Boom!
A deafening explosion wakes me from my terrible sleep. My eyes bolt open, looking around frantically – what happened? The smell of sulfur and smoke chokes my throat, ash burning my lungs. Gray flecks drop out of the sky like a graveyard snowfall, the perverse rain of the underworld sticking to my skin and the ground. Across the channel, the Cornucopia's mountain – or what was the mountain – has caught fire.
Plumes of red and yellow lava flow down its sides with a thick cloud of black smog and gas rising from its top. The jungle is alight, burning brightly in the terrifying morning air. Chunks of rock fly out like missiles from the volcano's peak, arcing into the air before splashing down in water and on land like tiny meteors.
I swallow hard: I'm alone, afraid, armed only with a sword and a shield, and the Gamesmakers have decided to turn the mountain into a volcano. Tethys must be out there somewhere – they're herding her this way, trying to force a confrontation and bringing a quick end to the Games.
This is it. This is the finale.
I let out a strained breath, grabbing my weapons and turning towards the bamboo grove behind me. If they want to force us to fight, so be it – I want to put some distance between Tethys and I; maybe she'll wear down running from the flames and lava. I don't have much of a shot, but every little bit counts.
Tethys has the advantage in every other way I can think of. She's better armed, with a bow and her sword – not to mention years of training I don't have. She's fast, agile, smart, and reactive, having already proved she could handle both Mako and I in a fight. How much easier will it be for her when it's just me – little Skye from District 9, without her companions here to warn her away from danger? Tethys has had no one during the Games; she's fought alone, knocking down tributes with ease like a one-man army.
I need a strategy. I need something, anything, to give me a boost against my foe. I've survived so far because of help – but where do I find help when all my allies are gone?
A terrible idea crosses my mind – but like I told Mako, I'm great at coming up with terrible ideas. I'm on the second island…the one with the cave…There is help here for me. It's just not the kind I'm used to. Well, that and it's already tried to kill me once.
I jog out towards the far edge of the island, where Mako and I first tromped around so early in these Games. If I can find the cave again – and somehow make my way into it without killing myself – I can take Tethys off-guard with something she'll never see coming.
I can only hope the human mutt won't kill me first.
Too quickly, my plan goes awry: I haven't made more than a hundred meters of progress before a jet of flame explodes in my face. I tumble back, scurrying away as more plumes of fire erupt around me, forcing me towards the shore facing the volcano island. Fire jets erupt again and again, pushing me back as I take off on a run. The Gamesmakers aren't letting me run that easily – they want me to stick to their script; won't let me draw off the only source of hope I can ask for. Ash and flaming soot pelts my back as I run, hanging on to my weapons for dear life as I scamper through burning bamboo and palm groves.
Why? I think. Why give me no chance? Why make me fight where I'll surely die? I can't take her alone! You know it! The people watching know it!
I told Mako I'd find a way to kill Tethys. I told him I'd make it home; told him I wouldn't forget him. How can I do that – how can I keep my promise – when the Gamesmakers won't even give me a shot?
The smoke thickens as I make my way back to the beach and the channel, coughing and choking in the smoggy air. Between the plumes of fire still exploding behind me and the volcanic eruption happening before my eyes, the Gamesmakers have turned this arena rapidly from beautiful tropical paradise into a twisted, island version of Hell itself. Gone are the blue skies, the chirping birds, the green trees; in their places have come a red, poisonous sky looking down on burning jungle and death…death everywhere.
Just in time for death to settle these Games. How fitting.
Even the crystal-clear waters have been poisoned by the ash, turned gray and dark from the volcano's fallout. Flows of lava from across the way hiss with steam as they run into the ocean, blasting white clouds into the air. The ocean itself seems to moan in pain as a great, dull, low roar echoes out from the bay. It's like the sound of a horn at full blast, a boom that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand ramrod straight…
I've heard that sound before.
I step gingerly onto the sunken channel sandbar, the murky water washing over my feet. Something catches my attention from across the way – something small and more than a half-kilometer away, but something human, no doubt about it.
Tethys.
I can only just make her out from here, but it can't be anything else. We're the last two left alive in here, and the controlled, almost robotic way the figure moves, it can only be her. I grip my shield instinctively, ready to raise it and ward off any arrows she may try to shoot from long range.
Another disturbance catches my eye, however: A ripple in the water snakes towards the channel from far out in the burning bay. Tethys and I won't be alone in our final fight. The human mutt's not the only help I might be able to use.
If you can survive it, Skye…
The figure draws closer, stepping out into the channel in approach – Tethys is coming for me. I wipe my brow in the hot, ashen air, my hand coming away gray and covered in soot. Neither of us will be able to last forever – this fight will have to end soon, or we'll end up choking to death on whatever's burning my lungs. I can only hope it's hurting her as much as it's hurting me.
