Just outside the Arcadian palace walls, a small herd of deer grazed in the moonlight. The moon glinted off their golden brown fur as they ate peacefully, until raised voices from within the palace startled them away.
“You mean you knew? How could you be aware of this issue and yet allow it to continue?” Atalanta’s voice shook with rage. The centaur horns sat like a challenge where they had been thrown on the ground before her.
“It’s not a matter of my allowing it. I do not approve of the centaurs’ actions of late,” Melanion explained patiently, studying the beautiful young huntress’s face with amusement. While the issue at hand was certainly a serious matter, he could not deny that he was more than a little pleased to see Atalanta again. He had been infatuated with her from the moment he first laid eyes on her, but he doubted she’d ever consider taking a partner. Her beauty was a wild, untamed sort of loveliness, and she preferred the solitude of the forest to the hustle and bustle of palace life. It was a rare treat that she would venture into the palace, but the circumstances surrounding her visit were… less than ideal. “Yours is far from the only report we’ve received. However, with the situation in Calydon, patrolling the Arcadian wilderness just isn’t high priority right now. We don’t have the hunters and soldiers to spare.”
Anger flashed from within the depths of Atalanta’s cool blue eyes. “And what are we to do then? Is every young maid in the farming communities on the outskirts of town to now devote her life to hunting in the hopes that she’ll be able to defend herself from the unwanted advances of creatures three times her size? Just because I was able to hardly means that every woman in Arcadia has had the luxury of training with a bow from toddlerhood. And isn’t it your job as the head general to ensure that the people are protected?”
“I’m sorry Atalanta, I truly am,” Melanion let out a pained sigh. “We are indebted to you for resolving our centaur issue, but it doesn’t change anything. These are not easy decisions to make, nor are they decisions that I take lightly. But we really can’t shift our focus until the boar in Calydon is killed. If we ease up, we’ll lose the town to its destruction.”
“If it’s so urgent, then why aren’t you there taking care of it yourself?” she challenged.
“Because I’m here speaking with you, my friend. You know, if you really want our hunters and soldiers to increase their presence in the mountains and forests, you could help us take care of the boar issue.”
“Fine, then,” Atalanta declared defiantly. “I’m going to Calydon. And you’re coming with me.”
~~~
The sun was just beginning to creep over the horizon, but the forest was still dark and full of shadows. These moments of the hunt were some of Aura’s very favorites, when her owner depended on her keen sense of smell to compensate for the dim light. She stood silently at her master’s side, waiting in the still of the morning for any sign of a feral boar. Meeting with the rest of the hunting party had been chaotic, full of noise and men and dogs and horses, but now Aura and Atalanta faced their assigned portion of the forest alone.
Suddenly the wind shifted and carried the scent of the boar to Aura’s nose, plain as day. She pointed to signal her discovery to Atalanta, who noticed the change in her behavior immediately and turned her attention to the brush. The boar must have noticed their presence as well, because a rustling noise drew closer as it came over to investigate. Atalanta quickly loosed two arrows in the boar’s direction and swept Aura out of the way. The boar charged forward, enraged and injured.
“It’s here! Quick!” Atalanta’s strong call echoed through the still of the morning. In the blink of an eye Melanion was at her side with his hound, followed shortly by the rest of the hunters.
Adrenaline coursed through Melanion as he took in the scene before him: the wild boar bellowing with anger, limping and dripping with blood from a wound at the shoulder; Atalanta darting between the trees, her hair falling out of the tight knot it had been in just an hour before. He called out to the others, “Atalanta has drawn blood! Her arrows caught its shoulder!”
Another hunter bellowed out, “Worry not, dear lady, a true hunter has arrived to save you from this dreadful beast!” The hunter charged into the clearing recklessly and paid dearly for his pride and arrogance. His bravado was no match for the tusks of the boar, and he was swiftly gored. Melanion took advantage of the diversion and launched a spear through the heart of the wild beast, and another through its head. A volley of arrows and spears joined behind his as more hunters caught up, ensuring that the horrible boar that had been terrorizing Calydon was well and truly dead.
“A fine prize you’ve won yourself there, sir. That hide is fit for a king!” Exclaimed a young soldier, clapping Melanion on the shoulder.
“Indeed it is,” Melanion replied, “but I’m afraid the prize is not mine. It belongs to Atalanta.”
“Come now, sir, you can’t be serious. Just because she’s a woman—“
“Atalanta earned this, more than any of you lot. She alone protected the wilderness in Arcadia while you were here chasing one single boar. She is the one who tracked it when none of you could find it before it attacked the town. She drew first blood and injured it so that we could get near enough to have a chance at killing it. And furthermore, I did kill it, but Atalanta is the one who insisted I even come here in the first place! The hide is hers.” Melanion draped the beast's rough hide around her shoulders delicately, as though it were the elegant cloak of a queen.
Atalanta briefly glanced over at her old friend, a faint smile on her lips, before turning to address the rest of the hunting party. "I appreciate the sentiment, but now isn't the time to bicker over prizes. While you've all been away, the rest of the kingdom has suffered. We need to start the journey home sooner rather than later."
"Well she's no fun at all, is she," a hunter grumbled.
Melanion overheard the comments and studied Atalanta. She looked absolutely regal, leading the way down the forest path back to town. "I don't know about that," Melanion replied thoughtfully. "But I think she's exactly what we need."
Author’s note: I decided to combine the characters of Meleager, who was enamored with Atalanta when he encountered her on their hunt for the Calydonian Boar, and Melanion, who won Atalanta’s hand in marriage in a footrace. I wanted to continue with the theme of including animals that are sacred to Artemis as well. Obviously Aura would join Atalanta on the hunt, but I couldn’t imagine what a hunting hound would be doing in a palace, so I opened the story with some deer, another animal that was important to Artemis and frequently used as a symbol to her. The bit about the other hunter dying to the boar is from the original story- another hunter was embarrassed and frustrated that a woman had drawn the first blood, and charged at the boar while proclaiming his manliness and challenging Artemis to protect the animal. He was swiftly killed. The other soldiers were also really angry that Meleager gave the hide of the boar to Atalanta, saying that he only did it because he was in love with her.