The Daughter of Artemis

Chapter 5

     This had to be the craziest thing I had ever done and will ever do. The woods didn't frighten me and neither did the night. What did scare me was Artemis. If see found out what I had done, I would be dead. Out of the two hundred years I had been alive I never though I would be seeking out of the camp, the only home I've ever known. Not only had I done that, I hadn't also smuggled out with her daughter. You don't just leave your home with a goddess's child and expect to live another century, I didn't even expect to live to see next week. Tension was even higher with the wolves running around. They don't scare me, and I would rather then kill me then Artemis. However, I was scared that if something happen to Gwyn, I would be thrown into the evil out itself. Tartarus was no place to waltz around. Scariest thing was I let Gwyn lead the rebellion. She was darting through the trees and hopping over sticks in some strange direction. She had never seen any city other then Olympus. I could weave through concrete jungles and slip past thriving crowds, though I doubt Gwyn could.
     "Where are we going," I whisper shouted. She didn't answer she just kept trucking through the forest staying in the concealment of the trees. Smart, I thought. Artemis was looking down upon earth from the moon like she does every night. If she caught us Gwyn's escape would be cut short. I hated not knowing so I stopped in my tracks. She sensed my lack of movement and turned around.
     "What are you doing," she demanded.
     "I'm not moving until you tell me where we're going." She rolled her eyes and deeply exhaled.
     "You won't like it when I tell you."
     "Try me." She hesitated and nervously bit her lip. A habit she had formed when she was little. I remember when she was first brought the the camp. She was cute and quite a happy baby. Artemis had me watch her while she was away. As steadily as Gwyn grew, the closet we got. I was no longer the case taker, I was her friend.
      Once she stopped chewing her lip she inhaled and brushed her hair away from her faced and left her hand on her head.
     "I ment someone the other night. You know, where Brina caught me." I nodded. "Well I had ran into this guy in the middle of my hunt. Actually we didn't mean to run into each other, but then some werewolves interrupted my hunt so I picked on off then he showed up and saved my life, then we limped to his cottage so I could heal him."
     "First of all, you need to stop the nervous rambling. And second of all, he was hit that hobbled into the camp last night wasn't he?"
     "Yeah, that's him." I blew out all of my air.
     "I thought I was saving some idiot that happened to fall into camp, he obviously he followed you back there," I said gesturing back towards camp.
     We started walking again in silence. Every now and then we would stop and listen for any movement and continue walking when the cost was clear. I thought of the times when I would take her out to the woods and have her listen for noise. She became an excellent shot and wasn't bad with throwing knives. I remember her when she got her first bow and ran around telling everyone that she was going to about better then Brina someday. Brina laughed until the day Gwyn did indeed out shout Brina. We all laughed except for her. Some days I wanted to tell Brina that I knew what Gwyn really was. Whose daughter she actually was. Brina was second to Artemis, and she made sure everyone knew that. I loved to see her faced when something bested her. This secret, however; was to be kept a secret. Only three people knew the truth, Gwyn, Artemis, and myself.
      Gwyn started slowing down when a small shack came into view. That's where this guy lives? Some knight in shining armour.
     "Should I knock?"
     "Well you've I my been here once, so walking in like you own the place wouldn't be the best idea." She knocked on the door twice. No one opened the door. She slowly opened the door. A large man was snoring on a nasty old coach.
     "I wouldn't go in there if I were you." Gwyn and I both jumped at the sound of the voice. We both turned around to a tall man looking over us. It took all of my self control to not throat pulled by the guy. Gwyn smiled, she knew who he was.
     "Gwyneth! What's up," he exclaimed. His hair hung in his eyes more and he looked exhausted. I could see through his mask, something happened to him and he is trying to use comic relief.
     "Gwyn will do just fine, thank you." I stared back and forth between the two. I cleared my throat to gain attention.
     "Whose he," I asked.
     "Xander Lydia. Lydia Xander." I nodded knowing this was Gwyn rebel friend. In the dim light I could see dried blood plastered on his chest near his left shoulder. My gaze also fall to his arm that was clumsily wrapped in gauze.
     "What happen," I said gesturing towards his arm.
