lethal 。 𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔩𝔢𝔶

019 ─── twain .

Blye nodded slowly, considering before speaking lowly and lightly, kneading her hands together. "Yes," she said, pausing, "but everyone else does." She turned towards me with a devious look glimmering in her sharp gaze, her lips turning into a smirk.

I ignored the burning dancing up my arm and reciprocated her smirk as the sun spilled over the horizon. After all, we had yet to pursue what our alliance was truly capable of, and I was certain that an explosion was not the end. "It's decided," I said, "we have a feast to crash."

𝔛

Shade crept along the edges of the sprawling field that I now saw as home, in an odd sort of way. It was where the journey had began, where I had risen from the ground and began another life, a life where spilling the blood of others was an unavoidable hazard. Still, a nauseating feeling erupted inside my ribcage as I prowled around the large, ostentatious silver building, a knife clutched in my right hand so tightly, the skin of my palm was white from the pressure.

Warped, twisted pieces of metal reached up to the unforgiving sky, the silver coating glinting in the harsh light of the blazing sun. The Cornucopia was designed from nightmares, of that much I was certain. It stood at the very centerpoint of the arena, providing a symbol for the cage we were trapped in. I clenched my teeth, gritting them down until they felt like stones in my mouth.

However, instead of playing host to an array of weapons, or a pile of bounty, a simple table sat at the mouth of the Cornucopia, the length of two large swords, and just wide enough to support its contents. Placed upwards, displaying its numbers, were four packages of varying sizes, equidistance apart. Twelve, eleven, five, two.

I blinked, refocusing my pupils on the bold, emblazoned numbers. I had yet to realize just how close to the finish line I was, especially after... after Peeta's death. There was simply four lives between me, and victory. Four lives between my sisters and I, between me, and my home.

My heart wrenched me away from the realization; the terrifying willingness I had to push through those four remaining obstacles simply to return home. Even after the blood of my district partner had painted my hands a scarlet red, I was still prepared to deepen that colour.

Across the vast field of bright grass, I could see a familiar flash of auburn, hiding behind the trunk of a tree. Blye and I had allowed arrogance to catch up to us, and declined to discuss strategy for the approaching plan. Even so, we were both clever enough to know how this needed to be done, and know when to run if something went wrong.

The table had been presented an hour ago, and no one had shown their face as of yet. The packages sat, unclaimed, and tempting to the eye of any onlooker. However, glancing around the edges of the meadow, I suspected enemies to be lurking within the shadows, waiting for their moment to strike.

Part of me wanted Clove to show her face. The blur of ebony hair as Peeta fell to the ground was burned into my mind, serving as a reminder that I had been aiming for her, but, for the first time in my life, missed. I wanted to rip her apart, and take pleasure in knowing that it was I who brought her down, and sent her straight to hell.

My hands shook. I shifted my gaze back to the strands of auburn hair floating in the wind, my shoulder pressed against the rough bark of an oak tree. It was time, regardless of the risk.

I ground my heel into the ground before leaping, running into the open land, where I could be seen from kilometers away. A few seconds later, Blye emerged opposite me, jogging towards the table quicker than I could sprint. She reached the table before me, and enemies had yet to reveal themselves even by the time I reached the packages, huffing through my teeth, my lungs burning.