Chapter Thirty-One, Arrow to the Knee

Artemis gasped, feeling Caskar's strong fingers around his neck. Clearly, his moment of distraction had not lasted long enough. The pale boy moved around, trying to force Caskar's fingers open with his own, even though they were far from having the required strength.

Seeing his opponent's weak fighting attempts, the District 1 boy began to laugh. He tightened his grip on Artemis's neck and struggled with his pant's pockets to get his knife out. When he would get back to the Capitol, he would make sure that the stylist who had designed the outfit would get fired!

Buying some time, Caskar dug his nails in Artemis's skin, his laughter becoming even more loud and disturbing, perhaps betraying some type of mental trouble.

Between Caskar's hands, Artemis was now twisting, desperately trying to make an escape. The boy gritted his teeth, finding it harder than ever to conceal the pain he was feeling.

Not today, thought Artemis, I will certainly not die today. The young man lifted his right foot and hurled it back down – heel first – on his captor's toes.

The tall boy sneered, merely bothered by Artemis's attack, especially because now, his dagger was ready. In a matter of a few seconds, Caskar would either slash the boy's throat or stab him in the back. The boy from District 1 took a first swing, but just as the tip of his blade was about to touch Artemis's neck, the Career's hand was stopped in motion by the spear the raven-haired boy had retrieved. Caskar struggled against the stick until it snapped in two, losing the grip he had on his dagger, but also the one he had on Artemis. As the weapon flew a few meters away from the two opponents, the District 3 tribute took the opportunity to break free, running straight back to where he had come from.

As quickly as he could manage it, Caskar picked up his dagger and went after Artemis. He was certainly not going to let him go without blood being shed.

Artemis Fowl was not a runner; it was one of the many things he knew he would be forced to pay back for at some point in his life and that point was apparently in a very close future. Nevertheless, with Caskar being partially delusional, the boy from the past still had a chance of defeating and outsmarting him… If only he could get some distance from the District 1 boy; Caskar was at his heels, now armed with two knives and still laughing like a maniac.

Artemis could not exactly see where he was running, but took a quick turn to the left, plunging deeper in the forest. Branches flew by the adversaries's faces, bugs buzzed around them and strange creatures looked at the pair as they ran… One of those creatures being an opalescent reptile hissing in a shelter of moss and vines… In a split second, Caskar froze, feeling the snake's eyes on him.

Artemis became aware of the Career's stillness and quickly ducked behind a large rock, which could hopefully conceal him completely. He felt his heart pound so rapidly in his chest that for a moment, he was sure that its beat would give him away.

Cautiously, Caskar took a few steps back, keeping his eyes on the snake. "Where did you go?" he shouted, giving side-glances around the forest to find his foe. He had stopped laughing and his expression had turned into a serious mask. From the corner of his eye, he then saw the opalescent snake slither away, causing him to crack a mischievous grin. "When I will find you, you will be more than dead," said the Career with an odd tone, which was both soft and aggressive at the same time. He circled the area around him with his gaze one last time before suddenly launching forward, brandishing his knives in front of everything he thought was moving, including a few invisible squirrels.

Artemis felt his heart beat in his throat and pound in his ears. His eyes slowly moved from Caskar to the objects in his hand, as though the tall boy could discover his plan if his gaze moved too rapidly. That is completely irrational, thought Artemis as his hazel and deep blue eyes landed upon his bow and arrow.

"Ah, ha… I know where you are… I found you Fowl," bluffed Caskar, relying on the fact that maybe, Artemis would crumble the pressure of being hunted.

Artemis smiled, not exactly fooled by the Career's plan. Imagine that you are the hunter… His own advice to Silyah resonated in his mind over and over again. Believe that you are hunting him. You have the advantage; you know where he is and he doesn't have a clue about where you are. Or at least, Artemis hoped that the Career didn't know his exact location.

The pale teenager drew one long breath through his mouth as he raised his bow and drew its string back. Carefully, he peeked out of his hiding place, aiming at Caskar's right leg, right above his knee.

The tribute from 1 saw the arrow pass right beside him as his opponent released it and his grin gradually widened. Now, he knew where Artemis was. The Career approached the large rock behind which he was sure the District 3 boy was hidden… However, whatever kind of cruel and brutal death Caskar had planned for Artemis would have to wait; somehow, the slender teenager had loaded a new arrow on his bow and that very arrow had now entered Caskar's right knee at full velocity.