It isn't long before Tethys emerges clearly through the soot, a burn easily visible on her arm. She hasn't escaped the fires and lava pouring down in rivers behind her unharmed – but her face is the picture of concentration and determination. She's still locked into killing. A new feeling bubbles up in my gut as I clutch my sword – anger.
This is the girl responsible for Autumn's death. She tried to kill Mako; tried to kill me.
She stops about thirty meters away, tossing her bow and quiver of arrows to the ground. She's spotted my shield – her archery skills won't be much use as long as I can defend against them with ease.
"I'm here, Tethys," I say just loud enough for her to hear. "I'm still here. Come finish it."
My adversary takes a step back, crouching down like a hyena ready to attack. Her eyes narrow as she begins circling, looping around me and drawing closer as she looks for a vulnerability.
I won't let her start her usual tactic, however – not when she's moving away from the closing ripple in the water. It's my only chance. I cut her off, moving right to drive her towards her left – and towards the approaching disturbance. She takes the bait, all too happy to keep me moving while she sizes me up.
I'm not dumb enough to attack her outright, however; better to stall for time: "You killed my friend. You killed Autumn."
"An incorrect assertion," she mutters, her sword hand tensing up.
"You shot her. I cared about her," I say, pushing every ounce of emotion into my voice as I can muster. Anything to improve my odds in the eyes of the Capitol – the ones who have control over my fate now. "Do you feel anything? Heck, you can't even have fun in these Games! You act like it's all some maze of numbers and statistics. Is there anything in you besides a cold loner?"
"I will not allow you to distract me," she says, still prowling about cautiously.
That's the point: "Are you even fighting for anything, Tethys? I'm fighting for my home. My district. I'm fighting for Mako – the boy you tried to kill alongside me; the boy who told me he cared about me. What are you fighting for? Is there anything that matters to you? Are you just…just a shell; a machine?"
Tethys freezes, taking a step forward and cutting me off: "This conversation is over."
She starts towards me, sword out and at the ready. I take a step back – this is it.
Tethys feints to her left, jumping back to her right and hurling something from her off-hand at me. I raise my shield just in time – thwap! She's got darts of some sort – or another close-ranged throwing weapon – that'll complicate this fight.
My opponent leaps as she closes, striking out with the tip of her sword and slamming the weapon against my shield. A ferocious clang! sounds as I block and step back, careful to keep her between the ripples in the water and I. Tethys dodges back, keeping me on the defensive as she bides her time.
"You don't feel anything!" I say, nervousness trickling through my words. "Killing's just all you do! Why are you even trying to win? What have you become?"
Tethys takes a step back, juking right and slashing at me again. I raise my sword protectively, blocking her blow and swinging back at her exposed stomach. She's much too fast, dodging like a cat as a piece of burning ember from the volcano hits my shoulder. I yelp in pain, stepping away from my competitor as I rub the black soot from my skin.
Fire, death, and a battle that will leave only one alive – the Capitol can't be happier!
Ash streaks Tethys's face as she rounds on me, black soot bringing out the angles and bony creases of her face. She's terrifying up close, looking like a primeval spirit of destruction with the backdrop of fire and lava. In her cat-like yellow eyes, I can't see any sign of humanity or emotion – no indication that she feels at all remorseful for the things she's done.
All I can see is emptiness. There's no life in Tethys's eyes.
"Has anyone ever been there for you?" I ask, stalling her to catch my breath as she pulls back. "Anyone? Tethys, you don't have to be just another machine-like killer. That's no way to live; that's not…not very romantic. There's nothing to enjoy about that. You're still a girl; like me."
"Enough," Tethys hisses with a poison I haven't heard from her. "Your attempts at drawing out any weakness are at an end."
Tethys leaps at me as the volcano explodes with fire, lava roaring across the sky. I raise my shield, warding off pyroclastic fall and my attacker's sword. Tethys doesn't step back this time, slamming her sword against mine and driving her fist into my face. I recoil in pain, raising my shield to intercept her next blow as I spit blood from my mouth. Tethys doesn't relent, striking fast and hard as I just manage to hold her off by backpedaling and keeping my shield in front of me. It's a tactic that will only last so long.
Fortunately, that's all I need.
Whoomp! With an explosion of ashen water, rubbery, black tentacles explode out of the sea. Tethys and I are thrown into the water as the squid mutt emerges among the fire and steaming sulfur, bellowing a titanic war cry as it slaps the ocean with its arms.
