Chapter Thirty-Four, Delusions
Silyah had collapsed shortly before having to cross a river, barely a few meters away from the watercourse. Now, there was absolutely nothing she could do but to wait for the end to arrive. Although she was lying down between some rocks and trees, she felt as if her head was dancing a death waltz; spinning and spinning and twirling… Her limbs were now one hundred percent inoperative; the only things she was able to move were her eyes and lids.
Despite the pounding in her head, she heard the cannon when it went off. If she could have moved, she would have bitten her lip until she would have drawn blood. Top five, she thought, not wanting to survive until the top four. The girl closed her eyes, expecting death to come to pick her up as soon as possible.
Silyah had lost the count of time when she realized that she was not dead yet. Why was it taking so long? She felt as if her body was burning and freezing at this same time; this had to be the worst case of fever she had ever come upon. Tired of the darkness, she opened her eyes, looking at the pouring rain leaking through the leaves of the trees. At least this place is beautiful… It's good to know that the last thing I will see will not be a gruesome image.
"Silyah!"
The District 3 girl blinked a couple times. She must have been hallucinating, or really close to death for she had heard the voice of –
"Silyah!" the voice called again. There was no doubt anymore…
Silyah tried to open her mouth to answer the call. "Artemis?" she tried to say, but in reality, the sound that escaped her throat was more of an "Arghhis…" Despite of how faintly she had "spoken," it had been just enough to give the boy a clue as to where she was.
In a matter of seconds, Artemis Fowl – alive and almost kicking – kneeled down beside his ally. "Silyah…" his voice was now a whisper.
The pale girl stared at him, wondering how he had survived the feast. She almost felt relieved by his presence… But if he was alive, it meant that the chances of them being the last two survivors were getting stronger and stronger.
Artemis took notice of the sudden change in her eyes. It was pure fear staring at him.
"Shhh, be calm," said Artemis slowly, opening his backpack to retrieve the District 3/9 bag. "In a few second everything will be better, trust me."
She closed her eyes as Artemis raised the sleeve of her coat and inserted a syringe's needle in the crook of her elbow. The boy injected the antidote in Silyah's arm with the concentration of a surgeon; she would live.
Silyah felt the thick antidote traveling through her bloodstream, which meant that her limbs would soon be under her control again. She looked up, staring at Artemis's face with a desperate intensity as she cleared her throat. "Why don't you let me die?" she said so softly that he barely heard it. "You could win and then…" she paused and winced before going on with her sentence, this time switching to Gnommish. "Get back to your own time." Silyah's voice was as faint as the light breeze playing with the leaves of the trees and her naturally pale skin was now ghostly white, making her veins shockingly colorful.
Artemis let out a faint sigh. "Getting home might be impossible for me and it is not my first priority… Not yet…" he said in Gnommish. "Winning would not be the same without you," he then said, switching back to English, mostly for the audience.
The fear in Silyah's eyes had left its place to a mixture of sadness and admiration. She raised her arm ever so slightly, brushing Artemis's hand. "You're hurt," she whispered guiltily. Because of me, she felt like adding.
"Scratches… Nothing to worry about," said Artemis. "And they are not here because of you; the Gamemakers made sure that there would be a confrontation…"
"What happened back there?"
"It seemed like the snake that bit you had made another victim beforehand. Kalheb had also been bitten and the sponsors only gave one antidote. As I am sure you can see, he was not willing to accept my sharing offer…"
"Well in this case, thank you for saving me," whispered Silyah, looking down at Artemis's hand in hers.
"What kind of Prince would I be if I hadn't?" asked Artemis, giving her a smirk.
Effie had been particularly restless during the last two days. These kids were making her see all sorts of things and even if seeing people on the verge of death was one of the main realities of the Hunger Games, these two teenagers were really exploiting their luck. It's almost as if they were immortal, pondered Effie. Recently, Artemis and Silyah had been giving her way too much hope for her liking. How would she react when they would expire for good after having set the expectations of their loyal supporters so high? And that moment will probably come soon, frowned Effie. Silyah seemed to have a pretty powerful poison in her system and despite it being an extremely slow one, she was fading away with every breath she took… And Artemis… He seemed to attract Career tributes like glamorous shoes attracted the new District 3 escort.
The announcement of the feast had just been televised and now, the cameras were all on the District 3 team, which was discussing whether or not they should attend to it. Obviously, Silyah needed something in order to survive for a few more nights, but she did not seem to care about it. It was as if she was trying to dig her own grave…
Apart from that, not much happened during the rest of the day, but the next morning, the morning of the feast, was full of promises and with a little bit of television magic, that very time had come at last.
