A Midsummer Storm

Author Note

I have set up a Patreon page where you can follow my story, which is divided into five chapters. Instead of releasing all the updates at once, I will be posting one chapter each week. patreon.com/Chartso_

Welcome back my lovely readers to the last chapter of the Hunt, the next chapter is going to be centered around the Quidditch World Cup and that scene from so long ago will finally happen.

But dear readers, do you feel it? The cold wind picking up?

Do you hear that? The barking of hounds during the nighttime storm?

The Summer Storm is nigh, and Artemis will meet her equal.

Atalanta

Atalanta was on the way back to Harry's tent, a tray of food in hand, he had stayed behind to finish his homework, some potion or other, and said he'd join her as soon as he added the last ingredient. Atalanta had nodded and left, not too worried about it, when Harry didn't show up at dinner she had just assumed he had messed up his homework and had to start again, after all, he had told her he was pretty bad at the subject. So before dinner broke up she had snagged a tray from the mess tent and headed back to his tent to hang out for a bit, the last snuggle before…

Atalanta's smile dropped slightly as she once again cursed Aphrodite in her head and the one cruel act of cutting Harry off from joining the hunt. Atalanta would love nothing more than to drag Harry back to the states permanently, but knew he wouldn't go even if he could, he would more than likely talk her into staying with him, and Atalanta knew she would if she could. But she was leaving England with the Hunt while Harry got dropped off with his friends, there was a hope that Artemis would talk him into coming on a hunt next summer, the Hunters were always busy hunting down one thing or another, Atalanta was sure something would pop up for them to do.

Getting back to Harry's tent, calling out before she enters just in case, "Harry! I brought dinner!" Atalanta says, and stands outside for a moment for him to answer, but he doesn't, "did he fall asleep?" Atalanta thinks to herself, "Harry, I'm coming in, be decent please," she says before pushing the flap aside, just to be greater by a face full of black smoke that makes her eyes water, "What the fuck?" Atalanta says before stepping into the tent. She finds the source of the smoke quickly enough, Harry's cauldron, she quickly pulls it off the burner before placing it outside and going back inside to cut off the magical burner. Harry wasn't in his tent, which was odd enough, but the smoking cauldron had set Atalanta's nerves on edge and a pit forming in her stomach, looking around she sees two of her sisters walking back from the bonfire and calls out to them.

"Oi, Amy, Bella, have you two seen Harry?" Atalanta asks, but when both Hunters look at each other before turning back to Atalanta and shaking their heads, the pit in her stomach grows as she begins to search around the tent. She finds them quickly enough, tracks and still fresh, one set of footprints and another set of horse tracks.

"No," Atalanta whispers, horrified, "No, no, no, no, Amy! Bella!" She calls out to the other two hunters who had been watching so far, as they walk over and see the serious look on Atalanta they both perk up.

"What's wrong, Atay?" Amy asks before Atalanta points out the tracks and bows come out as Atalanta looks at the two younger hunters.

"Follow the tracks, find out where they lead, do not engage, just keep quiet and follow, I'm going to get Lady Artemis, understand?" Atalanta orders and both of the younger hunters nod before running off into the woods and Atalanta sprints at full speed toward her Goddess tent. She gets to the tent in seconds, throwing open the flap without caution, which Artemis would see as incredibly rude but time was short.

"Lady Artemis!" Atalanta says, throwing open the tent flap, and cutting off the conversation that was happening between Artemis and Zoë, the Goddess looks at her with rage in her eyes before Atalanta speaks before Artemis could say or do anything, "Harry is missing, there are centaur tracks outside his tent," the Lioness says, and just like that the rage melts to confusion before the rage comes back at full force before she leaps to her feet and jumps over the burning fire, shortly followed by Zoë as Atalanta steps aside for them before following. They head directly to Harry's tent as Atalanta fills both the Lieutenant and the Goddess in.

"The fool boy!" Zoë says as they make it to the tent, "Why would he go off willingly with one of them after what happened?!" The Lieutenant of the hunt growls out, and Atalanta answers.

"Because one of them saved his life a few years back," Atalanta says, "It's the only reason why he would trust one enough to follow one," the lioness explains as Artemis nods.

"Firenze, he told me about that," Artemis says before her eyes narrow in thought, "but why take him? Why not attack us?" The Goddess thinks to herself, as two of her hunters emerge from the woods, faces grim, "Report," she barks at them, with a bit more anger than necessary, but the hunters just nod, unbothered by the show of anger.

