Chapter 10

I recognise that voice and when I turn around it's confirmed. Nikon has found me and he's equipped with a trident. My hand immediately goes to the knife on my belt.

"You won't be needing that, we have a truce remember" he says.

"I'd rather be safe than sorry, you never know how the arena will change someone" I reply. Nikon sighs.

"Trust me, I'm not interested in killing you. I'm guessing I'm here for the same reason that you are" he responds, nodding in the direction of the cornucopia.

"My bow and arrows are inside the cornucopia, I'm here to collect them" I say.

"And I'm here to steal some of their supplies. How about we team up and both get what we're looking for" says Nikon.

"Fine, there's only Antonis left guarding, the rest went to hunt down some idiot who started a fire." I say.

"Let's go then, two on one, should be easy" he replies.

I agree with him, working together we should be able to take down Antonis and get what we want from the Cornucopia.

"Right. Let's go quickly, I don't know when the others will be back." I say.

As stealthily as possible, Nikon and I manoeuvre ourselves into a position where we can attack Antonis from a short distance. We give each other the signal and charge at him as quickly as possible. His head shoots up in alarm and he notices Nikon first. He launches his spear but Nikon easily deflects it with his trident. As quickly as a blink of the eye, he throws his trident and it lodges itself in Antonis' chest. The canon sounds immediately.

I rush into the cornucopia behind Nikon and grab up the bow and quiver straight away. Now maybe I can be a force in this arena. I also grab a first aid kit and some food while Nikon is collecting some rope and a couple of packs. We both walk out of the cornucopia, the careers still haven't returned. They'll be mad when they realise that Antonis is dead.

"Nice shot with the trident, impressive" I say.

"Thanks, I practically grew up on boats and used tridents every day. It's kind of relaxing to have something familiar in the arena." He replies, twirling the trident with his fingers.

"We make quite a team" I say.

Suddenly another canon fires, it's probably for the person that lit that fire which means the careers will be back soon. Nikon comes to the same conclusion.

"We do. Well, until later I suppose" Nikon says.

"Yeah, later. We don't want to be here when the rest of them return" I say.

Nikon nods in agreement and turns towards the lake. I make my way back towards the forest, bow in hand and quiver over my shoulder. Now that I have my weapon of choice, I'll be able to feed myself with no problems. I also now feel like I have a chance to win this thing for the first time since leaving district 12.

I return to my camp close to the freshwater pond and start about getting some food. I set my snares and manage to bag a couple of small squirrel like animals that look edible. I decide to wait until dusk to light a small fire as that will give me the best cover.

The remainder of the day passes with no further events, no more cannons. I set my fire and cook my squirrel as quickly as possible to avoid detection. As soon as both are cooked I stamp it out and wolf down the entirety of one of the animals. I didn't realise that I was so hungry, but I put the second one into my pack.

The trumpets sound again and I'm greeted by only two faces. The first is Antonis and the second is the girl from District 6. Eleven of us still remain, including Jess. I also realise that Zara from 10 is still alive and find myself being impressed by her. I find another suitable tree and settle up in it for the night.

The next morning I wake early and check my snares. A good haul again, at least I won't be dying of hunger in the arena. Once I've packed everything up and polished of the second squirrel from yesterday, I decide to do some more scouting again to see if I can get any more information on the careers.

After about 25minutes of walking, I notice that it's gone silent. That feels strange to me, there's been a constant background of bird song and rustling wind since day 1. My senses heightened, I continue in the same direction, bow at the ready.

After a further 5 minutes, I find that I am right to feel wary. I hear growling behind me and turn around, coming face to face with a pair of enormous grey wolves. Mutts! No natural wolf is this big, and they look menacing, ready for blood. I release my first arrow at one of the wolves, turn and run.

I hear a yelp behind me, hopefully that's one of the wolves down but I daren't stop to look. The adrenaline rush is helping me stay ahead of this mutt as I stumble through trees, bushes and undergrowth as fast as I can. I chance a look back and notice that the wolf is still chasing me.

I decide that I need to try and climb a tree, I won't be able to turn and shoot before the wolf will be on me. I spot a suitable one about 50 metres ahead of me, but just as I'm making my way towards it, I'm distracted by a huge amount of smoke that can only be from a massive fire.

This momentary lapse is enough for the wolf to get me. It clamps it's jaw down on my left calf muscle and searing pain rips through my leg. I grab my knife and plunge it into the back of its neck as hard as I can. The mutt falls but the damage to my leg is done.

I throw the wolf off my leg and stand up. Pain immediately comes and I have to lean against a nearby tree for support. That's when I notice the smoke. There must be a massive forest fire about half a mile from here. Probably gamemaker produced. That means that there may be tributes nearby.

Suddenly there's a piercing scream that sounds vaguely familiar. I go to stand up and three bodies stumble into the clearing that I'm occupying. I recognise Toby from district 11 and Samoul from district 7, the third person makes my heart skip a beat. It's Jess. Samoul is equipped with an axe and it looks like him and Toby have teamed up. Jess is in big trouble here, I have to help. They haven't spotted me yet.

"Please, don't kill me. I'm not ready" cries Jess. It's heart breaking.

"I'm sorry, but this is the games. What has to be done, has to be done" replies Toby.

I've managed to get to my bow at this point and load and arrow, pointing it directly at Samoul. I speak up just as it looks like he's about to strike down Jess.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" I announce.

"Rowan!" cries Jess. She moves to get up but I shoot her a warning glare and shake my head.

"Well, well. District 12 here to save his partner" spits Samoul.

"Exactly, you'll be dead before you know it if that axe moves another inch" I threaten.

"I doubt you can even use that thing. Toby, take him out while I deal with the girl" he announces.

I notice Toby starting towards me and the arrow leaves my bow. It finds it's mark in Samoul's neck and he drops straight away. I don't have time to react before Toby has tackled me to the ground.

I lose my bow instantly as Toby's knee lands hard against my stomach. The air rushes out of my lungs as my back crashes to the ground and I struggle to catch my breath. I see Toby grab what looks like a knife from his belt and I fumble to get mine. Toby probably has about 35lbs on me and has the advantage.

We roll around for a few minutes and manage to slash each other with our knives a couple of times, but finally Toby manages to disarm me and pin my arms to the ground above my head. I was never any good at wrestling, that was always Mellark turf. This is the end I think, I just hope that Toby makes it quick and painless so that Katniss and Prim don't have to suffer watching. The last thing I see is Toby's fist descending towards me before everything goes black.