Thanks for the reviews, it really motivate , since I'm not English and write without Beta I know there are a lot of faults, so it' s nice to know that you still like it !
It took those two weeks, fourteen warriors and three Sky people dead in battles, the Grounders being better fighters took more risks and were the first to charge, but they made it, the five villages were now under Anya command. They were tired, the incessant fighting, too little sleep and longs walks were pushing them to their limits; they will soon need a break.
Clarke and Anya were standing on a hill, watching Tristan's village bellow them,
« So we don't attack, we wait for them to tire out? »
Anya , still observing the village , answered , « Yes, we shoot on them with the Onagers days and nights and keep them from leaving the village , the Scorpions and army post close to their door will prevent them to escape! »
« It's a war of attrition! Well, at least we can recover a little before the last battle! »
« Yes we need the break, and we already lost enough men, even if Tristan is weakened, he is still dangerous inside his village. »
Without the five villages, Tristan had lost a lot of his power. What's more his army had lead an attack on Anya's village when Tristan learnt they were behind him , attacking his others villages , Tristan lost almost half of his men on the traps imagined by Raven and those who came back were traumatized !
What sort of crazy person could invent these things? Some were electrocuted, drown, and slice in two, exploded on bombs, there were even alligators in one of the hiding holes! His army was trembling just at the idea of going again near Anya's village.
Finally, Clarke kept talking,
« So we wait for them to surrender and if they refuse we attack? »
« We wait a few days , Tristan will never surrender but him and his army will make some mistakes , with the lack of foods and the bombarding of stones of rocks , they will have no others choices than to expose themselves and leave the village to tempt an attack ! »
It was a solid plan , the war will soon be over , Clarke nods , showing she agreed with her strategy , what surprise Clarke was that Anya didn't seem happy about the end of the conflict ,
« What's up? You should be relieved that it would soon be over. »
Anya released a long sigh, « You don't understand. Why do you thing I was leading only one village? I told you that I was the one to train our Heda, I am well respected in the clan, I could have led more villages, but the more powerful you became….
…..the more enemies you gain and they will do everything they can to get rid of you . You did not want to attract too much attention. »
« Yes , being the one who train our Heda already made me well known , putting me and my people in danger , people are easily jealous, and now I will be one of the more strong leaders ,what do you think will happen? »
« I understand Anya but you were already in danger with Tristan and others generals, your enemies will just be bigger and you will have a strong army to protect you! »
« I know but I will have to be more careful, in clan meetings ,to not be stab in the back, and in the people I trust, with the power I'm gaining, even the Heda could become my enemy if she thought I could be a threat to the alliance! »
« Well, you know you can trust me, the Sky people and your Grounders army, it's not so bad is it? »
Anya was looking at her fondly, « No , it's not so bad, I'm glad to be able to trust you , you are a great strategist with a lot of good ideas » , Clarke was puffing her chest with pride , it wasn't often that Anya was complimenting her , « but you are a klutz. », and she deflated, « you don't know how to shoot an arrow, how to hold a sword and I don't even want to imagine where a knife will end if you were trying to throw one ! »
« I already told you the arrow was an accident, with the wind, and…. I had the sun in the eyes!
In addition, I know how to fight, thank you very much, I took part of the charges! »
Anya was now smirking, she liked to rile Clarke, she was hot when she was angry,
« Of course it was an accident! And when you charge, have you realized you were always in the middle of the formation? »
« I thought it was for helping them to do the formations, it's what everyone told me…..right? »
Anya couldn't help but snort and answered with sarcasm,
« You really believed them? That is cute! I did not know you were so naïve! » , the glare from Clarke motivate her even more , she pats her on the head , she knew Clarke would snap, she was hating nothing more than to be treat condescendly by someone ,
« There, there, maybe in many, many years we will let you lead a charge! »
Clarke took her hand firmly, growling « Tent! Now! », Anya was happy to follow; they did not have time for themselves since the start of the war, between the planning and the little monkey (the little girl Clarke rescued) who was always attached to Clarke. Fortunately, Clarke had to leave her in the last village, knowing it will be too dangerous for her when they go against Tristan, there were some cry and only when Clarke promised her to come back was the little girl able to calm down. Anya was not in a hurry to get her back; they both were fighting to pass more time with Clarke, when the 'little monkey' was on Clarke's knees she was smirking at her! Mocking her! What's more, she was passing every night with Clarke, it was unacceptable! When they go back to her village, she will show her who the boss was!
The Sky people watched them pass; Bellamy had to ask the question on everyone minds,
« What's going on Octavia? They seem to be in a hurry? Is there a problem, maybe we should go to help them? »
Octavia was quick to reassure him, shaking her head with a smile,
« No, no, they don't need help! Do not worry they just need to relieve some stress!»
