Twins of the Hunt - Book 1: The Golden Hind ✔️

Chapter 18: I Am Betrayed By The One I Love The Most

2020 words

The next morning, while eating wild berries for breakfast, we all pondered what to do.

"What are we supposed to do?" Raiden asked, pacing around.

"I have no idea," I said. "We don't know where the hind is, so we're basically screwed."

Aidan hadn't said anything yet; he was sitting there with his face in his hands.

"You okay, Aidan?" I asked, concerned.

"Fine," He muttered. "Just thinking. Remember what the prophecy said? 'To face enemies in the needle of rain?'"

"Yeah," I said slowly. "What about it?"

"Well," Aidan said, raising his head. "What if it's not a metaphor? What if it has a literal meaning?"

Raiden and I glanced at each other. I could tell that she, like me, had no idea in Hades what Aidan was talking about.

"Explain, please," Raiden said.

"Well, isn't there a needle in Seattle?" Aidan said, his eyes lighting up excitedly. "Like the Space Needle? What if the hind is there?"

There was a moment of stunned silence, as the impact of these words sunk in.

"That actually makes sense," I said. "Maybe you do have some smarts in you, after all, Aidan."

Aiden threw a pinecone at me in response.

"Pher? Agro? What do you think?" I asked the wolves. "Does what Aidan says make sense for once?"

Yes, Pher barked. I've thought for a while now that that's what the prophecy meant.

"So, you thought you knew where the hind was," Aidan said in mild indignation. "And you didn't think to tell us?!"

You needed to figure it out by yourselves, Agro barked. Y'all gotta learn somehow.

Raiden muttered something under her breath. I caught phrases like "Ugh, why did I ever trust those stupid wolves?!" and "We could have been a lot farther on if they'd just told us."

We're sorry, Pher barked. But our job is to protect you, not tell you all the answers. We knew you'd figure it out eventually.

"But after everything we'd been through," I said furiously, my voice rising. "After all the hardships, you still didn't think of making one thing easy for us?!"

Ainsley, please- Agro began, but I'd already leapt to my feet and stormed off into the forest.

I was so angry, I wasn't even aware of where I was going until I ran into a tree.

"GODS DAM IT!" I bellowed so loudly that birds took flight from the trees, as I felt my nose break.

My hand flew to my nose as blood began to pour down my face.

Pinching my nose hard, I turned my head toward the sky and shouted, "Is this what you wanted, Mom?! For us to be almost dead all the time?! CURSE YOU AND THE REST OF THE OLYMPIANS!"

I probably shouldn't have said that last part, but I didn't care. I was so tired of being constantly hunted; constantly in danger; constantly having to fight monsters.

Speaking of monsters, I suddenly realized I was being watched. A drakon suddenly came charging out at me.

"NO!" I screamed, glaring at the drakon.

The drakon skidded to a stop in front of me. I was sure that if it could have screamed in terror, it would have.

The drakon started to run away, but I yelled, "Oh no, you don't!" and charged it, my daggers drawn. I leapt into the air, raised my daggers into the air, and plunged my daggers hard into the drakon's scales. My daggers pierced right through the scales of the drakon and reduced it to nothing but golden dust.