Chapter 20 - Bloody Consequenses

"Bang," a gunshot rang, scaring the nearby birds away.

Artemis pushed the man to the ground with her huge antlers and knocked him off. Stabbing pain shot from her foreleg, rushing into her spine.

She softly grunted and glanced down to find a gaping hole in her right forelimb.

'Shit,' she thought as she moved away from the man. Her powers were all used up, there was not much left to heal her completely.

'Where is Aphrodite when I need her?' she thought with a downcast mood. The sun was setting and darkness was near the horizon.

Soon it was pitch black and nothing in front of her path was visible.

She used her remaining power to light up her antlers and slowly hobbled down the winding pathway human's call to the roads. The concrete hurt her hoofs, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her right forelimb.

It was constantly bleeding, creating a bloody path behind her.

"Aphro, do you hear men?" she tried connecting their minds. But she only heard the serene, calm sound of nothingness. "Aphrodite I really need help. Stop chasing after Helios and come help me for god's sake," she shouted in their mind connection.

There was still no reply from her. Dejected, Artemis hobbled and stumbled in the ruined pathway. There was rubble everywhere, so she had to watch carefully where she was going.

After waking for hours, she finally lost most of her energy. Her bloody wound was still oozing golden red blood, making her even more dizzy.

"Humans... Those wretched creatures, why did they even develop such a dangerous device?" she thought as she remembered the huge stick thingy that the hunter carried around. "No wonder their race was coming to an end." She shook her head in disappointment.

It had been almost centuries since she had visited human world. And the humans had gradually forgotten that there existed a god named Artemis. Her godly power reduced drastically because of lack of belief.

A symbiotic relationship. That's what the human race, and the gods had. Human race's belief in them gives them powers, and those powers were to be used to satisfy the human's wishes. Sometimes the humans wished were selfish, ignorant, stupid, but as their jobs, gods had to fulfil their wishes.

But now the human race was finally coming to an end. The gods did not want that.

They saw some redeemable qualities in them, so they came to earth as a final attempt to help them out.

Artemis never saw any such qualities in those creatures. They may look alike, but their minds were completely corrupt and dark.

Slowly shaking her huge head, she chased away few flies as she hobbled over some rubble.

A small shuffling was heard nearby.

'Is it another human with that weird stick?' she thought as he glanced back.

A young woman stood next to a wall. Shock was written all over her face.

'Here we go again. I really don't have energy to fight another one,' Artemis thought with a sigh.

The woman looked ready to bolt.

Just as Artemis was about to run after the woman, her eyes started to shake. Her vision blurred as black spots flew in front.

'Shit, shit, shit, I should not loose consciousness now.' She thought, biting her lips. But her legs collapsed under her huge weight.

She fell into the rubble with a thud. Sharp rocks bit into her body, making her consciousness fade faster.

The last thing she saw was the woman bolting from her.

'I guess.... this is how I come to an end. In the hands of pathetic humans,' she thought with a sigh. She slowly closed her eyes and rested.

Minutes later, she felt someone touch her pelt.

'Oh gods, am I going to be this human's dinner,' she thought with a wince.

But the hands touching her were soft and kind. It was softly binding her wounded forelimb.

Artemis slowly opened her eyes and saw the young woman who had run away from her was squatting next to her. Her hands held a small strip of cloth over a bottle of white powder.

'A seasoning? I'm going to be seasoned before cooked,' Artemis internally cried.

But the woman softly lifted her forelimb and tied the strip of cloth around her wound. The wound stopped bleeding the instant the woman applied the white powder.

'What is this sorcery?' she thought with wonder. Usually a god's wound cannot be healed by human medicine, but now.... this human was proving her it was not.

Small dots of shimmering light shone from the woman's hands as she touched her wounds. 'Maybe.... maybe it was not the medicine, but... it was this woman's hands that healed me. How is this possible, though? Humans can't heal gods either.'

"There. It's all wound up. Don't get close to any other humans they might try to hurt you again," the human softly whispered with a smile.

The moment the woman smiled, a few flashes of light flew from her directly into her huge body.

'Its belief!!! She is giving me power!!!'

Astonished, Artemis peered at the human. Unlike any other, this human was..... Kind.