The Bright mountain is home for many creatures and experiences, which has drawn many humans to both hike and hunt on this mountain. On this brisk evening, the mountain was now holding 7 people, 4 of them hikers that had enjoyed the sunrise on the top of the mountain and were on the way back down the mountain, the other 3 scattered around in the mountain wild, hunting the various beasts.
 
 
The sun had set a few hours ago, the mountain range alight with the stars and the full sized moon. The shadows were deep and dark, seeming to connect straight to the realms of Hades and reaching out to steal the souls of the weak. The humans were asleep, tents set up and fires slowly dying down, or were starting to fall asleep in their hunting tree stands.
 
 
The moonlight was bright, shining down with the force of a spotlight onto the mountain. The beams wavered and bent, growing more solid and flexible. They wove together and formed into a woman, her towering frame shimmering in the night air. She wore no clothes, but had a shoulder strap holding a quiver of arrows and a silver bow, a secondary belt above her hip connecting it and holding a hunting knife and a small pouch.
 
 
She floated down, the trees parting to allow her huge frame to set down. Gerald started, blinking away the fog of sleep and adjusting the scope on his rifle. It took him a second to wrap his head around just what he was seeing, but he put his rifle aside and simply gawked at the huge goddess. Her breasts were small, evident thanks to the strap that went between them, but what was interesting and something that he didn’t see often was the amount of silver body hair that covered her. It wasn’t crazy, but in a modern world saturated with waxing and shaving and priming the female form, it was startling to see wild yet clean pubic hair, leg hair, and other silver traces visible on her pure white skin.
 
 
Gerald took all this in, pulling his camo blanket higher up. It didn’t look like she had noticed him yet, but something about the fact that a goddess had just appeared gave cause to worry. He could see her look around, her long silver hair flowing back as if through a gentle breeze. Gerald felt her gaze on him, locking eyes with her for a moment, and then suddenly understood where he stood.
 
 
This was Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and for this night, they were the prey. With the resolve of a survivor, Gerald picked up his rifle again and looked at his hunting map, which had marks for the known people and other hunters on the mountain so that he didn’t point his rifle the wrong way, and began to plan.
 
 
*****
 
 
Artemis could see 7 humans on her mountain, spread out pretty evenly. Good, that meant she wouldn’t have to spend her entire night splitting them up, she hated hunting large herds of prey.
 
 
She stepped over the shin-high trees, the nature around her bending to accommodate her huge form. She didn’t know what unit of measurement these people used, so decided to not waste any more thought on it.
 
 
Artemis reached the first clearing, looking down at the encampment and wrinkling her nose. Trailers of metal, wrappings of plastic left over from plastic food, and fake wooden embers in the firepit. Artemis could see a tent beside the trailer, the soft glowing light of two occupants gyrating together.
 
 
There was probably a story behind these two occupants, two human beings that had a life together. Artemis didn’t care for any of that, all she knew was that they were in her hunting grounds and, with the littering and disrespect, were prime targets for her hunt. She reached down and wrapped her fingers around the tent, snapping the support poles with ease and hearing the panic voices within.
 
 
Lifting it up like a bag, Artemis lifted it up to her mouth and stuffed it in, sucking in the two humanoid forms. She could feel them struggling, fighting against the plastic fabric that they have entombed themselves in. Artemis swallowed, the struggles fading down her throat and muffled by the amount of substance they had surrounded themselves in. And with one last kick to the metal trailer out of spite, a brief moment of emotion that she allowed herself to feel, and then looked over at her next prey.
 
 
Artemis’s next stop was a much smaller campsite, the fire small and dead beside a hammock that a person was waking themselves in. Artemis always made sure the people were aware of her presence, at least at first, so that she did not come off as cruel, but in the end some people just weren’t ready no matter how much prep they got. Artemis kept her size, her hand easily enveloping the enclosed human. This one struggled more, managing to breach through a space in her fingers to take a breath of fresh air before seeing Artemis’s glowing mouth coming down on them.
 
