I know that I am coming to the end of my journey by the steadily increasing light that suffuses the passageway. It stands to reason that the Gamemakers would want to illuminate every drop of sweat and blood, the better to broadcast them with perfect clarity.

Compared to the dim glow of the luminescent fungi that I've gotten used to, my destination is so brightly lit that I have to stand and blink while my eyes adjust. I can imagine the live commentary now…Dazzle is dazzled! It doesn't take long before I'm able to see, though it takes me a few minutes to make sense of the weirdness that stretches out before me.

This chamber is much larger than the one that held the Cornucopia. The tunnel ends at my feet and drops sharply into a chasm so deep that I cannot see the bottom. Gigantic pedestals of stone rise from the depths, like islands in a twilight ocean. Each of the massive mesas seems to be topped by a different terrain. The one closest to me, still several hundred feet away, is a meadow of green grass dotted with pink and white flowers. Another gleams with a coating of ice crystals. An even more distant one is ringed with fire, and the middle bubbles with lava.

Smaller stones orbit through the empty space between the rock towers, floating without any visible support. They appear to be traveling in flat planes, at varying heights relative to the tops of the mesas. Some are moving more or less clockwise, some counterclockwise. Some trundle along slowly, and some zip past. I see that riding them is the only possible way to move between the pinnacles. As I stand considering what to do next, there is a slight shudder and a grinding noise behind me. I turn quickly, in time to see a featureless stone wall slide into place and block my only exit.

So far, I have lived through the Games by hesitating to charge blindly into the unknown, but there's nothing left for me to do. I guess it's lucky that I'm not afraid of heights. I wait until one of the smaller rocks paths close, then I hold my breath and jump.

I land on a surface that is much softer than I had expected, and I grab reflexively, though I quickly realize I am in no danger of falling off. It's not a rock at all, but more like a padded airbag. I am gratified that it isn't covered with oil, or that spikes don't leap out to impale me. The floating pad conveys me close to the meadow, and I drop onto it. I halfway expect to bounce when I land, but the surface is solid and might as well be rock. That was easy enough. The grass is soft and green and feels real. Even the flowers smell pretty. I don't see any animals or insects…which is a good thing, since they'd likely be muttations anyway. Of course, nothing says that plants can't be muttations too. I eye the delicate flowers suspiciously.

Thinking about muttations leads to another worry. If Gaius and the unknown third tribute aren't here already, they will probably be herded this way before much longer. I close my hand around the grip of the weapon chain. Being armed again makes me feel a little more secure, though it won't help me avoid a trap.

I notice that one of the floating pads is shaped differently than the others, even though it is still quite far away. I immediately flatten myself onto my stomach. The only cover close to me is a patch of weeds that is somewhat taller than the green grass. I crawl into it, hoping it isn't concealing something worse than whatever is slowly flying in my direction. As it passes closer, I see that there is a body draped across the top. It's too small to be Gaius, and I realize that I am seeing the trap-setter, the poisoner, the trailblazer. I get a clear view, but I'm not sure who it is. It's a small person, skinny and frail-looking. Then with a shock, I recognize Lumen, the pretty girl from District 5, the one who was playing up to the cameras during the Opening Ceremonies. She's lost a lot of weight, probably proportionally more than I have. All of her long, dark hair has been shorn off close to her scalp, unevenly, as if it had been hacked off with a dull blade. Her clothes are practically in ribbons, though they don't have the random look of having been torn on rocks. I wonder if she cut them herself to use in her traps. There is no way she could have showed this resourcefulness to the Gamemakers and only earned a survival score of 4…she's been fooling everyone since the moment she was Reaped. I feel a grudging respect for the girl, and a strange sense of betrayal. She cheated! I think indignantly, but as soon as it crosses my mind, I have to stifle a laugh. Those of us who were trained years in advance of the Games are cheaters too.

I am suddenly reminded of Kier Cauley and his score of 11. I am certain there was cheating there as well, except not on Kier's part. I wonder if he bothered to show them any skills at all, knowing that he was going to be marked for death no matter what he did.

As the airbag that bears Lumen ambles over my position, I see her open one eye just a little. She knows that I am crouching in the weeds like a predator. A bead of sweat glistens on her forehead, but she does not move a muscle. I wonder what in the world she is doing, but I am instantly wary. I've seen her traps, and almost eaten her fungus-laced bait. There is no amount of prize money in Panem that would induce me to jump onto that pad and attempt to take her out. She floats past me, still unmoving.

A flash of movement from farther away catches my attention. With a chill, I see Gaius leap from the lava pinnacle onto a passing bag. I press myself further into the grass, hoping that he has not seen me. I don't know what I'll do if he strays within range of my weapon chain. I don't really want to kill Gaius, but I don't see any other way out for myself. It's strange…I'm no longer living to win, but if I want to live, I have to win.