Caskar's shocked gaze went down to the projectile in his leg. All of the sudden, he began to shake his painful limb in every direction, trying to shoo away the fuzzy brown squirrel that was dancing on top of it, unaware that he had been hallucinating the animals ever since he had been knocked out by Silver.

With Caskar now dealt with, Artemis got up and backed away quickly, running as far as he could from the Career. After a few meters, he turned around, just in case his foe might have miraculously managed to follow him, but fortunately, there was no one at his chase. Caskar was actually way too busy with another severe fit of hallucinations to even be able to notice that Artemis had fled.

The raven-haired boy therefore kept on going further in the forest, not bothering to pay much attention to the tree branches around him, resulting in a few scratches on his hands and a deep red line on the right side of his jaw. Nevertheless, Artemis carried on until he finally caught a glimpse of Silyah. He was still at a reasonable distance from her when he felt his legs give up on him and collapsed on the ground, breathing fast.

As soon as she saw him, Silyah headed for Artemis. She wanted to run back to him and make sure that he was safe and sound, but instead, she only managed to stumble towards the boy. Her own breathing sequence was nearly as abnormal as Artemis's… Most likely an effect of her snakebite… When she reached Artemis, she sat beside him, letting him rest for a little while before hugging him.

"I'm so glad you are alive!" She tightened her grip on him to then let him go in order to look in his mismatched eyes. "But that was very stupid."

Artemis opened his eyes, looking at his companion. "You know what it means to me," he replied, pointing to his coin, completely oblivious of the fact that for the first time in his life, one of his ideas had been called "stupid."

"Yes, but do you know what your life means to me right now?"

The boy smiled faintly. "I am starting to realize it."

There was a moment of silence during which Silyah brushed Artemis's hand with her own and then, the girl took a deep breath followed by a sigh. "So… Do you think it's safe to build our camp here?"

"Yes, Caskar is too busy with… I am not quite sure with what, but I am confident that he will not try track us anytime soon."

Silyah swallowed back a lump of worry. "How did you get away?"

"I shot him in the knee."

"Oh, dear…" whispered Silyah, shaking her head as she attempted one of her smiles. "You actually injured him?" she asked with an ounce of humor in her voice.

"Well, he was trying to kill me…"

"Then good thing you had those arrows close by," she said, giving Artemis's shoulder a gentle nudge.

"Which reminds me; we should get the camp ready and find some food before nightfall," remarked Artemis, getting to his feet.

Silyah pulled out some roots from her pockets. "I've got the food part covered."

"Good, but I had in mind something with a little more meat in it…"

"Do you want to give hunting a try while I build the tent?"

"Yes, why not… Practice never hurts."

Silyah nodded in acknowledgement and began to build a new camp, always keeping an eye on Artemis in case he might be trying to hide an injury.

In the mean time, the boy took something out of his bag; a small metal box… The truffles to be exact… The raven-haired teenager gave Silyah a grin when he noticed her puzzled expression and then, he left, heading for the woods nearby. His bow and truffle box in hands, Artemis walked into the woods until he found a suitable spot and then, he laid a single truffle on the soft grass of the arena. It was not too long before a pair of rather large birds landed by the piece of chocolate and it took even less time for one of them to start picking at the truffle. As Artemis shot the second bird, the first one stepped away from the dessert, letting go of a strange choked chirp before suddenly dropping dead. Well, that was effective and quite educative, mused Artemis, carefully collecting the two feathered creatures.

When he got back with his catch, Silyah shot the boy an incredulous look. "Let me guess; you attracted them with the poisoned truffles?"

Artemis smirked, displaying a huge level of satisfaction. "Yes," he replied, "Fortunately for us, those truffles contain a substance which make them enticing to any living being, as proven by this bird. Also, the death of this creature, which we will certainly not eat, allowed me to calculate the exact strength of the poison, as well as how it would affect an average human being," he explained, turning his gaze to the sky. "So thank you," he added in Gnommish.

Back in the Gamemaker's room, the dark-haired lady, the one who called herself Belinda Zito, was not particularly happy.