"We followed the tracks to a small clearing just outside of camp, we found evidence of someone Harry's size on the ground and a set of tracks leaving the clearing, but it looks like they were covering their tracks after they left with woodland magic, the same type the nymphs use," Bella tells Artemis, and the Goddess of the Hunts rage grows with each word, but she turns and goes into Harry's tent before, after a few moments comes back out with a few of Harry's shirts. Artemis makes her way back to the bonfire area before whistling sharply four times, and within minutes her hunt assembles with confused looks as Artemis' hounds come from the shadows and heel before the Goddess, she tosses the shirts to the ground and orders her wolves to scent them before turning to her hunt.

"Harry has gone missing," Artemis says, "There is evidence that he was taken by the centaurs of the forest," the Goddess says and there is a gasp coming from most of the hunt, "I want him found, sixty of both the Handmaidens and Hunters will pair off with a wolf and scatter through the forest, do not engage if you find them, fall back and pray to me I will be there shortly, Daphnis, you will be in charge until I return, hold down the camp," Artemis issues her orders and her commander nods, like a machine, the hunt moves as one pairing up with one another and a wolf.

"Phoebe!" Artemis calls out, and the healer steps forward from the crowd, "You're with me, Zoë and Atalanta, we're moving out now," she says before turning on her heel and beginning to walk to the edge of camp.

"My Lady," Zoë says, "What will we be using for a tracker if we do not bring a wolf?" Her lieutenant asks, and Artemis would have agreed with her question and called a hound to her, but not this time, she had a much better tracker than her hounds. Putting two fingers into her mouth she whistles sharply twice, before the white wings in night glade from their perch in the trees and land on her shoulder.

Zoë raises a brow at the snow-white owl, "Will she be able to find him?" Zoë asks as they walk, and the Atalanta scoffs.

"If there is a being more protective over Harry than that owl, I've yet to meet it, if she can't find Harry, no one can," Atalanta says and the owl hoots in confusion.

"Harry is missing, we think he was taken," Artemis tells Hedwig who immediately puffs up and starts barking up a storm, and the hunters following after their Goddess all blink in surprise, they didn't think they have ever heard so many vivid death threats coming so quickly from such a small creature. "Can you find him?" Artemis asks, and Hedwig hoots, sounding insulted before taking off from the Goddess' shoulder, leading them out of the camp and into the deep woods.

The clouds above them begin to gather and twist, hiding the moon behind the coming storm.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter awakened with a splitting headache, the bouncing up and down really didn't help with it either, groaning as he wakes he finds himself gagged and begins to struggle only to find his arms and legs bound. It was then that what had happened comes rushing back to him, Firenze, the clearing, Bane. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," he thinks to himself before one of the centaurs in question speaks up.

"Calm yourself, Harry Potter," The Voice of Firenze says, "The struggling makes it hard to keep you on my back, and I do not wish to drop you, if all goes well, you will leave these woods relatively unharmed," the calm voice of the centaur says. Harry wants to tell him to go fuck himself, but sadly, the gag prevents that, Harry also dislikes being treated like a fresh kill tossed over the back of a horse, but there isn't much he can do about either of those things. So, Harry stops struggling and waits, hopefully soon the centaurs would slip up, giving him a way to escape.

Soon enough he feels Firenze slow from a full Gallup to more of a canter as Harry hears the voice of the hunt master calls out.

"Is everything prepared?" Bane says, and another voice answers him telling him it was. Without ceremony, Harry is pulled off Firenze's back, hitting the ground hard before he is dragged across the ground by the rope that bound his ankles by Bane himself. Harry is able to flip onto his back, and finally sees where he is, and it was a place he really didn't want to be, right by the creepy statue. But it was no longer covered in web and overgrowth, those had been cleared away to reveal the stone underneath, it was a dark porous Stone, like an unfinished jet, the figure was huge and easily twice Harry's size while sitting. It sat cross-legged on the ground, the details worn away from long years of exposure to the harsh elements, but Harry could see it was a man, his arms bent at the elbow and resting on his legs, hands open as if he was holding something in his right, but it was empty, but in his left, he held a piece of jewelry like Scáthach had worn, but this was twisted iron set with two emeralds on either side in a death grip. Harry could make out the face, because there was no face just stone shaped in the form of a stag's skull with horns of wood or ivory growing from the top.

