Forest of the huntress:
I walked the path infront of me carefully while on the lookout for any danger.
I held onto my bow tightly, this was my first hunt and I didn't want to lose my life just because I couldn't draw my weopon fast enough.
I am a hunter, my parents are not happy with my choice but they still relented due to how much they dote on me.
Right now, the forest of the huntress or the huntress forest is a famous one which is said to be the dwelling place of the goddess of hunt and her nymph servants.
I was jolted away from my thoughts when I almost lost my balance because a certain hunting wolf bit onto my pants.
I sighed and turned around and looked at him happily wagging his tail when he got my attention.
And behind him were three other wolves but they weren't as bold as him.
"What?"
My confusion was justified as I made sure everything was perfect before heading out.
They were well fed, got proper rest and a massage from mom too before we left.
He did not speak but just sat there while the speed of his wagging tail increased.
"Tired?"
He nodded his head clearly understanding my words.
'Lazy.'
I just sighed again and took their leashes and tied it to a nearby tree.
'Is it okay to tie your wolves like cattle?'
I don't know, maybe I should ask that minotaur for more advice.
"Be good and maybe I will give you a piece of what I hunt today, if there is any."
I wasn't confident in my first hunt being successful but having good hopes is a must.
I turned around and kept on walking.
'I don't have a good feeling about leaving them there.'
I don't know how to describe it but the goosebumps I kept on recieving each step I took was a clear indicator.
'Should I turn back?'
But I would be a laughing stock wouldn't I?
I'm not handsome, strong or talented like others.
Most of the people in my village forgets about even though I've lived there for ages.
I'm still a young man with a lot of lifespan they say.
They said I shouldn't waste it on hunting.
They said I might get killed if I do it.
But what's with all these sympathy now?
I haven't heard anyone advising the legendary hunter Orion on the dangers of the wild.
No it's not sympathy, it's just pure disdain.
Does he think he can become like Orion?
Does he think he is talented?
'I am not.'
They were already laughing and snickering behind my back when I left but if I return empty-handed they wouldn't even try to hide it anymore.
'I just want prove myself.'
Not to them, not to my parents nor other hunters.
'I want to prove that I can be a hunter to the nature.'
They hated me but nature never did.
I always felt a connection between us.
Nature never rejected me like them.
"Who!?"
That question brought me back to reality.
I looked around to find myself in a clearing, a lake was in the minds with a small stream of waterfall flowing into it from the huge boulders that stacked up to form a small mound.
In the middle of the lake was woman that I have never seen before and I wil never seen again.
She was also someone I wasn't supposed to see.
She was completely naked, she was extremely beautiful.
'Godly beauty.'
I was almost entranced if not for her frown which formed on her face.
"Speak one word about this incident and your dead."
She whispered but I was clearly able to hear it.
"Wha-?"
Due to my confusion and stupidity I blurted that out.
But was stopped midway when I was forced kneel down.
"I warned you."
Her voice reverberated throughout the forest, bursting my eardrums.
But the frightened expression on my face wasn't due to this but from the reflection I saw on the lake's surface.
'I turned into a stage?'
However before I could even process it my instincts took over and I stormed off from the lake.
'My brain feels mushy.'
I felt like my intelligence was dropping but it also felt it was right.
Why should a stage have the wisdom of a human?
'Wait...'
Why did I just-
I couldn't scream in pain due to the massive jaw that clutched into my throat.
I shifted my eyes to get a better look and was shocked to find my wolves looking at me with hunger.
'Wait!'
All I could make was the bellowing noise of a stage and just watch as they mutilated my body and ate me alive.
'Why?'
It was an accident, wasn't it?
I mean who has the audacity to to bath publicly in the huntress forest where the goddess of hunt resides?
'Oh..'
I should've worded it better.
Who has the audacity to peek at the goddess while she is bathing?
I understand it now.
But that doesn't mean I have to die for it.
I used my hooved feet and smashed the nose of the wolf who was biting onto my leg.
'Just run.'
I didn't care about my injuries or my current state right now.
All I cared was about escaping.
I ran and ran, never looking back.
But I cooldown hear the jaws of death behind me.
Did I really deserve this?
Maybe I did for overestimating myself.
Maybe I should've just looked after my father's farm.
But that doesn't make me feel happy, does it?
No I don't want happiness.
What I want is a sense of achievement.
Have my name passed on as a legendary hero.
Be forever praised in stories, be forever looked up to.
But now?
I'm just a prey trying to escape from a predator.
The humans didn't believe in me.
Even my parents, I could see the look of pity on their faces when I told them I would be on the same level as Orion.