"Claudius, I think that we finally have the answer to the lass poll we gave our audience."
"Indeed, Caesar. Caskar Tristol was the first one to make it to the feast."
The two announcers recited a few facts about the boy's degenerating mental health and pointed out the fact that he had started to look through the bags that were not his. That is when Silver Canemon arrived, armed of her last blow dart.
Under the thrilled stares of their spectators, the two enemy tributes fought until Silver did something that made a few Capitol citizens squeal in a delighted disgust.
"I cannot believe my eyes!" said Caesar, which made Claudius smirk.
"Neither can Caskar," laughed the second announcer. "Or I think that the most appropriate way to phrase that sentence would be 'I can't believe my eye!'" The camera followed Caskar as he retreated in the woods, his hand covering his right and empty eye socket.
"We'll definitely have to keep and eye out for him, he will try to get his revenge for that one, that is for sure," said Caesar, smiling his billion watts smile.
"True. You know what they say," added Claudius grimly. "An eye for an eye." Claudius thought that he was being hilarious and so did the Capitol citizens of Panem, but somehow, that year, Effie had not been amused by the announcer's play on words about the tributes' wounds. In fact, her excitement about the Games seemed to be fading a little more each year…
The camera then swept back to the Cornucopia where Zinque Chart grabbed his small backpack and ran away, avoiding to walk by the bloody trail left behind by Caskar.
On the small table that had been placed next to the Cornucopia for the purpose of the feast, only one bag remained. Beetee gave the screen a curious yet worried look as Artemis appeared at its corner.
Once again at the edge of her seat, Effie and the rest of the District 3 team watched from a "Kalheb point of view" as the muscular boy sneaked on Artemis. This time, this is it. Artemis's enemy magnet had been activated once more. It's a shame it has to be Kalheb… thought the woman with the blue lipstick as she realized that there was no way Artemis's situation could be solved without a fight.
Each knife Kalheb Frotz threw in Artemis's direction made Effie's heart jump in her chest as the two boys battled, climbing up the cliff leading to the upper part of the arena, fighting over a single syringe of anti-poison medicine.
Seated at his usual spot at a few places from Effie, Beetee could not hide his surprise when Artemis launched his first arrow into Kalheb's hand. We might not be completely lost, hoped the mentor. Nevertheless, a frown appeared on his lips when he realized what would happen next…
"A simple 'no' would have been quite enough," said Artemis, all too aware that his next move would earn him some terrible consequences… Kalheb had refused his proposal to share the antidote and a new arrow had been loaded on the District 3 boy's bow. Artemis fired a second time, landing his projectile land in Kalheb's muscular chest, making the young man stumble backwards.
Watching one of the most handsome tributes of the year's Hunger Games being crushed and destroyed by his fall had been absolutely terrifying according to many. Nearly gagging, Effie forced herself to look at the screen before her as Artemis opened Kalheb's lifeless hand to get the antidote.
"That was very heroic of him," said Ilranor, which made Beetee sigh.
"Yes; now he will go save Silyah and they will live happily ever after as hermits in the arena's woods. Oh, wait. This is the Hunger Games; there can only be one survivor." The mentor frowned once again. He had learned this lesson very personally in the arena. "You see, one of them is bound to suffer while the other dies."
On the screen, Beetee's first statement was indeed confirmed; Artemis had found Silyah, half unconscious in the woods and he was determined to keep the girl's heart beating. The dark-haired teenager carefully handled the antidote-filled syringe, inserting it in Silyah's pale and limp arm. Slowly but surely, the girl seemed to gain back enough strength to formulate a sentence.
"Why don't you let me die? You could win and then…" She paused, mumbling something that no one really understood…
Well, no one but Artemis, apparently, for he seemed to reply to her in the same incoherent stance before finally saying something which all of Panem got loud and clear. "Winning would not be the same without you."
While most of the audience let out a light-hearted sigh or a squeal, Beetee took a breath and buried his face in his palm…
Caskar wrapped the eye patch he had received from a disgusted sponsor around his head. He had not seen the impact of Silver's attack yet, but he assumed that if a sponsor had sent him something to hide it, it must have been very unattractive.
After having cleaned up the blood from his face, the boy opened the small package he had managed to drag back from the Cornucopia. Medicine from the Capitol, read the small card accompanying a rectangular pill container. The Career grabbed the three capsules and swallowed them, washing them down with a gulp of water.