Bane drags him before the statue before he reaches down and pulls Harry to his knees, bending him before the statue, and making his bow to it. He was bent over an iron bowl filled with things like a stag's antlers, a fresh-looking heart, herds, and other plant life, as well as blood, the thick iron scent filling Harry's nose. The chanting began, the herd of centaurs around him speaking as one in the ancient language he had only heard in soft whispers, Harry feels a blade pressed against his neck and begins to panic, was this it? Was this the end?

But before the blade could be drawn across his throat, another hand stops it.

"What are you doing, Bane?" Firenze says, "are you mad? The boy is still protected by fate, if you kill him the ritual will backlash," the centaur explains, "We only need a small amount of his blood, not all of it!" Firenze tells the hunt master.

"Be silent, coward!" Bane roars, "I do not care, we have never been this close before and I will kill him if I must," Bane growls out as he no doubts glares at Firenze.

"Do not be a fool, the boy is Cinniúint Cosanta agus Grá Bás", Firenze growls back, "You would bring the wrath of the two highest orders down upon our heads for your Zealotry," Firenze says as the sound of thunder and flashing of lightning come from overhead, and as Bane opens his mouth to retort, another voice calls out, one that brings relief to Harry for the first time in a long time from someone older than him.

"Harry!" Artemis yells before the sound of flesh being hacked into fills the air.

"It is too late, the parasite is here," Bane says, "Our life for the hunt brothers, by us the time we need!" He yells as he comes back to Harry's throat with the blade, and Harry feels that this was it, but at least, in the end, he knows someone else cared.

"No!" Firenze yells, slamming his hooves into Bane, knocking his head against the stone before drawing his own blade, cutting away Harry's binding and grabbing one of his arms, and putting it over the bowl, "I am sorry, Harry Potter, but I do what I must," he tells Harry before drawing his blade across Harry's wrist in a shallow cut, allowing Harry's blood to fall into the bowl, causing it to ignite in fire before tossing the boy back away from the statue as he chants rapidly in the language. Harry's now free hand dives into his jacket pocket, pulling out his knife before with one quick but awkward slash he frees his legs and stands before pulling the gag out of his mouth. As it begins to rain in sheets around them, Harry looks around, he sees streaks of silver and fire shooting from the trees, burning and punching through centaurs as Artemis and Zoë we're doing their best impressions of a blender, and as Artemis cuts down four of the centaurs with a single blow with a pair of curved short swords, she shots forward blades aimed at Firenze's back and before Harry could tell her to stop, Firenze finishes his chant, and lightning fell from the sky striking the statue.

Harry is knocked off his feet and flung backwards hitting the wet earth and rolling to a stop on his back, picking himself off the ground he looks at the statue, lightning arcing off it like a Tesla coil, flashing out at random, the arcs surge out striking at the centaurs, either the ones still standing or the ones laying on the ground, arms extending out to the statue as they are struck dead. In the storm of lightning, he sees the ancient standing stones, and with every flash he sees people standing in front of them, dressed as ancient warriors. They stand watching the lightning slowly start to wane, Harry only recognizes two of them, one by the spear she held, and another by the eyes that turn and look at him with a smile.

The lightning dances out, passing through the centaurs before moving to another, Harry turns back to look at Firenze who hadn't been moved by the blast, his arms open wide as the storm passes through him and around him. Harry watches in morbid fascination as the flesh of the centaur begins to burn away, leaving nothing but bone in its wake, from Firenze's chest another head emerges the skeleton head of a horse before the flesh of the horse part of his body is disintegrated and emerge a pelvis, legs, and feet, and before long the rider and horse are separated and the human portion pushes itself back into a sitting position as ghostly flesh begins to wrap itself around the bones. Looking like the bodies they had pulled from the bogs and moors, the flesh is pulled tight over the bones of both man and beast, the armor of ancient warriors came next, leather and iron, legionnaire armor came from splitting flesh as a spear came to hand, made from the same ghostly energy that formed the new body of Firenze. All around Harry the dead and dying centaurs begin to change and raise once more, forming rider and mount from where there was but one being, all in different armor from the past, from hide, to leather, to iron, some even had scale and plate in a sleek design that glowed like polished silver in the moonlight, those riders had sharpened teeth and pointed teeth remaining Harry on the tales of the fair folk, but every single rider had one thing in common, each had the golden-yellow eyes of the Hunt.

Harry grips his spear, the Hunt leaking into him against his will as the lightning begins to die down and a shadow stands inside of it. Before Harry could get a good look, he feels someone grab his arm and spin him around, it was Artemis in her adult form.

