8. Saved

Thalia POV

The attack the night before had almost killed us. We were really lucky that the mysterious golden-eyed man came before we were overrun.

We had replaced the tents that were destroyed in the ambush but the surrounding area of our campsite was completely annihilated, fallen trees and craters dotted the forest floor. I would have asked to move away from the area and go somewhere else but a lot of my Hunters were injured so we decided to stay put for the time being and rest up.

The infirmary tent was packed, well more packed than usual. The attack had rendered a lot of Hunters injured but thankfully, nothing too serious had happened.

I was in the middle of comforting a young girl recovering from a mild concussion when I heard my name being called from outside the tent. I recognised the voice and immediately headed outside to meet with her.

When I exited the tent, I was hit by a cool breeze. It was already early in the morning and Apollo was just about to start his journey across the sky in his chariot (read 'car'). I looked to my right and saw a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair standing in the middle of the camp next to the campfire. She appeared calm but the panic in her silver eyes betrayed her expression.

'Milady.' I said with a slight bow when I reached Artemis.

'Thalia,' she replied stiffly 'What happened?'

I saw Artemis look around the campsite. She must have noticed the aftermath of the short battle and the lack of her Hunters walking around.

'We just set up camp last night when we were ambushed.' I said a little too quickly.

Artemis must have heard me because she raised an eyebrow. 'Ambushed?'

I felt blood rush to my face as I looked down in embarrassment, 'Yes, milady.'

Artemis ignored my red face and looked towards the infirmary tent with a hint of sadness adorning her facial features. 'How many?'

A small smile worked its way on my face, 'None actually.'

Artemis whirled around on me in shock, 'What?'

'You heard me,' I said smirking 'None.'

Artemis looked around the campsite again, confusion replacing her initial sadness. 'But how...'

I understood the question. Based on the damage to the surrounding forest landscape, anyone would expect at least some casualties. But there wasn't.

Because of the man.

'We were about to be overrun,' I explained 'They had about half of us too injured to fight and were about to kill us all until he came.'

Anger immediately flashed in Artemis' eyes at the mention of a man, 'What? Which man dares enter my camp without permission?!'

'Woah calm down, Lady Artemis,' I said quickly while raising my hands, defending the man that saved us 'If he didn't come when he did, you won't have your Hunters anymore.'

At those words, she immediately calmed down, 'Do you know who it was, Thalia?'

I opened my mouth to say something but decided otherwise, 'You should ask our new recruit.'

Artemis cocked her head to the side, 'A new recruit?'

I smiled slightly, 'Yeah. She's been waiting to see you since she arrived. She's ready to take her vow.'

Artemis nodded and motioned for me to lead the way. I walked towards her tent and led her inside to see a small girl about ten years of age with light blonde hair and brown eyes playing with Artemis' sacred golden deer.

As soon as we entered, the deer immediately went to Artemis' side and bumped its head affectionately on her arm, leaving a wide-eyed young girl standing in the middle of the tent.

After a few seconds, the girl dropped into a bow. 'Lady Artemis.'

Artemis smiled and gently removed the girl from her bow so she was standing up. 'There is no need to bow to me, young one. What is your name?'

The girl was still staring at Artemis. I chuckled quietly when I saw her face. I remembered the first time I met something from the mythological world. Sure, it was a hellhound and not a friendly goddess but the reaction was all the same.

'My name is Ava.' she said shyly.

I smiled at her as Artemis motioned for her to sit down.

'So Ava,' Artemis continued 'How did you get here?'

Ava's face immediately brightened. 'He brought me here! He saved me from my uncle and brought me here so I can join you, Lady Artemis. He told me about you guys and I want to join!'

'Slow down a bit, Ava,' Artemis said raising her hand 'Do you know who he is?'

Ava shook her head but her smile never wavered, 'He never told me his name, but he is very nice. He helped me and made me feel safe.'

Artemis looked thoughtful for a while until realisation dawned on her. 'Ava, did the man have golden eyes?'

Ava's smile widened, 'Yes! Do you know him too?'

Artemis turned towards me, 'Was he the one who helped you as well?'

I nodded.

'Lady Artemis,' Ava interrupted nervously 'You knew he had golden eyes. Do you know him as well?'

Artemis smiled at her, easing her nerves from interrupting a goddess. 'In a way. He brought me some of my Hunters but we never managed to catch him.'

'Why do you want to catch him?' Ava asked confused.

'Because we don't know who he is,' I cut in 'He may be dangerous, even if he helped you and many others.'

Ava shook her head, 'You don't need to catch him. He is a good person. He helped me.'

Artemis and I were a bit taken aback by Ava's defensiveness, but Artemis composed herself and asked Ava what she came to ask in the first place.

