The Shadow Games

Chapter Seven

Chapter 7

******Hey Guys!

Sorry I haven't been updating for a while, I hope you'll forgive me, but I'm really happy! 87 votes and 53 comments? Wow, I'm flattered! I was wondering if you guys would vote and support me if I put this in for the 2011 Watty Awards. And I hope you enjoy!

She spun around and watched the arrow disappear into the darkness. It had a soft blue shaft with a silver tip, and was very familiar. Too familiar. It was one of Zoe's arrows.

Nina peered down into the shimmery foliage. But the shine blended all the lines together and hid the movements from her. Frantic, she started diving down lower so she could see. But the view was the same. She couldn't tell if the leaves were concealing someone or not.

Only after admitting defeat did she realize she was too close. Far too close. She was an easy target down here, so close to the trees. She darted backward, further up into the sky until she was surrounded by the misty clouds.

Here she had a stunning view of the world around her. There was a massive forest of silvery green laid out around her, with the starting clearing in the center and an ice blue river twisting throughout it. Off to her right was a tall ice capped mountain of granite, and past the river was a small depression in the land. The thing that shocked her was that when she spun around, she saw a massive wall, and nothing beyond it. It dropped off into nothingness.

She choked out a strangled scream of sorts. The blood drained from her face as she started to slowly descend, her body contorting into flips and arches and awkward twists. The world dulled to black around her, and she fluttered her eyelids shut.

Under the clouds she finally awoke from her faint. She was tired and sad and frightened. Nina gulped up several deep breaths of cold night air, trying to clear her head.

It didn't seem to be working.

She tested flapping her wings, which sliced through the thin air far too easily, like steel through butter. It was an odd sensation, but what was odder was the fact that she could feel how cold and strained her wings were, as though they were the same skin and muscle she was born with.

A shiver ran through her body.

She spiraled down towards the trees, scanning for her competition. The sound of breaking wood hit her ears. Her wings widened, and she soared closer and closer to the source. Nina was hovering over the beginning clearing when she saw Zoe and May battling to the death. Zoe was shielding herself with arrows while May hacked at her with the spear.

Nina covered her eyes.

The pleads of Zoe coming from below were almost too much to bear. They ached to listen to. They scared her.

But Zoe was surely running out of arrows, and soon she would be dead. Nina felt it in her gut.

The sound of Zoe's high pitched final scream floated to her ears from meters below.

May's victory cheers filled the air. But they were cut short by a loud crackling noise. “I know you’re up there, Nina,” she called, “and I am ready to ki-“

She was cut short by a loud clunking noise.

Her screams quickly followed.

Only when she was quiet did Nina slowly removed her hands from over her eyes. Below her was a pool of Zoe’s blood, a large blob around her lifeless body. She saw the large gash in her chest. Right by her heart.

The white branch lay on top of May’s body, which was lifeless and crunched and tangled and twisted.

Nina peered down at the dead bodies as she listened to the loud speaker's voice.

"Nina, are you ready for round two?"

She slowly nodded her head no.