"Harry, you need to leave, now!" She tells him, he could hear the seriousness of what was happening in her voice, but he didn't move, because he wanted to stay, a hunt was coming, he knew it was, and he wanted to join it.

"Harry, Harry! This is not a time to disobey orders!" Artemis yells before she starts to shake him, but Harry just looks away from her to the pillar of lightning that dies, and Harry sees what was at the heart of it. It was a giant of a man, he stood neat ten feet tall, over twelve if you counted the stag horns coming from the top of his mask, or was it his face? His chest and stomach were covered in thick hair but firmly built, more bulk than wax board abs, his arms were like tree trunks and his hands were large enough to crush a brown bear's head in his hands which end in short hooked claws. Around his waist was a thick leather girdle and hanging from it was the flayed flesh of man, mer, and beast that hung like a kilt all around his legs, and they were covered in fur and ended with cloven feet like a goat's, but it was his face that drew Harry's attention the most. It was a bleached white Stag's skull, its massive antlers high and proud as the flayed leather of the once majestic beast hung like a cloak over the man's massive shoulders, but past the eye sockets, Harry could see them, the slitted cat's eyes that were the color of burning amber, just like Artemis' eyes.

Artemis steps in front of Harry, twin shorts swords raised, "Who are!?" She yells out, "Announce yourself!?" There was an honest pulse of what could be fear or excitement in her voice as the figure takes its first steps on the earth and it shakes with each step.

"Herne the hunter, Hircine, duke of the crossroads, God of the Wild, Ghost of the Storms, King of the Wild Hunt, I have as many names as there are ways to Hunt, O, Sister in the Hunt," The man's voice is a gravelly whisper on the winds, like the pause between the flash of lightning and the clap of thunder in the middle of a storm, the anticipation before you know the inevitable was coming. Which each step he takes the earth shakes as if it was struck by lightning, and every ghostly rider bows their head in respect to the God that walked before them, he stops no more than ten feet from Artemis and Harry, "But if you must know my name," the man says before taking a deep breath, "I. AM. CERNUNNOS!" and as the Celtic God of the Hunt announces his return to the earth, he throws his arms wide, and lightning rains down from the heavens, shattering trees and cracking stone where it had struck.

With an open hand, the black spear that Harry had last seen Bane wield comes flying into his hands before he points at Artemis, " And you, are not welcome here, Greek," he says.

"No!" Artemis cries out before an invisible force hooks her and pulls her from the clearing into the darkness of the forest behind them, knocking Harry down as she goes; Harry hears the cries of his sisters calling out to Artemis as she is forced to leave.

Harry rolls with the blow, landing on his hands and knees before Cernunnos, and as he looks up and into the savage eyes of the Hunt, the God levels his spear at him and simply says "Hunter, or Hunted boy, choose, join my Wild Hunt," Cernunnos says, "Or die," he finishes as he looks down at the shaking boy.

Harry takes a few shaky breaths as he stands, gripping his own spear till his knuckles are white, he can't stop the shaking in his legs as he looks at the God of the Hunt, but bares his teeth as he says, "I'm prey to nothing and no one, including you," with a growl as the God throws his head back and laughs.

"You have spirit, Greek, I respect that," Cernunnos says, "let's see you back it up," the God says before he lunges at Harry, only to be intercepted by Zoë's blade knocking the spear back.

"You beast, What have you done to Lady Artemis!" Zoë screams as she lashes out with Moontide, making Cernunnos take a few steps back, blocking the strikes with his spear while laughing, just before silver and fire rain down onto him, piercing his flesh that leaks golden ichor.

"How annoying," Cernunnos says as the arrows rain down on him, before he whistles sharply, sending the ghostly horde into the woods to chase down the archers before he continues his defense from Zoë's strikes, "Not bad girly," Cernunnos compliments Zoë, "But I was in the middle of something," He tells her calmly before catching Zoë's blade, much to her shock before pulling her forward to impale her on his spear.

They had moved back far enough for Harry to pick up speed, and before Cernunnos could deliver the killing blow, Harry's foot connects with Cernunnos' face, Harry flinches at it, it had felt like he had kicked the castle walls but in the end, it had worked, his kick sent Cernunnos careening back enough for Zoë to pull her blade from his hand and jump back as Harry lands from a back flip.

"Please tell me you can do the thing that you used on me on this guy," Harry asks, watching as Cernunnos straightens his mask.

"No," Zoë says gripping her sword, "it requires a large body of water to use," she says grinding her teeth, "We need to run and find Lady Artemis, She's the only one who can fight him on equal footing," the lieutenant says.

