The 23 Cannons Trilogy

Played for Fools

Markus pushed past another branch, pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow. The sun was setting behind him, casting a golden glow over the arena that was strangely serene compared to the grim nature of the setting. But being as observant as Markus was, the sunset was only important in a couple of regards: the first was that it meant night was coming soon, and the second was that Markus' vision would be obscured somewhat if he were to face west.

Luckily, Markus was heading east, slowly but surely; he had been spending the last couple of days combing the woods finely, searching for any tributes. And with the death toll rising, he had someone soon, or else he'd miss all the fun of killing, and end up in the endgame with precisely zero deaths that he was responsible. And that couldn't happen; not only would it look bad, it would also lower Markus' sponsor count. If that were to happen, then the Gamemakers may end up deeming him disposable, rendering him useless; something to kill when the Games got a little too slow for the audience's liking.

However, the luck had turned in Markus' favour. Whilst walking around the southern edge of the arena, dangerously close to the forcefield, Markus had found a dirt trail heading north. Surely it had been put there for him to follow, and find tributes to kill. He had been following this path since around noon, and was still no close to the end.

Birds called out in the trees high above Markus' head, creating a peaceful atmosphere; he was almost tempted to climb the nearest tree and kill the bird then and there for the hell of it, but decided that in no way was it worth the energy. So instead he quietly endured the noise as he walked along the overgrown path. Hopefully some tributes would show up soon: either way, the Gamemakers were leading him to somewhere with action taking place. And hopefully, Markus would be the one causing the action.

Markus entered a clearing, and saw a wild bird hopping along the path. It was clucking and squawking and generally being a nuisance. However, Markus simply stepped past it, and was about to leave the clearing, when he heard the sound of voices. Female voices.

Quickly, Markus crawled into a bush nearby, and looked up ahead on the trail, seeing two girls walking down: they were from 10 and 11, if he recalled. The girl from 11 held a bow, but what captured Markus' attention was the crossbow in the girl from 10's hands. He could work wonders with that weapon, but he couldn't run out and grab it: fighting against two opponents with ranged weapons would be suicide. Instead, Markus watched as they drew closer. As they did so, the wild bird hopped closer to Markus, curious.

"So, Erika, do you think we'll get lucky and find something for dinner?" Markus heard the girl from 11 say.

"Sure hope so, Luce," the girl from 10 replied. "I'm starving." Markus couldn't see them, but he could hear them. The bird clucked in his face, and suddenly, a plan formed.

Markus reached into his bag, and pulled out a tube of cream: it was actually a type of poison that was only toxic to one in five people. He squirted the cream all over the bird, that didn't seem to mind as its flesh absorbed it. However, after the entire tube had been absorbed, the bird grew woozy, and staggered away from Markus, out into the middle of the clearing. The plan was simple: have the girls eat the bird, hope that one of them reacted to the poison, and then Markus would take out the other one, obtaining the cross bow. It would certainly be more fun than waiting until nightfall and taking them out in their sleep at any rate.

Suddenly, the girls stepped into the clearing. Markus hid from view inside the bush and watched as the girl from 10 fired an arrow at the wild bird, cleanly killing it. The girl from 11 picked it up, and they walked back up the path. Markus waited for a few moments, before beginning to follow them up until he reached the end of the woods. He watched as the two girls walked up the hill just ahead, and up to the small cottage. The girl from 7 was standing in the doorway, obviously keeping watch. However, Markus was certain she wouldn't see him, and instead watched with glee as all three girls vanished behind the door, unaware that they had all just sealed their fates.