The Adventures of Thalia and Reyna: A Hunters of Artemis Tale

Chapter 18

There are no words for how grateful I am to everyone who has stuck with me as I wrote this book. You are all awesome peoples. Thank you for everything, and I hope you enjoy the final chapter. And as always, Keep Writing.

-Karazorel257

Reyna's POV

The clearing was completely silent as all the huntresses took in the situation. Eve stared at Reyna with a look of pure triumph in her eyes. The tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife. Artemis, thank the Gods, was the one that broke it.

"Eve," her voice broke. "Orion killed many of my huntresses and many amazons as well. He wasn't going to stop-"

"SHUT UP!" Eve snarled at Artemis and the Star Demons growled with anger. "I don't care what you have to say. I don't care about the huntresses, I just want that girl." Eve pointed at Reyna. "Give her to me, and I'll leave you in peace."

"Is that what all this has been about?" Artemis questioned. "The werewolves? The attacks on us and the amazons and Camp Jupiter? All of this was for Reyna?

"She killed the man I loved!" Eve yelled. "When I found out he was dead, it was from Lycaon. I tracked him down because he had worked with Orion on Gaea's side, I had to know what happened to him. When Lycaon told me some Roman Praetor had killed him, I vowed revenge. Lycaon saw it as an opportunity to team up together and get revenge on Artemis, but I didn't want revenge on Artemis."

Eve took a step toward the huntresses. Thalia tightened her grip on her bow and stepped closer to Reyna protectively.

"But I indulged him so I could formulate my plan." Eve paced the space in front of the girls. "I summoned the Teumessian Fox so Lycaon could distract you. His stupid little plan to ambush your camp and trap you all was idiotic, but I just needed him to stall you for a while. The Teumessian Fox attacked those towns on his orders, but when he failed the Fox came back to his master, me. I just needed time to summon my perfect creations."

"I created my creatures so that I could attack all the places most dear to you, starting with Camp Jupiter." Eve looked right at Reyna. "When I found out you left Camp Jupiter and joined the Hunt, I had to start attacking the amazons. The hunt moves around so often I never knew where you were. But I knew someone with the same last name as you ruled the amazons, so I had my creatures attack their outposts to draw you out."

"I must admit, I never expected you all to summon Laelaps. When you used that dog to track the Fox to my lair, my creatures were able to protect me, but I realized then that because I used my blood in the ritual to create my creatures, my daughter was able to feel them since she also has my blood. So I knew the only way I would get to you, was if I just let you come to me. And here you are."

Reyna finally found her voice. "Orion wasn't a man." Reyna shook with nerves. "He was a giant. I couldn't even kill him without the help of a God or Goddess. I'm sorry that I hurt you, but Orion was a mass-murdering giant that had to be stopped."

The huntresses rallied around Reyna, standing their ground. Eve looked like she wanted to strangle her. The Star Demons growled and opened their mouths to show their jagged teeth.

"As I said," Eve said softly. "Give her to me, and I will leave you in peace. There will be no need to fight. I have no quarrel with you."

"If you have a quarrel with one of my huntresses, then you have a quarrel with the entire hunt." Artemis stepped out in front of the group and placed her arm out toward Eve as if she was about to teleport her away.