Don't Kill Your Heroes

Chapter 1

Maya Rayas Destina wakes up suddenly. He body shaking and covered in shiny sweat. The scream from her dream, already fading into nothing, told her something was wrong. The first name to come to her lips was her little sister, Jade. She jumps out of bed, sprinting through their small home, to her room.
"JADE!" She yells, worried, as she rounds the corner to her room.
But when she got there all she sees is a small sleeping child, tucked deep beneath the thin, slightly tattered covers. Jade. If she was safe, then who's scream was it.
The screams rings out again, followed by faint sounds of crying. Maya looked out of the window to see a maybe fourteen year old child being shoved out the door. A small backpack laying in the dry, almost sand like dirt beside him.
Maya doesn't think, she just runs. Out the house, into the run down 'street', as they used to call it, and too the house with the child on the ground. The mother goes to close the door, about to lock the child out when Maya comes in and shoves her foot in the door.
"Stop!" Maya tells the woman, pretty sure that she was the child's mother.
The lady opened the door more and glared at her. "What do you want Maya?" She asked, obviously not happy with her.
"What are you doing? Why would you kick him out?" Maya asks looking back at the boy in the dirt.
"Haven't you heard?" She says surprised. "The competition. The battle."
When Maya shows her she doesn't understand the woman sighs, "the old heroes are dead. All three died last night."
Maya is shocked, she puts a hand over her mouth to quiet her gasp.
"How? Who?" Maya asks, quickly.
The lady just shakes her head. "I told him he has to compete. I think he can win. He was just being stubborn about it." The woman explains.
Maya shakes her head. "A child that  young should never have to go through what he's going to have to go through if you make him do this."
The woman shrugs and removes Maya's foot. Maya is too shocked to stop her. She closes and locks the door, and Maya just stares.
Maya turns to the small boy, and kneels down beside him.
"Are you okay?" Maya asks him.
The small boy nods and gets up.
"I-I... Must go." The boy stuttered and then ran away, towards the common centre, towards the sign ups, towards his death.
Maya knows she can't stop him, he's set on fighting, winning the money for his mom and coming back to a house where he can have everything he wants. But he won't return. Probably won't even be close.
Maya sighs and walks back to her house, not wanting to remember what just happened. But she knew she would.