Chapter 10

Lexa dropped to her knees at the edge of the earth. The ground simply ceased in front of her and despite the sporadic and violent flashes from the storm lashing her, she couldn't see where it began again. It was truly as if she were standing on the edge of the world. She swiped in frustration at the oily, stinging water in her eyes and strained her vision below, trying to discern any details of what lay beyond the edge, but all that appeared was an endless, inky blackness.

She sank back on her heels and pulled her cloak a little tighter. The wind lashing at her and the hard ice pellets driving their way into the gaps in her cloak had chilled her to the bone. She glanced behind her, barely able to make out the silhouette of her horse that she'd left tethered in the relative shelter of the tree line. Then her gaze returned to the gaping void before her.

There was no going back. She glanced up at the sky, it's dark roiling clouds jumping into sharp contrast as a blue flash cracked the sky. She closed her eyes, holding on to that blue color in a world that had been endless grays and blackness for untold weeks. She knew she'd been gone much longer than planned, though she had no way to track exactly how much time had passed since she left Arkadia. Left Clarke.

Clarke. Vibrant blue eyes appeared in her memory, framed by tousled blonde locks. A smile. A frown. Those eyes hardened with sharp focus and undeterable conviction. Then her memory shifted to the blue glow at the bottom of the dark pit from her vision, growing underwater. And the first Commander, smiling as she reached it's source. "Children of the blood," the voice echoed in her head.

She opened her eyes, again searching the darkness beyond her but she could discern nothing. She pushed to her feet, her lips set in a grim line. She peeled off the heavy, protective cloak, unbuckled her sword and stripped out of the thick, leather armor underneath. She stood defiantly against the acidic rains and pelting ice and with a deep breath she dove into the nothingness below.

The power of the impact and the sharp stab of the ice water shocked her at first. Her limbs were heavy and slow to respond. She surfaced, gasping as her chest contracted against the cold. She managed to pull out the small, yellow glow stick that Kane had given her and cracked it so it emitted a weak glow. The water's surface was black. As she looked up she could barely make out the edge high above that she'd jumped from against the fast moving clouds.

She focused her breathing, forcing it to slow, forcing her heart to steady it's frantic pace. She shook the small glow stick, making sure it emitted as much light as possible, then she filled her lungs with air and dove under.

She could see very little and the water burned her eyes as she strained against the darkness. She swam deeper, towards what, she wasn't sure. Her arms and legs ached but she pushed herself deeper into the abyss. The glow was so weak she practically collided with the submerged structure before she saw it. She moved her light around and a shape began to emerge, the details filled in part by her memory of the structure in her vision.

She was at the cross that reached out from the top of the structure. She followed it deeper, despite the increase in her heart rate and the pressure building in her lungs. She felt, more than saw the crumbled hole in the ruins and pushed herself inside. She swam urgently forward, her memory still guiding her. When she reached to area where she remembered finding Becca and the silver case, she felt for a surface and finding one, ran the glow stick over the area, hoping to pick up a glint form the metal case she'd seen in the vision.

As she swept her light through the darkness, a white face with huge black eyes appeared suddenly in front of her. She flinched and pushed back, startled. She paused as much as she dared, her lungs beginning the scream at her, her heart racing but nothing came at her in the darkness. She swam closer, cautiously and the light revealed the stark white creature. A skeleton, human, stretched out on the silty surface before her. No silver case. Nothing at all what she expected.

Her lungs screamed louder, demanding air. She swept the light over the skull and froze. There on the bone of the forehead was a faint etching she could just make out with her dim light. The symbol of the Commander, carved into the bone. She picked up the skull, pulling it from it's resting place and as she turned it over in her hands, a dark vial dropped from it, resting on the silt ledge. She grabbed the vial, tucking it securely into her waist belt and gently returned the skull to it's resting place.

Then she kicked away, hard, fighting the urge her body demanded to suck in air. She was far from the surface, she knew and the darkness looked the same in every direction. She kicked hard, fighting with everything in her to hold on and make it to the surface. Her vision blurred, her eyes burning, lungs bursting. And before she surfaced, she lost consciousness, drifting in the dark waters below the waves.

Luna opened the hatch and scanned the metallic ruins of Arkadia, as had become her daily routine. Black rain. No movement save the wind gusts shaking the trees and causing the structures around her to creak. She had been alone for weeks, the last of the sick too ill to travel having died long ago.

She ran her eyes along the tree line, looking for any changes, any signs of life.

She grimaced. Still nothing.

She reached for the hatch, pulling it towards her, her gaze sweeping the tree line once more. She stopped. Was the movement she sensed her imagination? She stepped into the rain, sinking in mud, but forcing herself forward, her eyes never leaving the spot where she saw the movement.

As the form of a horse began to take shape she walked faster. By the time she could make out the dark figure slumped over the horse she was running.