Chapter Thirty, The Token

"Stay still…" Silyah told Artemis. "Your face looks extremely funny when you wince."

"Well, if it wasn't for the alcohol-based antiseptic you're putting into my wounds, I would not be wincing," murmured Artemis.

"It's the only thing I had in my first aid kit." Silyah had insisted on disinfecting Artemis's wounds after their bath due to the fact that the arena water was not exactly the cleanest one. The boy was already on the road to recovery, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, if the product did sting Artemis, it meant that there was still something going on in his closing cuts.

"So you told me. Please, just get done with it; this stings more than that blasted eyeliner!"

Silyah sighed as she moved away from Artemis. "There you go… Done." The girl set their newly washed clothes under the sun for them to dry and then sat back beside Artemis on the blanket she had laid on the ground.

Artemis observed her, his fingers lightly touching the scar on his forehead before going through his damp hair, which no longer looked like the smoothed back raven hair he was used to sport. It was strange to think that a few days ago, his prep team had been styling his hair and dressing him up… Yet, sitting under a birch tree shading them from the sun, the two District 3 tributes could have almost forgotten that they were in the Hunger Games. When it was not under tons of treacherous snow, the arena was actually a very beautiful place. Everything in it was so diversified that each look around the forest was like a trip around the world in itself… At least one would be sure to see something alluring before dying… What a consolation.

As Artemis reflected upon the landscape, Silyah looked at him, studying the angles of his face; how the shadows and the light fell on his features.

The raven-haired boy slowly turned to face her. "You are aware of the fact that you are staring at me, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am…" she said, turning around to peel a layer of the birch tree's trunk. "I would like to try something…" She reached for the closest knife she could find.

Artemis sent her a dubious look. What had the girl in mind?

"Turn your head slightly towards your right."

The boy was about to ask her why, but decided to give Silyah the benefit of the doubt as she began to scratch parts of the birch's bark. By intervals, she focused on her task, then on Artemis's face.

The young man was now getting curious. What was she doing? "Silyah, what are –"

The girl made a "hush" sound and instructed Artemis not to move too much. "I'll tell you when you will be able to start moving again."

Artemis almost wanted to roll his eyes, but Silyah's instructions prevented him to do so. After all, one did not exactly avoid the orders of a girl with a knife. Or at least, that was the excuse Artemis had found to motivate the fact that he was actually obeying to someone.

After some time, Silyah smiled. "Okay… I can continue without needing you to stay still."

Intrigued, Artemis moved closer to Silyah in order to see what the girl had been doing.

"It's not quite done yet," she told Artemis as she handed him the piece of birch bark.

Artemis blinked. It was unmistakable; etched on the delicate makeshift paper was an exact replica of the boy's face. He handed it back to Silyah, amazed.

"I was inspired," she explained as she watched his reaction. "Do you like it?"

"Yes… You're very talented…" Artemis felt his heart beat get faster. Once again, that strange, foreign feeling had gotten hold of him, leaving him unsure of how to handle the situation.

"Thanks," smiled Silyah, going back to scratching parts of the bark, adding details to her portrait. She had drawn Artemis's face free of wounds, remembering the boy she had met on the train to the Capitol.

As Silyah finished off her etching, Artemis got to his feet, putting some order in the equipment which they had left a few meters away from the tree. The boy looked through each pockets of his backpack, making sure nothing had gotten lost since their departure from their first camp. Suddenly, something cold brushed his skin. Artemis picked it up, discovering a short silver chain. It was Silyah's bracelet. It did not look very expensive, though Artemis was sure that it was made of silver for it had not tarnished during its stay in the Games. A single charm was dangling from it; a delicate skeleton key with a small gemstone at its center.

Artemis walked back to Silyah, sitting down beside her. "You never told me about your token."

The girl looked from her finished drawing to the bracelet between Artemis's fingers. "Oh… It's not much, really," began Silyah. "I chose this bracelet as my token because it is the first thing that I bought with my own money, which I had earned by selling my electronic creations."

"Why a key?" wondered Artemis.

"I love keys, both for their utility and meaning. Keys in general have the power to protect whatever is dear to someone and skeleton keys can open any "door" coming one's way… There is the key to success, the key of happiness…"

Artemis nodded slowly. It made perfect sense.

"Mind if I take it back?" asked Silyah.

"No, of course not. It does belong to you."

Silyah exchanged the bracelet for the drawing she had been holding, letting Artemis observe it.

The boy took a closer look. He had to admit it; Silyah was skilled. Artemis could even see the difference in the shades of his eyes despite the fact that there was no color on the etching.