Whenever I tell someone my dreams they laugh at me.
I laugh it off with them but I still his the resentment deep inside my heart.
I always wished I could them apart with my bare hands.
Now that sounds a bit cruel, doesn't it?
They just made fun of me for some laughs.
But I never said it as a joke.
The humans rejected me.
I turned towards nature who I always thought I had a deep connection with.
But now?
I felt the indifference of mother nature.
Even nature rejected me.
My body was constantly bleeding, I was somehow running but I'm pretty sure I've lost the wolves.
I guess I am safe for now.
Swish
I guess I spoke too soon.
I screamed in pain as the arrow pierced my right eye.
I could still see with my left one and there I saw the same woman looking at me with fury in her eyes in the distance.
'She seems to have changed into a dress.'
I chuckled inside my mind, death was near and so was her next arrow.
It pierced into my throat.
'She wants to slowly kill me to make sure I feel the pain?'
I didn't know the goddess of the hunt was this petty.
'But what right does she have to kill me?'
Just because she's a god?
That gives her the right to do anything she wants?
And we mortals have to abide by a god's decision?
We are supposed to accept that?
No.
I won't.
I charged towards her with my horns steadily aimed towards her stomach.
Even though my eyes or what remained of them was focusing on the ground I was pretty sure she a had a sneer on her face.
My body was right now decorated with arrows but my willpower forced me to not fall unconscious or dead.
But how could a mortal contest against a god right?
The moment I reached her I was already on the ground panting while trying my best to not shut my eyes.
She looked down on me and all I could do was nothing.
"Die."
That's all she said as she took out a arrow and knocked it into her bow.
'What now?'
Just wait for my death?
No.
A unfamiliar anger brewed inside me, my mouth started foaming and I screeched madly.
She noticed my condition as her disdain grew.
"A prank made by Lylla huh? I should've noticed when your wolves started acting wierd."
But aggression wasn't the only thing that I grew, my body started to get more humanoid.
Snakes burst opened from my back, my horns got monstrously sharp and larger.
I grew twice her size as the snake binded her.
My hand shot out at an impressive speed and gripped her throat tightly.
Although I wanted to run, my instincts said otherwise.
I wanted her dead.
'Any last words?'
-Click-
My question came off as a clicking noise but that made me more mad.
"Hecate's ploy to escape from godhood started?"
She seemed calm even in the face of death.
Or was it that she had confidence that I couldn't kill her?
-Click-
I crushed her neck and tore her head out.
I opened my mouth wide open, my cheek split apart so I could widen it more and I tossed her head into my mouth.
Although the pain and agony I went through today wouldn't be forgotten I still had a sense of satisfaction.
A smile formed on my face which looked grotesque.
I didn't care about my agony nor pain right now.
Because right now I felt.
'Bliss.'
-Click-
********
Underground tunnel:
Hundreds of footsteps reverberated throughout the tunnel.
The pope recieved a revelation that something malicious was going on in the Wiccan forest and the holy knights were mobilized.
"Aster we have found evidences which leads to the horned god."
A soft voice came from behind me and I knew who it was without the need to turn around.
"Estelle I told you to call me commander."
Even though we are siblings I can't let her get away with everything.
"I apologise for my mistake."
I could sense her sarcasm from a mile away as I turned towards her.
She was wearing a nun uniform and her green eyes shined deeply in the darkness.
"Did you get anything else?"
The horned god was a hot topic among the churches due to his disdain towards other gods.
"No we have more investigations to conduct."
She answered and immediately stormed off towards the vine cocoons.
'No manners at all, she should be lucky that it's not someone else that is the commander right now.'
I looked towards the vine cocoons with clear pity in my eyes, they suffered this fate due to our incompetence.
Right now we were trying to break everyone out from these cocoons but every coccon was filled with a dead body.
Their bodies were drained dry of energy and they looked like corpses.
I clenched my fists in anger.
How could someone do this to their own people?
Does power hold that much value in their hearts?
"A survivor!"
A shout came from the distance and I wasted no time to run towards the direction the voice came from.
As I ran I passed hundreds of cocoons and many knights were trying their hardest to break them apart.
Reaching there was a breeze, my physical body fat surpassed a normal human due to the goddess's blessings.
As I reached there I saw my sister and a few knights surrounding a open cocoon.
And when they saw me arriving, they had already moved away and paid their respects unlike a certain someone.
The cocoon was burst open with a red sticky fluid dripping onto the floor.
And the survivor was covered in this fluid.
He wore a cheaply made knight armour and nothing could be used to identify him.
I slowly raised my finger and pointed it towards his throat.
"What do you mean he's alive?"