Almost hunted a Death Boy

“I never meant for my life to become like this.”

Lotte frantically brushed her thoughts aside. She needed to focus; she needed to run. The forest was the only safe place for her, but the dense branches whipped against her uniform and the bare skin of her arm. Blood ran down her limbs from the monster’s attack.

Lotte’s heart beat like a drum as she hid behind a large cedar. She flinched when she removed her hand from the wound and grimaced at the amount of blood on her dark, tanned skin. Her hand shook.

It was still warm. Lotte’s vision and mind swam from the details she could make out.

*Grrrawwl*

A growl snapped Lotte back to attention. Her mind shot to hyperfocus, grabbing a nearby thick branch and slapping the monster over its snout. Lotte had already had a miserable day when she fought with her father earlier. She didn’t need a hellhound attacking her at her school, too.

“Please, just leave me alone.”

Another guttural growl accompanied the piercing howls of the hound. The monster was a large black dog with swirling eyes of madness. Lotte tried to kill one when it suddenly attacked her, but even when she flocked it through the muzzle, it wouldn’t die. It burst into a pile of dust when a stray arrow pierced its throat. Lotte took her chance to run from the other, more dangerous monster.

“I have to get away. I don’t want to die before I see my father again.” A sob escaped with tears streaming down her face. “Even after what happened. I can’t die before-”

“Found you.” The hiss of a woman startled Lotte. She instinctively lashed out with her branch. It shattered against the scaly arm of a snake woman, who let out a hissing laugh. “Oh, poor child. You sssssmell ssssso pitiful, ssssso full of ssssadnessssss. Your misssssery will end here and now. Curssssse your parentage!”

Lotte’s eyes snapped wide open right when the snake woman’s face lept at her. Her breathing was wild and ragged, with her heart pounding loudly against her ribcage. The two snake tails coiled around Lotte, squeezing out her last breath.

“A dream, just a dream.” Lotte cried. “Just another terrible dream.”

“Everyone, wake up. We’re departing for the hunt!” Thalia clanked with her frying pans. The hunters shot up in haste to break up camp.

Lotte heaved herself up and grabbed her bow. She stared at the old and wrinkled photograph of her and her father. Lotte kissed it with a tear streaking her face before hiding it inside her parka.

“Another day, another hunt.” Lotte steadied her breath and pulled her hood over her head with her midnight blue hair sticking out underneath it. Her stormy grey eyes steeled themselves for the task ahead, wiping away the tears. “Time to head out.”

The Hunters of Artemis were a group of maidens who had sworn their loyalty to the Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis. Many of them were either humans, nymphs or demigods who gained immortality from their patron goddess. Lotte was one of them, a demigod with no other place to go, like many others of her fellow hunters.

“Targets to the left,” ordered Thalia. “Take the ledge and surround them. Fire from above.”

The hunters broke into lines and sprinted through the snow-covered fields of the woods. Howls echoed through the moonlight-illuminated night, brightening the snow as they dashed through.

“Wolves, of course we’re facing wolves,” grumbled Lotte. She broke formation and used a large stone to jump and climb on a tree branch to reach higher ground ahead of the others. Thalia was not happy with it.

“Lotte! Stay with the group!” Thalia’s commands fell on deaf ears. “Dang it. Reyna, could you follow her?”

“Way ahead of you,” said Reyna, taking some of the other hunters with her to tail after Lotte.

More howling. Lotte changed course and jumped up where there was less snow. “Of all the monsters, why does it have to be wolves?”

Maybe calling them wolves was a bit misleading. Those were lycanthropes, also known as werewolves for the common folk. They were the remnant army of their pack leader and werewolf king Lycaon, who had been killed during the Giant War with Gaia, but his pack was still wrecking chaos.

“Incoming! On my sign.” Lotte heard Thalia shout. She spotted the enemy and readied her bow and silver-tipped arrow—perfect to hunt some werewolves tonight. “FIRE!”

Lotte’s shot pierced the appearing visage of a wolf first. She quickly knocked a second arrow to let it loose just as fast. They had a clean-up duty to do, and it suited Lotte just well enough not to think about her father or her life as a demigod.

Or which god abandoned her.

“Good job, everyone, but don’t let your guard down,” Thalia reminded them from below. “Retrieve your arrows. There are more where those came from!”

Lotte retrieved her last arrow. Her face reflected on its silver surface, and her steely grey eyes back to her. Something flared inside her, and she accidentally snapped it in half. Reyna offered Lotte her quiver.

“Don’t you need it more?” Lotte asked, taking the quiver when Reyna kept insisting.

“I’m good.” Reyna drew a silver dagger from her belt. Her two automaton dogs circled her. “But maybe you could help cover my back?”

“I-” Lotte relented, replacing her quiver. She nodded. “I will.”

“Good, let’s kill some werewolves.”

They pushed the remaining lycanthropes into a far corner of the forest. Reyna and her hounds engaged the wolves, protecting their master. Lotte knocked two arrows into her bow and aimed.

