Die for You | Catching Fire

chapter thirty-seven

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chapter thirty-seven
EYE FOR AN EYE

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tw: violence, bodily injury
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"Go." The fine hairs on the back of Ptolemus's neck stand, and Sage blinks wide-eyed like a deer in spotlights. He shoves her away firmly and urgently the same time Augustus and Enobaria lurch forward with rabid snarls. "Run!"

She hesitates again to look at him. He can see she doesn't want to leave, but this isn't a time to be stubborn. His voice cracks with desperate thunder.

"RUN!"

Sage stumbles, using the momentum to straighten and turn sharply on her heels. Her lone hatchet remains tight in her iron grasp, and she thinks about spinning to throw it, but she knows once it's thrown she's lost.

Metal screeches against metal as Augustus's sword bears down on Ptolemus's. He blocks his vicious strike with one of his own, and Enobaria changes course to hunt down Sage's sprinting form. With his spare hand, Ptolemus tries to throw a blade at her, but its path is skewed from the jerk of another blow from a snarling Augustus.

"TAKE HER ALIVE!" The Victor from One roars. The animosity in his tone sends chills down both their spines. It shakes the trees. "SHE'S MINE, BARI!"

Sage veers to the right through the jungle, and Ptolemus lurches forward with a violent slash of his sword. Augustus barely blocks it from diving into his throat, an eerie chuckle rumbling. His dark eyes glitter with amusement.

"Possessive, huh?" Metal shrieks as the two break out into a full-blown battle. All the stars fall out of his eyes. "Don't worry, I'll let you watch when I gut her."

Her footsteps pound as fast as her racing heart as she flees through the jungle. Leaves and vines graze her, trying to slow her down, but she just hacks them away with her hatchet. Behind her, she can hear Enobaria bearing down on her, air whistling between her fangs. She shrieks when a dagger Thunks! into the trunk of a tree by her head.

Just like with Midas, Sage doesn't dare to look back. She swears she can feel Enobaria's ragged breath right on her neck, spine shivering in anticipation of her blade. This time, it's so much harder not to peer over her shoulder. She can still hear Ptolemus and Augustus fighting to the death somewhere behind. She wants to turn around so badly. But what can she really do to help him?

Sage knows she can't take Enobaria in a fight. Not with her thirteen inch hatchet against her giant sword, and even with her machete, her combat skills are mediocre at best. She gets one more throw and she needs to make it count.

The idea comes to her when she notes the layers of blood coating some of the foliage around her from the rainfall two hours ago. It electrifies her entire being as her figure streaks across the jungle. Sage keeps running with no intentions to throw that hatchet yet.

Because she's running clockwise.

Meanwhile, Augustus swings right for Ptolemus's skull with his blade, a gust of air whistling above his head as he ducks. The Victor from One retreats barely in time to save his heart from being pierced by the Legacy's sword. Silver clashes and gleams as the two war beneath the canopies. It's completely and utterly vicious. Both possessing enough rage and animosity, enough skill and technique, ruthlessly violent as they fight to the death.