'So, Ava,' she said smiling 'You said the man that brought you here because you wanted to join us?'

She nodded, 'He told me there were two other places but I choose here.'

That made both mine and Artemis' smiles grow, 'Okay Ava. Repeat after me. "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis."'

'I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.' Ava said carefully.

'" I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood and join the Hunt."'

'I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood and join the Hunt.' Ava repeated.

I looked over to Artemis to see her smiling warmly at Ava. 'I accept your pledge.'

The room suddenly brightened, casting a silver glow to light up the room. Ava closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She stood up straighter and her skin seemed to be glowing.

When she opened her eyes, I reached my hand out to her. 'Welcome to the Hunt, sister.'

Ava grinned and took my hand.

'Let's introduce you to your new sisters, Ava.' I said excitedly.

Just as we were about to exit the tent, a loud boom echoed through the tent flap from outside. The force of the explosion threw both Ava and I roughly onto the ground. Ava curled into a ball as more explosions rocked the tent.

'Thalia!' Artemis screamed 'Get to safety!'

Through my blurry vision, I saw Artemis grabbing her bow and sprinting outside. I shook my head to clear my blurry vision and grabbed Ava before heading outside.

I was met by our newly remade campsite in flames, rubble and tent parts strewed all over the forest floor. The campfire was scattered all over the place, pieces of embers still glowing on the ground.

The monsters had no appreciation for us setting up camp.

I saw some of the Hunters firing arrows into the trees, silver streaks flying into the slowly approaching army of monsters, disintegrating monsters randomly. The Hunters had set up a defensive circle around the infirmity tent where some were still injured from the previous attack. Artemis was firing arrows from her bow at inhumane speeds, killing a large portion of the small army but more were still approaching.

I turned to Ava, 'Ava, hide! Wait for me to find you.'

Ava nodded numbly before taking off in the other direction. Seeing as how the army was closing in, I slapped my wrist to summon Aegis, the monsters nearby flinching slightly but not running like they normally would. I took out my mace canister and willed it to elongate into my spear before charging into the group of monsters, my spear crackling with electricity.

I fought my way to the infirmary tent to see my sisters holding back the monster army as best as they could with their bows and hunting knives. Artemis did as much as she could, but since she wasn't really hunting the monsters, she could only retaliate if she was attacked. The monsters wisely made sure to not send their attacks towards her.

All the Hunters had our melee weapons out now, having run out of arrows a while ago. We were about to engage in a defensive fight when the monsters stopped a few feet away from our circle. Dracaena hissed and hellhounds growled at us. Artemis held up her hand to stop us from charging into the monster group. Not that we would have anyway. We would be decimated.

'Why are you here?' Artemis said glaring at the group.

Ripples of laughter echoed across the small army of roughly 300 monsters, more than last time even though we had already killed a majority of them.

An empousa made her way towards the front of the group, her hair on fire and an evil smile on her face.

'Well, well, well,' the empousa mused 'How the mighty have fallen. Who would have thought the great Hunters of Artemis would fall to lowly monsters like us?'

The monster group erupted into cheers. Artemis glared harder at the empousa but to everyone's surprise, she just smiled wider.

'As to why we are here, Lady Artemis,' the empousa mocked 'We are here to kill you, obviously. What, did you think we came here to have a chat over tea?'

'Leave now, or you would be sent to Tartarus.' Artemis said as confident as she could, but I could tell she was nervous. As good as we were, the monsters would find a way to kill us. All of us.

The empousa threw her head back and laughed, 'No, you pathetic goddess. It is you who will be sent to Tartarus. For the first time in your immortal life, I presume. And your Hunters will be the ones sent to the Underworld. Horribly, horribly painfully.'

The younger Hunters that were still standing took a step back nervously. I couldn't blame them. I was nervous too, but I had to hide it since I was the lieutenant. Even facing certain death, I and many other Hunters would embrace it if it meant we died serving our mistress.

'You will not touch my Hunters.' Artemis growled angrily.

The empousa smiled wickedly, 'I'm afraid you don't have a say in this.'

The empousa raised her hand and motioned the army in our direction. I raised Aegis and my spear (it's a surprise I haven't given it a name yet), ready to fight to my last breath. I could see the monsters grinning in anticipation at killing us, and possibly eat our corpses.

Just as the monsters were about to charge at us, they froze in place.

Again.

I smiled when I realised what was happening. For the second time, the mysterious man had come to our rescue. I would never admit it, but I was glad the man came again. Artemis looked around in confusion at the frozen monsters while I and the rest of the Hunters grinned.

A figure dressed in all black clothing stepped out of the trees to our left. The empousa and everyone in the clearing looked towards the man. The empousa seemed to be the only one who was not stuck to the ground. Artemis would have ordered us to attack but based on the surprise on her face, I figured she wouldn't have been able to speak.

