Disclaimer: I do not own either book series
Chapter 29
Katniss pov
Katniss's eyes were watering and her lungs were burning. Between the smoke and dirt she could barely see a thing. Katniss was sure if she wasn't following Percy so closely than she would've ran into a tree by now.
She saw a boulder smash into the side of a tree. The tree cracked in half, as burning branches tumbled to the ground. She knew that if the boulders didn't stop coming soon, then the entire forest would be burned to the ground. She wasn't sure exactly why the game makers wanted to kill them so badly. Maybe it was because of the lack of deaths recently. Maybe they were still angry about the arrow she shot at them.
Katniss was so busy contemplating the reason why the capitol wanted them dead that she failed to see the flaming rock headed her way until it was too late. She tried to dodge it, but it grazed her leg. Heat flared up her body causing her to scream in agony. She tumbled to the ground grasping her leg. Percy turned around, his face etched with concern, "Oh my gods! Katniss are you alright." If She weren't in so much pain, Katniss would have found it strange that he said "gods" instead of "god". Choosing not to answer she tried to tear the cloth around the burn away. Bad move. Even slightly moving the fabric said made her gasp in pain. Percy slowly extended her leg and reached for the cloth. Realizing what he was about to do she screeched, "no! Don't!"
Percy looked up and said, "I have to. We need to see how bad it is." He didn't wait for permission and simply tore it off. Katniss yelped in pain, but felt a little relief with the fabric no longer irritating her skin. She looked at her leg and was sorry she did.
Her shin had a four inch gash running through where the rock had grazed her. It was impossible to tell how deep the cut was because she was bleeding too heavily. The cut was the least of her worries though. The skin around the cut was bright red and glossy.
"Second degree burn," Percy said as a jagged rock the size of a refrigerator crashed into the ground only a few feet away. "Can you run?'
She shakily stood up using Percy for support; "Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Katniss grimaced.
It seemed as though she wouldn't have to run though, because the boulders suddenly stopped falling to the ground. She was about to ask why when she saw a… thing walking towards them. She couldn't think of anything else to call it.
The first thing that struck her was the size. It had to be thirty feet long and ten feet tall. It couldn't be a regular animal because it had an almost human like face. It was only almost human because of the pure black eyes that seemed to burn through you, and the needle like teeth lining its mouth. Each tooth had to be the size of her forearm and as thin as a pencil. There was a lady at the hob that would speak of demons and devils and ghost stories. Katniss used to think that she either really liked scary children, or she was completely out of her mind. After seeing this thing she wasn't so sure.
Surrounding the creature's face was a mane of red hair. She heard of cats in the continent of Africa having mane's similar to this one. The body also seemed to be a nightmarish version of a cat's. The upper body seemed to ripple with muscle as it moved. The paws resembled more of a bear's paws, as it had claws almost as long as it's teeth.
They taught about the different mutt's the capitol has made in the past in her school. They ranged from birds to lizards, and even bees, but she didn't remember ever learning about this. She didn't see how even the capitol with al their resources and technology could make a creature like this, and it frankly terrified her. Katniss thought she had been scared before, but nothing could prepare her for the feeling going through her body right now. She couldn't move. She was paralyzed.
Luckily though the creature hadn't seemed to notice them yet.
"Hey you see the lion-man too, right?" Percy whispered.
Katniss could only nod in response.
