Page 16 of Artemis’ Bow (Halfling Academy #5)

“ Q uiet,” I yell over the arguing students we gathered to get volunteers to go on the mission.

There are two groups, one to my left and the other to my right, and the scene pisses me off more than I care to admit. The Athena, Aphrodite, and Apollo students remaining are to my right and everyone else to the left. Clear lines have been drawn.

“Our very own oracle has had a vision showing how to stop the end of the world and rescue Artemis and set the world back to rights in this endless sun.” Chiron stamps his hoof, getting everyone’s attention.

All whispers and angry words silence as the students’ eyes widen. Curious gazes stare at our group on the platform, probably wondering what’s going on. We’ve never announced one of Adrian’s visions or our departure on a mission.

“We’re looking for volunteers,” I call. “We are putting two other teams together because Artemis has several temples, and we need to cover them all in a short period of time.”

“Will it be dangerous?” Dax calls from the crowd and glances at an excited Kira.

“There is always the potential for danger when we leave the academy. We don’t really know the state of the world, given the sun hasn’t set in days and monsters can be anywhere.”

“I’m in.” Kira fist-pumps the air.

I grimace and shrug at Dax who’s expression is devastated. He obviously wants to go but doesn’t want Kira to go. I can relate to that every time I drag my friends outside the wards on yet another dangerous mission.

“I’ll go too.” Dax raises a hand.

I glance warily at Jayden and Raven when I notice that Draven also has his hand raised. Why would he want to go on another mission? He didn’t really help when he came with us to retrieve Ares’ shield.

“He’s going to get someone killed,” Raven says under her breath.

“The thing is that Chiron doesn’t know these students the way we do. He’s getting the best volunteers, though,” I whisper back.

“Dax is second only to me in Ares and Kira is a badass,” Raven says. “Draven is head of the Hermes students after sacrificing himself to help rescue them even if he was a waste of space on the mission for the shield.”

“Look,” Jayden hisses. “Olly and the other bullied Apollo kid volunteered as well. I think they have a couple decent groups.”

“If nothing else, they will be a good distraction to keep some of the heat off us,” I say.

Jayden grimaces at the group to my left and I turn my gaze, finding someone raising their hand that has no business being on a team to save Artemis.

“Fuck no. No, just no. She can’t be serious, right? She does realize they aren’t coming with us, right? Or is she really that fucking stupid?”

“She’s really that stupid, B.” Raven snickers.

Fucking Mia has a smug smirk on her face and her hand raised to be on one of the teams to go to a different temple to try and save Artemis. What the fuck is she thinking? She can barely lift a sword, let alone wield one.

“She can’t possibly go. She will get her entire team killed,” I growl.

“All of our volunteers step forward. The rest of you are dismissed.” Chiron stamps his hooves.

There are eight students left and a good mix of the two groups who drew a line at being around each other.

“Beth and her group are the main mission, which will be kept quiet,” Chiron announces.

“They will split the teams and decide who’s going where, but their success will be determined by yours as well, as you all will be going to different locations to throw the enemy off their trail and make them think you are the ones going to retrieve the goddess and her bow. ”

“I thought we would be going with them,” Mia pouts.

“Seriously? It’s dangerous enough that we have five demigods in our group with the monsters out there.” I roll my eyes at the idiot.

I knew she only wanted to come to get to Jayden. The idiot really can never take a hint. Jayden is mine and she will never get him. When will she realize that her obsession is stupid and pointless? Probably never.

“Your team should be split among the rest of us,” Draven calls out. “To make it even since most of you are gods touched .”

Draven’s gaze never leaves me as he says the odds and a shudder of revulsion drips down my spine. Jayden steps forward, his hands clenched at his sides. He caught the same look from Draven that I had.

“Our team is set and will never be broken up. You are a distraction and make no mistake, we argued against any other teams being included in this,” Jayden says.

“Beth and team are in charge. They will decide the teams and you will go to your assigned destinations. Remember you volunteered for this. Whether you had ulterior motives for volunteering is beside the point. You volunteered and you will do as you’re told.” Chiron crosses his arms over his chest.

I step forward so I can diffuse the situation. “Dax and Kira, you will be leading the team going to Sparta. That’s the secondary location we believe the bow and Artemis may be.”

“What’s the most likely location?” Mia asks with a sneer.