'Who are you?' the empousa hissed at the man.

The man stayed silent, standing there still as a statue until he raised his hand and closed it in a fist.

All around us, monsters of all kind burst into golden dust, their essence travelling back to the Pit. Thankfully, there wasn't as much screaming this time. It had freaked me out the last time.

Artemis and the empousa looked at the man in both shock and utter fear. After a few moments of silence, the empousa extended her talons and lunged at the man. Without even moving, the man looked at the approaching empousa when she suddenly stopped in midair, an expression of fear adorning her face.

I couldn't see the man's face but I could tell he was smirking. 'I had a feeling you would come here again.'

The man's voice was deep, but it sounded oddly familiar. As hard as I tried, I couldn't place it. It was like I was listening to an old recording but couldn't remember where I had taken it.

'Who are you?' the empousa asked again, a lot more fearfully this time.

'My name is not important,' the man replied calmly 'But what is important is why you attacked these Hunters over here.'

The man used his hand to gesture in our direction. The empousa didn't look back but it must have been really hard when you were immobilised.

'I will never tell you, you worthless scumbag.' the empousa spat in the man's face.

'You sure about that?' the man asked, almost mockingly 'Because I have ways to find out. And you don't want to know my ways.'

The way he said those words sent a chill up my spine. It sounded so sinister that if he wasn't on our side, I would have turned and run in the opposite direction.

'Try your best, asshole.' the empousa shot back.

The man clicked his tongue, 'Language. There are young girls over there. Wouldn't want them to hear unnecessary words now, do we?

Before the empousa could reply, the man raised his hand again. The empousa's eyes suddenly widened and her mouth opened to let out an agonising scream. The sound made the hairs on my arms stand straight up and I could actually feel the pain, whatever it was.

After a few seconds, the man lowered his hand. The empousa stopped screaming but was still breathing heavily.

The man walked up to the empousa so he was right in her face, 'I will ask you again. Who do you work for?'

The empousa took a deep breath, 'You won't get a word out of me.' she said weakly.

'Suit yourself.' The man raised his hand again but he suddenly tensed.

I didn't even see the man move. One second he was standing right in front of the empousa and the next he appeared inches in front of me, his golden eyes locked with my electric blue ones.

And he had a spear point sticking out of his stomach.

I took a step back in shock as the man looked down to the spear point covered in his blood. 'I guess I missed that one.'

The man's knees gave way as he collapsed on the ground in front of me with the spear still stuck in his back, just millimetres away from his spine.

I couldn't move. A man I haven't even met had just saved my life by taking a spear straight to the back. I heard a faint whistling sound and ducked just in time to dodge another spear heading for my head. I got back up to see a silver arrow sticking out of a slowly dissolving dracaena partly hidden in the trees.

Artemis ran towards the unconscious man that had a pool of his own blood slowly growing underneath him. His black hair hung over his now-closed eyes.

I looked up a bit to find the empousa nowhere to be seen. That was bad but it was not the priority at the moment.

Without hesitation, Artemis looked up to the sky and shouted, 'Apollo!'

Almost instantly, a golden flash appeared a few feet opposite Artemis. When the light died down, Apollo appeared standing there with a white t-shirt and jeans, his light-emitting smile fitting the current situation poorly.

'What's up, little sis? You never call when I'm driving the sun. You feeling all-' Apollo stopped abruptly when he saw the man laying on the ground.

'Shit.' I heard Apollo mutter, his smile instantly vanishing and his face showing a rare seriousness only seen once in a blue moon.

Without a word, Apollo ran to the man and scooped him up gently before flashing away.

Everyone still stood there in shock at recent events. A second, bigger monster group had attacked us again but luckily, the man that had saved us before had arrived again. This time, not only did he kill all the monsters but he willingly took a spear to the back that could have killed him to save my life.

And I didn't even know him.

Artemis turned towards me with a serious expression on her face, 'Take care of the wounded, Thalia. I'll meet you at Central Park as soon as possible.'

At those words, she teleported away in a flash of silver. All the uninjured Hunters immediately set to work in cleaning the campsite and packing everything away for our trip east. We always made sure to clean up our campsite before we leave in respect to the wild and I could tell it was going to take a while this time, with all the fallen trees and craters and whatnot.

Instead of cleaning up straight away, I stood there next to the infirmary tent deep in thought, wondering whose blood was soaking into my silver parka and whether the man was going to be alright.

A/N: Alright, here's chapter 8 for you all. It's been a while.

I know this is a bit late but thank you all for supporting this story. We passed 100 views!

I know, I know. I'm late.

I'll try to be on time in the future, but I won't swear on the Styx. You'll just have to take my word.

~Sacai2005