Page 8 of Orion: Galaxy Huntress

Chapter 4

Orion

I’d neverexperienced anything like it, not even when I visited Olympus. The ride in the witch’s wheeled box had terrified me as it shook, sputtered, groaned, and I felt like I rode inside the mouth of a hydra. I’d gripped what she called the seatbelt and roof handle the whole trip back to her abode.

At her spacious dwelling was just as perplexing, and I rubbed at my queasy stomach as I moved through the living room. A strange, black box with glass screen sat atop a wooden shelf. Music piped from a long, rectangular tube with holes in it. A white box with a long grey handle in the corner groaned and shuddered. What were all these things?

Both awed and confused, I set down my bow and arrow on her chair as she wandered into a separate room, returning with balls of white fluffy cotton, and what she termed were creams and a box of strips called Band-Aids. I would have given her help, but I didn’t know what she did, and watched in fascination as she cleansed her wound with the cream and taped it with the strips.

Afterwards, she swiped the bottle of alcohol—something called tequila—and took a few swallows. Then she handed it to me. The encounter with the shifter had both rattled my nerves and set me on edge as well as set my heart aflutter. In need of something to calm my unease and slow the beat of my heart, I accepted the drink and downed some. Fire hit my throat and burned all the way down my gullet.

“By the gods!” I quickly passed the bottle back. “What is that foul liquid? It tastes like cow piss on fire.”

The witch’s eyebrows quirked. “You’ve tasted cow piss?”

“No.” I rubbed my stinging throat. “But I imagine that’s how terrible it is.”

The witch chuckled. “I’m Myra, by the way.”

“Orion.” I set my hand in hers and shook.

“Are you from overseas or something?” Myra asked. “You’ve got an accent and talk strange.”

“So do you.” Things had clearly changed in the thousands of years since I’d roamed the world destroying monsters for the gods. Back then, I’d also spoken ancient Greek. No idea how I understood their language, whatever it was, but I did. Perhaps it was my starlight powers enabling me to. Or a translation gift from Zeus.

“Thank you for saving me.” Myra righted herself, smoothing her wrinkled, torn dress, ruined by the onslaught. She brushed back her frazzled hair, her worried eyes already lightening into a brighter green.

“All part of the job.” I recalled the words I used to use so long ago.

“What job is that?” Myra asked, patting her wound and wincing.

I didn’t know what I was now. Zeus had sent me here to save my sisters, but that didn't make me a warrior. It made me a savior. I guess I’d also been a savior in my past life, too.

“Huntress, savior.” I shrugged. “Take your pick.”

“I serve the gods too.” Myra pointed to a little altar resting on a fireplace. “Goddesses, actually.” Witches had existed in ancient Greece too, only they served the goddess Hecate or Circe. “So, you must be like Xena Warrior Princess then. You kicked ass back there with the dagger and arrow and all that.”

Another reference I didn’t understand. “Never heard of such a princess. Is she Greek?”

“Hells to the yeah! Seriously, you’ve never heard of Xena?” Myra fussed and grabbed a long, thin rectangular device with buttons on it and pressed a few. A woman in an outfit exactly like the one I used to wear flashed on the black box. She combatted Greek warriors with her sword, then flung a rounded weapon that knocked down those in her way. Tingles prickled my skin at the sharp, piercing battle cry she let out. My heart wept at her beauty, her strength, her skill in conflict. Just like me. Powerful enough to stand against the males and beat them.

“Sister?” My hands flew to the cold surface. “How do I get her out of here?”

Myra clutched her stomach and hunched over laughing. “It’s just a television show, it’s not real.”

Not real? People were trapped inside the box. I stroked over my sister’s raven hair and striking blue eyes. The box went dark again and my sister vanished, leaving me panicked and shaken about how to rescue her.

“Hungry?” Myra backed away. “I’ve got two-minute noodles, or I can whip us up grilled cheese sandwiches.”

Again, I had no idea what both of those were. With the hollowness in my stomach demanding to be filled, I wasn’t going to complain about either when I’d worked up a ravenous hunger from walking miles from the forest into the heart of town. I nodded, following her into another room, glancing back at the silent black box, wondering how to free my warrior sister from its confines. More strange devices rested in this room. A box with two slats on a counter, cast iron shelves over what looked like hot plates, knives, and fruits in a basket.

I relaxed on a stool that she gestured for me to sit on. “Who were those creatures harassing you?” I’ve never seen them before. Cold, pale, blue-veined creatures with no beating heart and carrying dead blood.

“They’re called vampires.” Myra poured gushing water into a pot and set in on a stand that made the device roar. “A sub-species of Umbra. Supernatural scum that feed from other beings and drink their blood. They kidnapped me to use me for spells to find the starlights.”

“Starlights?” I repeated, getting a sinking feeling that my sisters and I were in grave danger. Zeus had shown me visions of monsters preying on my sisters, but I didn’t get a close look at them because of how fast the images flickered in my mind.

“Fallen stars.” Myra retrieved two bowl-shaped packages from her cupboard and set them on the counter. “Demi-goddesses in a way. Very powerful."

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