Lexa awoke at dawn like she did every day for the past sixteen years since she had begun her Nightblood training. She got out of bed and began putting on her under things, her clothes and her armour. She always began the morning sparring, as Titus said a Commander's training is never done. She fixed her hair into braids, a much more difficult task without helping hands… Lexa quickly brushed that thought aside. She fixed her sword to her side and was about to exit her room when she quickly turned back to her bedroom dresser where a small necklace lay. She picked it up and touched it lightly to her lips before placing it carefully back into a box. It had been part of her morning ritual for the past ten months ever since…..She left the room and headed for the elevator. Titus and the Nightbleeders would be waiting.

In the training grounds outside Polis Lexa could hear the shouts of the Nightbleeders as they trained. They were aged from twelve to as young as eight. Lexa herself had been the youngest amongst the novitiates of her time. In her Nightblood training her size and age gave the edge to her opponent in a fight but she also knew that it made them underestimate her. She had used this to her advantage and had distinguished herself as a great fighter, perhaps not the best but certainly the best strategist. She would never admit it but the thoughts of her friends from long ago still pained her. She had spent almost all her formative years with those Nightbloods. They were the closest thing she had ever had to a family. She had watched all of them die… or almost all of them. Looking around her now at the Nightbloods she was certain her legacy was assured. She was prepared for when her time might come. Titus at her side always prepared to fulfil his duties. But she would hold on for as long as fate allowed. The Nightbloods deserved a childhood or at least whatever semblance of one this life provided, before their time was called and everything ended. It wasn't until she came out of this deep contemplation that she scanned the scene before her and noticed Titus's absence.

'Aden, where is Teacher?' Lexa addressed a sandy haired boy of eleven.

'The guards called, a messenger arrived on horseback Heda' the boy answered steadily. He attempted to hide the utter awe he had for his Commander.

'How long ago was this?' She pondered the possibilities of what this could mean. Her mind always landing on Azgeda.

There had been a lull in activity after the coalition had been formerly accepted. But if Lexa had learned anything it was that the semblance of tranquillity was a mere vapour hiding new disasters that were just about to unfold. Her time with Costia had taught her that. One moment they had laid in bed together, the most joyful time in both their lives and the next her head had been delivered to Lexa's bed. The Ice Queen had nothing but distain for Lexa, she was jealous of her position. It was the one thing she could never have because she was not born to it. No matter how much she desired it, or who she killed and that irked Nia more than anything. Was the news the messenger bringing about an Azgeda army heading to Polis? Lexa thought.

'He's back' Aden pointed to the hillcrest and infact it was Titus. Titus's face was furrowed with worry, which made Lexa instantly uneasy although her cool exterior never changed. What was even more worrying was the fact he was not alone, following behind him was Anya. Lexa had assigned Anya the task of monitoring the Mountain and the Reapers. The fact that she was here and not there meant something terrible must have happened.

'What is the news Titus?' she addressed him formally.

'Anya brings news from the west of wreckage falling from the sky, Heda.' Titus looked at Lexa intensely.

This in of itself did not explain Titus's expression or Anya's presence. Things on occasion had fallen from the Sky, although not in Lexa's lifetime. There had to be something more to this.

'And what else?' She looked to Titus and Anya for an answer. Titus seemed reluctant to give one.

'The wreck had people in it, Heda. It seems they survived the landing.' Anya answered solemnly.

Lexa had not been expecting this. People from the sky. It was a myth, but one that seemed to be based in truth. She had heard stories of people falling from the sky, never alive though. She looked west but obviously could see nothing visible.

'Do we have a count on how many?' She addressed Anya.

'Not yet Heda, I will head back at your leave if you wish'

'I do wish it.' It had been five years since Lexa had been made Commander and left Anya's apprenticeship but it still felt strange to direct orders towards someone who used to give them to her. She had been apprenticed to Anya at the age of eleven. In the beginning they had both equally been weary of each other. It was a great honour to train a Nightbleeder and Titus had chosen Anya especially for Lexa. He knew they would work well with each other. In Anya Lexa found the closest thing to a sister she would ever have. Anya was gruff on the outside, appearing unfeeling but Lexa knew better. She could be warm or as warm as her nature allowed her to be and she cared deeply for Lexa as she did for all of her apprentices. On their first expedition together they had been sent to hunt down two Azgeda scouts who had come onto Trikru land. They had followed them in the wind and rain for three days with only a few minutes of rest in-between. On the fourth day as they followed the Azgeda scouts trail something didn't sit right with Lexa. She looked at the trail and felt that it was false. She explained this to Anya and to her greatest credit instead of dismissing the instinct of a new apprentice Anya listened. They decided to lay their own false trail and then wait. The Azgeda scouts had realised they were onto them and intended to set a trap but instead they fell into theirs. Anya killed one, while Lexa killed the other. It was her first. That night as they camped on their way back to Polis Anya had told Lexa with deep conviction that she would be the next Commander. She had been the first to ever say it. When Lexa had asked her how she knew. Anya simply replied 'We are what we are'.

'I want you to report everything you see and hear, but do not engage unless provoked' Lexa stressed the last part. Anya gave a curt nod before leaving for the gates of Polis.

Lexa turned to Titus 'What does this mean, Titus?' for a moment she allowed the concern in her voice to become apparent.

'I do not know Heda'.

Lexa returned to Polis and took the elevator to the highest point of the Tower. She stood beside the blazing fire that stood atop the tower, a shining symbol of her. Lexa looked onto the horizon, a sliver of billowing smoke indicating the crash site. She felt a sense of foreboding that she couldn't quite explain. Something unsettling, wriggling beneath the surface. These feelings she attributed to the spirit that resided in her. It seemed to know things before they even happened. But even the spirit of the commander could not have predicted that a hundred teenagers and a seventeen year old girl had just crash-landed unknowingly into a populated earth. That this determined girl at that very moment was leading a group to Mount Weather. That this girl would become everything to Lexa from an enemy, a friend, an advisor and a lover.