Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 1
"Five thousand years! That is how long it has been since I last saw Ceryn. And, ever since, there has been a piece of my heart missing. I have grown to live with the dull pain. It has come time for my suffering to cease. A true blessing of news of a gold-horned stag being spotted on Earth has traveled to me. You must help me!" I pleaded.
The silver-haired woman stood before me with eyes as white as her long tresses. A sheer, cerulean blue fabric draped over her body, but there was nothing modest about her covering. It was always hot in Olympus, and I was not above minimal clothing, but I didn’t agree with flaunting every last detail of my femininity around for all to feast their eyes on.
“I must help you? What will you do for me, Artemis?”
“What is it that you ask of me, Elysia?”
Even though I desperately sought a way to satisfy her requests, I wasn't prepared to give up what I held most sacred. When my maiden, Korina, came with a scroll documenting what one seer had witnessed, I rushed here without hesitation.
“You say a piece of your heart is missing because you miss a deer that has not made your company for over five centuries. Perhaps you are missing the knowledge of what it feels like to possess a heart filled with proper love. Your true suffering is the absence of never experiencing love.” Her head swayed as she gazed down into a water filled altar between us.
The only bit of light illuminating the cavern rose from the pool of what some said were Elysia’s tears. The length of her imprisonment had lasted so long that historians were unaware if her birth had taken place in the heavens or on Earth. A bolt of lightning had struck her in the heart, and instead of killing her, it had taken the color from her hair, eyes, and skin—along with the ability to leave the cavern she called home. The force of the bolt had created a portal between worlds, leaving her stuck in-between.
“I love all things in this world and the next. My time and energy are dedicated to caring for women and the flesh of their blood. There isn't another living soul who protects and respects all creatures for what they provide as I do.
“You still don’t get it, Artemis. Your point has been proven to us all. Taking a vow of chastity can be an admirable thing. There is no greater act of grace than self-sacrifice to serve others. The question is if you are doing it for others, to punish yourself, or to set an example for the maidens you rescued from the fate of evil men? Suffering out of pride can leave a person lonely and deprived.”
“The only one to blame for the pain aching inside of me is Hurkeles and what he caused me to lose. He claims, to this day, he did what he could to keep my Ceryn alive. Some say they witnessed Ceryn fleeing while others state Hurkeles slew him and kept one of his golden horns as a prize.
“I have seen no evidence of either. The truth of what lay in the past may never be clear. But Ceryn, or one of his kind, has been spotted in a small lumber milling town on Earth. It is imperative I find him. If he has been wandering lost all these years or has been reborn matters not. He belongs with his brothers.”
“And with you,” Korina chimed in from behind me.
She needed to mind her business, so I waved a hand behind my back, trying to quiet her. Only I should be the one to state my claim and justify Elysia granting me passage to Earth and my stag a way back to Olympus.
“I cannot grant you such a passage without you giving me something in return.” Elysia swirled her finger in the glowing bowl.
Her face was stark against the dark. Her immortality had done nothing to stop the furrows on her face from developing. She didn’t look a day over thirty, but the sadness and pain of her solitude haunted the creases around her eyes and mouth.
I assumed she had been celibate all these centuries. Who would want to spend an eternity stuck in a dingy dark cavern? Even if it were with a woman so beautiful as she. Elysia was voluptuous and enticing with her erect nipples pressing against the thin veil of cloth hanging over her breasts. It would be hard for any man to resist her.
“What can I offer you, Elysia? One of my maidens to come give you companionship? If you seek a hide of an ancient beast, I will hunt it for you. I never miss a shot.” My bow and quiver tingled at my back. Just the mere suggestion of a good hunt awakened it.
Being one of the most venerated of all the goddesses, I wasn't accustomed to begging for anything. Until now. My shoulders pushed wider, and I held my chest and chin high as my eyes pierced the Oracle. Inside though, I felt small. Asking permission from someone beneath me could cause me to fall out of favor with my followers.
“Would that be a sacrifice for you, Artemis, or would it be one for your maidens or the beasts? You must search deep down in your core and give me what you hold most dear to you. What is something you can’t live without?”
“My bow? I would never give up my bow. It was a gift from my father. If that is what you ask of me, I will find another way to get to Earth.”
A hollow laugh escaped her lips as she tipped her head back in mirth. "Go right ahead. I think you will find I hold the only key to Earth and passage for your sacred stag’s return to Olympus."
“You are not the only one who can move heaven and Earth. Plenty of other gods and demigods have made their way back and forth.” I had a mind to take out one of my arrows and shoot her dead in the center of her white, cold, frozen heart.
She whipped her head back in my direction, her eyes whiter than ever and burning with fury and resentment.
“How dare you mock my place and my existence in this world and the next? If you knew of another way to reunite with your precious creature, you wouldn't be here. But here you are, and I expect you will not only respect me, but you will bow before me and give me any such thing I ask of you.” Her long white hair rose around her like a small snow storm.
