Chapter 13:
Finally. After a long, arduous day of controlling himself, Seneca has finally gained control over all of his fellow helpers. Now, they would question none of his orders and do simply as they are told. Katniss Everdeen and Draco Ashvale had zero chances of survival.
Yesterday, Seneca had tried to control himself as much as possible to not make himself suspicious, yet now, it would be the end. Pointing at the screen portraying Katniss, who was trying to create a campfire, Seneca's face turned mischievous. "Summon a horde of wolves, make sure there is nothing left of her."
The helpers' eyes gleamed with a hint of purple, as they all began typing something on their digital screen, forming a picture of a nasty white wolf. Seeing that, Seneca smiled brightly, touching the end of his beard.
"Now." Seneca's eyes turned towards Draco, who, after some rest, had begun walking towards the middle of the arena again. Seneca didn't know whether this man was a Mysthral Hunter or not, but he had this feeling in the back of his head that Draco had to die. "Create a..."
-
Draco was back to walking again. Honestly, at this point, life in the arena turned out to be even more mundane than it was during his trip to the Capitol. Of course, besides a few instances, where he had to stop and kill a few tributes.
Still, now that it was morning, Draco felt warmer. However, the occasional gust of wind still brought his teeth to chatter. His injuries had healed and he was glad that being nude in front of millions wasn't for naught. Sponsors were everything.
He didn't even have to hunt for food, having been sent some soup with bread. Water wasn't an issue either with such an abundance of snow. Getting it clean was a bit arduous though. Anyway, Draco felt like everything was going for the better.
Now, Draco just had to find Katniss and deal with Rue. Since he no longer had any idea where she might be, Draco decided that going to the middle was the most optimal decision. After all, most of the strong tributes are dead, so she might think that it is safer to go to the center.
"Another long day." Draco glanced at the sky, feeling the sun burning his skin. He closed his eyes momentarily. Yet, once he opened them, it was no longer sunny. Instead, it was dark. "Fuck me..."
A purple mist, similar to the one that he had seen in the second movie of Hunger Games was hanging over his head, approaching from above like an avalanche. Without even thinking, Draco was on the run, turning and twisting his head.
1 increase in Agility might seem like not a lot, but Draco definitely felt the increase in speed. It was hard to describe, but he just felt lighter. However, the injury on his leg wasn't fully healed yet, not letting his full potential reveal itself.
"This isn't funny, brother Seneca," Draco mumbled to himself, noticing that the mist was closing onto him at a rapid speed. As Draco was looking around, considering his options, he suddenly stumbled, falling face-forth onto the ground.
Looking down, Draco saw that a tree root had wrapped itself around his ankle. Promptly, Draco took the dagger from his belt, severing the root, yet a few others appeared in its stead. Before Draco knew it, his hands were also being forced to the ground by the moving roots.
Draco cursed under his breath, a hint of panic forming in his chest. Straining his hands, Draco ripped the roots out of the ground, veins forming on his face. And, then, it was upon him. The purple mist attacked him like a tsunami, crashing and passing him unhindered.
At first, nothing happened, until Draco realized that he felt heavy. He tried to raise himself from the ground, yet he couldn't move. Sitting on top of the snow, Draco realized that this wasn't the poison that was dispatched in the second movie of The Hunger Games.
No, this was something different. Something more powerful.
His eyes were turning watery, as Draco gritted his teeth, pushing his body to the limits and somehow standing up. The roots that had been holding him had turned lifeless, along with all the black trees in the vicinity. The same fate awaited Draco if he didn't move.
"What the hell is this poison?" Draco cursed himself, feeling drowsy. His eyelids closed for an instant and then he was on the ground again. Sweat rolled down his forehead, as Draco realized that it was the same spot as before. Both of his legs were still covered in lively branches, which were moving further and further up his thigh.
Understanding the gravity of the situation, Draco reached out his hands towards his own shadow, taking out a tube with a black tip. With no hesitation, Draco plunged it into his neck, as a pain like never before overcame him.
It felt like thousands of little spiders were slowly biting into his bones. Biting his lip, Draco realized that he was lying on the ground, half of his head hidden with snow. Trying to retain his sanity along with this pain, Draco immediately stood up and ran.
He didn't know where or whether it was the right way, but Draco had to get out of this storm of poison. Draco felt blood warm dripping down from his nose and tears gathering in his eyes from the acid. As he kept running, Draco noticed the ridiculous amount of poison going out of the tube.
