Masked Enemies

Chapter 30

Finnick

"Katniss!" I yell. "Get up! Careers!"

Katniss gets up, and the Careers burst through the foliage. Celosia has twin knives, and Diem and Arch both carry huge swords. I ready my trident as they near us, jabbing the air and circling the fire.

"How...nice to see you again." Diem snarls, lifting up her sword. She screams and charges me, but I am ready. I stick out my trident, and she nearly runs into it, but dodges at the very last second. She spins around slashing the air with her blade, and hisses at me. I hiss back, and throw my trident at her. Diem dodges it again, and I am disarmed. I stand there, helpless, as she charges at me.

An arrow hits her in the arm, and she falls with a shriek of pain. I turn and see Katniss standing there, grinning. I flash her a smile, but I don't think she notices, because she is run over by Arch. I know she can handle him, she has her knife, so instead I run towards my trident, grabbing it and spinning around. Celosia is fighting off Cascade, and Diem is sitting on the snow, holding her arm. I know there's no need to worry about her, so I charge Celosia. Cascade is throwing the knives at her, but the look of desperation on her face tells me she is running out, and would soon be disarmed.

I was right. Cascade is down to her last knife now, and she keeps her grip on this one instead of throwing it at Celosia. Celosia is screaming in pain, but her grip on Cascade's shoulders remains firm.

With a yell I bring my trident down on Celosia, who looks up and immediately rolls away from it. Landing on the ground a stone's throw away, Celosia recollects herself and charges me, her twin blades glinting in the moonlight. I am frozen and I don't know what to do. She nears me, but I cannot move. Suddenly, another body rams into Celosia's side and shoves her to the ground. Cascade stands above Celosia's body, and raises her knife high over her head. Celosia's twin blades try to fend Cascade off, but have no such luck.

With a cry of agony, Cascade brings her knife down, aiming for her heart. Celosia rolls away from it, and instead Cascade's knife gets lodged into the snow. Taking the opportunity to run away, Celosia escapes and lands next to Diem, who has recovered, and whose arm is bleeding like crazy.

Arch and Katniss continue to scuffle, and Arch seems to be winning. I throw my trident at him to help Katniss, and it hits its target. The trident pierces Arch's back, and he stumbles to the ground, his blood turning the snow dark and red. Katniss falls to the ground.

"Arch!" Diem yells from the other side of the clearing. Diem hoists herself off of the ground and rushes over to Arch, who is, surely, dying. I run over to Cascade, who is bleeding on the ground. The wound Celosia gave her doesn't seem fatal. She takes her knife and hurls at the Careers, who had accepted defeat and were now leaving.

Boom. Arch was dead. Diem lets out a shriek. The knife, which I had forgotten about, hits Celosia in the back, and she falls to her knees, crying out. Turning around, somehow Celosia finds the strength to hurl one of her knives in our direction. I don't think it will hit us, so I don't move.

The knife does, however. It flies towards me with startling speed. Boom. Celosia falls to the ground. Top eight. The knife, I think as it nears me. I can't move, though. Again, my timing was impeccable.

"No!" She screams, and rams into me, shoving me to one side. I fall into the snow, looking the direction of my attacker. My attacker falls into the snow with a shriek of pain. Running towards her, I kneel over her body, and with a pang I realize who it was.

I look into the dying face of Cascade Syne.

"Finnick.." She says weakly, moving her arm so that our fingers touched. Blood pools around her, creating a dark red puddle in the bright snow. "Win...for...me..." She manages to get out. Silent sobs shake my body.