He had become aware of his state as soon as his eye had been pocked out of his head and he was more than eager to come back to his senses completely. No more delusions, please, he thought. Delusions had stained his perfect plan to get rid of Silver and Artemis; he had even let them escape his grip more than once, but now, nothing would stop him. The boy shook his head. He would let the pills work their magic and then finally take his revenge.
A pale and bloody hand appeared from the ledge of a cliff, its rust-tinted fingers curling up in a claw-like fashion as they grasped a root from the ground in order to help the body it belonged to climb up the surface of the rocky façade.
At first, Artemis thought that his mind was playing nasty tricks on him and thus blinked a few times. The hand disappeared from his field of view, much to the boy's relief. However, the blessed feeling did not last for too long for suddenly, something brushed Artemis's ankle, tickling his leg in a way that sent cold waves up his backbone rather than making him want to crack a smile. Although he already knew what he would discover there, the boy glanced down towards his foot.
The claw-like fingers were holding on to his flesh so tightly that for a moment, Artemis thought that they had punctured his skin. Soon enough, the boy realized that the blood that was dripping down his ankle was not his; it came from the gaping hole at the center of the hand. The bones that were sticking out from the hole scratched Artemis's leg when the grip tightened, making him cringe. Though Artemis never usually let his fear show, there was no way to hold in the pure terror he felt. The pale, panicked teenager shook his leg in order to make the hand let go of him and once he succeeded, he did the first thing that came to his mind and ran.
"You thought you could kill me, right?" laughed a bloody and battered Kalheb.
Artemis stumbled forward, trying to get some distance from the District 9 boy's broken body.
With all the strength left in him after his fall, Kalheb ran after Artemis. "This chase is not over, Fowl!"
So had Artemis noticed, despite the fact that this chase seemed technically impossible; how could the District 9 boy run with an arrow in his chest? Well, at least he did not appear to have any more daggers.
"Artemis?" The boy slowed down, hearing a faint voice calling his name. The tribute's gaze followed the sound, finding Silyah, lying on the ground a few meters behind him. Was it even possible to say that she had gotten worst?
A quiet word escaped Artemis's dry lips. "Silyah…"
A poisoned truffle was between her fingertips. "If I die, you can win. Nothing will happen. If you die, it might have repercussions on all of us."
"This is no time to study time paradoxes!" He told her, slowing down his pace once again.
This was no time, indeed. Actually, it was already too late. Kalheb had picked up Silyah like a child… He took her between his massive, yet injured hands and in one quick movement, he snapped her neck, hurling her into a tree. A sharp branch stabbed her chest and sent a gush of scarlet blood in the District 9 boy's direction. The cannon went off.
Artemis felt his heart stop in his chest. No, no… It couldn't be real! No!
Kalheb tossed Silyah's body at Artemis's feet. The frail boy gasped as he turned away, not wanting to see the empty stare in the girl's pale blue eyes. This sudden turn unfortunately cause Artemis to hit a tree, which he was sure had not been in his path mere seconds ago.
Kalheb grinned. "I think that you won't need the antidote anymore."
Artemis spun around a second time in order to face Kalheb, but the taller boy seemed to have vanished.
The wind was whistling a dark lullaby through the arena's trees as a hovercraft removed Silyah's remains from the ground. That was it; the ever-positive girl Artemis had found in District 3 was gone. Never again would he see her smiling features… The cream-nose… The Clockwork Angel… Artemis's body was shaking now. His heartbeat was loud in his ears. The only thing left of Silyah was the patch of blood at the boy's feet.
Turning back to where he had first headed, Artemis continued his run; the dark sky and heavy atmosphere had become unbearable.
The boy had not come very far before his left foot got stuck into a root, causing his face to have an abrupt meeting with the ground. In a dreadful instant, Artemis had expected Kalheb to find him, but fortunately, that moment never came. The teenager thus sat up to catch his breath, only to be startled by the loud sound of thunder as it echoed through the arena and as a heaving rain began to fall from the sky. Artemis's raven hair stuck to the side of his pale face as he turned once again, certain that Kalheb was still not gone even if the only sound he could hear aside from the rain was the one of his own ragged breathing.
All of a sudden, a hand dived on Artemis's chest, right over his heart. Kalheb's smile was huge and lacking a few teeth. His hand dug deeper in the District 3 boy's skin, drawing some blood.
Artemis let out a strangled gasp, staring right into Kalheb's empty-looking eyes. As his vision got foggy, Artemis's stare fell on the other boy's chest; more specifically on the wound that had helped in his death. Blood was not flowing from the gaping hole anymore, but Kalheb's heart was visible and very still.
