After what must be at least an hour of thinking about Damien and Sienna, I finally force myself to get some rest. Who knows what is in store for us tomorrow; just the stress of knowing that something is coming has exhausted me all day.
I sigh, closing my eyes and allowing myself to rest. It's interesting to think about how accustomed I've become to living in the Arena - I remember I couldn't sleep through the first night because of the paranoia that the silence brought with it, but I'd be thrown off if the silence were to stop now. The red light shining down on us from the moon seems almost natural after all these days of sleeping under it.
And just as I grow to love this crazy place, Helvius shatters the world that I've come to love. The silence crumbles around me first, sending me to my feet.
"What's going on?" I blurt out, the words spilling out of my lips and into the grove around me. The sound of the passing wind rushes through my ears, overwhelming my mind.
Russell's terrified face flashes in front of me. "Something just shifted, Luna," he says, looking around us.
The first thing we detect is the flapping of wings, and then we hear it: whatever is lurking in the trees above us lets out the most disturbing screech I've ever heard.
"Come on!" Russell cries, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Behind him, a massive beast dives down from the treetops. Even in the dim light, it's clear to see that the bird's beak is razor-sharp.
As the bird dives past the spot where Russell and I sat just seconds ago, the moon flashes brightly above us, illuminating the grove in a bloody hue. Suddenly, I don't feel so glad that the red shade has been chosen to cover the Arena tonight.
After being ripped from the silence we've become accustomed to, it sounds like an entire flock of birds are circling overhead, but I'm hoping that my ears are playing tricks on me. Ahead of me, Russell screams as a bird swoops down from the trees, grazing past his face as he stops dead in his tracks. When he turns around, I see a shallow gash running down his cheek. The hue of the moon makes it look like Russell's entire face is bleeding, and my stomach lurches.
"This way!" I pant, pulling the stunned boy behind me. The birds seem to be coming from behind us, so Helvius clearly wants us to be running in this direction.
The birds strike faster and faster. One of them dives at my face, forcing me to duck; another claws at our hands, forcing me to release Russell from my grip. Luckily, he's come to his senses enough to swat at the birds and follow me through the grove.
I hold my knife tightly in my hand, waving it blindly in front of me as I weave between the tree trunks around me. Still, the muttations manage to strike with lightning speed. One bird strikes at my other hand, and when I raise my arms to protect my face, another beast takes the opportunity to slice at the exposed skin beneath my shirt.
"They're only attacking the exposed skin," I gasp through the pain, and Russell grunts from next to me.
"Come here," I say, reaching through the dark and grabbing Russell. He ducks beneath me, allowing me to cover him with my body as we stumble through the grove. I need to protect Russell as much as I can; if these birds take my life, they can't take Russell down with me. I have to act as his shield until we find Amanda.
My waist sears from where it's been sliced; I have to ward away more birds with my knife as they try to stab at my face. Overwhelmed by the scene in front of me, all I can do is scream.
"Come on, Luna," Russell calls from beneath me, and I'm reminded of what I'm here for. I need to keep Russell alive as long as possible. The birds can't attack us forever; Helvius will want us to battle Amanda. We must almost be there... we have to be close now...
Russell lets out a yelp, stumbling to the ground. I'm dragged down with him, and he's pulled from my grip as we tumble to the floor of the grove.
"My ankle," Russell moans, holding his leg tightly. "I think I've twisted it!"
"We don't have time to worry about that," I pant, leaning down to lift Russell up. Above me, a bird approaches with a screech, and I physically punch it out of the way as I move to hoist my ally to his feet. On my way down, though, I spot something that nearly makes my heart stop.
"Your leg," I gasp, recoiling away from Russell. "It's bleeding."
Even in the red light, it's easy to see that Russell's upper leg is covered in blood. His pants were burned away by that fireball, so his leg is visible through the hole in the fabric. He's bleeding at the site of his old injury.
"The healed skin is very fragile," Russell says, tears streaming down his face. "I tripped on a root, and it must have pulled the skin on my leg enough to tear it. I'm sorry, Luna..."
I shake my head. This can't be the end, this can't be it!
"Just because you're injured, doesn't mean that this is over," I insist, swatting at another bird with my knife. "I can carry you, but we have to go!"
"I can't fight Amanda like this," Russell says, shaking his head. His face is one of the most tragic things I've ever seen. "You need to go, Luna. We tried everything we could to save me, and we failed."
"Russell, stop," I beg. I can't believe that this is happening, after everything we've done to prepare Russell to take down Amanda. I can't fight the Career tribute on my own without my closest ally!
"Go!" Russell screams. "Or we're both going to die! Go!"
"I'm not going anywhere!" I scream back. I'm crying now; in my moment of vulnerability, a bird swoops down and slices a gash into the side of my neck.
I hiss, reaching to the side of my neck. It's slick with blood, and it stings like hell.
Russell shakes his head, his face twisted. "I love you, Luna Brimstone," he chokes.
