Free The Heart of War by Lisa Beth Darling

it a swift moving bird, she looked off in the direction she thought it had flown but saw no bird.
    SWOOOSH
    The sound was closer and something made the bushes beyond her rustle.
    Maggie turned around and saw a creature that made her jaw drop. The first thing she noticed was that it was gold—bright shining gold! The second thing she noticed was that it was a woman with a deer’s body and she had a bow and arrow. “Stop!” Maggie shouted but she was too late, the creature let fly with her bow and a golden arrow came whizzing straight at her. Maggie dropped to the ground and then swiftly scrambled to her feet. She took off running when she saw the creature meant to let an arrow go. This one missed her by the smallest of margins as it whizzed through the sleeve of the nightgown at the shoulder, nicking the flesh below as it went. Maggie tried to run faster. “Stop! I mean you no harm!” she shouted as arrows flew past her, and she heard the sound of hooves beating against the ground not far behind. Another golden arrow let fly; this one landed on the hem of the flowing nightgown, momentarily pinning her in place before she could pull free. “I’m not good eating!” she called out as she looked for cover and her bare feet pounded across the thick padded forest floor. Looking behind, she could not see the creature. Up ahead seemed to be underbrush thick enough to hide her, and Maggie dashed for it. With the her hands pressed to the sides of her head, she lay down in the dirt beneath the fern leaves and belladonna as the hoof beats became louder. Holding her breath, she watched the creature run past.
    Okay, that was more her idea of a dangerous animal. If she was not mistaken, it was the Golden Hind. It belonged to Ares just as the Ram with the Golden Fleece had. Maggie had loved Greek Mythology when she was a young girl, so very many years ago. She had been schooled in all forms of Myth & Legend but she loved none more than the Greeks. The Golden Hind was the caretaker of Ares’ forests. She was the guardian of all of the creatures who resided here.
    “Ok, give the tall guy back at the cave a point,” she muttered as her heartbeat began to slow with the passing of the danger. With the sun swiftly reaching the horizon, she scrambled out of her hiding place and made her way along at a faster pace, keeping a good eye and ear out for the Hind to return. Thirsty and getting hungry again from her long journey, Maggie was happy when she stumbled upon more wild grapes and grabbed a bunch of them. Stuffing them into her mouth, she chomped down, anticipating the sweet juicy taste but instead she received a puff of dust and the bitterness of a thousand lemons. “Puphlt!” Maggie spit it out and dropped what had looked like grapes to the ground. “Ick.” She made a sour face and scraped her tongue along her teeth trying to get rid of the nasty taste in her mouth.
    Growing tired and cold now that the sun was rapidly descending, she wrapped her arms around her body to keep her warmth as she passed by a large gathering of rocks and the mouth of a cave. It was not his cave, she was not back there yet, but not knowing how far it was she thought that perhaps she might use this cave to rest in for the night. She could gather up some dry wood, find some dry grass or a birds’ nest, and use it to start a fire. Then again, the land before the mouth of the cave looked well trod, as if something already lived in there. Standing where she was, she craned her neck to see if she could get a look inside but saw only darkness. If she was going to make camp for the night, she had to do it soon.
    A few steps closer to the mouth of the cave and she thought she heard a strange sound.
    Snoring?
    “Bears don’t snore…I don’t think,” she muttered. “Do they? No, they don’t.” Believing it best not to disturb the occupant, who or whatever it might be, she went to turn around and stumbled over a nearby rock, banging her shin against it and