The Jabberjay's song (A Hunger Games story)

Chapter 34 (Akio)

I hear the two pairs of feet approaching long before our opponents come into view. Everything seems to stop for a moment. The forest seems to still and it's as though the air inside my lungs is swallowed by some unknown force. My heart rattles violently against my ribcage, sending floods of adrenaline through veins in an instant. I just have time to find Kat's hand and squeeze it, before time returns to its original state and Astra and Eros burst through the clearing, charging angrily towards us.  At some point Kat let's go of me. I don't remember it, but it must've happened, because I lose sight of them, and there is an empty feeling in the palm of my hand, followed by the jarring sensation of being knocked off my feet. 

Astra's sword swings towards me and slices into my shoulder. I cry out in pain, rolling sideways before she has the chance to do more damage and hurriedly scrambling to my feet. Suddenly her arms are around my neck, cutting off the oxygen that I desperately need to function. Astra forces me to look upwards, pushing me into a headlock and fixing my eyeline in Kat's direction. I quickly scan the scene ahead of me, while trying to escape my captor's grasp. Kat has managed to scramble up a tree, and Eros is climbing in pursuit sword in hand. 

"You won't save your friend!" Astra spits, still forcing me to watch as Kat's situation becomes bleaker by the second. "Poor little kid." she hisses. Thinking quickly, I stomp my foot down onto hers, before thrusting my elbow backwards into her throat, and causing Astra to stumble backwards in pain. She corrects herself quickly, throwing her body in my direction and swiping her weapon towards me. I duck, missing Astra's blade by several inches, but losing my footing. I slip and my face connects with the ground, knocking the air from my lungs.

 A sharp pain stabs through my body as Astra kicks me in the  stomach. Her boot slams into the side of my ribcage, sending a wave of agony through my bones. Suddenly my wrists are pinned to the ground and Astra's face is inches away from mine. I grimace, registering the look on her face. 

Behind those emerald eyes of hers is nothing but animalist fury. A bloodlust comparable to that of a hungry predator. Astra smiles as I struggle. 

"You were never going to win." she purrs. "It's been me all along. You are, and will always be, collateral damage to my victory." Astra's knee connects with my side again, causing a sharp cry of pain to escape my throat. She mocks my helpless and begins to raise her knife. Just as she is about to bring it down on my heart and end my life, something hits the ground a few meters away, followed by the sound of a canon. Astra glances over at the body, giving me enough time to grab her blade and push her off me and onto the dirt. Fear swells through my chest as I stagger over to the lifeless form. My eyes dart over the corpse. 

Eros lies limply on the ground, his limbs sprawled out unnaturally and his face is frozen in shock. It's not Kat. I breathe. Kat is still alive. The relief doesn't last long as I am quickly yanked backwards by Astra. I hold my ground as our weapons meet, clashing and sending vibrations through my bones. Swiftly, I dodge backwards, allowing my blade to swing forwards. It misses, grazing her arm instead of the vital organ I was aiming for. Astra smirks, before lunging towards me. 

She pushes me over with such force that my skull slams into the dirt causing pain to cut through my head and creep down my spine. My attacker approaches me, weapon raised. I close my eyes. I am exhausted. This has to be it. I am going to die now. Maybe it's ok. Maybe it will be easier if I give in and accept that I was never going to be a victor. It's true. As soon as Effie trinket picked my name from the glass ball, and announced it for all of panem to hear. It was like listening to my death sentence. As I walked up onto the stage, I was already a dead man. When I met Kat, I was a dead man. When I entered the arena, I was already a dead man. As Astra's knife sinks into my stomach. 

I am a dead man.