Barely another minute passed after Nyko left to go save Octavia before Indra, the Chief of Tondisi, arrived. She stood in the doorway, both foreboding and forbearing. "Natrona." She spit at him. "You should've run when Anya gave you the chance."

Lincoln sighed and stood, holding his hands out in surrender.

She gestured to Penn and Fio behind her. "Put him on the tree." They came around her to grab him and drag him out of Nyko's hut. They marched him through the center of the village and brought him to the tree there, tying his hands above his head and to the post.

Indra came to stand in front of him, holding up a dagger. "You should've stayed away," she said sadly before turning to the small crowd that had gathered. Nyko wasn't wrong; their numbers were significantly depleted. "Justice will be done. Lincoln chose to betray his people. Anyone he has wronged here today shall have a turn with the knife." She looked back at Lincoln. "Jus drein jus daun!"

"Jus drein jus daun!" It was little more than a murmur from the crowd, most of whom had known Lincoln all his life and many of whose lives he had saved at one time or another.

Lincoln grinned at Indra. He was willing to die for his crimes but at least he would be missed. Indra stepped closer to him, lifting the edge of his shirt. Her mouth opened, like she wanted to say something, perhaps ask why, maybe apologize. But then her gaze turned hard and Lincoln felt the blade cut into the skin along his stomach. His expression remained peaceful and stoic, accepting the pain, accepting his punishment, comforted in knowing that Nyko would save Octavia.

Octavia. Just as he survived her brother's torture with thoughts of his angel, he now suffered through this torture by playing back the memories of the times they spent together. Quint had a turn with the knife, for his brother and cousins who were lost in the battle. Tomac for the bridge explosion. Sindri for the village burned to the ground. The sting from the cuts prickled and burned. Lincoln replayed the days he'd spent training Octavia, teaching her how to protect herself and be independent enough to survive on her own. Young Artigas followed after his mother and father, also cutting him for the loss of two aunts and an uncle. Fio had lost family to the Sky People so he had a turn as well.

Lincoln's skin began to tingle and tighten and the blade now seemed to tickle and scratch instead of slice. Nyko would give Octavia the antidote and then Octavia would follow the map in his journal to the sea. Luna would take her in and keep her safe and she would live. That was all that mattered. Penn took his turn, cutting him for what the Sky People had taken from him. And there was another old friend with another grievance against the Sky People. And another and another. Numbness had set in. Each time the knife drew across his flesh, it felt almost a release.

One of the guards from the gate came running up, momentarily halting his death sentence. Whatever she whispered into Indra's ear caused Indra to shoot Lincoln a severe look. She then turned around and swiftly followed the guard to the gate.

"Ai laik Okteivia kom Skaikru and you have something I want!" Octavia's voice carried out from the other side of the wall and it was the sweetest yet most horrifying sound to his ears. Nyko had obviously saved her, but…. Oh, gods! What had his insane angel done now?

He wasn't able to hear anything else for too long. Did Indra have the archers shoot Octavia immediately? Was she now captured and about to be brought in and tied up beside him?

Octavia's voice rang through again, just a snippet. "…ANYONE ELSE…." He pursed his lips, trying to keep back a smile. She was still alive and she sounded furious.

Indra re-entered moments later, alone. She hadn't captured Octavia. Lincoln's breathing grew heavy as his chest constricted at the thought that Octavia might now be dead outside these very walls. Indra strode toward him; her serious countenance was even more stern than usual. At least he would be joining Octavia shortly. He leaned his head back against the pole and closed his eyes, imagining his angel's face one last time.

"I should have known you'd pick one like her."

Lincoln opened his eyes, uncertain if Indra was taunting him or pitying him.

"She just bartered your life for Nyko's." Indra snorted. "As if you're worth as much as Nyko."

He remained silent as he tried not to think if Octavia had paid for it with her own life.

"Cut him down," she called out to Fio and Penn. "I can't lose our only healer, now can I?"

It was slow-going as Lincoln led Indra out of the village without telling her their destination. His right leg was the worst of his injuries; a particularly nasty gash from the sadistic Quint that caused him to tread carefully across the uneven ground. He still found himself smiling. His brilliant angel had given Indra until dark to make the trade, saving his life without anyone having to lose honor just as she had saved Finn's life before.

"Nyko was cooperating with her," Indra stated, confirming what Lincoln already suspected.

"Is that why you didn't have her shot?" He didn't dare directly ask if it were because she had relented to Nyko's judgment.

Indra stopped walking behind him and Lincoln turned around, seeing the rage and grief she normally kept well hidden. "Three hundred warriors, Lincoln." She reminded him.

Lincoln shook his head. "It wasn't her," he said in good conscience. He knew Octavia had killed Trikru warriors before he arrived at the Sky People's camp; she had sobbed into his chest about it on their run to the river. He himself had killed Vik, but they had both done so in defense. "She was with me. We left before that happened."

"She is one of them." Indra sneered.

"But you didn't kill her when you had the chance."

Indra sighed. "She had a sword to Nyko's throat. I wasn't willing to risk it." Lincoln remained quiet, knowing that wasn't enough risk for her to stop her highly skilled archers. "Besides, I've known you since you were a boy," she finally admitted.

Lincoln nodded back, understanding what Indra didn't say. She had ultimately spared their lives for his sake just as Anya had done, just as Nyko had done. These were the people he was loyal to, not to people like Vik or Quint or Caliban. His throat clogged and he swallowed tightly before turning around and continuing on toward Octavia.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked.

They were far enough away from the village now that he could tell her. "She has a dispute to settle with you. Where do you think?"

Indra shot him an incredulous look and he simply smirked back.

They arrived at the statue just after dusk, the evening sky still aglow from the setting sun. Indra held Lincoln back. "We make her wait."

Octavia was so close; Lincoln felt her energy in the air, calling out to him, beckoning him to her side. His feet itched to move forward and push through the trees in order to see her but Indra's sword poking into his back stalled him. She finally shoved him forward and he limped his way through the brush and into the clearing.

"Lincoln?" His diminutive angel was at the other end of the clearing, pointing a sword at his behemoth of a best friend's throat, and he had never been more proud. "He's hurt!" She sounded so outraged, so offended. He grinned. They were mere scratches, as he would tell her when she fussed over him later.

"He should be dead," Indra snapped back.

Lincoln turned to Indra, respectfully waiting for her command. She nodded and he cautiously made his way toward Octavia as Octavia released Nyko. Lincoln paused when the other man approached, trying to express his gratitude and regret to his friend. Finally, there was only Octavia before him, his angel who had saved him once again with her ingenuity. She was alive and well and he was alive and…well, still standing at least. He smiled for her to let her know at last, everything was going to be okay.