It was a hazy thirty minutes later that Clarke found herself walking back towards the cabin having made sure that all bodies were burnt to ashes before leaving them to be scattered in the wind. The radios of the Mountain Men were crackling constantly as a panicked voice kept trying to make contact with the patrol, but there was no response forthcoming.
Clarke was glad to see that the Mountain Men had brought their devices along especially since the radio and tone generators Clarke and Anya had stolen from the Mountain were lost during their fight.
Clarke walked back into camp and she was surprised to see Anya and Tris decked out in full armour. The two were in the process of attaching knives and swords to their bodies and were already looking in Clarke's direction.
Anya's eyes were once again filled with mistrust as she stared at Clarke. The woman stepped closer to Clarke and said,"You better leave. Now."
Clarke was confused and she voiced the question that was on her mind,"What do you mean? What's going on?"
Anya looked angry, but she seemed to calm down once Tris grabbed onto her arm. The woman took a deep breath in before saying,"A Trikru village was attacked. One of the generals in Trikru was killed and the branwada wounded innocents who tried to stop him. Apparently the boy used a gun and all attacks couldn't harm before he fled without a trace. The Coalition marches to his camp now."
Clarke felt a sinking feeling as she asked,"Who was it?"
Anya simply scoffed and said,"I think you know. Your people are located roughly 50 miles to the northwest. You should hand Finn over to the Commander before she decides to attack. You only have until daybreak before she will give the order to charge and I doubt your guns will save your people."
Ckarke felt frustration bubble up in her as Anya confirmed her suspicions. She felt both elated and dismayed to hear that Finn was alive. Elation because that meant the other delinquents including Bellamy and the Arkers were alive and well.
Yet, this felt hollow considering the fact that Clarke had to hand over one of the people she had sworn to protect to face his crimes.
"What will the Commander do to him?"inquired Clarke as she looked at Anya who looked ready to leave along with her second,"Will she not attack my people if I give him to her?"
Anya looked at Clarke with a serious expression on her face and said,"He will suffer a punishment equal to the crime. The traditional execution method of Trikru is death by a thousand cuts. The commander will deliver all cuts before ending it with a stab to the heart. However, if your people give him up then Skaikru will be absolved of all wrongdoing. Refuse and..."
"We'll be at war,"finished Clarke and her statement drew a nod from Anya.
"Make haste, Clarke,"said Anya as she looked at her,The lives of your people rest on your shoulders."
Clarke clenched her hand into a fist before saying with a hint of exhaustion,"What else is new?"
She was about to take off when Anya said,"I made a few changes to your clothes that you might find useful. Running on the ground now would be detrimental so it is better if you take to the skies."
Clarke reached to the back of her shirt and she was surprised to find two buttons on the back of her shirt. She undid them and she was surprised to feel two vertical slits that travers her back.
Clarke focused for a second before jer wings burst through the slits in the fabric seamlessly. Tris let out a sound of surprise and awe which turned into a gasp of surprise when Clarke turned back to them and her eyes had morphed into large circular shapes with yellow colouring and a black centre.
The eyes of an owl.
"I'll fix this,"said Clarke before she took in a gust of wind leaving the two Trikru members behind.
Clarke began to ascend to a suitable height before using her eyes to scan for any sight of Finn. She was able to see in the faroff distance a hulk of metal that must have been the Arkers camp and there was a large glow that surrounded it's base.
It was either one large fire or many small fires – torches probably.
Perhaps an army's worth of torches.
Clarke knew that Finn wouldn't have gone to camp for fear of being thrown to the wolves so she changed her direction away from the Ark and instead went to the one place she hoped she could find him.
"You let Finn go?"said Kane as he stared at Bellamy,"What on Earth possessed you to do something so stupid?"
Bellamy sighed as he looked down at the ground,"We wanted to find The 100. They just disappeared and you guys barely even cared about that. I couldn't go myself so I sent Finn to go find any leads. I didn't think he'd–"
"He'd what?"pressed Kane,"Go into a village and try to massacre it's residents? Now we have an army right outside our gates baying for the blood of our people, but Finn is nowhere to be found. "
"So now you care about our lives?"said Bellamy with anger,"Did you care when you sent us down here or when you floated Sector 17 in their sleep?"