“You think you will win?” A lycanthrope slashed at Reyna, keeping her at her toes. “Our king will return and—!?” Lotte’s arrows pinned the werewolf’s hand against the wall and the other through its snout. A painful wail escaped its throat as it clung to life.

“Please be quiet,” Lotte told the lycanthrope and lowered her bow, her eyes set to the ground. “That way, it will be over faster.”

She approached the werewolf dangerously close while Reyna and her hounds engaged the others.

Angrily, the werewolf tried to lash out towards Lotte, but she remained rooted to the ground, uncaring for how close she was to the monster. Its claws didn’t reach her, but almost dreadfully… Lotte hoped they would.

A rustling sound pulled her attention elsewhere. Lotte readied her bow and knocked another arrow, ready to launch it at the hellhound that jumped out of the way and cautiously stayed put.

“Now a hellhound?” Reyna adjusted her dagger, her hounds positioned protectively before her. “That’s not good.”

Lotte was wary of making the first move with that sudden enemy. She hated hellhounds since she first discovered she was a demigod. She wondered, would her bow be fast enough or its claws?

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Neither happened.

“Graaaa!” growled another hound and leapt over Lotte’s. Surprised, Lotte couldn’t put her bow up in time.

“WOFF!” Barked a second hellhound, leaping over Lotte’s head at the first one, wrestling with it in the snowy fields. The round went for the second one, who barked happily and shook her large, puffy fur.

Another rustling from behind her. Lotte quickly drew away her bow from the hound to the boy in the bushes.

“Woah, don’t shoot!” A ghastly boy with pitch-black hair put up his hands, wearing nothing but an aviator jacket, a half-torn black t-shirt and a skull ring on his bare pale finger.

He wasn’t equipped for the weather, nor for going out with how exhausted he looked with his dark, sunken eyes. Lotte’s concern was drawn to his ominous charcoal-black sword.

“Stygian Iron.”

“Who are you?” Lotte asked, repositioning herself to have both the hound and the boy in her view.

“I—” he let out a drained breath, “I’m not the enemy—”

The black-haired boy stumbled fatally, and the pinned werewolf broke free, aiming at his throat.

“That’s for our King, you dirty—!” The werewolf fell past the boy as Lotte shot the lycanthrope in the back. Bony hands sprouted from the ground, holding him in place.

“Quick!” The boy shouted at her, holding up a shaking hand. “I can’t hold him in place for long-”

Lotte porcupined the werewolf, emptying her quiver until he turned to dust. A few precise shots would have sufficed, but an urge plagued her fingers to keep firing until her fingers bled, and she knelt on the snowy ground.

Dark spots danced before her and mingled with the snow.

“Are you alright?” the boy asked Lotte, offering a hand. She slapped it away and drew her bow at him. One rule for the Hunters of Artemis was not to trust men easily. A rule that was ingrained in Lotte deeper than anything else.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“Nico?” Lotte heard Thalia say, with the other hunters coming out as well. She glanced at the hellhound and was almost crushed by the mountain of fluff slobbering the hunters. “And Mrs. O’Leary, you too. What are you doing here?”

“Shadow Travel,” Nico replied, putting a hand on his hip and stretching his back—it cracked loudly, with the bones popping back into place for everyone to grimace. “Got a bit thrown around. I meant to arrive at the camp. Had something to discuss with Chiron.”

“Funny coincidence.” Thalia crossed Her arms. “So do we. We'll escort you on our way.”

“I can walk on my own.”

“Yeah, you can,” said Thalia sharply. “But then Will will chew us out, no thank you. You come with us, Ghost King.”

Nico groaned at the nickname. “Please don’t.”

Reyna chuckled as she pulled an arm around him to drag him along.

Lotte watched the awkward interaction, wondering why they were so casual with someone who emanated an aura of death. All the hunters seemed so casual about it, making Lotte wonder how much she missed after so much time away.

“Shall we return?” Thalia asked from beside her and pinched Lotte’s arm. “I know you’re not used to hunting in groups after so long, but next time, I’ll have to discipline you if you run off on your own, understand?”

Lotte shuddered. Thalia talked the same strict way Zoe did with her. “I-I understand… I’m sorry.”

Patting Lotte’s back, Thalia pulled her along the group to a comfortable pace to Camp Halfblood, the home of demigods. It had been years since the last time Lotte returned there, and a lot had changed—too much.

She barely recognised it; so much had changed.

New Cabins, a pine tree with the genuine Golden Fleece hanging from the branches, new campers, new and deadlier training grounds, and—for some reason—a giant, half-destroyed bronze statue of Apollo in the waters.

Lotte wondered if it came from a battle or a failed experiment of the Hephaestus Cabin. But one thing remained the same. Chiron. The centaur to overlook the campers, who greeted the Hunters on their arrival.

“Thalia, everyone, welcome back.” The always older seeming centaur greeted them, galloping towards them with their lower horse part. The hunters enthusiastically jogged to him. He smiled at seeing so many familiar faces.

“Artemis is requisitioning her veteran hunters?” he asked politely.

