow stuff is?"
      "No, but it probably has something to do with the werewolf. Since it didn't bite you, it might just want to inflict as much pain as possible."
      "This is just a guess though," I asked.
      "Yup. Mom or Lydia would know more then me, of course."
      "I should head back, wouldn't want to getting caught." She offered to show me the way out, but I told her I could handle myself. I did handle my self very well, I wasn't seen by anyone.
      On my way back, I heard rushing in the bushes. Out of the shadows a woman stepped out. She was dressed in a toga, shimmering sober in the moonlight. Her auburn hair was pulled back into an intricate braid. On her back was a quiver full of arrows, and in her hands was a wooden bow with silver accents. Her sandals laced up to her knees. Around her head was a ring of silver fabric with a moon on her forehead. Artemis. It has to be her. I slowed my breath and watched her slightly creep forward. She skimmed the forest with the same midnight blue eyes that Gwyn had. From were I was crouched, Artemis could actually pass as Gwyn's biological mother.
      Another noise came from the forest in front of me. A wolf came padding into view. The wolf wasn't a normal wolf. It was the same silver Artemis was wearing. The wolf approached the tree were Artemis was hiding.
     "Didn't you see anything, girl," Artemis spokes on a low voice. The wolf smoke it head. Which was strange, wolves didn't do that. Than again, they typically aren't silver, either. The wolf picked its nose up. She smelled something. She turned her head toward the bush I was hiding behind. She smelled me.
      "What is it, Luna?" The wolf crept up to my bush. The wolf, apparently called Luna, clawed back the bush. Artemis gasped.
      "What are you doing here, boy?" She emphatically said in disgust.
      "I was one my way home." My voice got caught in my throat.
      "Where did you come from."
      "The back woods." I pointed far away from the woman's camp.
      "Why are you out this late. There are beast prowling around."
      "I know, I was just looking to hunt them myself."
      "Fool! They'll kill you before you even see them. I myself am hunting them. It would be best that you go home and leave the hunting to me." Her eyes burned through me, as if she could read my thoughts. I had hoped that she couldn't. If she had I wouldn't have taken another breath. I nodded my head and hurried back to my cabin. I never have been afraid of Artemis, she seemed laid back. Now, however; I was more terrified of her finding out I had see her daughter and snuck into her camp, then my own mother after she broke a nail. Which was sounds funny, but believe me, you don't what to know.
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      It was dark in my dream. The forest had an eerie feeling about it. Usually I didn't have a problem with the woods at night, but now it felt like I was being watched. A noise came from behind me. Five wolves came prowling out into a tiny clearing. Their fangs were a sick yellow color, and their fit was brown and matted. The wolf leading the pack came to a halt. It stood on its hind legs and morphed into a man. The other beasts followed suit. The pack leader made for a large man. He skimmed the forest looking for anyone that wasn't them. His eyes looked right past me as if I was invisible. Considering that this was a dream, I probably was. Then he spoke, his voice was low and hoarse.
     "The camp is straight through these woods. Lycaon wants the hunters gone before we take on the city. He sees them as threats." The smallest man looked like a skeleton with his skin, and his voice was just as weak as he looked.
     "Why does the Great Lycaon find those girls threatening? They couldn't possible harm the horde!" The first man struck him hard in the face.
     "Fool! If they aren't a problem then you can go and fight them. I would like to see how long you could last! Besides, if they are frightening then you complain to master himself!" The small man cowered away from the bigger man.
      "Jeremiah how are we suppose to penetrate their camp," a different wolf asked. The large wolf, called Jeremiah, answered.
      "We sent out scouts out yesterday, and they are to report here tonight. Once that information is shared, we will plan an attack." I couldn't help but smile, those scouts are dead. They were slaughtered by Gwyn and I.
     Another noise came from behind the pack. A man came limping out of the trees. His greasy black hair hung in his face. He had cuts all over his body. The cuts seemed to be steaming.
      "Liam? What happened brother," Jeremiah asked. The wounded man picked up his head. His face was covered in blood, his entire body was. "There was an attack," Liam answered.
      "Where are the others," Jeremiah pressed.
      "Dead. I was the only survivor." Liam collapsed. Jeremiah looked down at him with distaste.
      "Who attacked you?"
      "A girl was there. A hunter for sure. Could tell by her clothes. Then there was a boy. He was dressed plainly."
      "Why would they be together?"
      "I don't know," Liam spat. The little man piped up. "Maybe it was a coincident." It was shocking that there was a survivor. He must have had half of a brain and ran. I thought.
      "What did you discover?"
      "The camp is small, maybe only half of us will be needed. Artemis is there during the day, but at night she will see the attack from the moon. My idea is to distract Artemis at Olympus then attack while she is there."
     "That might work. Now stand on your feet we must leave."
     "I can't. I barely made it here." The men turned back into wolves, all except Liam. Before Liam could even pick up his head, Jeremiah turned around and tore his claws through Liam's chest. He was dead within seconds.
     The last thing I saw before I woke up was the pack move in the opposite direction of the camp. I woke up with a burning pain emitting from my chest. The cuts burned like fire. There didn't seem to be a medical problem with them, it just burned. It felt as if the wolf, Jeremiah, and attacked me himself.