Immortality (Sequel to Apprentice)

Chapter 30: The Survival Games: My Broken Angel

Mitch's POV

The midday sun cast a warm glow on the world, but this place felt anything but warm. The atmosphere was almost dead, a heavy tension weighing you down like a suffocating fog of pressure. I shiver despite the rays of sunshine, letting Liam huddle closer to me for warmth.

"When will this be over?" he whispers. We were afraid to raise our voices in case anyone heard us. 

"I don't know. Soon, I hope" I murmur back, my mouth tickling his ear. He shuffles closer to me till he is practically sitting on my lap. He holds his hand up to the sun, admiring the gleaming metal of his engagement ring on his hand.

"Will we get married when this is all done?" he asks, his voice a bit louder. "Of course" I chuckle, kissing him on the head. "I've been waiting months and months for this wedding" he sighs. "Me too" I giggle and he grins, leaning his head on my chest.

"When we have it, it's gonna be awesome. All the guys, getting together, having a big party. Nothing can go wrong there" I smile, murmuring the future into his ear. His eyes begin to close, his breathing beginning to become slower. "We'll walk down the aisle together and say our vows, then I'll scoop you up and take you outside to eat cake and talk to everyone, and then we can dance in the moonlight and not stop until morning" I whisper, gazing at him as he begins to go to sleep, a smile still on his face. I kiss him on the cheek. "Rest well" I murmur, leaning my head on his hair.

We stay like that for a while. Then I hear the cracking of twigs behind me, and I stiffen.

"Hey Mitch, hey Liam." Jason's voice echoes in the gloom. "Hey buddy" I grin, glancing round and disturbing the sleeping figure on top of me. I stroke his hair as he stirs, stretching. Jason comes to sit next to us, sighing deeply as he rests. "How long was I out?" Liam asks. "Just half an hour" I tell him, though I wasn't really sure.

"It's been pretty quiet lately" Jason comments, picking at a harmless little daisy on the ground, plucking the petals off one by one and throwing them at us like confetti. Liam smiles lazily as I catch a few and hand them to him, whispering "we'll have confetti as well, don't worry." He nods sleepily, leaning up off me to stretch.

"Too quiet" I agree, glancing round the forest, seemingly empty and dead. Then I realize-the birds have stopped singing.

The twang of an arrow seems to burst from everywhere and nowhere at once. We stumble up, whirling around to see the target to see Martyn, sat on a tree, aiming his bow right at Jason. The second twang of an arrow sounds, and the blur of the weapon, faster than a bullet, strikes Jason right in the eye, sinking deep into his skull and popping out the other side.

Boom.

I glare up at the forest sprite, sending my sword straight at him. There was no time for one on one pvp matches, this was the survival games, and only one could remain. The very thought of that made my stomach turn. The dead of today had not been revealed yet and there had been a lot of cannons. 

The sword strikes his arm and he curses, yanking it out and sending it flying back. It catches Liam on his arm, and he yelps, staggering backwards. With a roar of fury, I jump up, grabbing the branch he sits on, and I yank it down, watching him fall to the floor. I unsheath a red matter katar that I picked up, and, with one last glare at the forest spirits emerald green eyes, scared and dead, I shove it deep into his throat.

Boom.

I stand up, running over to Liam, who had stumbled and was leaning against a tree. "Let me see" I murmur, yanking the sword out of his arm quickly. He cries out in pain, squeezing his eyes shut. I stare in despair at the wound-he would die of blood loss. There was no stopping it. I could already see his eyes growing weaker by the second, his breath becoming thick and ragged.