Chapter 31: Artemis Raidy

Artemis sharpened her broadsword in its special, corresponding sheath she'd found in the Cornucopia on the first day. The flinty, sharp metal on the inside of the sheath reminded her of the paring knives she'd used to cut fruit with her mama in their kitchen back home in Two.

Fruit…. Oh, how she missed the wonderful fruit she used to pick from the little garden her mother kept with such care out front of their home, overlooking the stone quarries! It was a shame that, here in this tropical rainforest, there were so many tempting delights that she could have plucked right off the branches, especially in those moments where water had been scarce and dehydration had been breathing down her and her allies' necks. But Calista had warned her to be careful – poison was the oldest Gamemaker trick in the book, and it wasn't too much a stretch of the imagination to think that someday, the dogs who designed the arenas might fill an entire arena with poison if they could manage it.

Artemis looked back at her quintet of allies – her district partner, Hagen; the kids from One, Opal and Topaz, and both of the brats from 4, Juba and Nyle. With his dark skin, Juba was the most interesting thing to come out of the Fishing District in years; clearly, his ancestors weren't from there. Handsome too, in his own way, but she didn't sleep around with darkies. A shame, really – she wouldn't have minded a good fuck before she potentially died.

Artemis didn't voice any of these thoughts aloud, though. They were appallingly racist, and Hagen would be the first to call her out on it, but she didn't very much care. The Fatherland was the favored land – so it had always been, so it should always be. Four had waged naval war on their benevolent benefactors during the Dark Days. The fact that they had any Victors at all, never mind three, was beyond her. Hell, the fact that District 2 could only claim five Victors in the last thirty years – one out of every six – filled her with rage.

Though, speaking of six…. She was confident that District 2's sixth Victor would be her. A female from Two hadn't won since Calista, her mentor, and it was time for a change. Hagen was fine, but he was just another Magnus, and they only needed one of those, thank the State!

BOOM. The sound of a cannon made everyone pause in their activity around the camp at the Cornucopia, all of them dashing into a line to peer up through the canopy of leaves to sky, as if that might give them some answers. It would, but not in the middle of the day – the faces of the dead tributes didn't appear until night.

And, if Artemis had her way, she wouldn't be spending another night in this hot, fly-infested hellhole.

"Six," Juba rumbled in a baritone that made Artemis's cunt traitorously clinch.

Hagen turned to him. "That's it, then? I mean, should we finish it off?"

The boy from 4's teeth clenched. "I've been keeping careful track. I tell you, it's just us left."

"Yeah, Hagen, who taught you how to count?" Topaz ribbed. They all shared a light, but strained, chuckle at that.

Hagen accepted the tally with a firm nod of his head. "All right, then, boys. But if you're wrong, and I have to hunt down one snot-nosed little outlier for several more days in the jungle…"

"…. And who says that's going to be you?" Opal casually flicked her sweaty, matted blonde hair out of her eyes, running a sultry finger along the edge of her axe's blade.

Nyle was keeping her trident close and acting jumpy. "So…. are we gonna settle this like civilized people?"

Opal screamed with derisive laughter. "Civilized people? Bitch, in the arena, there ain't no such thing." So saying, she leapt forward abruptly and swung. Her axe had taken off Nyle's head in one clean stroke, before the other girl had time to cry out or even raise her trident.

Artemis leaped back, unsheathing her broadsword; she heard the HISS of its blade rubbing naturally against the flint sharpeners. Watching Nyle's decapitated skull give one last bounce along the jungle floor, she stifled a wince. She had thought the sprightly fourteen-year-old would actually hang on longer; it had been an easy decision to absorb her and Juba into their pack, much like the Careers had done with the 4 pair three years prior, except look where that got them! As much as she had liked Nyle and even Juba while it lasted, Artemis hoped a Career pack with District 4 as regulars wouldn't become a thing.

The five Careers were now circling each other, weapons poised: Juba had both arms raised, a harpoon in one and a javelin in the other. Long-range weapons; Artemis figured she could dodge that. And also any blows from Topaz, who was hefting a spear. Hagen had a pair of naginata – Japanese swords – unsheathed and twirling like they were batons.

They were all breathless with anticipation, yet Hagen made the effort to keep it civil, as had what turned out to be Nyle's dying wish. "Calm down now! We settle this like gentlemen… and ladies." He gave two deferential dips of his head in the direction of Artemis and Opal. "We go into melee fiercely but deliberately. We are professionals after all… and literate." He smirked at Opal. "Seriously, District One, who taught you grammar? Ain't is what rubes in swamps like Eleven and Twelve say when they don't want a shag!" He thrust his hips out as if for emphasis.

