He had been lost for what felt like a week now, even though it had only been a day or two. But the intense fog that just refused to lift made navigating the thick forest nearly impossible. He had so far managed to stave off hunger, but he was getting desperately thirsty, when in the distance, he thought he could hear running water.

He knew better than to run. Running would only quicken his growing exhaustion, and he needed to conserve his energy, but it wasn’t easy. His feet felt heavy, his lungs and legs ached, and he regretted not staying in place. But then, he wasn’t in the best state of mind to begin with. That was what this whole solo hiking trip had been about. He wanted to get lost for awhile.

“Mission accomplished,” he muttered to himself dryly. He could kick himself, if his legs lifted that high.

He trudged through the woods, not another sound to be heard but his footsteps in the undergrowth and the increasingly nearer sounds of a gentle stream and soft roar of water flowing over a cliff. But then he thought he heard something else, intermingled with the water’s gurgle. Laughter?

“Hello?” he called out. “Is anyone there?”

Silence. He sighed. “I’m losing my mind. I swear to God if I get out of this alive I’ll never-” he stopped short, hearing something rustling in the undergrowth, and would have wet himself if not for the dehydration, as a deer leapt from the bushes and sprang past him. He jumped back out of the deer’s path and then quickened his pace, not wanting to find out what scared a deer more than a human stumbling through the brush could have - although that could have just been the lightheadedness talking.

“Is anyone there?” he called out again, but only after the stream came into view. The waterfall tumbled gently over a cliff some 9 or 10 feet up, pure white water. He knelt down by the water’s edge. Something felt wrong. The mists seemed to clear up around the stream and the waterfall.

He scooped up some of the cool, refreshing water and drank slowly from his cupped hands. He thought he heard the laughter again. It was coming from the direction of the waterfall. He glanced up, and for a moment, thought he could see the silhouette of a woman with long, fiery red hair showering in the water. He quickly looked down again.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!” he called out louder this time, trying to be heard over the waterfall that, even now, seemed to grow from a trickle to a roar in his ears. He heard the splash of someone diving into the stream, as he got to his feet, his eyes shut tightly. He even raised his hand theatrically over his eyes to show that he wasn’t looking, as he turned around.

“I am so, so sorry,” he repeated as he heard sounds of someone rising up out of the stream and stepping onto the mossy bank beside him. He jumped slightly when he felt a hand from the opposite direction gently grasp his arm, and then another hand, further down, slipped into his, interlocking its fingers with him. The hand gave him a reassuring squeeze, even as the other figure moved to step in front of him.

“Lost, little one?” came a strong, dominant female voice. It sounded like it belonged to someone much taller. He was 5’9”, but this was a towering figure.

“Yeah, I slipped and fell down a gully, and I’ve been wandering in these woods for like two days. I’m really sorry. I didn’t realize you were bathing. I was just so thirsty.”

The woman chuckled to herself. “It’s alright,” she said, more calmly now.. “You may open your eyes now. My daughter and I are, ah, what is the human word?”

“Decent?” came a softer, more innocent and cheerful voice from beside him, definitely the source of the laughter he had heard earlier.

The taller figure snapped her fingers. “Ah, yes. Decent. Although I must say, your respect is quite... unexpected. But not unappreciated. Not like the last fool who wandered into my woods at any rate.”

“Actaeon wasn’t nearly as fun,” the voice beside him giggled, and as he slowly opened his eyes, he looked up, and then up again. The woman standing before him was certainly towering. She had to be at least 6’10”, but he had to admit, quite beautiful. To say that she was pale would be an understatement though. Apart from her fiery red hair, which confirmed she was the one he saw in the waterfall, and her crystal blue eyes, and strawberry red lips, she was practically monochrome.

She wore a very loose tunic dress in forest green with a near off the shoulder neckline and a simple vine for a belt, and, he observed, carried a bow that was very nearly as tall as the woman herself. He didn’t dare risk a glance at whomever was holding onto his arm just yet. Somehow though, he felt, deep down, that he would sooner be able to rip his own arm from its socket than to move her unwillingly.

