The Golden Amulet (PJO, Sequel to The Silver Ring)

Chapter 27

Every single molecule that made up my body urged me to run as I exited the mansion.

 It was still night, but less than an hour to sunrise. Unlike during midnight, there were dozens of soldiers everywhere I looked. They were patrolling, training, or just resting after a long spar. But all of them had something in common other than their similar armor:

Their strong glares focused utterly on me.

I'm no rocket scientist, but I was pretty sure they didn't want me in their village anymore. We still had a few hours left before we had to leave, but it seemed as though we would have to spend it in the forest if we didn't want to die. 

I hurried to the closest bit of forest. I could feel their gazes burning through my clothes like a laser. I sighed in relief as I ran out of their site. But then I had another problem.

As it turns out, a green part of a forest looks exactly the same as another green part of the same forest. I thought I knew our camp's direction—east—but I wouldn't know if I was wrong until I was lost. The only way I could fix my confusion was to go back to the village and reorient myself—but there was a good chance that the closest soldier would whip out their bow and kill me.

So I decided to go east. I started walking, and my mind shifted to focus on how Rosaline would react.

Rosaline would no doubt be angry; I had no idea if Psi told her what happened—but even if he did, he would probably cut himself out as the main offender. Placating her might work, but I would probably have to run after she threatened to kill me; it was her way of showing her affection and relief at me being alive.

That is, even if I could get to the cottage. 

I had been walking for what seemed like hours but was probably minutes. Every time a bush shook, or shrubbery rustled, I would look there, expecting to see a Void soldier. But as I thought about it, that was ridiculous.

No Void soldier would stalk me in the darkness, just to get revenge. First of all, there was a high risk they could die since they were stalking me, an enemy soldier and for all they knew, I was leading them to an ambush. And even if they killed me, there was a high chance they wouldn't find their way back to the village, but if they did, Chief Katuni would likely scold them for killing his "guest," whatever that meant.

A twig snapped to my left. I quickly looked there, but caught myself and reoriented my focus back in front of me. I was way too paranoid. It was probably just an animal that got lost in the middle of the night, just like I di—

A shadow jumped at me. I spun that way, drawing Riptide . . .

Only for it to be slapped out of my hand instantly, the bronze blade flying out of eyesight. I suddenly found myself pinned to a tree, with my hands and legs restrained by my attackers' limbs. I struggled to push them off of me. Their body felt strangely comforting, and their scent was familiar.

A pair of soft lips enveloped mine. I immediately calmed down, finally recognizing who my attacker was, and kissed them back earnestly.

"Artemis?" I exclaimed when she pulled me into an embrace. "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you," she murmured in that beautiful voice I had yearned to hear once again. "Chaos helped me figure out where you were."

"How long?" Afraid of the answer, I held onto her tighter, as though it would keep her from disappearing.

Her laugh was like ringing bells. "As long as I want to. But I'll just accompany you back to the camp."

We walked eastwards—indicating I was going the right way—while she kept her hands around me, as though she knew how desperate I was to be in contact with her.

"Will you be back?" I asked.

"Of course. I'm not just going to leave my husband to fare for himself." Artemis smiled at me. In the moonlight, her pale skin shined and in her silver dress, she looked everything like the goddess she was.

I sighed happily and rested my head on her shoulder feeling at peace. This was possible—and comfortable—since Artemis was using the form that was the same age as me, twenty-four, which meant our height was roughly the same. "I couldn't ask you to visit sooner, could I?"

"Why?" she asked with a knowing smile on her face. "Not enjoying your quest?"  

"It's just the company. And maybe I'm not enjoying it. But I'm not going to give up. Partly because I'm not sure how to get back to Camp Half-Blood."

"Spill. Pretend I'm your therapist."

I gave her an odd glance. "I don't have a therapist."

"Well, you have one now."

"Where?" I looked around, as though I would find another being in our proximity.

Artemis slapped me on the back of my head, inciting a small yelp of surprise mixed with pain from me. "It's me, you idiot."

"Oh," I said, feeling foolish but I quickly recovered. "Well, what does my 'therapist' want to know?"

"You know, everything. Well, start with what you don't like about your company. We've almost run out of time."

Sure enough, we had reached the cottage. The lights were on the inside, indicating that it was occupied by my friends.

We stopped next to the front door. Rather than disappearing, Artemis stayed like the amazing goddess she was, allowing me to get some of my frustration out. Plus, something about her presence was just . . . soothing. "Rosaline's being Rosaline. I'm completely fine with her. In fact, if she wasn't on the mission, I probably would've suffered even more. We've picked another member up—Adriana, a rogue Void soldier. Since her brother betrayed us, I don't really trust her, but she seems trustworthy enough, for now. The real problem is . . ."

"Psi," Artemis finished for me. "I thought he was an easy-to-deal-with problem."

"I thought so too. Up until he started to get a bit physical—"

Artemis interrupted me with an accusatory glare. "He tried to kill you?!"

I immediately tried to console her; I wouldn't even want my worst enemy to face an angry Artemis. "Well, 'kill' is a very strong word. How about . . ."

The front door swung open, revealing an angry Rosaline glaring straight at me, gripping her sword hilt so tightly her fingers were starting to turn white. "I'm going to kill you for worrying me, Jackson!" she seethed.

" . . . maim?" I finished sadly. "Sort of like what Rosaline's about to do to me right now."