District 1, District 2, District 4- that was all that was left. Today marked my ninth day in the area, I could already feel the sweltering heat as my eyes shot open from my unsatisfying sleep. During the night, Thorn had gone back to search for our supplies, though there was only a single pack left, with a small medical kit and some dried fruit, Elsie's pack. "They're closing in on us," Thorn stated, as I cleaned the large wound on his chest, "They want us to become desperate,"
"Let's not give them that satisfaction," I had told him late at night as I bit into a piece of dried apple.
We received a sponsor in the early us of the day, an ointment for our wounds, It must have been a combination of the sponsors from Districts 12 and 4, two notes were found at the bottom of the canister. One smelled faintly of the strong liquor my father drinks, in messy scrawl were two words Thank you.
The second note was from Finnick, a short and frenzied message, 'Mags is sick, recovering now. Look out for each other- Finn.'
I felt a pit in my stomach at the message, hopefully, Mags will have recovered by the time Thorn get home. Assuming Thorn gets home. I tried to drown out my pessimism with the knowledge that the ties between the other Careers must have been degenerating. They understood only one could come out alive and Clovis was going to try his best to make sure it was him. Since the incident at the creek, I had not seen much of him, keeping a low profile was his best strategy in the games- though careers are known for their extravagance in accordance with the games, they were not stupid. Clovis knew there was some true competition to run against this year- he would not destroy his chances by showing off.
With Viva and Tiberius dead, the odds were not in our favour- but I had a small dose of optimism. After stealing their supply packs on the first day, the Careers would require their survival instincts. Sage had said it herself, they had to put in the hard yards. By hunting primarily at night, with little to no protection, they must have been exhausted and with exhaustion comes weakness.
That was my best hope surely their performance level would have decreased as the games went on, I knew mine had. My mental fortitude had additionally decreased as I slowly felt myself combusting under the pressure of the games. Thorn appeared in no better state than I, remaining almost completely silent throughout the course of the day.
I could feel something in the air, an unexplainable presence, as though chaos and I were on the same wavelength. It called to me, waving a bony finger in front of my face, taunting me, telling me everything I had planned was about to go wrong. I ignored the feeling, lying flat on my back on the cool cave surface and thinking of home.
I imagined myself climbing to the cliff's edge along the cove, my sisters not far behind me. Finnick and Andante had raced to the top, readily anticipating diving off the cliff face. I remember holding a nervous Addison's hand as the pair of us plummeted into the ocean below. We would clamber out of the water to find my mother and father set up with a picnic blanket splayed out in the white sand, fresh fruits covering its surface and gone within a minute.
I imagined myself at the wedding of the Mayor's son, the cold waves rolled over my ankles as the bridal party danced in the shallow water, spectators clapping on and cheering for the couple. Finnick takes my hand after the official dances and we twirl around as the music plays late into the night. The water clung to the bottom of my dress as we dance, fabric sticking to my ankles, Finnick had rolled up the hem of his pants to ensure he was not getting his pants wet, I had teased him, calling him a baby. He tackled me into the water, and I had pulled him along with me.
And then I remembered the worst, Clementine. On the day of the attack, Finnick tried to resuscitate the girl as the rosiness of her cheeks was now a dull white. Addison cried for weeks; I can only imagine how she is acting now.
"We need water," Thorn states, only then did I realise how dry my throat was, "If not now, when?"
"You're right," I sighed, the taunting voice pulled at the back of my mind, "I'll come with you," I picked up the trident from the side of the cave wall. Thorn picked up his sword and two bone-dry canisters from the packs.
We stepped into the sunlight and I winced at the shift in exposure, my eyes adjusted to the atmosphere, Thorn had begun to make his way to the stream. It was a scene of pure serenity, sunlight danced off the water, daisies bloomed close to the water's edge, the same daisies I had placed on my friend's body less than ten hours ago. Birds chirped innocently in the trees, the hum of small insects buzzed around the meadow and in the peace, in this one moment of calm I realised something was incredibly wrong.
We were not alone.
"Duck!" I screamed just in time, Thorn reeled over, hands over his head in protection. A large spear snapped in half as it contacted a rock a little way from where Thorn had been collecting water. The careers had made their move; the final battle had begun.
Lark, the district two boy ran towards the stream, a second spear in hand, Thorn had left his sword on the bank. "Idiot," I hissed, adjusting the weight of the trident in my hand, and letting it fly directly into his right thigh. The boy howled in pain doubling over as I sprinted to the stream.
Thorn was only ankle deep now, sword in hand and watch as Clovis and Opal sprinted from different directions in the clearing. I snatched Lark's extra spear, hurling it in Clovis' direction, the boy narrowly missed the impact, diving out of the way and rolling in the grass for a short period of time. I'm sorry, I thought, more to myself than Lark, pulling the trident from his thigh and plunging it into his chest.
First Cannon.
Sage had now joined the fight, sprinting from the edge of the clearing, knives in hand and a mad look in her eyes. Clovis was on the bank, involved in close combat with Thorn, who was keeping up well with the career tribute. The clashing of metal made me wince as Opal pulled an arrow from her quiver and began to aim from a distance away.
Thorn's words from the first training night rang in my head and an idea struck in my mind. "Opal's got her bow and arrow but can't hit moving objects."
Stop playing to their strengths, I told myself and began to sprint in zig-zag directions. The district 1 girl began to become overwhelmed by my sudden movements. Sage had now fully caught up with the four remaining, giving herself little time to grieve over her district partner she sprinted in my direction.