“I am not prepared to do any such thing.” My feet slowly moved, one by one, away from her stone altar.
Elysia seemed to grow as her body levitated off the ground. Her arms spread wide, and blue sparks of electricity bounced between her palms.
“You have used my time, and now, you must pay the price. I will give you what you seek and what you're missing.” Her voice rose loud enough to shake the tiny hairs on my arms.
“Your offer may be very generous, and I appreciate it, but I think it is time for me and my maiden to find other options. We will be on our way now.” I turned with my arm extended as I grabbed a hold of Karina's hand.
I had never experienced the oracle’s wrath, and I wasn't interested in finding out. Five thousand years may have been a long time to go without my stag, but I possessed the fortitude to go on another five thousand if that's what it took for me to reunite with him.
A flash of blue light came crashing down between Korina and I. Blue rocks came flying up around us, and our hands disengaged.
I reached over my shoulder, grabbing my bow and an arrow faster than the human eye could witness. I knocked my arrow into place and drew back the bow string. I closed one eye and targeted Elysia with the other on.
“The Huntress aims her bow at me, the one person capable of making her one real wish come tru
e?” Her finger waved back and forth. “Eh, eh, eh! Careful now. I am certain you won’t miss, but I warn you to be discerning of the consequences of your action and be ready to live with them.” Her eyes darted to Korina.
Blue lightning still sparked between Elysia’s hands, and I realized she was prepared to use her devices. From the look on her face, I guessed that Korina was one step away from becoming her next victim. I couldn’t risk losing my maiden. Not in this way.
Although I wanted to do what was necessary to get back Ceryn, I wasn’t interested in trading one life for another. Korina had been a loyal follower for eons. She deserved more from me as her superior.
Squaring off my shoulders, I removed my arrow from the arrow rest and lowered my bow as I took a step forward.
“What do you want, Elysia? Tell me your proposal, and I will choose whether I stay or go. With or without your threats.” I didn’t put the bow back over my shoulder. If I wanted to get out of there alive, I needed to stay on my toes.
With a smug look on her face, she chimed, “That’s what I thought.”
Elysia backed off and lowered her feet to the ground. She rubs her hands together, causing the sparks to simmer down and dissipate.
"You may not realize what holds you back or what you value most, but I do. If you want passage to and from Earth, you are to give up the chastity you covet so dearly.
I will give you forty-eight hours to not only find your stag but to find love. Not the kind of love you possess for the wild beasts that walk on all four or for the women with children in need."
“What?” I couldn't give that up. I had no desire to fall in love with a man—or a woman for that matter.
“Your duty to uphold your chastity and to protect woman has interfered with your own happiness.”
“That isn't the kind of love I desire. I quite like having my heart sheltered here in Olympus. My strength comes from within. I don’t need love from anyone else. Besides, I closed that door a long time ago. My eyes witness the pain and violence men continue to inflict on women. I am only interested in offering the victims a place to find solace, inner peace, and love.”
I get it. You don’t know what you have until you have had it. People of Earth say you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, but I believe the opposite is just as relevant.
"If you do not fulfill your end of the deal, the stag will remain on Earth forever and will suffer being brutally hunted over and over again. I will see to it. You now must make the choice to go to him and save him or forever lose him to the hunt."
“You wouldn’t!”
“The covenant was set in motion the second you walked into my cavern. It looks as if you are being given an opportunity to decide how you will react to the circumstance presented to you. Time is ticking away, my lady.”
Korina grabbed my forearm, pulling me back. “You can’t, Lady Artemis. You are the Goddess of Chastity. You are at the core of making many a woman suffer for not honoring her vows. You wouldn’t dare go against the word you have made your bond all these centuries.”
“Korina, how dare you speak to me like that? I am also the Goddess of the Hunt and of all things wild that walk on our world and theirs. Your life is as valuable as Ceryn’s is.”
I hitched my bow and arrow back into place behind me and stepped up to Elysia’s altar.
“If you cross me, I will hunt you down and end your miserable life if it is the last thing I do.”
Dipping her hand into the pool of tears, she pulled out an arrow that shone like nothing I had ever seen before. The sheen was as brilliant as the stars sparkling above.
“You will need this. Since you never miss a shot, you shouldn’t have any trouble hitting your mark. If you shoot your stag with this arrow, he will return to Olympus unharmed. Even if you find him when you first get to Earth, you will only be allotted forty-eight hours to learn what that heart of yours was really meant for.
"It’s not acceptable for you to say you are in love with someone. It will need to be mutual and as clear as day. If you betray me, or our arrangement, I will strike down that golden-horned stag and brand him with the mark of eternal suffering, making him relive the same brutal death on and on , over and over again. And I will leave you to suffer alone with a broken heart on Earth until I decide I grow bored with watching you."
I reached out across the swirling waters. My palm faced the ceiling, waiting for the magical arrow. The swirling liquid caught my eye as the tall green evergreens of Earth danced in the center of the pool, hypnotizing me. It showed me the path I would need to take. I had more than one kind of hunt ahead of me.