How insolent! In the last few minutes of the Games, she had seen her own opal snake mutation distract Caskar from Artemis, and now, the boy was using her poisoned truffles to find food.

Furiously following Havensbee's protocol, she watched over the small-scale digital replica of the arena in front of her, pondering about her next move. Her only hope of getting rid of Artemis Fowl once and for all was Kalheb. It had not been a coincidence that both the District 9 boy and the District 3 female had been bitten by the lovely opal snake she had created…

"Plutarch!" she spat. "Have you taken my idea of the feast in consideration?" she asked him with a slightly sweeter tone.

The Head Gamemaker looked up from his monitor. "Yes, Ms. Zito, I did."

Belinda cleared her throat, waiting for a more consistent reply. "We might use it if the tributes you have in mind are still alive at the moment of the feast," nodded Plutarch.

Belinda smirked in delight. One of the District 3 tributes would have to die one way or another if Kalheb played his part right…

"What an action packed day we had up to date!" exclaimed Caesar cheerfully. "First off, Caskar Tristol and Silver Canemon finally met up after a whole week in the arena, however, their encounter was probably not what those two had expected… The tributes brawled for a moment until Caskar fell and someone else searching for a good fight interrupted Silver."

"Unfortunately for Harbor Pearl, his fight with Silver ended up being his last one," continued Claudius. "Then, later on, after a lovely morning vacation by a waterfall, Silyah and Artemis split up to find food and shelter, a decision which lead to a breath-taking confrontation – pardon the pun. The young District 3 girl was actually attacked by a reptile – probably the same one that had taken a bite out of Kalheb yesterday, while a delusional Caskar found out the emplacement of the District 3 camp."

"Here we go again…" said Beetee, his face deeply buried in his palm. Despite his despair, he had to admit that his tributes were giving a good show; they were always there to save the other in perilous situations, however, they probably were the ones who hung around trouble the most often.

"Oh my goodness!" screamed Ilranor. "Do not go back in there…" whispered the stylist, squeezing Effie's freshly manicured hand as she watched Artemis head back to the waterfall.

"You know, the tributes cannot hear you through the television," said Beetee, his ear still slightly ringing after Ilranor's shrill exclamation.

Effie made a "hush" sound; Caskar had found Artemis and she did not want to miss a single second of what might happen next. This is not good at all, she thought.

Silyah could not come and save Artemis this time; she was having her own fight with her body, which was not in the best of shapes and certainly not cooperating with what her brain was telling it to do. There was no doubt about it; the snake that had bit her had been a poisonous one and she would need medicine really soon in order to have the slightest chance of survival.

Beetee adjusted his spectacles and looked up to the screen. With luck, Artemis would not die too painfully, thought the mentor as he watched his tribute brawl. Yet, when all hope seemed to have been lost, the pale boy managed to make his opponent drop his weapon, resulting in one collective and astonished gasp from the District 3 team. The two boys then chased each other through the forest until the odds turned in Artemis's favor; a white snake with red eyes had slithered by the pair, distracting Caskar from his prey. Both the District 1 and District 3 mentors could not believe their eyes. If Caskar had not been subject to delusions, he would not have interrupted his chase, but considering the current circumstances, Artemis had a chance to escape… And apparently, he was just about to take that chance. Hidden behind a rock, the boy drew his bowstring and shot two arrows. The first one missed his target and the second one quickly found Caskar's leg.

"That was –" Caesar Flickerman could not find the right words. "Ladies and gentlemen, Artemis Fowl cheated death once again!" he finally said as Caskar was pulled back in his own world to battle fake furry enemies and as Artemis ran back to Silyah.

"I wonder what will happen when these two will be forced to part ways," pondered Claudius. "Given the fact that the rule about the two victors from the same District has been abolished right before the 75th Hunger Games, Artemis and Silyah's time together is getting shorter and shorter."

Ever since Katniss and Peeta, the Capitol highly despised relationships within the Games, but the audience of the show, on the other hand, craved for them. Hunger Games couples were usually extremely popular, even in the districts, so Caesar and Claudius often found themselves exploiting the complicity between the District 3 tributes. After all, it would soften the impact of the twenty-three televised deaths in the more rebellious districts.

"They are not and should not be a couple," whispered Beetee, his comment rendered quite ironic considering that Silyah was currently wrapping her arms around Artemis.