A Circus of Eagles [An HG Fanfic]

Fight - Caitlin

That is the sort of mistake you never saw the Careers make.

"Stay back," I warn him, and although I'm trying to stop my voice from trembling I know I sound no better than Thalia did. "That was just your warning shot!"

I'm a terrible liar. Either he notices this or just doesn't care because he keeps on coming, one step after another, and I'm going to have to shoot soon, soon, but I can't guarantee I'll hit yet, so I wait, and so...

A movement like a mountain unfolding reveals Syl, emerging from the world of counting protein packs. For the second that I can't see the look in his eyes I feel an absurd flash of relief, but then I catch a glimpse as he stands and I see that he's terrified. Milo's relentless surge pauses; with two targets, which does he pick? Me, armed with an arrow, slim and untrained, or Syl, six feet five at the least, with muscles bigger than just about anybody I've ever seen?

He chooses Syl.

Syl tries to back away from the onslaught, but he's too slow and Milo is unstoppable. The Avox manages to get an arm around him, trying to drag him down to the floor. Syl bucks - there's a ripping sound - and almost manages to throw him off. Milo's fingers grip tight. And then his hands move and he's clinging to Syl's back like a child being carried, where Syl can't easily reach to move him, and he's pulling something around his neck. His face is gritted with concentration and effort, because Syl is shaking and twisting to try and get him off, his hands pummelling at the air, his eyes bulging. They sweep over me. Good, kind Syl, who counts protein packets, is slowly having the life crushed out of him.

I drop the bow and run over, dodging Syl's fists. His mouth is gaping now, his face entirely red. Milo is still hanging on. My hands grab his shirt and pull, but this doesn't work so I grab for his shoulders instead. We're wheeling around, Syl, Milo and me, in some crazy dance. The walls of the Cornucopia spin past me. I hardly notice. All my effort is focused on my arms, trying to drag Milo down, and Syl is slowing down, he's fighting but slowing. If I don't separate Milo soon, he's dead. But my arms are aching and my feet don't have enough purchase on the ground and I'm not even sure the Avox has realised I'm here.

"Get off!" I shout. "Get off him!"

Milo shrieks, half turns his head, spots me. His eyes are even worse up close. They're red where they aren't black. His mouth is flecked with saliva. I try to give him one last tug -

And I don't see his elbow until - 

My head explodes. Everything goes black.

***

Afternoon. I can feel the sun, just about warm enough to make itself noticeable, and the space behind my eyelids is a faint red colour. My head feels twice its normal size. Apart from that I appear to have all my limbs, which is a pleasant surprise, and although I'm aching it's a dull pain that suggests I have no bleeding wounds.

Something above me moves.

My eyes fly open of their own accord. I'm expecting Milo, expecting a face darker than mine with raging eyes and pouring with blood, so when I see -

It's Titan -

And I falter, seeing his hand hovering above me and the knife in it, he's holding a knife, and he's looking at me. For the first time, I saw death coming my way. There doesn't feel like there's anything I can do to stop it. Suddenly it's as though I can feel every blade of grass underneath me, and Titan's eyes are bluer than I remember, and even the grey of the sky has a kind of vibrancy I could never have imagined. When you think you might never see anything else again... But I can't give up that easily. I can maybe grab his knife, if I'm quick. I'll have to be quicker than I've ever been in my life, but it's possible. I just have to be ready. That's all...