Pertemis: A Wolf’s Tale novel Chapter 20

N/A dedicated to  volentlake  As I've promised a chapter per week :)

Percy’s Point of View

He heard the running torrent of water, he felt his torso wet. Percy slowly opened his eyes, the cold icy water irritated the membrane of his eyes that he found himself laying in the middle of a stream. He slowly raised his body heavily, his bones cracked and his muscled ached. He groaned, holding his head as if the brain had just accumulated back together.

Where the hell am I? he wondered, looking around.

Suddenly, the nightmare came back to him as he looked back at himself. His shirt and pants were gone, only the magical boxer that would reappear every time he turned was still on his body. He brushed his hair, grimacing as the memories flooded back. He could still feel the acidic substance of wolfbane in his system.

He slowly pulled himself to balanced on his legs. His lung still hurt every time he coughed, guess some of the wolfbanes were still in it. He made his way out of the stream and found himself in another forest. Old oak trees cloaked with layers of moss, the green leaves changed the colour of the sky as he walked under their giant branches. The birds sing in a melody of beautiful sound around him that for awhile, he didn't realise that he was lost, but seemly enjoyed his surrounding.

He thought he was still somewhere near the Hunt, but the deeper he walked into the forest, the stranger it appeared to him. There wasn't any grass or flower or that scent of Moonlace that he knew Artemis was close. Around him was a different scent and world and at that moment, he found the feeling of being freed.

A grin planted on his face as he laughed, throwing his arms to the sky, embracing the air and the world free of hunters, of chores, of humiliation and pranks. He found so much alive, his muscles relaxed, his brain felt free as he wandered through the forest taking the new world to him.

He found a cave at a side of the hill. The top was covered with moss, the hollowed cave was hidden by the trees and bushes that he nearly missed it. He cautiously walked in, the wall was still wet and solid rocky ground was at least dried. He explored further in. There were dried leaves, shoving together to make a bed at the end of the cave. It didn't appear to be occupied by human, but instead animal. But nonetheless, it had long been abandoned.

Percy made himself comfortable on the crunching leaves bed, smiling to himself of the future ahead. He thought of going into the human world, exploring more in the wild and eventually back to the island he had lived happily for nearly three thousand years.

Then the thought of Artemis came back to him. A guilty feeling swirled within his chest. Would she be worrying and finding him at the moment? What would she eat when he was not there to cook for her? But he laughed, it was absurd to even think Artemis come looking out for him. She had direct her hunters to prank him day after day, hoping he would go away. Perhaps now she had achieved it.  There was no point to come back. She was his first crush, but wouldn't be the last. Maybe he would find someone else out there better than her, someone who would protect and actually cared for him. Someone who wouldn't treat him like a servant.

He knew staying with Artemis would be safe from the Olympian, but considering her Hunters are all killer, that didn't get any better. If he stayed low profile and careful, then the gods would never find him.

No, it was no time. Percy ran to the cliff, his bones cracked and muscles were trying to rip themselves apart. He screamed, the fangs raised from his canine teeth. The moon, bright and full brought its cursed magic down on his. He screamed in agony, his sea-green eyes transmitted to red blood that he was starting to growl. He was to catch up with enjoying the free life that he forgot about the next full moon. If he started to ram away right now, he would expose himself to everyone, or worst running into the gods.

His spine curved inward to an arch that he fell on four. The screamed rustled the leaves, scared off the birds as his hair grow longer and turned black. The dagger claws poked out from his fingers as they scratch the rock beneath him, tracing lethal lines of intimidation.

At the moment, the image of Artemis just somehow flashed into his transforming mind. He remembered every time he turned, Artemis would always sit in front of his cage. He growled, tried to attack and bit her. She had been terrified, cringed back and concerned. Yet, Artemis had never left his sight, even when he was at his most brutal and dangerous peaks. She would sit there and waited for him to return.

Until that moment, he realised how much he missed her. He missed that auburn hair, that tranquil scent of Moonlace, her ethereal and beautiful face. He dear those exquisite and astonishing silver eyes. He missed her warm, how she wrapped the blanket around him after every transformation. How her soothing voice whispered to him, that calm him down so much.

His finger bones cracked as he groaned, pulling himself together. He remembered her voice calmed him, and he tried, digging every memory that he had of her. After awhile, he felt the feeling of turning was starting to be controlled, the bones had stopped crunching together, and the hair on his arms had turned to normal. He slowly stood up, and suddenly went rigid when a wolf howl came out from all direction.