« You are sure? », Bellamy still seemed worried,
« Yes, I'm sure! Do not worry they will be back in a few hours, being a lot calmer! »
Bellamy was watching Octavia closely, understanding passed on his face, a smile appearing,
« I see, well, good for them! It could cause some troubles! », indicating with his head Finn who was staring at the retreating back of Clarke.
« I know, but Bellamy, Clarke had passed to something else, he should do the same. I am warning you if he causes troubles I will take Clarke's side, and I will not be nice! Raven might not take sides since he was her best friend but she will not hold me back when I start beating him! »
« You really become close to them, I'm happy for you! The Grounder life was made for you, I am proud of you! Proud that you will do everything you can to protect your friends! »
Octavia had happy tears in her eyes, « Thank you brother, and yes I'm close to them, I never have been so happy than since we start leaving in the Grounder village. »
« Good, that's all I ever wish for you, and don't worry if he causes some troubles, I will let you handle it, I will not interfere. »
The next days were passed waiting for Tristan and his army to come out of the village , Anya ' s army will adopt the Cannae tactic, the center will be left weak deliberately to invite them to attack , the cavalry will get around Tristan's army and close the trap , pushing them against the grounders lines .
It took almost one week but the tactic paid , Tristan ' s army was desperate , the lack of food and sleep made them reckless , they charged without thinking ,completely disorganized , the victory was total , Tristan and his army were defeated, Anya executed Tristan and all those who were still faithful to him .
They only lost two warriors during the battle, Murphy was found in poor conditions in their cells, he was currently healing in a bed. Anya and the girls were in Tristan building , going through his maps and documents , Raven was reading something that seemed to horrified her ,
« According to this document he was planning his attack since a long time, and you were not the only one he was targeting! Apparently, those who were not obeying him once the village was his , were given to the Mountain Men. Who are they? »
Anya answered her, with a disgusting look,
« Some people I hope you will never met! When they took someone, we never see them again, they disappeared, since we are children, we heard some rumors and horrible stories about these demons! »
Raven resumed what they were all thinking, « So he was an asshole and a traitor! What are you going to do now? It will not be easy to lead all these villages, especially since your village is not close to them. »
Anya and Clarke were in deep thought; Octavia lets out a snort,
« Maybe you should move in Tristan village! », Anya and Clarke looked at her agape, « what? I was only kidding! You do not have to look at me like that! »
Clarke answered, « Actually, that might be a good idea, you let people you trust to lead your village and we move here with those who accept to follow us! Well, if you accept to leave your village? »
Anya was still thinking, finally she began to talk, « Yes it will be for the best, we should move here, and no it's not the village that is important, it's the people. It does not bother me to lead from here. »
There were some festivities for the next week, the population was happy to get rid of Tristan, they were not respected him, they were afraid of him, for them Anya and the army were more saviors than invaders. Clarke had bring back the little girl , she was still not talking , when they asked the Grounders if someone already heard her , no one was able to answer , the were beginning to wonder if she wasn't mute . It did not matter, the little girl was adopted by everyone, even Anya who seemed recalcitrant at first, was softening, well except when she was taking too much of her Clarke's time, there were still some glares and scowls exchanged. Clarke will have to find her a name soon, the name 'little monkey' proposed by Anya was refused with a firm no.
They were all eating outside, next to camp fires, when they saw some lights in the sky, the Grounders were scared of these lights, while the Sky people were worried. They knew it meant the Sky people were coming on earth and they didn't knew if it was a good or a bad thing , with the alliance with Anya , the potentials threats already presents , it could complicate things even more .
Anya asked Clarke if she knew what it was,
« Yes, the Sky people, things risk becoming difficult. »
« Heda will never let that pass, they invade her territory and theses lights will make some damages, she will call the clans and probably go to war! »
Clarke sighed, « I know but they are my people, what are we going to do? »
Anya was becoming more and more worried, « We have to meet with your people, inform them of what they can and can't do, I hope they are respectful and peaceful! After that, we wait for the clans meeting, maybe we will be able to calm things, make peace between our people, but honestly, there is little hope! We just finished a war and we already risk another one! »
« What side will you take? »
« After everything we've been through you sill have to ask me? I am on your side Clarke and the 'Hundred ', we will fight with you, but I warn you if the Sky people disrespect us, I will not fight for them! » It seemed only fair, Clarke gave a nod of consent, an happy smile on her face,
« Thank you. We will know once we meet them. »
Clarke took Anya hand, leading her to a tent, the next weeks were going to be stressful, and they should enjoy the peace as long as they could.
