The Uprising

Fragile Peace

Hi guys!

Thank you all so much for your lovely reviews and comments! I love reading them and hearing your thoughts and feedback on this story, so thank you so much!

Answers to reviews:

- Alicia and Adam's friendship is quite interesting to me, seeing as they were brought together by Hannah's death and they both loved her. I've brought it back again in this chapter, so hopefully you'll all like it.

- I wanted Ella to be all calm whilst Setrakus crumbles because the relationship between the two of them is definitely changing as she grows stronger.

Please read on and enjoy!

Marina

Ever since the first Games I haven't experienced many moments of peace. It's usually one fight after another, one impossible, hopeless scenario to overcome after another. The luxury to stop for a few moments, to rest and to breathe has never really been available. The chance to really appreciate moments with loved ones, and the opportunities to tell them how much they care are so rare that sometimes it's easy to forget they never happened. When those moments do happen, I treasure them, even try to imprint them on my mind so I never forget them.

This is one such moment.

I lie on the camp bed, the tent flaps shut to block out the bright light outside and to stop people bothering us. The mattress is hard and lumpy, and the sounds coming from the army camp makes it hard for me to fall asleep, yet I feel peaceful, relaxed and even happy. I know why of course. Joseph lies next to me on his stomach, his arms thrown out haphazardly as he snores gently. His head is turned away from me and all I can see are his black curls and the rising and falling of his chest as he breathes deeply. There's a small blanket thrown over the two of us, small and ineffective. But I can't be bothered to move to take it off.

I feel lazy, sleepy and happy. After a good meal, a shower and a sleep, I feel better than I have in a long time. The camp here isn't luxurious but it's practical; it's everything you'd expect of a camp filled with Loric soldiers preparing to march on the Capital. They'd formed this camp in a mere matter of days, just before we'd attacked West Virginia. There had been loads of fighters even at the beginning, but we were still lacking the numbers to easily take on the Capital. But when word of our victory spread, it meant that everyone able to fight had swarmed to the camp, ready to fight for Lorien. There must be hundreds of thousands here now, waiting to enter the city and win the war.

And more are coming every minute.

Everyone had praised us; the mentors, the generals, even Laws had congratulated us on our victory. They made it sound glorious, victorious. But when I think back on our attack, I just remember a constant sense of fear. I remember the terrifying moment the base came down on us; that hadn't felt victorious. I think of the horrible moment Maren and I had fallen, the floor beneath us crumbling away: that certainly wasn't glorious. My ice had protected us, but that had been almost impossible to maintain. I remember the concrete slamming into us, the free falling, the shaking, the tumbling and finally stopping, the concrete and rock settling around us. I thought we were going to die there, trapped in by tons of rocks, without having said goodbye to the ones we loved. The thought of Joseph, Ella and Hector had been the only thing that made me fight to get us out of there.

Here in the safety, I'm ashamed of how close I was to giving up.

I wasn't just scared though. I remember relief from the fight too, relief at being free, relief at realising that the boys had made it unscathed. I remember the wonderful moment Joseph had teleported to us, hugging me. I hadn't even realised how terrified I was of losing him again until he was with me again. Holding him close to me had meant everything in that moment. But relief isn't glorious victory. It's just relief.