Fiction
2 min
Artemis and Callisto
Ia Rycerz
No matter how many years pass in this gods-cursed form‚ I will never forget my days in the hunt.
I was a daughter of Lyacon, once spared by Artemis before the flood Zeus wrought ravaged my land. When Artemis was teaching her new recruits to shoot, I needed extra assistance. Her breath was cool on my cheek. A goddess of flesh and blood and bone and muscle. When I drew back my arrow, I felt my quivering hand brush her face. Her expression didn't change, but when she let our arrow fly, it didn't hit the bullseye.
The other Hunters were from kingdoms like mine‚ and there were lines between us that I did not cross. I turned away from them during the baths, and if hunters touched besides lightly in play we did not speak of it. I don't know how many of them shared my shame‚ my desires.
I never belonged to the Hunt. I belonged to Artemis. And in the maddest of my dreams, she belonged to me.
The first winter, I fell sick. I was tended by her medics, until she arrived. She held me for three days and nights. I waited for her to leave when the sun disappeared, but she remained by my side as if I was the one who could fly away for a thousand years and never once miss her. Without the moon, there was no light but the dim glow of her eyes.
Apollo came on the second night to tell her of the mortal's panic at the omen. Artemis didn't move, but told him that the mortals would find one of their own to place blame on. Out of all the gods on Olympus, she best understood what it was to walk amongst men.
I hunted by her side nearly every day after I recovered. I was skilled, and I was always there to be invited. I was never her equal, but she looked at me as her companion. One summer day, Artemis invited me to hunt alone. Blood burned through my veins. I knew I was crossing lines that Hunters hadn't crossed before, but whatever was between us didn't feel forbidden. When I was by Artemis' side‚ nothing felt forbidden to me.
I waited for her in the clearing, arriving while the moon was low in the sky. I didn't dare to hope for more than a simple trip, but it was enough to be close to her. My spirits rose when I heard her footsteps.
She was there as soon as the moon fell. Her hair was done up, her robes were inlaid with gold, and her quiver hung empty over her shoulder. My throat went dry, but she felt different somehow. She grabbed my arm, and her skin tingled with electricity. "My lady?" I murmured. I met her eyes, startled. They glowed like tin, and they regarded me with amusement. She leaned in, and her breath was hot.
I tried to pull away, but the arm on my tightened. The lips on mine weren't the ones I had wished for. Zeus' voice hissed in my ears. His breath was hot on me.
It was wrong. He was wrong.
...
I wanted to hide what was planted inside me, but it was hard to refuse her when she invited me on our hunts. She thought that I had rejected her offer to be alone, and I was too ashamed to correct her. She sensed that something was wrong; everyone did. I managed to dodge her questions until a day at the baths, when she realized my condition.
Her wintry eyes regarded me coldly. "You were my first love".
"My lady, I--"
"You have become first despair."
"Artemis!" My voice was raw, my words stripped from recognition.
"And you will be my first rage." Her fists clenched, a silver glow emanating from her. I tried to speak, but I was already changing.
The other Hunters were silent with terror as my vocal chords thickened, my legs expanded, coarse hair emerged from me. I collapsed on all fours, whimpering in my strange new voice.
"Go," she said. Her voice was chocked up, but there was no chance for redemption in her eyes.
I went.
This was an entry for a writing contest held in conjunction with Center for Fiction and The Decameron Project
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