"Pretty sure this guy will chase us and enjoy it if we run," Harry says as he readies his spear as Cernunnos walks towards them, Harry was sure he was smiling at them, "Can you do anything with the rain?" Harry asks, and Zoë narrows her eyes and her sword starts to glow.

"Buy me time," Is all she says.

"Easy for you to say," Harry sighs out before charging at Cernunnos, duking under the lazy swing of his spear before spinning on his heel, keeping his momentum for his dance of shadows and death. He slashes at Cernunnos hamstring cutting into flesh, but as soon as he does it heals and Cernunnos spins to face him, lashing out with his own spear, Harry tries to block the blow but it was like blocking a speeding car, Harry jumps, taking the blow that made his arms shake as he flies through the air, flipping as he does to land on his feet as he keeps moving to build up speed as the God of the Hunt is on top of him in seconds. But seconds are a long time when you're as fast as Harry, he zig zags around Cernunnos strikes, slashing at the god's stomach as he spins around him; Cernunnos laughs at his display.

"You fight like one of my kin, boy!" He roars as he charges Harry, who keeps on the back step, dodging and spinning around the God's earth-shaking strikes, "Where did you learn how to fight like this!?" Cernunnos asks as he tries to impale Harry with his spear, Harry spins out of the strike before stepping into a thrust of his own, stabbing at the God's stomach, but to his horror, it only sinks in an inch or two before it feels like he was trying to pierce a brick wall, and Cernunnos laughs. "Now I see, you learned from her didn't you, sorry to tell you, boy but you lack the upper body strength to pull it off," the God says before grabbing the haft of his spear and pulling it out of himself before he swings his own spear down to bisect Harry.

But once again, it was Zoë who saves him, surrounded by a ring of water that lash out at Cernunnos, slicing and cleaving flesh wildly as Zoë herself brings her sword down on his arm that was holding Harry's spear, nearly cutting it off, the God lets go of the haft to start defending himself from the lashing water and glowing sword. In the light of Moontide, Harry feels a rush of energy and dashes forward, and begins to dance again, spinning around Cernunnos to flank him as he fights Zoë. Harry stabs and slashes with wild desperation, trying to do something to Cernunnos, anything more than flesh wounds, but it seems the God was right, he was lacking something to do any real damage. As Harry goes for Cernunnos' ribs, where the flesh and muscle were thinnest, to do some real damage, Cernunnos lands a hit of his own.

Cernunnos' spear haft strikes Harry's side, he tries to block it with his arm, but it was fruitless, it was like getting hit by a thin truck going well past the speed limit. He feels not just his arm in three places snap like dry wood but also feels his ribs crumple like a house of cards. Harry's breath was driven from his lungs and he could taste blood at the back of his throat as he was sent flying, before slamming into a tree and landing face-first on the ground.

"Harry!" He hears Zoë scream from way too far away, his vision was darkening around the edges as he watches Cernunnos backhand Zoë with a closed fist, sending her flying.

"Enough, girl, I will deal with you in a moment," the God of the Hunt says as he turns to Harry and begins to walk towards him, "I have a hunt to finish with the boy, but do not worry, you won't die a virgin," Cernunnos says with a mirthful laugh as the storm continues around them.

In the flashes of lightning and the cracking of thunder, Harry watches Cernunnos approach, but in the flash of light from the storm above, Harry sees another set of feet, clad in skin-tight leather in front of him, he hears her speak.

"My oh my, it seems like you're in quite the sticky situation, aren't you boyo?" She says with something akin to enjoyment in her voice, "You will find Cernunnos neither a merciful nor kind God, he is a savage brutal God from a far more wild age, than again, we all are," sha laughs at her own words, "But the door is open, if just a crack, and I can feel it calling out to me, aching for me to come home as much as I ache to go home, and for that, I think I will help you boyo," she says as the butt of a red ivory lance slams in front of him, "What do you say? Shall I show you how to really use that spear of yours, maith, Graeca?" And all Harry could do is nod desperately as his vision fades to back and for some reason he felt annoyed, annoyed at someone doing something before him, as to what, he had no idea, because he knew no more.