“Would you care for some tea?” the woman asked. “You said you were thirsty,” she added. “And, my daughter seems to have taken a fancy to you.”

He blushed slightly at that, risking a quick glance at the figure beside him. Unlike her mother, the young woman to his left looked much more human, with nut brown hair and a bright, innocent, or perhaps mischievous grin - he wasn’t sure yet.

“Uh, yes, thank you,” he said. “You said these are your woods?” he asked, as the young lady beside him let go of his arm, but only after giving his hand a last gentle squeeze, and he stepped in line almost automatically as the lady hunter stalked away determinedly toward a small clearing nearby.

He may have been delirious from dehydration before, but he knew for certain that the campsite was not here before. For one thing, it lay directly in the path that he took to get to the waterfall, and yet now, here it sat with a roaring fire, and a buck skin tent pitched close by. Rugged looking, handmade deer skin chairs even sat neatly arranged around the fire, and a copper kettle hung from a rod, steam slowly beginning to billow from its spout.

“That is correct,” the huntress stated as she placed her bow against the crook of a tree and removed the quiver from her side. He also knew for certain that she had no quiver when he first saw her, in part because he was following directly behind her and would’ve seen it swinging. “It is unusual for someone, particularly a man, to find his way into my woods - even more so a mortal man,” she said as nonchalantly as if she were discussing the strange fog that surrounded them.

The young woman walked around and past him, and he could see now that she had light olive skin in comparison to the monochrome white of her mother. She wore a similar tunic dress though, and sported a pair of rugged deer skin sandals up to her knees. She lifted the kettle off the fire, and began to pour the water into three wooden cups.

“So,” the huntress said, crystal blue gaze locked firmly on her visitor, “How is it that you have come to my woods today. What is it that you hunt?”

He blushed slightly and quickly shook his head. “N-nothing,” he stammered out, as the young woman handed him a cup. “Thank you,” he added, graciously. The older woman gave him an approving smile, though for his answer, or for his gratitude, he couldn’t yet tell. “I’m not a hunter. I’m just a down on his luck dumbass who slipped and fell, and woke up here.”

The woman laughed slightly to herself, watching as he looked into the cup. The outside was wooden, true, but he quickly realized, the inside was plated in pure, solid gold. He lifted the cup to his lips. “Chamomile,” the woman said. “It’s an excellent herbal tea to calm the nerves.”

“It’s delicious,” he said, again, graciously. “Thanks a lot for letting me rest here. I felt so bad for disturbing you guys. Ladies. Women,” he tried to correct himself. The younger woman snickered. “I’m sorry. I’m Don,” he said.

“Oh, that’s a pretty name!” the young woman burst out. “Nice to meet you Morninglight! I’m Amber!” she bubbled happily.

“And I am The Huntress,” Artemis stated matter-of-factly, before he could correct Amber. The name Actaeon flashed across his mind again. That was the name she had mentioned earlier. Actaeon and the Huntress. Surely this couldn’t be... Could it?

“And, my dear Morninglight,” Artemis said as she leaned forward slightly, staring directly into his soul from across the campfire, and making him wish there was at least another mile and a half, and preferably a very deep canyon, between them too, “Everyone seeks something. No one merely stumbles into these woods - my woods - who doesn’t desperately want something.”

He started to speak, but Amber cleared her throat. He glanced at her. She grinned, shaking her head very slowly. He sipped his tea instead.

Artemis laughed, leaning back in her chair. “Do I intimidate you?” she asked bluntly.

“Does the nearly 7’ tall woman whose land I apparently stumbled onto, who could bury me so deep in the woods that the wolves would never find my bones, intimidate me?” is what he didn’t say. He certainly thought it quite hard though. Instead, he said, “A little?” And then sighed. “Yes. No offense, but you scare the hell out of me.”