Opal glowered. "I'm not here to fuck, Two. Just to kill." And with a roar, she actually did a pretty impressive fake-out and went right for her own district partner. Though he let out a shout of surprise, Topaz just managed to block her axe with the spear's tip…

Except he wasn't watching his six. Hagen leapt forward and diced up his back like it was a slab of meat. Topaz slumped to the ground with a moan, and lay still. The sound of the cannon firing was almost completely masked by the CLANG! of metal as naginata met axe.

Artemis circled the bout, actually hoping that Opal would come out the stronger. Illegally Blonde, she could take. Her own district partner, she wasn't so sure. An all-district pair Top Two hadn't happened since the Quarter Quell, and that had been the first. It had never occurred for a Career district. Artemis didn't want to find out what that was like.

Opal's axe was heavier, and greater in area, but Hagen had speed and dexterity despite his large size. He danced away from every swipe, teasing the pretty princess from One, and when he finally got her frustrated enough to swing wide, he ducked and made his move.

He dismembered her axe arm at the elbow, the weapon and her forearm with it dropping to the ground with a sickening THUD. Opal screamed and reached to staunch the bleeding on her stump, but it was too late: Hagen hacked off her other arm, then swung both naginata blades in close, beheading her smoothly so that the silver blades met in a kiss where Opal's skull had once been.

Artemis had to hide a smile. He was showing off, putting on a grand finale for the Gamemakers…

… except that finale ended anti-climactically when Hargen suddenly gargled and clawed at his throat where the tip of a harpoon had suddenly appeared there. He dropped, revealing a dark and exhilarated Juba, radiating power.

Artemis sighed, and she and Juba began to circle each other, while she always made sure to keep her eye on the javelin in his free hand.

"Shame I have to kill you, my dear," Juba drolled, his voice accented and as smooth as a lover's caress. "We could have been…. shall we say, friends? Perhaps more than friends?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"I wouldn't have gone down on you even for a laugh, coon!"

Artemis didn't like being so explicitly racist outside of her own head, but the slur did its job in getting her opponent angry. His eyes narrowed, and with a bellow, he hurled the javelin.

Too easy. She sidestepped it, heard it glance off of something behind her, likely the Cornucopia horn. She started to break into a charge as she watched, almost in slow-motion, Juba dive for the naginata that lay next to Hagen's body.

A spasm of pain shot through the side of her abdomen just then and she drew up short, letting out a yell of shock and pain before she looked down, just for the briefest of instances. Juba's javelin had rebounded and managed to hit her in the side, the tip of it sinking sickeningly into her flesh.

Artemis glanced up just in time to see Juba closing in for the kill with a roar and she cried out as she brought her broadsword up in the nick of time, parrying his steady barrage as he pressed the advantage down on her. The nimble Four boy actually leapt into the air at one point while windmilling the naginata blades towards her. It was some fancy footwork indeed, and likely something the media would play in the arena recaps at the Victory Ceremony.

One of Juba's blades twisted down hard, and Artemis yelped as her broadsword was sent spinning out of her hands. She turned back to see one blade almost pecking her throat.

Juba sneered. "Goodbye, dear. Though you are filthy, I shall let you have something to take on your way." So saying, he suddenly tugged Artemis close and passionately kissed her right on the mouth.

Artemis's eyes bulged and she let out a squeak against his lips, hands pressed into his chest. Tasting chocolate hadn't been part of her game plan!

But then she watched as Juba's eyes drooped shut, along with the blade at her neck as he encircled her to deepen the embrace.

Artemis saw her chance and seized it. Moaning a little and swooning, she kissed him back, one hand curling up to the nape of his neck…

While with the other…

The tearing of flesh would, and did, give Juba only a split-second of warning, so Artemis moved fast. With her lips still pressed to his, she jabbed the tip of the javelin upward, right through a stunned Juba's chin.

Only then did she break the kiss with a POP! Headmistress Hippolyta said it was never classy to use seduction as a tactic, except that Juba had made the first move. And in this case…

"You were saying, love?"

Juba couldn't answer as he pitched backwards, dead before he hit the jungle earth.

Artemis wiped the taste of him off her lips. The trumpets sounded.