Draco tried to hold his breath, but the excruciating pain forced him to open his mouth, only to go through the same agony again. His head felt heavy and dizzy, yet Draco slapped himself with everything that he had, feeling half of his face turning numb.
He was so focused on simply running that he discarded all of his surroundings. Eventually, Draco saw a light at the end of this purple mess. Increasing his pace, Draco jumped, rolling down the ground, until he was lying on his back, breathing heavily.
The sun hung in the sky again. Using the tube was so disgustingly bad that Draco understood why Katniss almost killed herself because of it. Turning left, Draco spat at the purple wall in front of him, cursing both the poison and that bastard Seneca.
'I swear I will kill you.' Draco cursed internally, imagining feeding this poison straight into Seneca's mouth. Whilst he was still recovering, he perked up the sound of a footstep. Before he even knew it, Draco was rolling away, escaping a knife by barely a millimeter.
Draco grabbed the only left dagger on his belt, promptly raising it from the ground and stabbing it into the woman's chest. The woman wasn't done even then, swiping with her sword, yet missing. Draco was sluggish, his senses fried by that poison.
"Did you think I would let you kill me after surviving that shithole?" Draco asked the woman, anger returning to him. Seeing that the woman in front of him was no longer fighting back, but instead holding onto her chest, Draco spit some of the blood from his mouth, taking a step forward. "Try to ambush some people on the other side. Perhaps you will be luckier there."
With that, Draco lifted his leg and kicked the woman in the chest, pushing her into the purple mist. Her scream penetrated the area, whilst Draco sighed, taking out the tube from his neck and throwing it onto the ground. In fact, he stored it in his shadow - he was just afraid of cameras.
"Mysthral, nasty creatures, indeed," Draco mumbled lightly, looking up at the sky, wondering whether he was still going in the right direction. Fortunately, it seemed like he did - the center wasn't far away anymore.
-
Katniss had been trying to create a fire for the last half an hour, but it was always a failure. She hadn't learned how to do it in such hard conditions. She didn't know the suitable wood or the proper method. Her numb hands weren't helping the situation either.
At this point, Katniss contemplated just going back to the center and getting some supplies there. In fact, considering that most of the tributes were already dead, it might not be such a bad decision. Clicking her tongue, Katniss decided to try once again.
Concentrating on the task at hand, she barely noticed a white wolf emerging in front of her. Only when their joined growling reached her ears did Katniss raise her head. Her pupils shrank and her body tensed immediately upon seeing the horde of wolves standing in front of her.
Slowly, Katniss rose from the ground, staring at the wolves as they took deliberate steps toward her. Katniss frowned, trying to look as intimidating as possible. Her head turned, noticing that they were trying to surround her.
"Ahhh!" Katniss shouted, baring her fangs, forcing the wolves to take a surprised step away. Immediately afterward, Katniss was running at her full speed, her hair flaring backward. The wolves realized what was going on, speeding towards her.
Before they caught up, Katniss was already climbing onto a tree. The wolves jumped towards her, one of them scratching Katniss's thigh and forcing a shriek out of her. Yet, somehow, she remained hanging on the tree, crawling further and further upwards, until she was on a branch.
Seeing the ferocious wolves below her and hearing them growl in bloodlust forced Katniss to crawl even higher. Eventually, she stopped, frowning as she stared at her open wound. It hurt like hell.
"Shit..." Katniss cursed under her breath, still hearing the wolves from below. Since nothing happened during most of the game, Katniss thought of herself in relative safety and she relaxed. It was her own fault.
She leaned back, closing her eyes momentarily, as she tried to keep her breath calm and steady. Panicking would do no good. After a few minutes of doing so, Katniss realized that she couldn't hear the growling anymore. Glancing down, Katniss realized that they were gone for some reason...and she discovered why soon enough.
A huge white bear was slowly making its way towards the tree she was currently occupying. It was staring at her with saliva dripping from its mouth. Katniss noticed its exceptionally long nails and ears, never having seen such a creature before.
Her breath froze in her throat. And, then, Katniss felt it. The tree was trembling. No slightly, but bear trying to ravage it type of shit. Gulping her saliva, she glanced down once again, seeing the bear sticking its nails into the tree, as it climbed upwards. Slowly, but surely. As if taunting its prey.
'What now?' Katniss thought, looking around around. The tree that she had picked was quite wide, so it wasn't breaking under the weight of that abomination below. Though, Katniss didn't know whether that was good or not.
There was another tree not so far away, a few meters away from her. Katniss glanced at the ground, understanding that she would splash into meat paste if she fell. Then, her eye fell on the bear, which at this point was basically upon her.