Amber nearly spit out her tea with laughter at that, and Don shot her a glance. She was enjoying his discomfort entirely too much. Artemis, though, let out a deep, booming laugh that seemed to echo off some distant mountain behind him. “You’re honest at least. I appreciate that. And, in case I haven’t made it quite clear by the mere fact that you still draw breath, little Morninglight, you’re in no danger here.”

“Mother simply wants to understand how, and why, you found your way here,” Amber translated, still giggling mirthfully. “There are, ordinarily, only a small handful of humans that find their way to this place, you see, and... Most of them are less respectful.”

“And so they are treated like the animals that they seem so keen to behave as,” Artemis finished. “You, however, are different. And so, that leaves me with a bit of a quandary in what I should do with you.”

He tensed up slightly at that, and the Huntress chuckled again, less mirthful than Amber had.

“I told you,” she said, “Here and now, in this time and place, you’re safe.”

“But if I tried to leave, that could change, right?” he asked bluntly. Artemis’ strawberry red lips parted into a wide grin.

“Ooh, you catch on fast, little Morninglight. But, in truth? I don’t think I want to hurt you, if only for the sake of my daughter. She so rarely takes an interest in anyone.” She tilted her head to one side slightly, staring past him in thought.

“What was it you were fleeing?” Amber asked. “If you weren’t seeking something, then you must have been fleeing something - whether you realized it, or not.”

“I was just trying to get away from it all for the weekend, to clear my head,” he answered, beginning to relax and feel much more comfortable now, as at least, here and now, he did feel safe. Of course, for all he knew, he could be lying at the bottom of that gully with a concussion, and all this was a fever dream.

“My girlfriend was cheating on me with my roommate, I was on academic suspension because my grades sucked, I just needed to get away from... everything.” He trailed off and then stared into his cup. “I really liked her, too. She said I wasn’t man enough for her. She should’ve had the damn decency to break up with me at least, instead of sneaking around.”

He threw back the last of the tea and swallowed it. To his surprise, it was Artemis who stood up to refill his cup this time. “The pieces begin to fall into place,” she said, putting her hand on top of his head briefly before sitting again.

“How’s that?” he asked, adding, “Thank you, by the way. This really is amazing tea. I’ll have to get you to teach me how to make it like this.”

“Millennia of practice,” Artemis said bluntly, but smiled as she said it. Was it his imagination, or was she actually warming up to him? She seemed more friendly, even matronly, which flew in the face of the Greek myths he remembered about her. Then again, up until this point, she lived up to them every bit and then some.

“I guess I’ll have to make the most of the time I have, then,” he said. “Since I can’t leave.”

“No one said you can’t leave,” Artemis said, looking back directly at him again. “Just that I can’t let you speak of this place. I need some guarantee of your silence.” She trailed off, as he sipped at his second cup of tea. He was really starting to relax now.

“You have it,” he answered. “As far as I’m concerned this has all been a concussion induced nightm- he caught himself, and glanced at Amber, who returned his gaze with a giggle. “Dream. I haven’t decided yet if I want to wake up or not.”

“Oh, my sweet little Morninglight, this is no dream,” Artemis said with a chuckle. “But you will wake up soon, with my blessing.”

His eyelids began to feel heavier and heavier, and he looked down at the empty cup in his hands. His vision blurred slightly, and he slumped back in the chair.

“Remember,” her voice echoed in his mind. “My blessing, for your promise.”

Great big drops of what Dawn at first thought were rain splattered her face. She jolted awake, lying on her back, and caked in mud where she had fallen down off the trail and into the small gully, as a red and white bloodhound licked her face happily.

“Dawn!” she heard someone calling. The dog bayed and yelped. “Artemis!” the voice said, more excitedly. “Did you find her?”

Bark!