"I did what we thought was best to survive,"said Kane firmly, "Everything was done to save as many people as possible. I don't think I need to remind you that you did your best to ensure that the entirety of the Ark didn't come down on two separate occasions. In case you didn't know, the disappearing wristband signatures and Raven's radio not working were the main motivations behind the Culling happening. Something you had a very large hand in. "
Bellamy looked away from Kane in shame as he was reminded of his past sins. Bellamy was well aware of what consequences his actions had had. He wasn't as blameless as he'd like to believe and it was whenever he was alone with his thoughts he was haunted by the choices he had made.
Kane calmed down as he saw the anguish and turmoil rise up in the boy and said,"The things we have done in our past don't define us. You and I have both wronged so many of our own people and those sins will haunt us as long as we live. The only thing we can do now is to make sure our people keep on surviving. The Commander seems partial to letting us into the Coalition, but we'll first have to..."
"Give them Finn?"asked Bellamy with a hint of derision in his voice,"What makes us so special that we get to decide who lives and who dies?"
Kane sighed gravely and said,"We are leaders, Bellamy. If we don't do this, who will? This is the cost of being a leader."
"I never asked for this,"said Bellamy as he rose to his feet.
Before Kane could respond his radio crackled to life.
"Marcus," said Abby as her voice sounded from the radio,"Get Bellamy out here now. We're going to need him."
Bellamy and Kane looked at each other before they both began to make their way to the outside of the Ark. They had to muscle their way through a throng of people, but once they muscled through they were surprised by what awaited them.
A large, monolithic mass of rock was hovering away from the camp. A dark skinned woman with black hair was standing at the helm of the army with her arm raised to the sky. The woman thrust her hand towards the gates of Camp Jaha and like a rocket the mass of stone began to accelerate directly towards the gate.
The residents of Camp Jaha let out a collective scream of terror as the rock surged towards their gate. Bellamy felt a tingling sensation of fear emanate across his body and guided by some mixture of stupidity and heroism he ran towards the incoming boulder.
He thrust both his hands out at the rock and pushed forward. The rock began to gradually slow down before it was stopped cold not ten feet away from him. The rock dropped to the ground with a massive boom that echoed like thunder across the entire clearing.
Bellamy felt sweat gather across the entirety of his body as he tried to regain his breath. The sheer effort required to stop the rock had been extremely trying on his body.
The sound of hooves drew his attention and he was surprised to see the woman that had launched the rock at their gates approach. The woman had warpaint in an intricate pattern around her eyes and she brought her horse to a stop right in front of Bellamy.
"What is your name?"said the woman and her voice was as harsh as one would expect from a seasoned warrior. Bellamy straightened up before saying,"Bellamy. Bellamy Blake. What's your name?"
"Indra,"replied the woman idly as of she wasn't standing in front of an enemy,"That was a warning shot. The Commander does not wish to shed more blood than is necessary. We just want you to hand over the coward."
Indra raised her hand up in some sort of signal and Bellamy was surprised to see a lot more of the large monoliths of stone rise up into the air, but this time there were on fire,"If we do not have him within an hour then you shall all burn."
The woman dropped her hand, but the monolithic boulders were still in the air floating precariously. Bellamy knew he could probably only stop about one more of those.
It had sapped at his energy to stop something that had been so heavy and moving so fast and he knew that stopping it was only half the problem. The flames that saturated the obelisks were another problem.
Bellamy turned his eyes from the dozens of meteorites before saying,"You'll get your man."
Bellamy turned his back and walked back to the gates. He heard Indra turn her horse and trot away presumably to report to the Commander.
Bellamy paid it no mind as he pondered on the whereabouts of Finn. Perhaps a few hours ago, Bellamy would have staunchly opposed giving him up, but with over two dozen burning masses of rock floating above Camp Jaha, Bellamy would be the first to throw the boy to the Grounders.
If only they could find a way to sneak a patrol past the army. The Grounders were convinced Finn was inside Camp Jaha and were being rather patient all things considered. They had formed a perimeter around Camp and there was literally no way in or out.
The only thing the Arkers could hope for was for a gift from above.
"Heda,"said Indra as she stood near Lexa at the crest of the valley that the Skaikru had made their home in,"It has been over an hour since I gave then the warning. They insult your power by ignoring your threat. The army grows restless. Give the signal and we shall send the fire boulders to kill them all for defying you."
