epilogue

                                    

                                          
In the aftermath of her victory over Hecate, Artemis withdrew once more to the sheltering embrace of her dark forest realm. Though sovereignty over both woodland and witchcraft's shadowy domains was secured through unleashed vengeance, a hollow emptiness yet echoed in her immortal breast. 
None dared approach the grieving goddess as she paced restless through familiar glades gone gray without Orion's vibrant presence lighting her eternal way. Not even sating wrath's thirst could quench the void torn open through betrayal's malevolent hand. 
Days passed in solitude as woodland creatures kept wary distance, bearing no offerings or supplications to break the funereal hush shrouding their divine protector's footsteps. Only the whispering leaves bore witness to private agonies no immortal soul should endure.
Deep within her sanctuary's heart, amid towering sentinels older than mythic lore, Artemis paused in melancholic reverie. There amid softened loam and scattered fallen petals, memories assailed her with cruel clarity—long talks beside this very glade as Orion imparted woodland wisdom with a smile lighting his rugged features. 
Tears flowed unchecked down the huntress's ageless face, the first in untold eons since withdrawing from fickle Olympian affairs and petty squabbles. Even celestial ichor flowed salt now in honor of a love denied the destiny of turning seasons at her immortal side. 
It was amid private lament that soft footfalls disturbed the glade's threshold, where Artemis had not permitted company since that fateful eve. Her tear-stained cheeks hardened as primal instinct flared, nocking an arrow in smooth reflex honed over primordial ages.
Yet the ethereal forms curtseying low and laying offerings at the goddess's feet were none but the moon's chosen handmaidens, devoted sisterhood united with Artemis since the world's misty dawn. 
"Forgive our intrusion, Lady," spoke gentle Phoebe, elder huntress beside the moon goddess since the Age of Myths. "We sensed your private anguish and came only to offer solace, if you will accept."
Artemis regarded her faithful Sisterhood through a fresh sheen of tears, touched yet pained by their presence. "None can soothe this wound torn through my immortal chest. But your loyalty lifts my eternal spirit, as it ever has."
She accepted their simple tokens—forest berries and a doe's perfect antler freshly shed—laying a graceful hand upon Phoebe's fair head. "Walk with me, gentle sisters, so I may find solace in duties ever sustaining my guardian's charge o'er these hallowed glades."
Under the emerging crescent's benevolent light, Artemis resumed nightly patrol of her vast domains flanked by companions sworn to her sacred protection of woodland realms since the world's misty dawn. Their devoted company soothed ragged edges of loss, renewing divine purpose through eternally turning seasons.
Days passed in shadowed meditation as she rebuilt her strength. Then one eve Artemis summoned her Sisterhood to the glade where first Orion met his fate. "Faithless Olympians sowed the seeds of discord among us," she addressed them grimly. "Yet none among you directly partook in betrayal."
Her companions bowed sorrowful faces, shame burning within for their distrust of the kindly mortal. Artemis held up a hand. "Lay past suspicions to rest, as I have dealt with their authors. From this night hence, none shall again walk these hallowed woods but you, my chosen guardian maidens of the wild balance since Time's dawn."
Relief and determination suffused the huntresses at their Lady's proclamation. They would redeem past transgressions through devout service to Her sacred charge they held as their divine birthright. And so the Gathering of Artemis was consecrated beneath the light of that fateful crescent, an immortal sisterhood dedicated to eternal protection of the green realms beyond man's soil and steel.
Thus tranquility was slowly reclaimed where betrayal's shadows had stalked, scarring the land yet healed by their immortal emanations of life and renewal. Though private mourning's deep waters could never fully recede, the wild balance again flowed smooth and changeless through the Huntress's eternal watch, her Sisterhood's faith restoring pale moonlight where only darkness had reigned. 
Seasons melted into the primordial dance as was their way, leaves cycling crimson and gold before snowflakes danced upon biting breezes. Artemis remained constant as the heavens throughout all turmoil, upholding stasis beyond fleeting upheavals disturbing surface realms where mortals dwelt in brief, vulnerable lives.
Her faithful huntresses continued their ageless rituals alongside their divine mistress, guarding woodland mysteries from incursion or discord threatening the sanctuary. All was as it ever had been since the dawn of memory—save one glade touched now only in private reverie where loss still echoed with crushing poignancy despite the goddess's solace found through eternal duties.
The goddess began slowly rebuilding her strength and purpose after loss nearly unmaking even an immortal spirit. In solitude, she wandered vast woodlands flourishing anew beneath her nurturing presence, finding solace in duties that had ever sustained her through the turning Ages. The hunt would go on...