Chapter 2

The small village of Erastus came alive during the Feast of Artemis.

People came from around the region to pay tribute to the goddess. How the village became the center of worship for the goddess dated back hundreds of years.

The daughter and wife of King Erastus, from whom the village was named, were on their way home from visting Athens when they were attacked on the road by thieves, who threatened their lives and tried to rape them.

The Goddess herself appeared and intervened.

The grateful king dedicated the village to the goddess and pledged to build the greatest temple to her the world had ever seen. Artemis accepted his gratefulness, and the king fulfilled his pledge, with the temple being completed in his old age.

How the curse was placed on the temple was just as legendary.

Erastus' grandson fell in love with a priestess at the temple. She rejected his advances. Enraged, the young king came to the temple with his soldiers. He raped the young priestess, and his soldiers did the same with other priestesses in the temple.

When they were done, they killed the priestesses.

An angry Artemis then placed the curse on the temple. Other kings who followed tried to atone for their ancestor's sin, but the curse was never lifted. No male would be allowed to enter the temple and live.

That was until Lysander accidently ran into the building chasing after his dog.

The priestesses and the women who were present for the event kept their promise. News of Lysander's survival never went beyond temple walls. But inside, it was the talk of the priestesses.

Why the curse did not apply to Lysander was a mystery. It fueled speculation that Lysander was the son of one of the gods, but every time a priestess inquired, the goddess' answer was always the same.

Lysander was not a child of a god.

When it came to the Festival of Artemis, Lysander did have a reputation that was growing. Because Artemis was known as an archer, the biggest competition was the archery competition.

And it drew the biggest champions of Greece: Scithian, the champion from Athens; Heradas, the chief archer of Sparta; and a new champion, a young well chisled athlete named Clias. They all wanted a chance to beat the boy archer.

"Rumor has it, Clias is the son of Apollo," Phillip said from the stands. "Like Lysander, he has never been beaten."

"That is no rumor," Arsana whispered to Arianna and Samarah. "He will be hard for the champions of Athens and Sparta to beat."

The tournament went as expected. Scithian, Heradas, Clias and Lysander were the top competitors.

But soon, it came down to Clias and Lysander.

"It's not fair!" Scithian protested to King Morgas. "It is impossible to defeat divine blood."

"That boy does not stand a chance," Heradas said after he had been eliminated.

If Clias thought he would have it easy against the "scrawny boy" he was competing against, he was mistaken.

Round after round, they cut targets dead center.

Finally, the king determined the two would use the same target.

"Perhaps we'll really know for sure," the king said.

They drew lots to see who would go first.

Clias drew, and like he had done all day, he cut target dead center.

"Boy, you might as well give up now," Clias said.

Lysander smiled, and drew his bow.

His arrow cut the one Clias shot in half. He split it right down the middle, breaking it in two.

Clias stormed off.

"I believe I competed against the goddess herself," he said as he left the competition ground.

Lysander was mobbed by villagers. He was hoisted above their shoulders as they marched through town.

The king placed a crown of flowers on Lysander's head, and praised him for defending the village's honor, and the goddess herself.

His victory spawned an evening of celebration.

Arianna watched her brother as he sat by a fountain near the center of the village. She wasn't really surprised.

Lysander really wasn't one for crowds.

"Everyone is going to wonder where their champion is," Arianna said to her brother. "But something seems to be bothering you."

"I had another dream last night," Lysander confessed. "Same woman. She was in the woods. Suddenly she was jumped, and bound by a gang of men. They stripped her, violated her, did awful things to her while another woman laughed. She was powerless. And before it was over, I was seeing things through her eyes."

Again, he told Arianna that the woman in his dreams bore a remarkable resemblence to the statue of Artemis.

"I wished I knew what it meant," Arianna said. "Maybe one day, I'll be able to interpret dreams as a priestess. But I can't now."

*****

"She should have been back by now," Helena told her husband.

"I'm sure she is OK," Phillip said. "She could be late for any number of reasons. Maybe the feast with the Amazons went longer than they planned. You know how Amazons are."

Lysander called for Argo, and told his parents he was going for a walk in the woods.

"I'll check the Pilgrim Road," he said.

The Pilgrim Road was the one used by pilgrims who came to worship the goddess. It was also the main road out of the village. It was the one his sister and other priestesses of Artemis would be using to come home from Amazonia. The road often drew robbers and thieves, but they were being escorted by Amazon warriors.

He drew comfort in the moon as he walked deeper in the woods with Argos. Others who traveled into the woods with him at times often got scared at nights as they walked deep into the forest. But not Lysander. It seemed more like home than the cottage he had grown up with.

The animals never bothered him, and in fact, at times, seemed to keep him company.

As he walked further down the Pilgrim Road, Argo began to growl.

"What is it?" he whispered to his dog.

He could hear voices in the distance. Heard a recognizable scream.