"That's enough, Indra,"said Lexa as she stared impassively at the metallic monstrosity below her,"Skaikru and the army must understand that their lives are in my hand. Mine to take whenever I wish. If that is in an hour or a day or a year from now then so be it. They will accept it and so shall the army. I know you mean well so I will excuse your misstep. If any others in the army have similar concerns tell them what I have said and if they disagree then they are more than welcome to bring their complaints to me."
"Of course, Heda. I apologise,"said Indra before she bowed to the younger woman and left her alone.
Lexa waited for the woman to leave before a small sigh escaped her lips. Despite Lexa having chastised her, Lexa knew that Indra was right. Now was not the time to hesitate.
Skaikru had been living above the law for too long since their children had landed two moons ago. Any hesitation on her part would be seen as weakness and there were many who would relish the chance to strip her of her power.
Lexa's enemies had always been lurking in the shadows waiting patiently from the very second she had ascended for her to make a mistake. Countless enemies and foes had stood in her path thinking they had the upper hand and they had all fallen before her.
She had formed the Coalition through swift and decisive action. Hesitation was not something she was allowed to experience. Her mother had not allowed it. Anya had not allowed it and Lexa would not allow it now.
The thought of her mentor brought up a myriad of confusing and contradictory emotions within her. She pushed those aside and instead shouted an order to one of the generals of her army and the Trishanakru who was posted not too far away from her.
"Sagan,"said Lexa and the man turned to her in surprise. His hair shone from the light of the nearby fires and Lexa knew that despite his slight frame he was still one of her stronger and most trusted disciples.
"Yes, Heda,"said Sagan as he knelt before his Commander.
"Tell the 12 to prepare their men to charge. I shall take the lead of this regiment,"said Lexa before she left the man behind and began to walk through the crowd of warriors that were littered across the valley.
Lexa didn't need to look back to know that the man was making contact with the other 11 generals to coordinate their attack. One of Sagan's abilities was to speak into the minds of various people. It took a lot of energy, however, and so Lexa took charge of his regiment as he would be too drained to lead once his broadcast was complete.
By the time, Lexa had made her way to the front of the army her horse was already waiting for her and she climbed upon it. Her horse was the fastest by a long way in the entire Coalition and had been a gift from the Plain Riders when they joined the Coalition.
Lexa could feel the eyes of every person in the valley on her as she guided her horse a few feet ahead of the army. A quick scan across the valley showed that the other eleven regiments were ready and Lexa raised her hand which drew silence across the entire army before dropping it.
The tension hung thick in the air and it charged her being with the familiar, prevenient feeling she always felt before a battle. Lexa placed her hand on her sword and she drew it one smooth motion before beginning her charge as a battle cry tore it's way from her lips.
"Jus drein jus daun!"
Her army echoed the war cry before they charged the walls of the Sky People camp at full speed. The fire boulders were soaring above her head and soon overtook her as they sailed above her head at a speed that exceeded the kne set by the previous boulder that had been shot at the Sky People.
There was a sizeable distance between Lexa and her army as the cavalry and infantry trailed far behind her unable to keep up with the speed of her horse.
One of the boulders was already slowing down, probably the work of the man who had stopped the first one earlier, but it appeared as though he wasn't quite able to stop it and Lexa knew that it was going to collide with the large mass of people that were trying to seek shelter within their metal home.
Fools.
It was just when the fastest of the boulders were roughly one hundred feet away from striking the Camp that it happened. Her eyes spotted a vague, black and golden blur that shot straight past her and even sped past the boulders before it jumped over the gates of the Sky People.
Perhaps a second later, a glowing figure flew straight up from the centre of the camp before stopping in midair and spreading it's hands wide.
A vast, purple dome appeared over the camp of the Sky People. The boulders – 24 in total – all collided with the boulder, but to Lexa's surprise not one of the boulders managed to breach the wall and soon only the dome was remaining.
Lexa called for her army to halt their advance and soon silence reigned over the valley once again as Sky People and her own people looked at the dome in amazement.
The dome remained standing even as the figure slowly folded it's arms. From this close up , it was easy for Lexa to see where the figure was looking.
Right at her.