Chapter 2
Dropping down into a crouch, I pulled my bow and an arrow. My toes wiggled against the blades of emerald green grass. My nose flared as I inhaled the scent of pine and moss, and a hint of damp mud coated the scent wafting my way.
Rich with life, the trees and shrubs pulsed with vitality and the most vibrant array of greens and browns. I may have lived in the heavenly city of Olympus, but there was nothing quite so entrancing as the deep forests of Earth.
My reflexes were on high alert. A snap of a twig had me spinning around with my arrow notched and my eyes scoping for whatever might be approaching. Friend, foe, or creature, either way I was always ready to take it down if need be. I hoped that Elysia had sent me down close to where Ceryn would be easily spotted.
So far, all I had witnessed were trees, more trees, and a few bushes. At least I was in a big enough clearing to efficiently scan my surroundings. I may have been an immortal goddess with the ability to kill with precision, but I still didn’t know what I was getting into on Earth. Having lived in Delos and Olympus most of my life, I hadn’t had many encounters with humans, certainly not human men.
My shoulders slouched down at the thought of needing to fall in love with one. As if not knowing how to do that wasn’t bad enough, I didn’t even know where to find humans. The only ones knew of were actively hunting my precious Ceryn. I wanted no part of getting to know any of them.
Another sound of crinkling leaves and twigs crackled to my left. Crouching in the tall grass, I closed one eye to make focusing on my potential target more precise. The blades tickled my bare skin.
Golden-flecked red fur came in and out of focus between the brush about twenty-five yards out. A wave of excitement spread from the center of my stomach, triggering my heart to beat at a quickened pace.
Coming to Earth to hunt may not have been the plan, but how could I help myself. It was who I was at my core. Running wild through the mountains as a child had been my absolute favorite thing in the world to do. My only lifelong possession was my bow. It was a part of me and always would be.
Premeditating my every move, I deliberately stopped breathing and stalked my prey with the stealth of a jaguar. I couldn’t pounce on that fox, but I could shoot him dead with one arrow straight to the heart if I could get the right angle. An arrow straight through the eye would be just as formidable.
That’s right, little fella, just a little bit to your left. Go ahead and turn to look at me. I don’t want to hurt you, but I do want to wear your hide.
Yes, good job. Only a few more of your curious footsteps will have you and your heart in my sites.
As I extended my left arm with a slight bend in the elbow in front of me, my right eyelid gently shut. It closed part of my periphery, but my hearing was so good that I didn’t worry about any potential threats. Besides, I was an immortal in the land of humans and small creatures, most of which were not even remotely threatening or dangerous. Had I been hunting a Catoblepas, I would not have shut my right eye all the way.
Hooking my thumb and pinky together as I griped the string, I pulled back the arrow against my cheek anchoring at the crook of my mouth. Allowing my lungs to expand slightly, I inhaled preparing to take my shot.
The fox didn’t know what he had coming. He was about to meet his maker, which had to be better than life on this planet. I could feel his energy
from where I stood, so I knew that the fox was not female. Had it been a vixen, a pregnant one at that, I would have let the poor thing go on with its foraging. Holding the bow steady and level with my left hand, I released a breath and the arrow.
The second I released the arrow, I spotted a flash of brown blur darting in front of the fox. It moved so fast, it took me a few heartbeats to realize it was a large grizzly bear. He was faster than any bear I had ever seen. He dove out in the line of my arrow as if to protect the fox.
The arrow hit him in the front of his thigh, taking him down on contact. My arrows were the best that could be crafted in Olympus, and the shot had been fortified with my power and precision. He was lucky had been aiming low to his the fox and not any higher.
In one swift, over-the-shoulder motion, I secured my bow out of sight. The trees blurred and adrenaline surged, tingling my extremities as I ran to him. The uninterrupted pounding of my bare feet echoed against the forest walls. My legs propelled me forward, sprinting to aid the fallen bear.
Hunting for the kill was one thing. Leaving an injured animal to suffer was unacceptable and no way to respect the precious gift of life—not to mention the bear hadn’t been my intended target. Hearing his cry as my arrow had hit his leg had rocked me at the center of my heart in an unfamiliar way.
My breathing strained as a burn set into my already afflicted lungs, and they felt as if they would burst. Before I had steadied my bow for the shot, I had been holding my breath—not the best idea before attempting a twenty-five-yard dash.
Still, I savored the rush of wind pushing back my hair and dancing across my face as I sprinted through the field. Even though my breathing was strained, I didn’t take for granted the hint of wildflowers and smashed berries scenting the air. Once I had assessed the bear, a walk through the woods to enjoy my surroundings would be in order.
My pace steadied as I cautiously approached the bear. He sat, hunched forward with his front paws around the area beside the projectile. Blood soaked his dark fur, causing it to look black from the slick wetness.
The Huntress (An Olympian Fallen Shifter Novel) Page 1