The corpse then turned and twisted his hand, ripping away a piece of Artemis's skin.
The frail boy let go of a scream that would have reached the underground city of Haven, said that it still existed somewhere underneath Panem…
"Artemis? Artemis wake up!" Silyah shook the boy's shoulders. He must have had a nightmare, presumed the girl as she took in consideration the scream still hanging on her companion's lips.
The boy in question opened his eyes, abruptly sitting up as his hand moved to cover the spot where "Kalheb's" nails had perforated his skin. Breathing fast and shallow breaths, Artemis slowly took in his actual surroundings, sitting in his shelter with wide eyes.
Silyah stayed beside him, unmoving and unspeaking, once again proving that she would always be at his side if he needed her. She knew that something was wrong with him by the look in his eyes; she was one of the few who knew how to read through him.
Artemis had not budged yet; his hand was still clutching his chest. He still did not feel ready to speak, fearing that his vocal chords might fail at making his voice sound steady.
"Nightmare?" asked Silyah.
Artemis nodded weakly before noticing that he was having a soundless conversation with the bown-haired girl… A shiver then went down his spine, remembering that he had seen the girl die in his dream… The horrible scenery was still so vivid behind his eyelids.
"Looks like we just switched roles," she smiled. "Usually, I am the one having nightmares and saving your life."
Still, no response came from the boy. Whatever he had dreamed about had truly shaken him. Silyah felt like smoothing Artemis's hair back, like her mother used to do to her whenever she had bad dreams, but she decided against it. Artemis was still in shock.
Eventually, the teenager calmed down, just enough to be able to form a complete and coherent sentence. "I am… Sorry if I woke you up…"
"It's fine," shrugged Silyah. "To your defense, I did disturb your sleep back in the Training Center."
"That was ages ago… And I was already awake." Ages ago… Quite an ironic statement for a time-traveler… Artemis ran a hand through his hair, trying to get some order into it. "Speaking of, you never told me what you had dreamed about that night."
Silyah looked in the distance. She knew that the scenario of the dream that had been haunting her for the past days was getting dangerously close to becoming an eventual reality. "I dreamt that we were the only ones left…"
"And?" asked Artemis. The chances of him getting some more sleep were already quite slim, so he figured that he might as well talk with Silyah for a little while.
"Caskar had just died and it was the first time we ever saw one another in the arena. You were glad to see someone you knew, but then I told you that only one of us could win and I –" Silyah shook her head, not wanting to scare Artemis. "Understand that I would never do that, but in that dream I… Killed you."
"Is that why you had refused to come close to my neck?"
Silyah smiled due to the strangeness of the question. "Yes… I had strangled you. I saw your eyes looking straight into mine with such a hatred for having taken your life."
"Are you worried that it might happen?" asked Artemis.
"Yes." Then, Silyah stared at Artemis, mentally slapping herself. "I mean, yes, I am worried that we might be the last two tributes, but I would never, ever kill you."
"I never thought you would," replied Artemis, hints of his usual calm behavior coming back into his voice. "Had you wanted me out of the Games, you would have left me in the river."
"That day, I could not stand to see you like that, frozen to the bones and at the verge of dying… It had reminded me of my dream, Ice Prince."
"Well, perhaps I should be glad you had that nightmare; if you had not dreamed it, you might have chosen to let me die… Although, it would have made things less complicated…"
"Don't say that." Silyah had never felt particularly hate-filled in regards to the Capitol; she had never really liked it, of course, but now, a burning rage built up inside of her, developing into a pure hatred. Leave it up to the Capitol to force two people to wish for their death to spare the other!
"I just did," sighed Artemis as he peeked through the small opening at the entrance of the tent. "It's still dark outside, you should get some sleep."
"Are you sure you don't want to talk through your nightmare?"
"No… There is no need to do so; I am fine…"
Silyah gave him a sympathetic smile and tucked herself in her bed sheet. It was not too long before she found sleep.
Artemis sat by the tent's entrance in silence. He would not be falling asleep again for quite a while…
The boy looked up to the sky, at the spot where they had shown Kalheb's face mere hours ago. The rain outside had diminished to a light drizzle and the moon, which was almost full, glowed bright against the dark blue sky. The boy let out a faint sight, his eyes locked on the moon. Even though it was not full yet, Artemis could have sworn that he could hear it sing to him; a proof that he still had a bit of magic left at the base of his skull… The Irish boy closed his eyes, trying to find N1's anchor point. He could still feel it within him, but it was still unreachable…
What was blocking him in the future?