He pulled Argo off the road. They walked under the cover of the trees and the bushes toward the talking.

The moon lit up the scene, and to Lysander's horror, Amazon warriors were slain on the ground. His sisters and other priestesses were tied to a tree.

Five men encircled them. One held Samarah. As he stripped her, she fought back and slit her throat. She fell to the ground.

"That will happen to the rest of you..." the man said before an arrow pierced his throat.

Arianna knew it had to be Lysander. No one else could shoot like that, not in the darkness.

Lysander shot another arrow, killing another one of the attackers.

He wasn't paying attention. Another man in the group snuck up behind him and grabbed him and pulled him out on the road.

"Scrawny one, you are going to pay for what you have done," the man said as he pulled a knife to Lysander's throat.

"That's what you think," Lysander said as he grabbed the man's arm and flipped to the ground. He then slung the man into the tree, knocking the tree down and killing the man.

"That is no ordinary boy," another man said to his only remaining companion. "He has to be a son of the gods. Let's get out of here!"

They tried to flee. Lysander drew his bow. Two shots was all it took to bring both men down.

He cut Arianna and the other priestesses down.

They gathered around Samarah and wept.

Lysander wept with them, but then his sadness turned to anger.

He picked her up and started down the Pilgrim Road. His sisters and the other priestesses followed as he carried her into town.

It was dark. No one else saw as he carried her body up the steps and into the temple.

"You should not be in here!" High Priestess Phoebe shouted.

He ignored her. All of the priestesses followed and gathered around him as he laid Samarah's lifeless body at the statue's feet.

"How could you allow this to happen," he angrily cried out. "She was in your service!"

"How dare you question the goddess!" Phoebe shouted in anger.

Suddenly, laughter field the temple. It wasn't the laughter of happiness.

There were gasps among the priestesses.

Suddenly, walking out of the shadows was a woman who was the splitting image of the goddess. She appeared to have a glow about her.

Artemis had been known to appear from time to time in her temple, but had not since Arianna began her service. But she knew immediately who it was, as did the other priestesses, who began to bow. Arianna grabbed her brother by the cloak and pulled him down, too.

"Phoebe," the goddess said. "Of all the people on this earth, this child has the most right to question me."

Artemis walked up to Lysander and pulled him up by the hand.

Arianna noticed a remarkable resemblence. The green eyes, the dark hair. The features on the face.

Her brother bore a remarkable resemblence to the goddess.

"There are times when bad things happen, that I am restrained from helping," she told him.

She let go of Lysander's hand, and knelt down by Samarah and breathed into her face. Samarah began to breath again. Her color returned.

The goddess led her to a couple of priestesses and told them to take her to a place to lie down.

"She is still pretty weak," the goddess said.

She walked over to Lysander.

"You have been the talk of Olympus ever since you walked into my temple and lived," Artemis said.

The priestesses were shocked when the goddess began to shed tears as she hugged Lysander.

"When you were born, I didn't want to see your face," she said. "I couldn't look at you for fear of seeing the face of my attacker. So I picked a faithful priestess and sent you away. I am pleased she found you a good home."

She looked over at Arsana and winked.

Again, there were whispers among the priestesses.

"Most of you want to know why he was able to come into my temple and survive," Artemis said. "He carries my blood. He is my child."

The goddess wasn't supposed to have a child, at least that was what they were taught. She took a vow of virginity.

"Hera tricked me," Artemis said. "She put a spell over me, and rendered me powerless. She allowed a gang of her worshippers to attack me before releasing me from my bounds. She knew of my vows. Because my mother is the Goddess Leto, she resents me."

She looked at Lysander.

"I will not say what they did to me, but Zeus allowed me to conceive," Artemis said. "That is all for anyone to know. After you were born, I vowed not to know where you were, what you looked like or have anything to do with you."

She brushed his hair out of face.

"When you stumbled into my temple, your identity was revealed to me," the goddess said. "I realized you had my face. And that I have made a mistake pushing you away."

She looked down at Argo and laughed.

"You didn't stumble in here by mistake, Lysander," Artemis said. "That fox your dog was chasing was your persistent grandfather, Zeus himself."

Lysander fell to his knees. Like everyone else in the temple, he was in a state of shock.

"I assume you have many questions, my child," Artemis said. "I will answer them in due time."

She walked over to Arsana.

"You will see that Lysander be issued a priestess robe like his sister," Artemis said. "Even though he will continue to help his father on the farm, he will join his sister in priestess training. I will expect him to play an active role in the temple, although I'm sure Phoebe won't be thrilled."

She walked over to Arianna.

"Tell Samarah when she feels better, I don't hate men," Artemis said. "And look out for Lysander, he will need your counsel."

Artemis laughed as she said her goodbyes.

"My brother Apollo has always been jealous of my skills as an archer," she said. "It hurt his pride to see his son lose that tournament to my child. Lysander, you've inherited my skills. But be assured you will be honing them even further."