“That’s not for you to know. The primary location is secret, and our team will be headed there.” I glare at her.

“If we’re to be a distraction, I think I should know where I am supposed to be distracting the enemy from,” she argues.

“No, you don’t. You volunteered knowing that we weren’t giving that information.” Jayden shakes his head.

“You’d probably abandon your team to follow us so you can get close to Jayden, psycho,” Raven snarls.

Mia stomps her foot like a child and glares at Raven, but the menace in her gaze doesn’t match the usual hatred.

What the hell is that calculating look? That’s not like the airhead at all.

She’s planning something and I have a feeling no good can come from that.

I glance at Raven, and she nods almost imperceptibly.

She sees the same thing as me. Good. We won’t be able to keep an eye on Mia, but we can warn her team to watch her just in case.

“We need to stay on track.” I sigh. “Dax and Kira, you have Draven and Olly on your team. Zeke and Jake, can I trust you to be soldiers and not bullies?”

“If you can’t work as a team with everyone, then get the fuck out of here,” Jayden growls.

“You’re putting us with them?” Jake asks with a sneer.

“Yeah, and if you can’t work with them, you can sit this one out, Jake.” Raven glares at her brothers.

Zeke tugs on Jake’s arm and shakes his head at him. “We can work together. We’ll be good.”

After he blew up at the Apollo students for the sun being out in the middle of the night, he hasn’t been the worst of the bullies, so he’s the one I would put in charge of their team.

“Zeke, you’re in charge of Jake, Mia, and Kyle,” Raven says. “You will be going up the coast to the western most temple of Artemis.”

Hopefully, they can just stay out of the way and no one will get hurt. Despite Draven being on Dax’s team, they are the most experienced team after us and that’s why they are going to a location that could actually be important. The others not so much.

“The strongest, most experienced teams are going to the two places that most likely hold the bow or possibly the goddess herself. Artemis is being held captive and that’s why the moon hasn’t risen in days,” I say.

“So, we really are just a distraction,” Mia snarls. “We likely won’t even come across monsters or anything.”

“You need to visit her temple and check it out to be sure. We are sweeping all three to be sure we don’t miss anything.” I scrub a hand down my face.

“I should be going with Jayden. I am more useful than just checking out a temple that’s probably a decoy anyway.” Mia plants her hands on her hips.

“If it was up to me, you would be staying here. Don’t test me, Mia. You are useless in battle. Get over it and Jayden. He will never want you.” I flip my hair over my shoulder.

Mia gasps. “Jayden, are you going to let her talk to me like that?”

“I didn’t hear anything in her statement that wasn’t true. I would have been much harsher than that.” Jayden wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me against his side.

“Yeah, that was nice compared to how she usually talks to you. I would call it a win,” Raven jokes.

Adrian steps forward. “Tensions are high. I think we should take a break so you all can pack and we can gather supply packs for each team. Meet back here after lunch.”

“That’s a fantastic idea.” I nod.

The other two teams disperse, and I sigh with relief. The less time I have to spend around Draven and Mia, the better. Jake was surprisingly quiet today so maybe he won’t be terrible.

“Hopefully they won’t see much conflict,” I say.

“Mia and the others likely won’t have a problem. I’m worried more about Dax and Kira.” Raven slumps into her seat.

“Is it wise to send Draven with them? I’m afraid his ego is going to get them all killed.” I rest my head on Jayden’s shoulder.

“We don’t really have a choice. Chiron approved the people on the teams. I mean, seriously, we didn’t want the other teams in the first place,” Jayden says.

“And to be fair, if anyone is equipped to go on a mission like this, it’s Dax and Draven. They have both stepped up in the past to help even if Draven only hindered us during the Ares mission.” Raven nods.

“We should probably get the normal supply packs together for them like the cards for expenses and things we normally take with us on a trip.”

“We need to stop by the healers’ office to get the elixir for healing just in case.” Jayden eyes me.

“I’m not the only one who ever gets injured during these missions.” I glare at him.

He should know this. He almost died last time. It’s one of my biggest fears and darkest nightmares. It will haunt me for eternity.

“I know, Beth.” He squeezes my hand. “We will need it. At some point, one of the six of us will be injured and need it. This one is the most dangerous of them all. I have no doubt about that.”