GLORY AND GORE ━━ F. ODAIR

20.

CHAPTER TWENTY
the beginning of the end

" we don't remember days, we remember moments "

I wasn't by Lana's side much longer, retreating back into the forest with my wrecked bag and a bloodied sword in my hand. The cut on the side of my thigh continued to ooze blood, leaving a saturated trail down the length of my pants.

Carter's words replayed themselves in the back of my head like an old, broken record eating away at my ears. I had to remind myself that what I did was right, it was just.

As the day went on, there was no sign of any other tributes other than myself. I patched my leg up, ate most of the food I had left in my bag and walked in circles for what felt like hours. My legs had grown numb to the pain of travelling for hours a day, at times I could barely feel my own feet hitting the ground.

"Attention, tributes. Attention." My heart jumped at the sudden voice in the air.

"Commencing at sunrise, there will be a feast tomorrow at the Cornucopia. This will be no ordinary occasion, each of you needs something desperately and we plan to be generous hosts."

The feast.

Each year it was different, but the Capitol always had one goal in mind, to bring all the tributes together. It was perfect.

I ran through the trees, swatting away the branches that blocked my way and hurdling over the bushes that roamed the ground. I didn't care about any of the noise I made.

In a matter of minutes, I found myself crouched amongst the bushes looking out at the Cornucopia, it was completely empty, with no signs of any tributes. Perhaps they all had the same idea as I had, wait on the sidelines for the first person to break.

Behind the moat of water was a metal table with four black bags laid out evenly on top, some were fuller than others. Minutes passed and the first tribute ran out; it was Lana, she didn't stop to check out any of the other bags. Instead, she ran straight through and grabbed her bag on the way out. It was the smallest.

Three bags remained.

Just as the coast became clear, I crept out of the bushes and advanced towards the water. Keeping on my toes. There was a small movement in the corner of my eye, my breath hitched in my throat as I stopped immediately. There was another person emerging from the other side of the clearing.

My eyes darted from the three black bags on the metal table to the person standing at the edge of the treeline. They didn't move forward and instead just eyed from a distance. My heart continued to drum in my chest, beating wildly.

I squinted, the sun shining it's rays directly into my eyes as I tried to get a better look. When I had finally realised who it was, all the anger and worry in my body seemed to disappear.

Standing across the other side of the clearing was my brother. Alive. His once curls were

Slowly, my lips curled into a grin as I buried my face in my palms, laughing into my red-stained palms. Everything had begun to fall into place.

I broke out into a sprint, my feet propelling me forward. Slowly, Adon began to run towards me, opening his arms wide as I crashed into them. We stumbled in the grass before finally becoming still, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist. So tight I felt as if I was being suffocated, but that was the least of my worries.