 
The female hiker fought valiantly, kicking at the teeth that pressed into her and pulled away the remains of the hammock. Artemis was unconcerned though, her godly might vastly overpowered her prey and despite the flailing nature of her prey, Artemis got her in position to swallow her down in a way that wouldn’t hurt her. This one was easier to swallow due to less clothing and a more streamlined shape, she had kept herself fit and simple camping style. Artemis could respect that, using her godhood to express her appreciation to her prey as she entered her stomach.
 
 
Three more hikers, packed up in the minimum sense, were quick to follow, the same energy of appreciation sent to them as Artemis gulped them down. She was the goddess of the hunt after all and unlike what a lot of mortals thought, hunting was a matter of balance, making sure to not destroy the cycle of life and only taking what you needed at the moment. Killing for the sake of killing was against her existence and destroying nature out of ignorance or disdain went against the cycle of life and nature.
 
 
But now, it was time for her to deal with her fellow hunters. They have been given plenty of time, time that had now run out as Artemis turned her attention towards them, expecting more of a fight this time. She kept her size, peering between the trees for any sign of human tracks. Finding one set, she followed it, keeping low and dimming her light so that she left less of a track. But as expected, she was still spotted long before she got close to her prey.
 
 
The gunshot was loud, no silencer as the bullet collided with her cheek. It ricocheted off, breaking apart a tree and Artemis immediately narrowed in on her prey, the hunter aghast at the sight. Smiling, Artemis’s form shimmered and faded as she shifted into a new form, leaping behind a tree and disappeared from sight.
 
 
The hunter reloaded, keeping his eyes peeled. A flash of silvery movement caught his eye and he fired again, this time seeing the trunk of a tree split apart from the bullet. A doe made of moonlight pranced out, mocking his attempt to hunt her. A second shot rang out, this time going high and wide. A soft giggle echoed in the forest and the hunter looked around in a panic, trying to reload his gun again.
 
 
A noise behind him alerted him to the arrival and he swung his gun to aim. A large hand grabbed it, pulling it out of his hand and Artemis, now the size of an amazon, shoved him back. He landed with a grunt, struggling to get back on his feet as Artemis approached, towering over him. She smiled down at him, reaching down and grabbing the front of his shirt to lift him up to her face. She countered his hunting knife and pulled his arm, causing him to drop the knife.
 
 
“Remember, never discharge your weapon until you have a clear target in your mind and in your heart.” Artemis spoke, her voice jingling like chimes. “You are a decent hunter, but age has trumped your skill. You should not return to the hunting grounds again.” And with a simple smack, Artemis knocked him out, letting his limp body fall to the ground.
 
 
With only one target left, Artemis simply walked over to him, her divine footsteps covering miles with each fall. However, she stopped abruptly after seeing what happened, letting out a tsk of annoyance.
 
 
Gerald gritted his teeth, trying to move away from the tree that he had fallen out of. However, the bullet in his leg flashed in pain and he stopped, struggling to get his breathing under control. Noticing the light, he looked up at Artemis, who had reduced herself to the size of a normal human, and smiled bloodily up at her. “Sorry to disappoint, my lady.”
 
 
“I do wonder what you had planned, Gerald.” Artemis said, kneeling down and touching his leg. Gerald gasped, watching moonlight spread through his leg and repair the wound. “However, I feel like I have done enough for tonight. I have hunted at my leisure and succeeded where I wished to. Now I must return, but know that my light will forever shine down upon you, worthy hunter.”
 
 
Gerald awoke, catching himself on his tree as a bird cawed in his ear. Taking a look around, he realized that he must have drifted off to sleep in his treehouse, strapped in tightly to prevent him falling. He let out a breath, steading himself.
 
 
Must have been a dream. Gerald scanned the forest, preparing for his last day of hunting. Maybe today he would finally have some luck.