Silyah secured her bracelet around her wrist and placed her knife back where she had found it. She then leaned back beside Artemis, resting her shoulder against his.

Artemis briefly raised an eyebrow, taken by surprise, yet feeling oddly comfortable by this sudden proximity. After all, she had kissed him before; leaning on him was surely allowed after that.

Artemis turned his head to his right, looking in the eyes that were staring back at him. With each ticking seconds, the space separating the District 3 tributes was getting smaller and smaller.

All of the sudden, a cannon rang in their ears, reminding the two teenagers of where they really were. They both straightened up their backs their hearts fluttering for a completely new reason.

"Six…" whispered Silyah.

Artemis instantly knew what that simple number had meant. Six tributes were remaining out of the original twenty-four. Things were closing in now…

Hearing cannons always made Silyah frantic, making her want to move and hide somewhere where she would be unseen and safe. The girl went to the sun-filled spot where she had set their clothes to dry. They were still a bit damp… They would have to wait ten more minutes or so before being able to do anything.

"Relax," Artemis's voice came from behind her. "Moving won't do us any good; danger could be around every corner. I think that we are rather safe here; we can stay a little longer."

Silyah took a deep breath and nodded. "I hate to feel like a prey," she said, walking back to Artemis to sit beside him.

"Well, the trick would then be to imagine you are the hunter," said Artemis.

Silyah smirked. "That's not so bad of a trick. Actually, you pull it off very well, Artemis the Hunter."

Artemis's vampire smiled faintly flashed on his face. "It seems that something good finally came out from having a girl's name.

"Truth be told, I have heard names way stranger than yours for boys."

"For some reason, I have no trouble believing in that statement."

"I like this aspect of you…" said Silyah softly, partly thinking out loud. "We can always trust each other… When I'm around you, I feel much calmer and a tad more sane."

"Some people say that two minds think better than one. Perhaps this might be the reason you feel calmer; you don't have to do all the thinking by yourself."

"Maybe." Whatever the reason was, one thing was for sure; Silyah enjoyed Artemis's company.

Once their clothes had dried and were back on their shoulders, the two tributes from District 3 decided that they would stay by the waterfalls for the rest of the day. Artemis had proposed to build a shelter and gather kindling of a small campfire while Silyah would be off to collect edible plants.

The girl approved of his plan, handed him the pile of blankets she had in her coat's back pocket and disappeared in the forest, where she hoped to find nourishing items.

After a few minutes of walk, Silyah had found a bundle of the roots Novia had shown her on the first day in the arena, but nothing more. Fortunately, there were plenty of these roots. Silyah thus began to gather the plants until her coat's pockets were entirely filled. She was just about to turn around to grab one last root when she heard a strange hissing sound.

Almost instantly, the girl froze. Now was certainly not the moment to make any sudden movements. Slithering on the ground was a slick creature with red eyes that seemed to stare at her way too intelligently for the animal that bore them. Barely daring to breathe, Silyah mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that the opalescent snake in front of her would turn away and leave her alone.

The girl stayed still for a long time, but the snake would simply not go away. It just stared at her, licking its eyeballs and hissing. Even though she was paralyzed by fear, Silyah was well aware that she would not be able to stay like that forever. The young woman closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and sprinted away from the snake… But it was too late. When she opened her eyes, the creature's fangs were already sunken deep into her calf. Silyah let out a muffled scream and shook her leg, stepping on the snake with her free feet. Her actions certainly did not give the results she had expected to get. Even though the snake had let go of her calf, she had not yet gotten rid of it; it had moved up her leg, biting her once again, this time in the lower part of her thigh. Silyah's screams became more and more audible as her panic level rose.

While she ran, the tail of the snake wrapped itself tighter around her leg, attacking her with each step she took. If only I had something to – Silyah stopped her thought mid-sentence, remembering the knives concealed in her boots. Trying to ignore the snake's repetitive attacks, the girl reached for one of her knives, pulling it out of her shoe. After multiple tries, she managed to slice part of the snake's tail, which finally made it let go of her.

Feeling the adrenaline rushing through her system, Silyah ran back to the camp so quickly that she barely believed her own feet. When she arrived by the waterfall, the first thing she saw was Artemis and the lack of tent at his side. The girl stopped to catch her breath before trying to ask the young man why he had not built the shelter yet.

"Shhh…" Artemis handed Silyah her bed sheets and one of her spears, covering his lips with the index finger of his free hand.

"What is going on?" mouthed Silyah.

Artemis rolled his eyes, grabbing Silyah's arm after having picked up his own backpack. Then, he dragged her away from the waterfall and into the forest. Silyah followed the boy to the best of her abilities, still out of breath due to her previous run. Artemis had not yet noticed the bite wounds on her legs… Good.

