PROLOGUE
DREAMED A DREAM

8 YEARS EARLIER

WHEN Bex Nassar closed her eyes, she could see the end all over again.

The sun was so hot that it was piercing her eyelids every time she blinked. Her right leg was weak, suffering the more she walked on it, due to the stab wound that District Four boy gave right before she plunged her axe right into his chest. She hardly made any kills during the week she spent in this arena, deciding to hide in the coverage of the forest, not stepping near the Cornucopia surrounded by the multitude of boulders. Bex only emerged when she'd eaten the last of that deformed rabbit she caught on Day 3, and after counting the night before, she realized there were only three of them left.

At least seventeen tributes died in the bloodbath on the first day, including her District Seven male. That was a record in Hunger Games history. Now, there was only her, the District Four girl, and the District One boy.

She found the other girl by the small riverbank on the east side of the forest. Her was Derya, but Bex didn't know anything about her at the time. She didn't even know she was only fourteen, just a few years shy of her. Bex had to put all that information to the side while she was piercing her fingernails into the girl's eyes, blood seeping out like she was a waterfall. Derya was dead in minutes.

She met District One's Cavalier Career, Augustus Braun, at the Cornucopia, where he and the Career pack had been stationed since Day 1. His partners were all gone now, killed off by him – their ring leader. The boulders encircling the Cornucopia had been his advantage to see when other tributes were coming to attack, but the last thing he expected was a broken and beaten down District Seven girl at the top of the rock wall on the morning of Day 8.

Bex would always remember the smile Augustus gave her once he saw the blood dripping from her hands and the dried amount that still lingered on her axe. It was almost like he was proud. Proud to see the underdog outlast the Games; proud to be graced with the unexpected.

"It's just us now?" He asked, that charismatic grin still playing on his lips.

Bex didn't respond. Her voice was too hoarse and her throat hurt to speak. She simply nodded.

"Well," Augustus sighed, grabbing his sword, "I wish you good luck. May the odds be ever in your favor."

He paused and held up his sword. Bex blinked. He was giving her a running start.

She didn't hesitate. Bex jumped off the top boulder and landed on her knees near the Cornucopia. She could feel her kneecaps breaking as they collided with the rough stone, but she stood up. She needed to stand up. The sun was pulsating and making her dizzy. Bex almost believed she was seeing a white light, even before Augustus decapitated her with his sword. She didn't care how this ended, but she at least wanted to know that she made it, that the underdog could do something. She just wanted this to be over, whether that be in death or victory.

Augustus approached her slowly, calculating his every move, as Bex whimpered from the pain in her legs. He lifted her chin with the tip of his sword, and she met his piercing blue eyes with a glare. Augustus smirked, but that might've been his first mistake. Bex batted his sword away, allowing it to just barely skin her arm. She twirled the axe in her hand and swallowed hard, tasting saliva in the back of her throat. Augustus attacked with his sword, but her axe blocked it. He tried faking her out, kicking her knees out from under her, but she moved away before he could. His blood was pumping. Anger erupted in his chest.

"What are you waiting for?!" He screamed, his sword ready to strike. "Stop dodging me!"

Bex tightened her grip on the weapon. "Fine," she croaked.

Before Augustus could move, Bex ran for him, closing her eyes as she swiped the axe. The weapon glided through the air. She almost thought it hadn't done anything by how smooth the axe cut, but when she opened her eyes, there it was: Augustus' head at her feet. His body was still standing for a solid ten seconds, spewing blood all over her face. When his body hit the ground, a cannon went off. The axe slipped out of Bex's hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the winner of the 67th Annual Hunger Games."

Bex fell back, slumped against a rock, and breathed for the first time in what felt like a while. This was a dream. It had to be a dream.

The announcer cleared his throat: "Bex Nassar. Congratulations."

To this day, as she sleeps in the comfort of her mansion in the Victors' Village, her brother staying just a floor under, Bex still wondered if it had been a dream after all.

AND NOW IT BEGINS.
NO, NOW IT ENDS.
— GAME OF THRONES