'Sage fights with knives, but her aim's not as strong as she thinks it is..."
A little to the left, I sprinted closer to Opal, remaining a zig-zag formation as Sage drew aim. I dove just in time as the knife cut through the air, piercing Opal on her dominant shoulder. Opal cried out in paint, dropping the weapon, and clutching her arm.
A victory smirk drew on my face as Sage grew more livid than before.
Sage was still too far away to prevent anything as I rose my arms over my head, trident aimed at Opal's neck.
Second Cannon.
I shot around in surprise, Opal shifting away from me as I spotted the boys in the stream. Only one of them moving, not Thorn. All sense of awareness escaped my being as I hurtled recklessly down the bank and into the stream, "Thorn!" I exclaimed, collapsing beside the boy, I pulled him further onto the bank as blood gushed from his chest, "You're not dying on my Thorn, just hold on, ok?" I whispered.
No response, the cut Tiberius had given him had reopened, now deeper and bleeding too heavy to stop. I clapped my hands over my mouth as I tried to stop the tears from falling out of my eyes, his blood had stained the grass red, and now it was staining my hands. "It was supposed to be you," I cried desperately, clutching to the fabric of his wetsuit.
"Let her cry Clovis," I heard Sage say patiently as I sobbed, "We've got all the time in the world,"
And that is when the laughter started.
A deep chuckle from Clovis' direction was followed by a shrill laugh from Opal as the body of my friend grew colder underneath my fingers. They were laughing as if murdering my friend was an achievement. A cold smile drew its way onto Sage's face as I looked up from my friend's body, tears running down my face left tracks in the blood that was covering it.
All I could hear was Clovis' voice ringing in my head, all the things he had said about me, my friends.
"You saved Sage from dying, you didn't have the heart to kill off the pathetic losers from Six and now you can't kill me?"
"Weak,"
"No wonder you teamed up with those wimps from Twelve,
"what's the point in using a weapon if you're not going to fight with one?"
"You still don't have the guts, do you?" Clovis mocked, spinning the sword around his hands, "You couldn't kill me then, you can't kill me now,"
I looked up from Thorn's body at the mocking eyes of the three monsters in front of me, the lump in my throat had now completely disappeared and the tears in my eyes began to burn like fire. "You know what, Clovis," I said numbly, the trident in my hand suddenly feeling weightless, a jolt of electricity shot through my arm, "I think I can,"
My trident pierced through Opal's lower abdomen and with no remorse I pulled the spear out of her stomach. I blocked Sage's knife with the three-pointed end, clashing the other side against Clovis' sword. Athletically speaking there was no way I could beat them collectively; I would have to break them apart. Sage charged to my left and I speared the three-pointed end into her thigh, blocking the second strike of Clovis'.
Opal was the weakest as of the circumstances, I would have to get rid of her first. I pulled the knife Sage had lodged into her shoulder and hurled it in Clovis' direction, it lodged between his ribs causing the boy to double over in pain.
The sound of the waterfall drumming behind me sparked an idea, as Opal charged at me, I roared in anger, stabbing the three-pointed end of the trident into her stomach, blood gushed from her wounds, covering me in the liquid which adrenaline made me ignore. With brute force I pulled the trident from her body, blocking a knife from Sage in the process. With one final kick to the nose, Opal staggered back into the waterfall and the sizzling of acid meeting skin began. Her screams became more and more staggered as she stumbled around in the acid, Clovis called out to her desperately as what was left of her collapsed into the stone.
Third cannon.
Clovis grunted in pain as he dislodged the knife from his ribs, now at least somewhat deterred he would be an easier target. Sage staggered forward, slowly running out of knives on her person, with a harsh strike from the singular spiked end of the trident, Sage collapsed to the ground, a thick-cut now formed on her cheekbone. I was too distracted by Sage to see Clovis charging in my direction, tackling me to the ground, with his sword pointed at my neck.
"This is for Opal," He scowled, and I tried desperately to restrain the maniacal chuckled from escaping my lips.
"No," I said sweetly, sending a swift kick directly in between his legs. I flipped the pair off us over, all four hands now on the sword which pointed at his stomach, "This is for Thorn," The blade cut through his stomach and I heard him choke on his final words before he could get them out.
Fourth Cannon.
Sage cowered backwards as I stood imposingly over the body of Clovis. She was too weak to stand, too humiliated to try and fight back- and I was relishing it. "I still owe you one favour," She stated almost anxiously, "I'll do anything, I mean it,"
I laughed coldly, picking up my abandoned trident, "There's one small thing you can do for me," I told her, lifting her chin with the pointed end of my weapon. "If you can do it, I'll spare you," I told her sweetly. Sage looked disbelieving as I put more pressure on the blade against her neck she whimpered in pain, "Bring Thorn back from the dead," I nodded over at the body of my friend.
"I-I can't,"
I bend down to her level, replacing the trident with one of the knives on her body, "Unfortunate," I cocked my head to the side with a cold sneer, dragging the knife jaggedly across her throat and feeling the blood splatter across my face. Sage's body fell limp beside Clovis', and I relished the sudden silence, nothing but the eerie singing of the birds to keep me company.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the victor of the 68th annual Hunger Games- Aurora Hartley!"
Yep, she's not recovering from that for a long time.
Love ya'll.