Chapter 4- THE KING'S SPORT
1594 Words
The survivors were given time.
Not mercy, just delay.
After the Blood Oath, they were herded into a different sector of the island. Concrete shelters. Cold water.
Echo sat on the edge of a stone bench, staring at her reflection in a dented metal tray. Her palm still hurts. Across from her, Viper drank water with her small shaking sips, eyes darting at every sound.
Ghost leaned against the wall, arms crossed, listening and observing.
"They're letting us breathe and reflect on the decisions we make," he muttered. "Which means something's coming."
Echo nodded once.
She could feel it too.
Above them, hidden speakers cracked to life.."
The air shifted
A ripple of unease ran through the shelter.
Echo's wristband vibrated sharply.
A red symbol burned onto the screen.
So did every other player
That was all.
No puzzles.
No contracts.
No oaths.
Just survival.
Echo lifted her head slowly.
The first scream echoed from outside the field in less than five minutes.
Night fell hard.
From hidden gates embedded in the ruins, they were released.
Elite assassins.
Not contestants. Not desperate people fighting for tokens.
Professionals, trained, masked, armed men.
This was the kind of sport the Mafia's enjoyed watching.
Echo moved carefully through the shadows, senses sharp. Every sound felt closer at night. She ducked into a partially collapsed building, heart pounding. Afraid of being seen, her only option to pass this round was to hide.
Her throat was dry.
She reached for a water bottle, found close to a sink.
Very noticeable.
From a short distance, Requiem saw her picking up the bottle.
"Oh no." he said to himself.
The bottle in her hand.
A red warning icon flickered beside her feed, too subtle for contestants to notice.
Poison.
Fast-acting. Silent.
Requiem didn't think.
He moved very fast.
Echo lifted the bottle and was about to drink it when a hand struck it from her grip.
Water spilled across the concrete.
She spun, breath sharp, body ready to fight even though she was good at fighting.
Requiem stood in front of her.
This was the first time they were seeing each other up close.
"You," Echo said, squirting her eyes.
"Don't drink that," he said quietly.
Echo took a step back. "What do you want?"
Her eyes flicked to the puddle. Then back to him.
"What was in it?" she asked.
He didn't answer.
Instead, he crushed the bottle beneath his boot.
Somewhere nearby, a blade whispered through the air.
Requiem shoved Echo aside.
The assassin never saw him.
One precise movement. A flash of steel. A body lowered silently to the ground.
No blood spray. No sound.
Echo stared.
"You're… part of the game," she said slowly.
"So are you," Requiem replied.
Footsteps echoed closer.
"Move," he said.
Then they ran.
Later, much later, Echo felt tired and had to rest.
"How long does the game last? I'm feeling a little bit dizzy." she said while yawning.
"It's alright you can lay down a bit, I'll keep watch over the surroundings." Requiem said while sharpening a wood into the shape of a knife.
Echo thought about it but decided to trust him since he saved her life from that poison, and her eyes were too heavy.
She fell asleep.
Minutes later Requiem started thinking, "should I kill her now and make it look like she died while trying to survive the game."
He started approaching her slowly, upon getting closer and seeing how beautiful she was and how she had been acting smart. He froze as he was about to strike her.
Steady footsteps could be heard approaching them.
Echo began to turn before her eyes snapped open.
Requiem acted normal and held her mouth. "Shh.. don't say a word and don't move."
He quickly hid in a corner.
The footsteps draws closer and as the assassin notice echo and rushed to kill her
Requiem hands quickly clamped over the man's mouth and gave it a sharp twist.
A wet crack.
The body slumped.
Echo sat up, breath shaking.
"You could've let him kill me," she whispered.
Requiem wiped the blade on the dead man's clothes. "I didn't."
She watched him closely now.
The way he moved.
The way he positioned himself slightly in front of her.
The way danger never reached her first.
"Who are you?" she said.
Silence.
"Hey I asked you a question, and why are you protecting me?" she said as she walked up to him.
He finally looked at her.
"You ask too many questions," he said.
"And you answer none," she replied.
Elsewhere…
Viper ran.
Not fast but smart.
She smeared mud and ash across her skin, then crawled beneath collapsed flooring as an assassin passed overhead. When footsteps approached again, she slipped into water, holding her breath for as long as she could.
Ghost moved differently.
He lured.
