September 1st, 1907, Afternoon

The lady's skin was leaf green, but shining with the macabre fire that had once seemed warm, it almost looked naturally sick. Her red hair was an aggressive tone, even brighter than the fire itself.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I instinctively rushed to the fireplace, grabbing a log from its bottom.

Every single person in the house would have shouted at me to never do that, and to never speak like that, but the only conscious people nearby were an old deaf lady and a quiet girl not much older than myself. Well, and this green lady.

"Put that down, child. I'm here on urgent matters which may mean your survival or demise." The lady waited for a moment for me to put the fire down, or perhaps just waiting for the fire to burn my fingers. Whichever it was, I walked my own path.

The lady took a careful approach. She mixed her steps with quiet and simple voices, trying to seem friendly.

"My name is Erythrina crista-galli, but you can call me Eryth. I'm a nymph. Do you know what that is?"

What kind of name was that? Well, Kalila Oasis Marull wasn't that common either, Oscar's words.

Eryth kneeled down, putting her hands on her knees. Being closer, I could clearly see her face. Her eyes were golden and bright, like the taint that remained on one's hands after holding a blooming flower by its centre. Her eyes had long eyelashes, but her eyes were tall enough to still have a child's look. If I had to give her an age… She looked about 16, but at the same time as a mature adult. One could easily compare her beauty with a blooming garden. You couldn't know for how long it's been blooming, or how many times it did, but it was beautiful to see its timeless divinity.

The fire consumed the small log almost completely, and even if it wasn't touching my hands, my muscles burned from within just for holding it. I let it fall over the fire, making a domino effect and dropping some other logs too. Fortunately none outside the stone circle.

Seeing how I didn't answer, Eryth started a monologue.

"Nymphs are… spirits of the nature. I was born from a little flower tree. But that has nothing to do with why I'm here."

Eryth tried to take my hands into hers but backed away when I slapped them off.

"I follow the goddess Artemis. Do you know her? She's the goddess of the hunt, wilderness, archery, maidenhood, childbirth… I don't know if I'm missing anything." She chuckled, "Nevertheless, as followers of Artemis, we follow her around the world hunting with her. At this moment, I was guided here by your… smell. Do you know anything about it?"

I shook my head. Chris always told me to bathe more often, but I was never told I had a particular smell. Eryth sighed.

"If you come with me to the forest I can teach you everything you need to know. Alright? You will be safe, away from these…" The nymph eyed the boys, "Males, and will be on a world you will understand. Alright? I know everything is confusing, but once we go back to Peggy, Kassandra, Sipriotes, and all the others, everyone will clear your doubts. "

I smelled fish, even if Mother Elisa was cooking chicken. Chris always told me not to go with strangers, and even if Eryth would probably throw a dart at me if I refused, I wanted to use all the time possible to stay where I was. Confusion run through my mind- What was a demigoddess? Why was a 'nymph' seeking me? What was it that directed so much attention to me? Was this green girl one of the monsters Chris had to hunt?

"Look, I can't leave you here. In little to no time, monsters will attack and if we're not with the Hunt, we'll be vulnerable. Will you come with me?"

It was obvious Eryth had switched strategies, now searching for little threats to use to convince me, and they were working.

"But what will happen with Oscar and Chris when the monsters come?" I asked, looking back nervously at my siblings. As much as Oscar hated me, and as strong as Chris was, I couldn't just leave them by themselves.

"Here is the thing," Eryth joined her hands, trying to relieve stress by forcing pressure, "The monsters are after you."

I wanted to believe I was brave, but the closer to the forest, and furthest from the house I got, the more my knees shook. I wasn't used to leaving the house. Perhaps I went to the shop for a few minutes, but I never left the streets. The forest was definitely not in my desired path list.

"How can the monsters be after me? I've never encountered monsters before!" I protested. It was a weird idea for monsters to chase me considering how I only knew them from the stories Oscar told me to scare me, but worse was a green-skinned lady telling me about gods and nymphs.

"Well, demigods give off a smell. The more powerful they are, the stronger the smell is, usually. I can smell demigods, probably because my father was a satyr."

"A what?" I asked, avoiding a low tree branch. "Nevermind. But you keep using that word. What's a demigod?"

Eryth sighed, and I couldn't tell if she was tired of running through the forest or tired of answering my questions.

"You know how I told you about Artemis being the goddess of the moon? Well, there are many other gods out there. There's Apollo, god of the sun, Hermes, god of… travelers, Zeus, king of gods and god of the sky, and many, many others. Demigods are the children of one of those gods and a human."

