A Second Tyranny

A Night to Remember

Author's Note:

The beginning part was inspired by a scene from the film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire where Katniss was showing her archery skills to Mags in the Training Centre.

All the music lyrics were NOT borrowed from existing songs but completely made up by me.

Warning: This chapter contains quite a bit of intimacy. 

WISTY

When I checked the fourth floor of the archers' building, it was empty. It was late in the evening, and I came at the right time. I smiled. It was good to have a whole room to myself. I was dressed in full armour. The elven brown quiver was strung across my back. The wooden recurve bow was in my hand.

I surveyed the gigantic room. Twelve targets stood in a row at one area. Upon the circular boards were black, blue, red and yellow scoring rings. Located a few metres high up on a wall was a large white rectangular board marked with black grids. I remembered in training, I had stood in front of it with the arrow nocked and ready, and whenever a grid lit up in pink, I would aim for it and shoot.

The sound of my footsteps on the concrete ground echoed in the silence as I approached the section where structures in a variety of shapes surrounded a square platform. I climbed the set of stairs leading up to the platform and, after a brief moment of hesitation, stepped onto the star-shaped button engraved on its surface. The button glowed orange instantaneously. Cyan blue laser lights emitted from many parts of the ceiling and shone around me. Keeping a close eye on the movement of the lights, I reached over my shoulder for an arrow and nocked it.

Two of the laser lights met, and a man generated from thousands of tiny blocks of Lego, also the colour of cyan blue, appeared. He ran. As he did, I drew back the bowstring, placed the point of the glittering broadhead on his body, expanded my chest, and released. The arrow hit him on the upper arm. He exploded. The Lego blocks flew everywhere before fading into the air.

I reloaded. Three laser beams met to form another figure. He ran towards me. As I sent an arrow in his direction, a third man had been created out of the corner of my eye and was charging at me. I spun around and fired another arrow into his chest.

The ground was scattered with Lego blocks which were slowly fading into nothingness.

A man stood on top of a nearby structure. He drew a Lego knife, but before he could throw it at me I managed to take him out. A man was climbing a structure with triangular holes in it behind me, trying to get to the top. I pulled the bowstring towards the side of my face and released. My arrow flew through one of the holes and struck the man's leg. He fell apart.

I felt a change in the air current behind me and turned around to see a knife flying my way. I leaned sideways to dodge it, and then sent an arrow into the heart of the man who threw it.

All around me the cyan blue laser lights danced.

A figure leaped from atop a structure. I eliminated him in midair before he could land on the platform. But by that time another man had come so close I had to retreat a few steps to shoot at him properly. He burst into pieces, and I held up an arm to shield my face.

On my left, a man holding a blue Lego spear was generated. He flung the spear at me. I ducked. He rushed forward. My bowstring was drawn back in readiness. I let go of my fingers. The arrow hit his neck and blew him apart.

The laser beams weren't waiting for me.

While I was busy dealing with the previous man, they had created three more of them, each gripping a Lego knife in their hand. They charged at me simultaneously. A knife was tossed my direction, and then another, too fast for me to see which belonged to which. I dodged the first and jumped to avoid the second. I took out two men with my arrows. Whoosh, came the third knife. I sidestepped in the nick of time. I aimed the tip of the broadhead at the last man and released. He erupted as my arrow struck his face.