We slunk into the forest, under the cover of night. The snowcapped landscape was beautiful as we sprinted through as quiet as a shadow. A dozen silvery, glittering girls weaved expertly through the trees, parkouring over the branches like it was nothing. The feeling was exhilarating as I effortlessly leapt through the trees without even breaking a sweat.

The person in the front of the pack held up her hand, a closed fist to stop all of us shortly behind her. I stood, perched on a large oakwood tree and watched where she was looking at. There was a clearing a few meters in front of us. Fresh snow covered the quiet plain that was disturbed by the largest scorpion I've ever seen.

I don't mean those scorpions the size of your hands, I meant as big as a tank large. It was covered in a bloodred thick shell with a massive stinger moving here and there, eager to strike. It didn't matter if he was poisonous, getting hit by that stinger would feel like a car landing on you.

It was one of the nastiest things I'd seen and instead of doing the logical thing like run and hide, I produced my silver archer bow and notched an arrow. Everyone else had done the same but nobody engaged, not until we got the word.

The scorpion scuttled around skittishly, like it was looking for something, but then it stopped in its track and slowly turned around to where we were. Could it sense us this far away? Slowly, the scorpion made its way to us. We stayed in position, waiting for the order. The scorpion was 30 feet away, 20… 15…

She released her fist and we fired a hail of silver arrows at the scorpion. The first dozen only glanced off his tough shell but the next few stuck in the weaker parts of his armor. The scorpion recoiled back and swung its stinger, launching a volley of his own of projectiles.

We readjusted our aim and fired at the stingers, taking them down in the air and went back to the scorpion. The ground hunters charged the scorpion, wielding swords and spears and stabbed and jabbed at the monster. The scorpion recoiled back from the assault but our arrows didn't stop, they were more accurate than laser-guided missiles. I got the scorpion's left eye, causing it to roar in pain.

Finally, the lieutenant stepped out of the forest.

Her choppy black hair and dark eyeliner made her look kinda punk, but I thought it was cute, like us she wore silver snow parkas and white and gray fatigues. She carried a silver bow and quiver just like us but there was a silver tiara on her hair lopsided, the mark of Artemis's lieutenant.

She growled angrily at the scorpion like he made fun of her hair or something, but I knew why she was so upset. Instead of brandishing her bow, she tapped the mace canister she kept dangling on her pants and it elongated until she was holding a wicked lance.

"Get back!" she warned the hunters. They understood immediately and scattered.

Raising her lance caused the sky to darken. Storm clouds rolled in and thunder rumbled. Lightning crackled and shot down from the sky hitting her lance and bouncing off to the scorpion. The light was so bright I had to look away until an earth-shattering explosion made me look back.

Where the scorpion was only layed a giant crater.

Thalia Grace twirled her lance like a baton and it shrunk back down to the canister. She turned around and looked at us as we emerged from the forest.

"A dead end," she decided. "We aren't getting any closer."

She sounded so miserable but you wouldn't think it. Her eyes were hardened and a deadly glare was kept on her face which made the other hunters wary.

"It'll be fine," Phoebe, her right-hand, said. "We'll find him."

She didn't look convinced. I wanted to say something but my voice got caught in my throat. Thalia glanced at me and my entire body buzzed like she was electrocuting me with a look alone.

"You did pretty well for your third hunt," she told me. I blushed and brushed my hair behind my ear.

"T-thanks," I said, looking at my shoes.

Thalia stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder, making me jump. I looked up and she was grinning at me, making my heart flutter. "It was definitely a good choice picking you up, Daph."

My toes felt warm and I couldn't stop myself from grinning like an idiot. Thalia turned back around, studying the crater she created intently.

I looked toward the other girls who had begun setting up camp. I was the newest recruit for the hunters, so I didn't have many friends at the moment, but I approached one of the girls.

"Hey, um, do you guys know why Thalia and Lady Artemis are so intent on finding this guy?" I asked.

She smiled at me like we were sharing an inside joke. "They have a soft spot for him."

I frowned. "But, he's a guy."

"Exactly."

It was weird imagining Thalia being nice to a guy considering how dangerous she is when she's hunting. Like the scorpion she just obliterated? That was her going easy.

"But why? Who is he?"

She gave me a strange look then blinked. "Oh, right. You're new. Well, this guy is pretty important, he kinda has to be if Artemis likes him. A few weeks ago, he saved all of Olympus in a terrible war. I met him once, he's cute."

I gave her a look.

"Hey, I may not be allowed to touch, but there isn't a rule saying I can't look," she said.

"I don't see the big deal," I huffed childishly. "He's still a guy."

She nodded. "Yeah, well to Artemis, Percy Jackson isn't just a guy."

I nodded and thanked her, letting her get back to her tent while I worked on my own. I watched Thalia argue with Phoebe, a twinge of jealousy prodded at the back of my mind. Like, why couldn't she be more concerned with me instead of this Jackson guy?

My name is Daphne Winters, I'm 16 years old and the newest recruit for the Hunters of Artemis. This is my story.