I'm finally back. It's seriously been about a month since I've done any work on my story XP gosh
Anyways, I edited the part about Harley, which was the last thing I posted, and I tried to take on your advice, turning him into a more cold, calculating killer. I left in the part with the blood on his knife for now, coz I quite like the imagery and I wasn't sure what to replace it with. Let me know if you have any ideas Aviar
Harley finally allowed himself a small smile once they were up in the air. For the past hour, he had maintained a perfect facade of confusion and mild concern, fitting in with the crowd perfectly. Now his lips twitched upwards slightly in victory.
Everything had gone perfectly. Last night, he had slithered around town from shadow to shadow and poured a few drops of his concoction into the water troughs of his targets.
He couldn’t poison the whole town, obviously. It would’ve taken far too long and increased the chances of being caught. Besides, being the only person not affected by a sudden sickness would most certainly raise some suspicions.
So he had chosen his targets carefully. The town’s leaders were the first to go. The most intelligent and cunning townsfolk followed. Then the brave, adventurous teenagers, who had boasted so freely of their own strength.
And Harley had calmly poisoned them all, not allowing nerves or excitement to even slightly disrupt his focused, careful work. No one saw him coming or heard him leave; he was a ghost in the night.
It had been almost dawn by the time he crawled into bed. When he rose from his short, peaceful sleep, he had felt a small stirring of pleasure as he realised that many people in the town would be unable to wake up at all.
He felt that same stir of pleasure now – an unfamiliar sensation to his cold heart – and he let himself enjoy it for a moment, watching the world rush past underneath his hawk.
A few seconds later, he squashed the feeling and removed the smile from his features. He glanced slyly at the birds flying near him, noting that most of the people they carried were old, frail or unfit.
A few of the stronger men had managed to overcome the drug’s effects somewhat, haggardly trudging towards the birds that morning. Initially Harley had been disappointed, but seeing them now, pale-faced and swaying exhaustedly on their birds, he knew they posed no threat to him in the King’s Challenge.
With his own tribe no longer a problem, he began to consider the other tribes. As the forest rushed by underneath him and an enormous mountain drew closer in front of him, Harley’s thoughts flew even faster, and he plotted how he would eliminate the coming threats.
His hawk lurched on a sudden gust of wind, and the contents of his knapsack rattled. Underneath the food and water, an airtight container of his Devil’s Sleep potion slid free from a hidden compartment. And next to it lay a razor sharp dagger in its sheath, the hilt stained with small drops of red.
Hopefully I will have some more written soon. Just need to figure out which character to talk about next
God bless you guys. Hope you enjoy it