He triggered noise traps, doubled back, led assassins into each other's paths. When cornered, he vanished into darkness like smoke.
Both survived.
Barely.
Near dawn, Echo and Requiem reached an abandoned glass palace overlooking the sea.
Its walls were shattered but still standing, moonlight spilling through fractured panes like silver knives. Waves crashed far below.
They collapsed behind a broken column.
Blood stained their clothes.
Silence wrapped around them.
For the first time since the game began, nothing chased them.
Echo leaned back, breathing slowly.
"Why do you keep saving me?" she asked.
Requiem didn't answer.
She turned to him anyway. "You're not doing this for the game."
Still nothing.
The ocean roared below.
Finally, he said, "Sleep."
She didn't.
Instead, she studied him, the tension in his shoulders, the way his gaze never stopped moving.
A red light ignited on both their wristbands.
A timer appeared on every screen around.
10:00.
09:59.
Seeing the timer countdown, all the remaining contestants conclude if they could survive till that timer hits zero, hopefully the round will end.
Seeing this the elite assassin became fast and furious in carrying out the mission because they know that if they don't, by the time that timer hits 00:00 they will be killed.
The contestants remaining are less than 30.
No one wanted to die any more so they hid themselves from the assassins till the timer was up.
Two assassins noticed Ghost and moved so fast.
Careful not to alert him.
Ghost noticed them and moved across another sector, leading the two assassins into a narrow corridor lined with broken steel beams. One misstep, and the assassin's foot caught in a beam. He stumbled, crashing into the other. Both fell, unconscious but alive.
Ghost spared them. He slipped into the shadows, eyes scanning, always scanning.
Outside, Viper couldn't hold her breath any more so she came out and got close to a collapsing tunnel.
An assassin spotted her and immediately rushed towards her with a knife but was knocked over by Matthew, whose codename is scar. He has been monitoring that assassin and waiting for the perfect time to strike.
When he noticed the assassins let his guard down when going for the kill on Viper, he rushed out and knocked him over with a heavy stick, and was unconscious.
He came to Viper and asked if she was ok.
I'm fine, she said as she looked around scared.
He noticed her trembling hands and asked if she was ok.
She didn't say anything.
"It's fine, it's fine, come." He said and hugged her.
They entered inside and navigated the collapsed tunnel. Each step could trigger debris or a hidden assassin waiting in the shadows. Scar paused, listening.
A blade whispered past, missing him by inches. He kicked a loose rock, sending it skittering down the corridor. The noise drew the assassin away. Viper bit her lip and held his clothes tight.
"Let's remain here till it's all over, it looks like the safest place for now" Scar muttered.
Back at the glass palace, Echo steadied herself against a broken column.
Smoke drifted through the open walls.
The timer on her wrist flickered.
00:42
Requiem hadn't moved.
He wasn't looking at the fallen assassins.
He was listening and was careful of any spikes.
Echo followed his gaze.
At first, she heard nothing.
Then a crunchy sound came from a corridor.
Slow.
Measured.
Not the heavy stomp of boots.
Not the frantic dash of a dying man.
This was calm.
Intentional.
From the corridor where the assassin had fallen earlier, a shadow shifted.
A figure stepped into the fractured moonlight.
Unmasked.
Not dressed like the other assassins.
No tactical gear.
No weapons drawn.
Just black gloves.
And eyes that didn't blink.
Echo felt something cold crawl up her spine.
The timer hit,
00:10
The figure looked directly at Requiem.
Not at Echo.
Not scanning the area.
At him.
Recognition.
Requiem's jaw tightened.
For the first time since she met him.
He looked unsettled.
The figure tilted his head slightly, looking straight at echo. Then spoke, voice smooth and controlled.
"You weren't supposed to survive this long."
Echo's pulse roared in her ears.
00:05
Scar felt it too, from the tunnel.
Ghost froze mid-step.
Every survivor felt it.
Something worse than assassins had just entered the field.
And it wasn't rushing.
It wasn't desperate.
It didn't care about the timer.
00:03
The figure took one step forward.
Requiem stepped in front of Echo.
Protective.
Instinctive.
The stranger's gaze flicked to her wristband.
A faint smile.
00:01
The timer hit zero.
The red lights on every wristband went dark.
Total silence swallowed the island.
Just when the figure starts running towards echo…
- Writer