Thalia nodded, resting her chin on her hands as she sat. “We lost too many against the Titans, Gaia, and the Emperors. Especially against Orion. While we recover and train new maidens, Artemis asked for many of the solo or small groups to return and train with us.”

Chiron scratched his chin, looking at the eternally young huntresses. Some of which he knew but had not seen in decades. “And they are alright with the new leadership? You replacing Zoe?”

“Nope.”

“No problems there.”

“When will we get some food?”

The last question sent all the hunters and the gathered campers giggling. Reyna made a note for later of who said it.

Chiron chuckled. “We will start soon. Mingle with the others and rest.”

The hunters went on their ways—and to find promising maidens to talk to and bring them to the club. Lotte sluggishly slung her backpack and bow over her back and was ready to go to the Artemis Cabin before Chiron stopped her.

“Charlotte, it's good to see you again.” Chiron smiled at her warmly—like a father who hadn't seen his child in a long time. “How have you been?”

Lotte gave the barest of glimpses, inclining her head. “I'm fine, Mr. Bruner, thank you…” Lotte hesitated a moment longer. “I’m happy to see you again.”

Trudging away, Lotte settled for some alone time before dinner at camp. Everyone got their plates with food from the nymphs and sacrificed the tastiest part to the fire for the gods.

Lotte picked up some of her favourite grapes and tossed them at the fire. Her eyes fluttered at the smell, but it was soon replaced by a cold winter sigh. The gods always demanded a sacrifice. They wanted to be appreciated, but after all the years, Lotte’s mother still refused to reveal herself.

After dinner, Lotte went alone into the forest. It was the closest she felt to be to her mother ever. A snowflake settled on Lotte’s nose, and she reached out to the cold gust. Nature wasn’t calling her—Demeter couldn’t be her mother. Archery was just a skill to her, too, so Apollo wasn’t it either—not that she wanted to. The cold felt comfortable, but also lonely. She could feel it would soon be replaced by Spring. A comfortable but lonely time.

A rustling in the bushes alarmed her, and Lotte drew her bow. Chiron always warned the campers not to go alone into the woods or at least be armed. She aimed and waited for the beast to reveal itself, only to be attacked into a hug by Mrs. O’Leary—slobbering Lotte clean.

“Eww, stop, that tickles!” Lotte tried to push Mrs. O’Leary away and barely got out of the mountain of fur. She then noticed Nico standing before her. “What do you want?”

“Nothing,” he said, offering her his hand again. “Can you stand?”

Grumbling, Lotte stood up on her own. It was remarkably cold to the touch and all too familiar. They both took a step back and stood awkwardly before each other. He was smaller than Lotte and looked like he was 15. They would have been around the same age, but she had a feeling he was much older than she was—despite her immortality.

“You’re a son of Hades, aren’t you?”

Nico smiled faintly. “What gave it away? The presence of death? My appearance? The-”

“Your wariness,” Lotte replied, surprising Nico. “You're as wary as your father, and you distrust others because you feel like you don't belong.”

“And you think you can't accept yourself fully yet,” Lotte mumbled the last part, knowing the feeling all too well.

Nico agreed involuntarily. “You have met my father before?”

“Twice,” she said. “The first time was at my school.”

“And the last at my dad's funeral.”

The mood chilled around them, feeling more cold than the winter air. Nico laughed dryly. “Why are you here?” She asked.

“No reason,” Nico lied shrewdly, which Lotte thought didn’t fit him. “You missed the Camp talk. I offered Chiron to look for you.”

Lotte narrowed her eyes on this. “Why?”

He shrugged. “I wonder myself. But we should head back before monsters come, not that it would matter to us,” he laughed again, which felt like he was using up his entire workload of joy for this year.

Walking back to camp in the snowy fields, Lotte eventually asked, “I don’t like camp gossip, but what was it about?”

“Ever heard of Camp Jupiter? The Roman camp? We are collaborating for the upcoming Cerealia Spring Festival to bolster our friendship.”

“The Cereal Festival?” she asked, confused.

“Wha- no-” Nico rolled his head in mock amusement. “Cerealia, the festival of Ceres or Demeter for us Greeks. I swear, you reminded me of Percy for a second there.”

“Oh,” Lotte said with a beet-red face. “Sounds… fun…”

“Heh, yeah, lots of people.”

“Horrendous.”

“Yap,” Nico laughed at the comment, “fun times. I bet Will will drag me around the stalls. He’s my boyfriend, by the way.”

“Who?” Lotte wondered what girl was dating the son of Hades and brushed the thought aside. “I’m sorry for earlier. Aiming at you.”

Nico dismissed it disinterested. “It’s fine. My name’s Nico di Angelo.” He stopped and stretched out his hand again. “Or are you afraid to shake it?”

Lotte grimaced at his hand and warily shook it. “Lotte, Charlotte Mae.”

Nico smiled. He felt a sort of familiarity he hadn’t experienced since finding Hazel from the underworld. There was something else to her. A cold rejection and past Nico could sympathise with. He recognised the pain in her eyes since he woke up with it every day.