The young man led the way long into the woods and only stopped when he was sure that both Silyah and he were out of danger.

Tripping over her own feet, Silyah collapsed on the ground. She rolled on her back and concentrated on steadying her breath and lowering her pulse. "What is going on, Artemis?"

The boy's eyes searched the area and then, he leaned down beside Silyah. "Someone was coming. By his tone and the depth of his voice, it was Caskar. I assumed that you had no intention of encountering him."

Silyah sat up, supporting herself on her elbows. Her eyes caught a glimpse of a bloody patch on her skin as she stretched her legs in front of her. She quickly wiped it off while Artemis was not looking. "I don't think any of us want to see him alive any time soon…"

Silyah shook her head; Artemis's eyes reflected such a serious expression that there was no way to doubt the fact that he had heard Caskar. "Thought so," he murmured, taking his backpack off to go through it.

"Do we have everything?" wondered Silyah, slowly getting up to help Artemis search through their equipment.

"It seems that we do…" Artemis frowned, rummaging through the backpack, not finding what he was looking for.

"What weapons did you pick up?"

"Your spear and my bow…" said the boy, not really paying attention to the girl.

Silyah picked up the items Artemis handed her and then reached for her water bottle. Her pulse and breathing were still uneven and worrying. Even with the training she had received, she was not in the best of shapes.

Artemis, on the other hand, seemed to get frustrated as he searched through his pockets.

Silyah noticed his expression, getting slightly alarmed. "What's missing?" There was no point in denying that something important had been forgotten beside the waterfall.

Artemis turned towards Silyah, one of his hands resting where his gold coin usually hung. "My token," he said with a strangled voice.

The girl did not even have the time to react; Artemis had already picked up his bow, running right back to where they had come from.

Are you crazy? This is like suicide! Silyah wanted to scream her thoughts at the top of her lungs, but judged best not to do so considering that Caskar could have been near. Instead, she clenched her spear and attempted to follow Artemis. He was certainly not going to die right in front of her again.

Artemis knew what he was doing and how dangerous it was, but the coin was all he had from his own time; all he had from her.

Silyah soon found that she would not be able to keep up with Artemis. She crumbled against a tree, feeling her pulse pound in her legs and chest. She could not do anything anymore, but breathe and watch her scarlet blood drip from her bite marks.

Artemis had now reached his destination, taking cover behind a thick tree as he caught sight of a strong-looking boy, mere meters away from him.

Despite his muscular stature, Caskar's hands were now twitching. He was frantically looking around him, as though surrounded by enemies. In fact, no matter where he laid his eyes, a squirrel would always be at the corner of his vision. Something in his mind was beginning to turn horribly wrong, but there was nothing he could do about it…

Artemis looked at the tall boy for a long time, scrutinizing each of his movements in order to see if a distraction would be necessary for him to have the time to find his token. After less than a minute, a possible plan of action bloomed in Artemis's mind. Keeping his bow and an arrow within reach, Artemis inched forward, being as silent as possible…

"There you are," grinned Caskar. For the time it took for Artemis's heart to speed up drastically, the boy from 1 laughed with an odd groggy voice… Then, as Artemis was about to let go of an arrow, the Career launched forward, the knife in his hand digging into the ground about two feet in front of him. "Argh!" he screamed as the tiny squirrel he had been chasing leaped away, avoiding his blade.

Artemis relaxed his arm, putting his arrow away as he raised an eyebrow, briefly wondering what was wrong with the District 1 boy… Fortunately, whatever it was, it would allow Artemis to find his coin without the necessity of a distraction.

The raven-haired teen therefore slowly made his way over to the tree Silyah and he had been resting under, hoping that Caskar would remain busy with his own issues. Finding the coin took Artemis about three seconds, including the time it took for him to hang it around is neck where it would always stay from now on. The coin had been beside the sets of spears and arrows Artemis had left behind. Giving them a good look, the boy bent down, judging that a few more weapons would do no harm to his team.

In the middle of his fight with the invisible animal, Caskar's grin got wider. Just in front of him; under a birch tree… He was there, picking up sticks on the ground… All of a sudden, the squirrel that had been harassing the District 1 boy disappeared, letting him focus on the pale teenager a few meters away from him. Caskar felt the handle of his new, still unused killing knife slide into the palm of his hand.

"Fowl," whispered the Career under his breath before struggling unsuccessfully against a fit of laughter. As soon as he became able to control his voice, Caskar stealthily walked towards Artemis… When he got close enough, he sprinted forward and quickly slid a hand around the frail boy's throat.