Artemis recalled that neither of them had ever faced a drakon before. Artemis thought they were up to the task. Drakons to kill, then on to the next campsite in the Chesapeake Bay area. Then hopefully finding an errant twelve-year-old demigod somewhere in the hundreds of miles spanning the Eastern Seaboard.
...
There was a lull in her thoughts, as she considered letting her hunters sleep a bit longer. She had the urge to wake them all up at once for this impromptu mission, but Angelina was out on a task which effectively constituted as walking a dog. So, she let her hunters sleep.
They began to wake, one by one around fifteen minutes later, to the ever-brightening morning sky, as tendrils of light began to pierce the golden green canopy all around their clearing. There were several yawns, light stretching, and a chorus of good mornings from Zoe, Phoebe, and the Victorian trio, along with the other wolves, who had untangled from sleeping and now awake hunters. However, the rest of the hunters remained in slumber, at least, until Angelina and Cinder came back.
"OI, SLEEPY HEADS!" Angelina shouted, waving her arms as she stepped back into the clearing. Cinder bounded forward, and threw himself belly first on the nearest prone hunter, which happened to be Jennifer. There was a dull thud, and the immediate spasm and groan of the girl, who awoke to a solid one-hundred-and-twenty-pound wolf licking her face.
"GAH! I'm up, I'm up!" Jennifer wheezed, pushing Cinder off of her. Other wolves took Cinders lead and pounced on the sleeping hunters, who were awoken with a similar manner. The already up and about hunters chuckled at the sight, particularly Angelina, who had a evil gleam in her eyes.
"Angelina, anything to report?" Artemis asked promptly.
"Nah, nothing much, couple of deer, but it was a long shot, plus, I figured we'd be moving East soon."
Artemis smiled internally, "Partially right. Hunters! Gather round, we aren't moving out quite yet for the East Coast." She glanced around, seeing everyone up in some manner. They quickly shuffled into their standard semi-circle pattern, awaiting her directions. "I see everyone is well rested, so much so that you missed the entire tale last night…" Artemis trailed off, seeing suspicious expressions.
"I don't know My Lady, I think you like our reactions too much to continue on too far without us." Phoebe replied, crossing her arms.
"You will have to update us, I am bummed I fell asleep. Anyone else have dreams of fighting the Chimera? That was an awesome one…" Kathleen grinned, twisting her torso to crack her back.
"I suppose I can't catch you all off guard, again, can I? Right, well, we have a small detour before we go on a long woodland run. I have located two Drakons near here… I found it fitting that we give Zoe another 'lame' story to tell in the future."
There was an ungodly snort that came from Angelina before the rest of the hunt dissolved into laughter as Zoe scowled at all of them.
"Damnit My Lady!"
...
Absolute silence reigned that morning, the forest harboring a slight mist of evaporated dew that still loomed in the crisp air. Streaks of sunlight pierced through the canopy of dappled leaves to illuminate the cloudy air by the undergrowth. Only the slumbering's of the two drakons were discernable to Artemis, as all other wildlife amongst the heavily forested slopes was absent, unsurprisingly, being so near the Drakon nesting place.
They weren't visible themselves, hidden by a dark crag in the rock face, which burrowed into the sloping mountain in from of the Hunt. The Drakon's snorts and huffs in slumber were quite the indicators however, and Artemis led her hunters and wolves to the very doorstep of their lair. Artemis glanced left and right, seeing her hunters with their bows at half draw, a wolf each one's thighs. They all looked to her for the order to attack, all with absolute certainty. Every hunter here had fought a drakon before, all except Angelina, who was a bit too junior to take part in this fight. Artemis could sense Angelina with Cinder the Alpha, not ten yards behind herself. She would watch the engagement, and observe what happened. If all went to plan, it would be a textbook takedown of two Drakons.
Artemis paused, feeling the tense atmosphere. She had told her hunters the plan. The only issue they had to discuss was what kind of drakons were nesting here. Artemis had learned from experience that the aura and appearance didn't necessarily determine their breed. Artemis shared a quick glance with Phoebe, who wore sleek black goggles, along with red armored vambraces. If these happened to be Lydian Drakons, only Phoebe would be able to help her defeat them. Lydian Drakons had a nasty proclivity to spit acid as well. A welcome challenge. Yet Lydian Drakons were exceedingly rare, and the more probable outcome was that these Drakons were the relatively common Aethiopian kind, which could spit fire instead of acid. Regardless, Artemis wasn't willing to take any chances, her hunters needed some good practice, but she would keep a watchful eye over the fight.