She saw the desire in its eyes.
'Definitely die or risk it and maybe die?' Katniss thought, understanding that neither of her options seemed great. Nevertheless, Katniss took a deep breath, steeled herself, and jumped.
Cold air pressed against her face and Katniss realized that she was not going to make it. She screamed, and spread her hands outwards, trying to grab onto anything. Instead, Katniss bumped into another branch with her stomach and then landed on the cold snow below.
She felt ringing in her ears, verging between passing out and not. However, the sight of a bear trying to climb down forced her to stand up out of instinct. She was running back to the center before she even knew it.
-
Rue and Thresh were walking through the woods, leaving their tracks in the snow. Thresh was walking ahead. After spending a night in the woods, and seeing the number of tributes left, they decided to go back to the center.
All the time they were walking, Rue was constantly checking the trees above, hoping to see Katniss there. Finding her proved quite a challenge, so, in the end, Rue decided that waiting in the center would prove a better option than just wandering in the woods like some lost animal.
Other than that, Rue wasn't enjoying Thresh's company at all. He was an even bigger muscle head than Cato, which was something hard to come by. This mission was getting on her nerves. She swore that the moment she saw that woman, her head would be flying off her head.
However, as they were walking back, Rue suddenly felt a presence not far off. Rue looked back at Thresh, her face turning into a frown. "Duck, you dumbass." However, it was too late. An arrow penetrated Thresh's neck, forcing him to grab onto it with wide eyes.
Blood dripped down from his mouth and neck, making its way down his clothes, as he reached his hands towards Rue, shock clear on his expression. Rue stood there, looking at him kneeling in front of her until he fell face-forth onto the ground.
Rue continued staring at him, clicking her tongue. Another asset was gone. There was a 65% chance for him to dodge if he ducked upon hearing Rue's warning. She made a note to herself not to take any muscle-heads on her team during the next mission.
"Good shot." A male came out from his hiding, addressing a woman holding a bow. Rue lifted her eyes, inspecting them. She remembered seeing them - tributes from District 3. Rue didn't even know their name, for it wasn't addressed in the actual plot.
"Finish her off as well." The male stated, inspiring the woman to nock another arrow at the woman. Why were they so careless around her? Was that because she was a kid? Was that because she was frozen in one place? In any way, it mattered not. They were going to die.
The arrow was fired, yet Rue suddenly ducked, a dagger sliding off from beneath the sleeve. Then, something dark beamed with Rue's eyes, and two heads were flying into the sky. There was no sudden scream or any resistance - everything happened in a blink of an eye.
Rue yawned slightly, brushing away the blood from her dagger as she slowly began to tip-toe toward the center of the arena. In her head, she was calculating the chance of Katniss being there as well.
-
"Well, well, ladies and gentlemen of the Capitol, if this goes on, then this might become one of the faster Hunger Games in the last decade." Caeser pointed at the screen, depicting only three dots moving on the map. "There are only three tributes left! What's even more surprising is that two of them are from District 12, whilst another one is from District 11!"
The audience shouted in frenzy, never having expected such an interesting outcome from this show.
"Draco went on quite a killing spree, murdering both tributes from District 10 and then also ending the life of a female participant from District 4. Truly a monster." Caeser beamed a smile, glancing over the horizon. "However, besides that, there has been a pleasant surprise. Rue, a girl from District 11, who was thought to be the weakest, easily slaughtered both tributes from District 3. She was really fast with her dagger. I would say she is the dark horse!"
The audience continued shouting.
"On the other hand, both female tributes from District 8 and 5 respectively had died to a horde of wolves. Seneca has been getting into it as a Gamemaker!" Caeser suddenly stopped, the smile on his face dropping like a facade. "And, now, we have the final battle. Rue, Draco and Katniss. Not equally strong, but equally determined to stay alive."
"Katniss, attacked by a bear and forced into hiding, has successfully lost tracks from the frightening creature. She is barely a few hundred meters away from the center now." Caeser halted, letting the tension grow. "Rue, surviving the onslaught of two tributes at the cost of her fellow partner, is now also making her way to the center. She is furious and ready."
"Finally, Draco Ashvale, the most exciting tribute so far. After surviving hundreds of different challenges, he is now presented with the chance to end it all. Will he take it, or will he hesitate to kill both his partner and a mere 12-year-old kid?" Caeser grew excited in his chest as well, as he shouted at the microphone. "What will the fate decide?!"