I scramble to my feet, looking around quickly for my adversary. There she is – Tethys just manages to avoid being hit by the squid as she charges me, throwing herself against my shield and attempting to spear me over the top. I block her slow, glancing blow, driven back by the girl's power. Tethys steps back and I respond in kind, lurching at her and swinging low with my sword.
She's not having any of it. My opponent dodges to the side, kicking me in the knee and sending me flying. She slices down with her sword as I pass, slashing into my Achilles tendon along the way.
"Ah!" I scream, plowing into the water with a face-full of ash and soot and losing my shield in the process. Pain explodes through my ankle as I flip over on the sandbar, raising my sword just in time to block Tethys's killing blow.
The squid mutt swings a tentacle horizontally, roaring as it dislocates Tethys from me and hurls her a dozen meters to the side. I struggle to stand, my ankle bleeding heavily into the water and forcing me to rely on my one good leg. I can't beat Tethys like this.
The squid doesn't help. It snatches me by my injured leg when I'm not watching, picking me up and squeezing. I yelp in pain, slashing the tentacle with my sword to free myself. The squid howls and releases, letting me go as it takes a big chunk of flesh with it. Blood flows into the water around me as I struggle onto all fours, my leg bleeding profusely. I cry when I see the wound – muscle and sinew's exposed, white and red flesh laid bare by the beast. I stand up on my good leg, struggling to hold on and find Tethys.
In reality, it's a losing fight now. I can't beat her like this.
You tried, Skye. You gave it a better shot than anybody would have given you. Sometimes even your best isn't enough.
Tethys, however, is having problems of her own. The squid snatches her up in its arms, grabbing the flailing girl and pitching her into the air like a piece of trash. She lands nearby, struggling to get up from the water.
I realize my chance: With all the strength I have left, I leap at Tethys, driving my sword into her unprotected chest. She gasps as I hit paydirt as her eyes go wide with surprise. However, Tethys is a tough girl and a well-trained volunteer – even what I think is a killing blow isn't enough to stop this machine.
She grabs my sword arm, pulling the sword further into her as she forces me closer. With whatever ounce of power she has left, Tethys grabs my neck with a hand, kicking my knee out and sending my falling into the water. I flip over on my back as she yanks the sword out of her hand, holding it over me like an executioner despite the river of blood flowing from her chest.
"No," she breathes, her face contorting with an expression I haven't seen from her – rage. "The Capitol won't take my victory from me. So long…Skye."
Tethys thrusts the sword down just as the squid levels her. She loses her grip on the weapon, its blade impaling the sand an inch from my neck. Unarmed and helpless, Tethys struggles in the squid's grasp – she's out of options.
And I have only one left.
I pull the sword out of the sandbar, shouting with all my pent-up emotion as I drive the blade into my final opponent. Tethys's back arches as I plunge the sword into her, her face stretching and grimacing in agony. The squid pulls her away as I fall back into the water, resting in the sea and our blood as it shakes the girl from District 2 in its arms.
In her final moments, Tethys proves she's human after all: The girl screams, shrieking in agony and fear as the mutt wraps another arm around her waist. Just like with Autumn, the squid – the Capitol's creation – shows no mercy: With a triumphant battle cry, the squid rips the girl from District 2 in half. It tosses her pieces into the sea, baring its razor-sharp teeth and howling into the sky.
Looks like the Capitol took victory from you after all, Tethys.
I slump down onto my elbows, panting in exhaustion and pain as the squid slips back into the water. Flaming pieces of ash and rock float around me, the volcano pouring lava into the sea as I close my fingers around a handful of sand. I'm bleeding badly, my leg's shredded, and the world around me is on fire…but it's over.
It's all over.
I can go home.
I fall over on my back, just managing to keep my head above water. I barely hear old Claudius Templesmith's voice above the sound of sizzling lava and roiling waves: "Ladies and gentlemen…may I pronounce to you, from District 9, the victor of the 98th Annual Hunger Games – Skye Holdrege."
Something floats into view in the crimson sky above me, but all I can see is fire – fire, blood, and anger raging around me in my final moments in the arena. Darkness descends upon me, a black curtain drawing a close to this terrible world.
Take me. Take me away from here. Take me home.
I sink into the darkness, my mind going numb.
A/N: Don't go away – there will be two more chapters in this story before I begin the second installment of this series. Check back to see what becomes of Skye – the victor of the 98th Hunger Games – as she navigates her dangerous post-arena future, the eyes of the Capitol turning upon her.
charlie, it's gonna go a lot further than just a Victory Tour, haha…this is part 1 of 5, so four more follow-up stories will come that will encapsulate a long narrative. I've appreciated everyone's readership and feedback so far; thanks so much, guys!