     "Ran into trouble," he replied. Obviously . I shouldered off my bag and had begun to take out the medical kit.
     "I wouldn't do that here," he said nervously.
     "How come," Gwyn asked.
     "My dad is inside and we're not on speaking terms right now."
     "So then where do we go?" He turned around and led us to a small tent a mile or so from the house. He unzipped the tent and plopped down on a sleeping back. The lack of comfort and issues with his dad was probably explained his tired appearance. Gwyn say down on the opposite corner of the tent. I began to work on his bicep first. Both of his scratches were on his left side. There were oozing a yellowish green slime. Nothing I've never seen before. I thought. I wiped off the nasty ooze and cleaned it off best I could. I didn't have any alcohol to clean it completely so I did the best I could with the tools I had.
     I hesitated to ask him to show me the other cut. I don't have an issue with cleaning cuts and scrapes, it was the half naked boy the I didn't want to see. But just like ripping off a bandaid I had to do it. Within ten minutes, I had everything properly wrapped and clean. 
     "That should be good for now. I did my best. But we've got to get going." Gwyn have me a look. A look that said " we're here for a reason". The reason being him.
     "I'm planning on hunting some wolves, could you help," she asked.
     "You didn't say anything about wolves when we left," I snarled.
     "You wouldn't have come if I did," she protested. Xander just sat in silence and glanced back and forth between the two of us.
     "If you're still going, I'm in," he agreed.
     "So we are going, right Lydia?" I heaved a giant sigh and slowly nodded. I knew that going after the wolves was reckless and dangerous. However, I also knew that she needed to see a bit of the world before her mother made her take the oath and stay hidden away in camp forever. This was her only chance for freedom that she would ever get.
      "We've got to travel during the day. Artemis will be looking for you at night from the moon. And we've have to travel light and quickly. The hunters won't stop until the find us. Day or night," I explained. 
     "I think I know where to start," Xander commented.
     "How," Gwyn asked.
     "I've done a little tracking of my own."
     "We can started in the morning. No one will notice our absence until the morning. I'll stay on watch first. You both sleep, now. After a while I will come in and wake you up," I said to Xander.
     I sat outside the tent and pulled my coat closer to my body. The wind had started blowing more then it was when we first left. It was still drizzling, so I pulled up my hood. I sat their in the cold straining my ears for any sound at all. The cold seeped through my jacket. I listened in the darkness waiting. Gwyn and Xander exchanged words for a while. After a few minutes I heard the sound of steady breathing.
      The wind continued to blow. I was officially chilled to the bone. No noise had come from the woods. All the noise was just the rustling leaves in the cold breeze. I considered waking Xander up so I could curl up into a fetal position and regain some body heat. But still I sat there. He looked like he needed sleep and I needed time to think. The city would be a good place to hide and think through our next move. I had a little bit of money tucked away in a pocket in my bag. I didn't know how long it would my cash would last. Food wouldn't be an issue, the woods are teaming with plenty of resources. Living here, however, was a no. The wolves were no doubt stalking in the woods and tomorrow Artemis and her team would be searching everywhere for Gwyn. We had to be methodical about our every move. If we didn't, Artemis would give Xander and I a worse death then Lycaon could ever dream to give us. 
     The tent flap rustled. Xander came in to view. He told me that he would take watch so I could sleep and warm myself up. I didn't argue with him. Gwyn was sleeping peacefully all curled up in a blanket.  I slipped out of my coat and discarded it so it wouldn't soak through the covers. Gwyn didn't move as I lifted the blanket over myself. My mind slowly slid into sleep. Not a deep sleep. I would wake up every now and then to the slightest sound. The tent flapping in the wind or even the rustling of leaves. I couldn't quiet my brain. The thoughts of failure and death invades my sleep. The only thought that brought me comfort was that Gwyn would be happy. At some point in time we would be apprehended and she would be forced to take the oath. Once Gwyn had accepted the eternal chastity, Artemis would have concealed in the camp and kept under constant watch. Out here, with Xander and myself, she felt herself and, quite frankly, free. As long as she has this memory to hold on to. I might not be there in her future because I helped her escape, but hopefully she would she me have the friend that liberated her for a short time.