Cernunnos takes his time walking over to the broken body of the boy, he would have made a fine addition to the Wild Hunt, shame he choose to be prey instead, but he had to respect the sheer balls of the boy for telling him that he wasn't prey before a God of the Hunt. But Cernunnos stops in surprise as the boy begins to pick himself up off the ground, the God of the Hunt was pretty sure he had shattered the boy's arm and ribs with that last hit, he should have stayed down after a blow like that. But the boy was getting to his feet, Cernunnos narrows his eyes as he hears the sound of bones snapping back into place, he stops, watching the boy out of curiosity more than anything, he had never heard of a mortal or Demigod being able to heal this fast. But that thought stopped when the boy looks at him again, his eyes no longer of the hunt, or the odd silver color when he was fighting with the girl, no, they were Auburn like old blood spilled upon the ground; Cernunnos knew those eyes.

The boy raises his spear, and the silver that reflects the flashes of lightning is given a red sheen as a divine curse wraps around the spear as the boy smirks at him. Cernunnos eyes widened and he began to charge, he already knew it was too late, but he had to try something, he hated getting hit by that curse.

But the boy spins the spear in hand before cocking his arm back, preparing to throw it before speaking, "Remember your place, Cernunnos," the boy says, his voice overlayed by another voice, before he throws the spear that would always seek the heart.

Zoë Nightshade

Zoë stumbles back into the clearing, holding her broken and slowly regenerating ribs, she had to get Harry and get out of here, they had to find Lady Artemis, she watches in horror, moving as fast as she could, as Cernunnos walks over to Harry. He stops for a moment and watches, to Zoë's shock, Harry stands up, and Zoë limps towards them as fast as she could as Cernunnos stops and just watches Harry with interest.

"Harry!" Zoë yells, "Harry, run!" She calls out as she wills her ribs to heal faster, she watches as Harry surrounds his spear in an odd bloodthirsty aura, she screams as Cernunnos charges, she hears the odd tone of Harry's voice as he speaks, and the magic in the words that follow as he lets the spear in his hand fly right at the God of the Hunt. Zoë watches as the spear strikes true, piercing the heart of Cernunnos, rocketing him across the clearing, through the trees on the other side, and through the hill the hunt had used to kill the spiders in the Den beyond.

Zoë's wide eyes trail back, following the trench dug by the force of the throw back to the boy who had thrown it, she watches as his legs collapse from under him and his eyes roll into the back of his head as he falls face first in the mud. Zoë runs as best as she could to the boy, dropping to her knees and flipping the boy over, and checking his pulse, she sighs as she feels a strong pulse under her fingers.

"Come on you fool boy, I do not what you just did but, we need to leave now," she says as she starts to pick the boy up, she couldn't fight while holding him, but that was fine, she was going to run while she can, but she stops as she notices something. Everything around the boy was dead, as in gray and lifeless, crumbling and breaking down to nothing but ash and shadow, even the bark on the tree behind him. What the hell had the boy just done?

So in her shock, she missed the quiet footsteps of the giant behind her before it was too late, but as lightning flashed again showing her the shadow behind her, she quickly spins around to face Cernunnos who stood behind her, his chest split open and ruined as golden ichor spills from his body, the spear was pierced his heart and silver thrones seemed to bloom and grow from his wound trying to wrap around his body and grind his organs to mush. Cernunnos reaches out and pulls the spear from his chest, taking the thrones with it, Zoë watches as the thrones slice through Cernunnos' flesh like a hot knife through butter as he removes them, she could hear him groan in pain as he does, and once it is, she watches the wound heals leaving behind a scar, much to her shock.

Cernunnos looks down at her, "So, the boy's a magician, huh?" He says and Zoë could hear the grin in his voice, "Now that's interesting," the God of the Hunt says.

Notes:

Behold, Cernunnos, King of the Wild Hunt. Or at least my interpretation of him. So check it, Cernunnos is a very weird God, because like most Celtic Gods we don't have much on him, so I have to piece together different versions of him that we do know about. He is, in this story, the male version of Artemis, he is a God of the Hunt and represents the savagery of the Hunt much like Artemis is the cold unfeeling calculation right before the kill in the Hunt.

But Cernunnos is a God of a lot of things, the wild, fertility, grain, animals, and stuff like that. He's one of the many, many Horned Gods in the world, like Pan, Baphomet, Satan, and the like. There are a lot and basically, every culture in the world has one, go look it up, good reading.

Why is Cernunnos King of the Wild Hunt? Well, mainly because I want him to be, he was also said to lead it a long time ago. But then again, they also said that about Wodin/Odin, King Arthur, and Francis fucking Drake, so take it with a grain of salt.

You don't know what the Wild Hunt is? Google it, fucking great read.

Also, I have decided to make the final "What If!?" As its own chapter at the end of the story, which will be after the next chapter.