Gah! I spent at least ten minutes pondering on who should die. Plot twists, how many times the submitter had reviewed. But in the end, I decided. And I hope I surprised you. I surprised myself. It all worked with this person... (And the death is not necessarily this POV.)

Oh and forgive me, I don't think I could have including swearing in this SYOT, not after the way I've written the first 25 chapters. My apologies, please replace 'jerk', 'freaking' and 'prick' with some more colourful words.

*In the Blink of an Eye

Anumus Titan, District Four

His head bleeds from a small cut above his left eyebrow. He has always been the outsider, not being able to tell when Priya and I want him to leave. But now is the time to strike. A raucous caw woke us this early morning and I am as fresh as anything for a fight.

We circle each other. I managed to get within his tight circle of protection but the incision on his forehead is the only thing I could manage before he blocked me. That was ten minutes ago. I've tried numerous moves and feints, but he is skilled. More than once, he has managed to almost scratch me before I can block.

I wonder whether I can win this fight. The cannon fires broke off our argument last night, but this is something that needs to be done. One of us has to die.

I don't even know where Priya is. She disappeared a while ago. Bored, probably.

We are spinning slowly towards the mountain. Domitrius slashes towards me. I almost snort with contempt; I could see that coming from a mile. But as I start to block, his sharpened wood spear veers to one side. A feint! Yet as his spear plummets to the ground, he turns on his tail and starts sprinting away!

I start laughing. "You coward! You absolute chicken!"

The only thing to do is follow. How could I turn down a good chance to fight? I follow the receding sound of slapping footsteps and realise Domitrius is taking the simplest route by the river. Is there nothing between his ears? Anyone would know to take a more complicated route to ward off an attacker.

I am beginning to tire and I've only run about 400 meters. Running up a steep slope is exhausting. That's when I realise I can't hear Domitrius anymore. Where's the little jerk gone?

I slow down and rest my foot on a boulder by the river to catch my breath. I survey the surroundings. There's a waterfall crashing down a few meters to a rocky pool, two feet away. The river forks, the right stream plodding slowly towards the rapids, the left stream ending in the aforementioned waterfall. I narrow my eyes. The coward, running off with his tail between his legs. You'd think he'd never been trained.

Just as I am about to head further up the mountain in pursuit of the ignorant devil, two solid hands punch into my side and I am cart wheeling backwards. A trick.

Before I can topple backwards into the river and be swept gently but swiftly into the waterfall and have my brains crushed on the pool bottom, I grab onto the retreating hands. Domitrius looks shocked. He expected me to be on my fall of death by now. I dropped my spear into the river. I spare a lightening glance behind me. It's gone, swept away.

Suddenly, I'm overwhelmed with anger. "You freaking prick!" My vision is red and my only aim is to hurt, to draw blood on the creature in front of me.

I dart away from the river's edge so he can't play the same trick twice. Then I launch into a wild frenzy. Go for the eyes.

My nails rake down his face and blood blossoms. He is momentarily surprised, but retorts by launching a uppercut. The punch jars my jaw and I taste metallic blood. Answering back with a kick to the groin, I attempt the move taught by us in Training. The one that took me a week to master.

Domitrius yells as my foot finds its mark, and I get up close. Then, immobilising his hands by grabbing them abruptly, I jam two fingers into his eyeball.

This time he screams. With genuine pain. Discoloured jelly tumbles out of the socket and he falls to the ground. I revel in my victory.

The sky goes black. Something is above us. A hovercraft maybe? But Domitrius isn't dead yet.

I look up.

With a familiar caw, the ginormus eagle dives at me. I dodge the beast and try to lure it to the figure on the ground. "Take this piece of meat, bird! He's almost dead anyway!"

There is no recognition in its dull eyes. It begins to attack again. I have nothing to defend myself with. A female scream comes from the other side of the river. A girl, blood dripping from a graze on her face is staring with horror at the bird. She has distracted my attention for the briefest moment.

That's when the bird hits.

Then there is... nothing.

The Fallen:

Anumus Titan, District Four Boy [Cause of death: Decapitated – Bird Mutt]