Before I can stop him, Russell reaches to his waist. His fingers fumble around the hem of his shirt, and before I know it, he's pulled it off.
The instant Russell's flesh is exposed to the red light of the moon, I hear a cacophony of squawks from the trees, and I know that it's over.
The look in Russell's eyes burns itself into my mind. It's telling me one thing: run.
Finally, I snap back into reality. I have no choice - I have to get out of here. My heart is racing as I sprint away from Russell. Behind me, I hear Russell scream in agony as the birds rip him to shreds.
I focus on every step I take as I weave through the trees of the grove, and the pain in my body fades away. Left, right, left, right. Russell is gone...
The bird attacks get less frequent as I run, likely because most of them are distracted by Russell. In the distance, a cannon shot fires, and I nearly collapse to the ground. I can't believe that Russell's condition deteriorated so quickly; part of me still can't grasp everything that just happened.
I'm unable to see through the tears in my eyes, and I wipe them with my sleeves just in time to see a bird flying directly at my face. It screeches so close to me that I can see down its mouth, and then it attacks.
I scream as a searing pain grows down my face, but I know that I don't have time to dwell on pain. My left eye is in agony, and my vision out of it is blurry. I squeeze it shut, using my right eye to navigate as I scramble back to my feet.
Come on, Luna, almost there...
The sound of Russell's screams echoes in my ears, lighting a fire within me, and I feel the chains of self-restraint loosen around me. Only one girl stands between me and survival, and I know now what I need to do. It took two weeks, but I've finally had a change of heart. I need to survive, and I'll kill Amanda to do it. For Russell's sake. Just show me the bitch and I'll get to work.
I stumble into a bright clearing in the middle of the grove; only now do I realize that Russell held our bag of supplies, leaving me with practically nothing. All I have is my knife... the same knife I fled with when Midas killed my brother. I have to hope that the only weapon Amanda has is the bow she ran away with a few days ago.
It seems that I've made it to the right place... I remember seeing this tactic from Gamemakers in the past. Muttations chase the tributes to a meeting point where they are left to fight one another. It seems that I've reached this safe haven; the birds screech from behind me, clearly frustrated to be held back from another kill, but they're unable to breach this particular area.
Finally free from the birds, I take a moment to catch my breath. My brain is so scrambled that I'm thinking in a million directions at once, but I try to focus. My life might depend on it.
I don't know how long it is before Amanda arrives. It could be ten minutes or ten seconds, but a thousand thoughts run through my head, all pointing in one direction: I have to win.
I take a deep breath, looking up at the sky. The moon is nearly blinding; it shines like a bloody spotlight down on me.
Finally, she arrives. Amanda stumbles into the clearing with a moan, collapsing to the ground. Her face is covered in gashes, and one of her eyes has clearly been gouged out. Blood pools from her side, and her body shudders on the ground.
I recoil at the sight of Amanda's bloody body. How could Helvius have let her get like this? I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd spared her from the birds completely. Maybe he'd send her a nice little note to come here unharmed. But then it hits me: Russell and I have foiled his plan once again.
Helvius never anticipated for Russell to sacrifice himself the way he did. Who would've known he'd do that? Helvius probably thought that Amanda would be able to defend herself against the birds, and he probably knew that they'd injure Russell and me enough to debilitate us. Most likely, Helvius knew that I'd protect Russell, and he hoped that the birds would take me out and leave Russell to be massacred by Amanda.
What Helvius didn't think about, though, was that there were two of us and only one of Amanda, allowing one of us to shield the other from harm. And once the birds were unleashed into the Arena, Helvius wasn't able to control them anymore... I've just outsmarted The Prodigy.
Amanda, determined as ever, attempts to climb to her knees. Her body spasms as she reaches to her back, stringing a bloody arrow into her bow. It's too late, though: her arm has been slashed, and she's too weak to pull the arrow back. With a loose twang, the arrow drops from Amanda's grip, landing awkwardly on the ground next to her.
I've won. Amanda can't move, she can't kill me. Somehow, against all odds, I've done it...
I can hear Simon's voice in my head. This isn't over yet, Luna, finish the job.
I tighten my grip on my knife, approaching the mangled girl across the clearing from me. There's not much she can do; Amanda looks up at me with her one working eye, but she can't move. She opens her mouth to say something, but blood comes out.
Honestly, Amanda needs to be put out of her misery. I reach down, grabbing the girl by the neck. Her skin is slick with blood; I squeeze my eyes shut as I slide my blade across her neck.
Finally, I lay Amanda to rest. A cannon shot fires above me, and I collapse to the ground. Everything is swirling around me in a pool of red... this can't be happening...
"Ladies and gentlemen..." a man says in the distance. "The Victor of the 117th Hunger Games..."
The Victor...
"Luna Brimstone... from District Five..."
Hands grab me, lifting me from the ground, and my exhausted mind slips from this realm.
A/N - The end of the Games is finally here! Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter :)
Huge shout out to Rubbernut, your last review was so encouraging and really motivated me to push on with this story. More chapters coming soon!