Writer Games | Death Wish & 51

Task Two: On the Steps of the Palace

This is more than just malice.
Better stop and take stock
While you're standing here stuck
On the steps of the palace.

Typical to her  reputation, Attina has created an arena that is as beautiful as it is  secretly deadly. While the eerie and crackled forest that surrounds  everyone, dark yet covered in the most colourful of leaves, is without a  doubt intimidating, the castle before the tributes is unassuming - for a  castle, anyway. Its golden arches and marble walls are all that can be  seen, but it still holds a certain trustworthiness to it. This place  does not seem like somewhere a fight to the death should be happening.

Upon inspection, it  becomes clear that, while there are no pedestals, nobody will be moving  for the first sixty seconds; the glue under their feet will not let up  and allow them to leave. So, resigned, the tributes stay frozen, waiting  for the gong to let them know it's time to race for the Cornucopia.

In the relative  distance, if they squint, they can make out what lies around the  Cornucopia: swords, knives, arrows, glances, packs of foods, tents,  water and much more - there is something for everyone here. The question  is whether or not that is temptation enough to face the other tributes,  some of which look ready to kill in a heartbeat.

The air is still, the  tributes are tense; nothing here is perfectly still, and yet none of it  is exactly as it appears either. The countdown reaches five, and each  tribute takes one big breath: after this moment, their breaths will all  be counted.

And then the gong arrives, bringing with it chaos and death.

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THE TASK:

Welcome, ladies,  gentlemen, and gender non-confirming, to the bloodbath, ready to quench  your thirst for death and action. You really don't have much restriction  here, so do what you think you'll do well - just write the bloodbath  while doing it.

KILLS:  There must be THREE deaths in your entry and FIVE ballot deaths after  this, though if you don't make a list of them and send it with the  entry, none of your kills count. Eleven will go up for votes, with eight  leaving us.

WORD LIMIT: 1,250 words (+500 for seeded players)

DUE DATE: Friday, June 12th at 10 PM BST.

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THE REMAINING TRIBUTES:

District One, Eoghan Monteligneau
District One, Belladonna Cranium
District Two, Edgar Phasear
District Two, Epona Jericho [3]
District Three, Cale Samnet
District Three, Ada Huxley [2]
District Four, Beck Laiken
District Four, Marbella Doré
District Five, Nathaniel Morrison [8]
District Five, Ava Emerson [10]
District Six, Avion Rockets
District Six, Ariana Blake [6]
District Seven, Cas Bosco [9]
District Seven, Danielle Wilde
District Eight, Cottyn Arachne
District Eight, Angora Baste
District Nine, Aster Wheatleigh [5]
District Nine, Rhea Martinez-Rye
District Ten, Wesley Reddinh
District Ten, Milly Gather
District Eleven, Vixen Faulkner
District Eleven, Chloe Hopkins
District Twelve, Collier Flint
District Twelve, Aya Brandley [4]
District Thirteen, Aesop Detona
District Thirteen, Macey Arson
Capitol, Kairos Quinn
Capitol, Stellia Robill