The slumbering continued from the cave, and Artemis reached down to her bowstring, simultaneously bringing up the black yew bow to bear. With a smooth motion, she drew the string back, a silver arrow slowly shimmered into being on the bowstring as the bow was drawn taut. Artemis aimed the arrow in the direct center of the deeply shadowed cave. The feathered fins of the arrow were nestled at her cheek, and Artemis breathed deeply onto the arrow shaft, infusing it with a silver glow. The air around the arrow hummed and crackled with raw energy, almost as if the arrow was itching to be released.
She released the arrow from her forefingers. It shot forward in a streak of silver light, like a comet illuminating the very sky. For a brief second, the cave too was full of a silver hue, before the arrow impacted against the deep-set rock face within. There was a flash, then a brilliant explosion of silver fire that roared through the cave and shot out to torch the nearest trees. The rush of hot air blew past Artemis like a hurricane. Her hunters and wolves hid behind tree trunks and small gullies, but Artemis soaked in the image and feel of the silver flames heat the cascaded over her…
'Where are they?' Artemis muttered to herself.
She stood, hands on her hips, staring at the hastily constructed palisade gate, which was guarded by a squad of Macedonian soldiers. Pericles didn't seem like the weaselly sort of runt that had the audacity to lie to her, but she had misjudged men before. Normally that particular line of thought brought anger to her mind, a fury that clouded her rationale. But it was strange to feel… remorse, of all things.
Artemis sighed heavily, before glancing around. The only tents and immediate Macedonians were soldiers, likely this gate's guard. She really hoped they were the detestable men that they likely were to be.
However, she wasn't so fortunate.
The gateway guard she approached, who, unlike the others, had a purple cloak on, only soured her mood even more.
"Guard. I seek men from Pella. They are some of your light auxiliary forces." Artemis asked the guard crisply.
"Well you'll have to be more specific than that. The Macedonian army has a lot of men from Pella, including myself." The officer retorted impatiently. The man before her tugged on his cloak, setting the clasp on his right shoulder to grasp the heavy woolen material in the right way, which Artemis didn't fail to notice.
"These men are under the command of one Perseus. Just point me out to their tent, and I can be on my way." Artemis reasoned, putting aside her mild annoyance at the man's tone. Just for the short analysis, she reckoned that this man wasn't used to commanding much of anything.
"Oh, Lord Perseus's men? Well, I'm happy to be of assistance then. My name is Alcibiades, I'm an officer in Perseus's command. As for our 'tent'… more like our 'tents'. Alexander tasked us to hold this Northern Gate. The men you see here are the token force left. The rest of the men are out gathering wood and game. Some… nine hundred men."
'Nine Hundred?' Artemis frowned internally. Perseus had made his men sound like a ragtag bunch in Alexander's tent and in the forest outside Tarsus. 'What more had Perseus lied about?'
"Very well Alcibiades, I suppose you can help me after all. I am Cleoxene, an Amazonian under Alexander's employ. I have been tasked with training Perseus's men, since they performed poorly at the Granicus."
That comment seemed to rile the man up a little bit, perhaps not the best tactical move, but her trying day that had spent all her physical and emotional reserves necessitated that she lash someone with her tongue.
"We are not soldiers Cleoxene the Amazonian. We answered Alexander, our King, when he called for volunteers to fight the Persian Empire." Alcibiades responded coldly.
"We all must become things we are not." Artemis replied without hesitation, "Now where are the men?"
Alcibiades didn't seem willing to tell her, but he gave her a grudging reply, "Couple of miles up the pass, probably spread out by now. Perseus stopped by earlier, told them to check the foothills."
The thought of climbing more hills sent painful throbbing spiking through her legs, but if she was to remain on this expedition, she would see it through. Testing Zeus wasn't something that she wasn't capable of. At least, in this wretched form. She promised herself that she would get vengeance for…
...
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