"So… you mean you can tell by my smell that I'm the daughter of a god…" I was becoming more confused every second, but my mind focused back when I saw a bright and tall fireplace not far from where we were standing. It was already odd Chris had wanted a fire in the middle of the day, but having a group of so-called hunters have one too made me unnecessarily alert.

"No, Kassandra. We already tried going North and remember how that played out last time."

"Yes, I remember. My arm still aches from that bite…"

"Shhh. Someone is near."

"It's probably Eryth back with the demigod she said she smelled," The second voice spoke again, completely calm compared to the nervousness of the others.

I was nervous to listen to so many voices go quiet at once. That silence only meant they were getting ready for something. I hoped it wasn't to attack.

Eryth walked until she found a large silver tent. An oddly strong one I had never seen before. Then she kept walking beside it, heading towards the fire. She signalled for me to stand behind and walked forward with her hands behind her back. Once she appeared in front of the fireplace, I saw how at least twenty young girls jumped forward, half with daggers and half with bows in their hands. The weapons were all silver, except the daggers' blade which seemed a glowing tone of bronze, all the girls wore winter clothes even if it was summer, but none seemed to be suffering in the heat. All colours could be found in their skins, hairs and eyes. Some, I assumed nymphs, even had blue or white hair, but there were also girls with brown hair and eyes. Nevertheless, they all had the same ornament in their heads, a silver headband, almost like a diadem, with a crescent moon hanging in the middle of their foreheads, and the same silver outline around their bodies. They all seemed to be young, but of different ages. Some seemed as young as ten, while others were as old as their late twenties. Yet they all held their weapons with the same grace.

"The demigoddess is with me, we were not followed. Actaeon."

When Eryth spoke the last word, every girl lowered her weapon and went back to her post. The daggers were sheathed, while the bows disappeared in thin air.

"Come forward," Eryth signalled at me. Even through hesitation, I managed to take a step forward. Eryth continued talking, "This is the demigoddess I told you about. She is oblivious

to the gods, but considering I can already smell her so young…" Eryth covered her mouth with an extended palm sideways, possibly to hide her lips from being read.

"We need her on our side." A huntress with a long black braid walked forward. Her headband was different from the rest. It had no moon as if she didn't need to prove she belonged to the sky. "What is your name, child?"

It took me some time to figure out she was talking to me, but I immediately answered.

"Kalila Oasis Marull, Miss."

A gasp flowed through the other girls. I could hear as they whispered 'Shouldn't we call Artemis, Lieutenant?'

"And what would be your age?" The girl continued, presumably called Lieutenant.

"I… There is no record of my birth, but I'm supposed to have been born on the 1st of September of the year 1900." I repeated the words Chris had told me to speak if the police ever arrived at the house.

"Look, I am not aware of this being a joke, but demigods are not supposed to attract monsters until they are 13, you are only 7 years old, yet a nymph could smell you. We cannot be," But Lieutenant was interrupted.

From the afternoon light, another girl appeared. But she was different from the rest. Her silver outline seemed stronger, her hair was a mixture of coal brown and sunset red. I believed she was no older than 13, but her stance, and the ones the hunters took when seeing her, showed she was important. She was followed by a hunt dog that was as large as a wolf. She wore no diadem, only by looking at her you could tell she was the moon.

"Artemis," Lieutenant looked at her as if awaiting an order, but unfortunately for myself, the goddess was staring right at me.

"Those blue eyes," Artemis gently raised my chin to get a better look. "Phoenix… no. That can't be." The goddess had said the name oddly, like 'Fee-knee-kah', but my mind automatically visualized the spelling in a language I couldn't remember learning. "You said your name was Kalila. Are you convinced of joining the Hunt?"

What? I understood nothing. Eryth had told me I needed to join the hunt to be protected, but I remembered Chris' words. Nothing is free. Once you grow, you'll have to repay being taken care of by taking care of others. I just hoped that wasn't the fee for joining this Hunt.

"If you join the Hunt of Artemis, we can protect you. You will not age, and you could only die in battle." Eryth smiled warmly at me, trying to convince me. But back then, getting to feel protected was enough. If Chris was going to leave, and monsters were hunting me... No matter how odd these girls looked, they could keep me safe. They could protect me while I had to be away from my family in order to protect them.

"Repeat after me," Artemis spoke, "I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."

I opened my mouth.

"I pledge-"

A monstrous howl broke the silence of the afternoon.

"Lycaon. Peggy, Eryth, Kassandra, arm the rest. The wolves found us."