“Okay, just a second! I’m almost there!” And a moment later, a familiar face peeked over the edge. A young woman with a light, olive tan and who wore a forest service jacket, her nut brown hair tucked up but peeking out from under a Search and Rescue cap, waved as she called down. “Don’t move! I’ll be right there to check you out okay?”

Dawn raised her hand to give the woman who looked suspiciously like Amber a thumbs up, coughed, and groaned, stroking the dog’s big floppy ears. “Ooooh Gods, my head,” she moaned. She could hear possibly Amber chattering on a radio as she ran the length of the gully and then, her rapidly approaching footsteps. She slid to a stop on her knees, whipping her backpack off.

“Hang in there Dawn,” she said. “My name is Amber. Another ranger’s on her way with a backboard. Try not to move, okay?”

“I don’t think I could if I wanted to,” Dawn answered. “My ankle’s pretty swollen, and my head’s pounding. I think I sprained one and brained the other.”

That got a genuine laugh out of Amber. “Your spirits are up anyway. Here, let me give you some water. You’ve been missing for almost 24 hours,” she said as she unscrewed a bottle, bringing it gently to Dawn’s lips to let her sip. “Easy now. One sip at a time. Good girl Artemis,” she added, giving the dog a treat and scratching her ears.

“Artemis, huh?” Dawn said. “That’s a great name.”

“Almost there,” another female voice came over Amber’s radio, as the sound of an ATV roaring through the woods drew closer. Before too long, they had Dawn loaded on the backboard, and once back at the trail head, Amber rode with her in the ambulance.

Dawn floated in and out of consciousness, occasionally mumbling something about how Amber made the best chamomile tea, and how she looked forward to meeting Artemis again.

In the hospital, she occasionally dreamed, both about that place, those woods, and about the life she only half remembered, how miserable everything was, how depressed she always felt. It was odd though. Whenever she dreamed about Artemis’ realm, it was no longer Amber there with Artemis, but another girl, younger and more blonde, always the same girl, but nothing like Amber had been.

She was surprised to find that, once she was out of the ICU, once they were sure her concussion had healed, Amber - the forest service girl that is, was the first of her visitors. She had brought fresh cut chamomile flowers, along with packets of Bigelowe’s brand ‘Calming Chamomile’ tea.

Dawn couldn’t help but to laugh. She wanted so badly to ask Amber about it, but her promise to Artemis kept her silence. Fortunately for her, Amber explained it away as how Dawn ‘kept mumbling about chamomile’ in the ambulance ride. After that, the two became fast friends. Dawn had a certain ease about her that Amber found alluring, and Dawn for her part, was falling for Amber quite fast.

On the last day of her hospital stay, when she was almost ready to check out, Amber appeared in the doorway, carrying a thermos of chamomile tea. It had become their little inside joke, their tradition, that Amber brought hot tea whenever she visited. Dawn’s doctors for their part, approved of it on the grounds that it was definitely helping Dawn’s recovery.

“I know this is your last day,” Amber said, breaking out the cups. “This might sound forward of me, but... Do you... Would you want to... have dinner some time, after you’re settled back in? I know you’ve got loads of college work to catch up on though.”

“Like a date?” Dawn asked cautiously as she looked at Amber over the rim of her tea cup. Amber blushed.

“Or as friends.”

“A date sounds heavenly,” Dawn said. Amber tried her best not to squeal, causing Dawn to laugh as she sat forward, motioning Amber closer, and put an arm around her. “I wanted to ask you, but I was afraid you might say no.”

“How could I say no,” Amber said, putting her forehead to Dawn’s, “To the girl of my dreams?”

They both giggled as Dawn blushed deeply. “I love Artemis,” she sighed. She couldn’t help it. It just slipped.

“Me too,” Amber said automatically, and for just a brief moment, she gave Dawn the most knowing, mischievous grin, and then kissed her. “Come on you. Let’s take a walk around the courtyard one last time before they unhook your IV and we don’t have an excuse to take it slow anymore,” she teased.