The Fandom Games

PART III: Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22 – THE EDGE OF THE FOREST

In the morning, I had decided almost instantly that my best bet was to leave my cave behind (which, I discovered in the dead of night, was inhabited by a family of friendly bats) and go back to where I'd overheard the other alliance talking. After hearing them speak of the afterlife, I'd expected to hear a cannon shot for someone, but the sky had remained blank of faces for a few days. So I tied back my hair using some long grasses behind the cave and set off.

A cannon shot was heard not long after.

I started running. A long yell followed – it sounded feminine. I redirected my steps leftward, hoping to follow it.

Well, I found Rory. I didn't even see it happen, but watched as Moira slumped over from Avril's strike. Two more down.

Avril's yell seemed to have summoned Maleficent, like she was ready to protect her, not find her playing offensive on her friends. I stayed back, but everyone was gathered here now and everyone knew it. All I could see was the colour draining from Maleficent's face when she saw what Avril had done. Their alliance was broken. Avril knew it, too.

Maleficent didn't say a word. No one dared to. She only crept over to Moira's body and ripped the spear from it. She slowly turned the weapon on her friend.

"Say a prayer," she said simply.

Avril closed her eyes, like she was obeying the command, and Maleficent killed Avril exactly the same way Avril had killed Moira. Yet another cannon. Two identical corpses on the ground.

Maleficent dropped the spear, and it clattered to the ground. When she looked up, we made severe eye contact. I didn't dare look away. If I ran, she'd follow.

Out of nowhere, a huge battle cry filled the air and we both turned our heads to see the source of the sound.

Isaac, with Rory's bag flung over his shoulder, came flying out of the trees with a both hands held over his head, a knife between them. It was hard to say if he knew who he was heading toward, but both Maleficent and I were too shocked to really comprehend that he had a weapon with him. And that he was capable of using it. That must have been why it was so easy for him to plunge the knife right into Maleficent's chest. Cannon shot number four went off.

I didn't have time to comprehend any of this. It was down to just the two of us. Me and Isaac. The Time Lady and the blind man. How he'd known where to aim for Maleficent was beyond me, but that didn't matter. The fact was, if I made a sound, he'd know I was there, too. Maybe he did know. Maybe over the course of the Games, his hearing had improved and he would be capable of perfect aim from simply a footstep. For that reason, I didn't dare move.

He stood over the body for a moment, panting in exhaustion, coming to terms with the fact he'd successfully killed. A proud smile spread across his face. He tucked his knife into the pocket of the backpack he'd taken from Rory a few days ago and walked back the way he came, his hands out in front of him, touching every tree he passed. He was dragging his feet on the ground and using that to avoid roots sticking up out of the ground. He was definitely getting better about maneuvering around so many obstacles.

He hadn't sensed me there. I was safe for now.

When he was far enough away for me to feel comfortable breathing at a normal volume, I gladly did so. And I backed away from the place where my friend had died and other tributes had too, I wondered why I hadn't killed him right there. It would have been easy. No time would have been more ideal. Yet, my wondering this wasn't even a question of why I hadn't; I knew I wasn't one to intentionally kill someone who didn't need to die. I wouldn't be the one to kill him. Maybe it was only down to us two, but I was no murderer.

So I turned on a heel and jogged out of the carnage, seeking out a hiding place that would do for at least a little while longer.