Bellamy

Lincoln slept all night and into the next day, his breathing coming thick and laboured. Echo had decided to stop talking to Bellamy, so she was now speaking exclusively in Trigedasleng with Lala, which excluded him from most conversations.

Lala seemed more willing to communicate with him, which was ironic because he couldn't understand almost anything she said. So Bellamy spent the time sitting against the wall and staring at Lincoln, willing him to wake up and tell him where Octavia was.

Near sunset, he got his wish. The women were chatting softly near the fireplace as they mixed together medicinal herbs, Lala instructing Echo on their preparation, while Bellamy sat near Lincoln. Belatedly, he realised the man's eyes were open, and he quickly moved to his side.

He restrained himself from immediately interrogating him, remembering Echo's reprimand, and instead grabbed the cup of water that was nearby and helped Lincoln to sit up, tilting the cup to his lips. Lincoln drank just a little before his eyelids fluttered and Bellamy eased him back down.

"Do you need anything?" he asked him quietly.

Lincoln licked his lips and his brown eyes struggled to focus. "Octavia?" he asked, his voice so quiet Bellamy had to lean in close.

"She's not here," he answered softly. "You said she was inside a mountain?"

His eyes widened as he seemed to suddenly remember everything, and he grabbed Bellamy's arm urgently. "The mountain… the bounty hunters…" He struggled to sit up but Bellamy tried to calm him.

"Hey, just rest," he urged him. He glanced over at the women, hoping they wouldn't have heard, but Echo was already stalking over.

She knelt next to Lincoln and took his head into her lap, picking up the same cup Bellamy had just offered. Again Lincoln took a tiny sip, but he couldn't seem to drink anything more than that. Gently she said, "Rest now."

"I can't rest," he answered, shaking his head. His voice was weak but determined. "Not when Octavia is in danger."

Echo let out a frustrated breath and set Lincoln's head back on the pallet. "You are both as bad as each other," she said, tossing a glare in Bellamy's direction.

"Lincoln," Bellamy urged. "Where is she?" Echo gave him a sharp look, but she didn't protest.

"We were here," he said, his eyes looking around the hut for the first time. "We got the leechdom for your wound… we traded a horse for it. We took the other horse and we went up the mountain to come back to you, but we were ambushed by bounty hunters."

"Someone in the village betrayed you," Bellamy said, his voice angry. "They told them you were here, that O was a Sky Person."

Lincoln nodded. "They were waiting at the top of the mountain for us," he said. "We tried to run, but they shot at us. At least one arrow hit Octavia."

Bellamy paled and swallowed hard. "And then?"

"They took out the horse… it fell, and she went down the mountainside. But she was alive- I saw her moving. Then they stabbed me, knocked me out, and left me for dead." Lincoln stopped talking, breathing deeply, his energy fading quickly.

"Rest," Echo urged him. Bellamy wanted to snap at her and tell her to go away and leave them to talk, but he held his tongue.

Lincoln shook his head. His eyes were on Bellamy's as he continued, "When I woke up I tracked the bounty hunters. They were on horseback and I was on foot, so I only found them after they'd already delivered Octavia to the mountain."

"Okay, and where is that?" Bellamy pressed.

"West along the ridge for a day… then turn southwest for another two days. Descend to the valley, and go through the forest until you come to a river… follow it south until it forks, then continue west. Another half day will take you to an old barrier… a fence, long decayed. The doors to the mountain aren't far beyond there, but I ran into the bounty hunters before I reached it. It'll be faster on horseback."

"And when you came upon them, what happened?" Echo asked, becoming interested in the story now.

"We fought… I killed three of them, but one escaped. I was beaten badly, and still had my stab wound, so I passed out again. When I came to I was alone… I tried to get inside the mountain, to find Octavia, but there was no way to breach the entrance." His eyes met Bellamy's. "It was like Mount Weather all over again."

"They've had her for days," Bellamy said with a groan. "They'll be harvesting her already." It made him sick, to think of his sister held upside down and bled like what had happened to him, or worse- drilled and murdered for her bone marrow like Fox. "We have to go back there… we have to get her out."

"And how would we do that?" Echo asked, the first thing she'd said to him in a long time. But instead of being angry, her voice was gentle. "Lincoln tested the doors, and they are strong."

Bellamy paced for a moment, then he returned to Lincoln's side. "So we do it like we did at Mount Weather," he said. "I'll go in alone."

Lincoln shook his head. "With Mount Weather we knew our enemy. We understood their strengths and we could exploit their weaknesses. We know nothing about this new mountain."

"What's to know?" Bellamy asked, agitated. "They must be the same as Mount Weather. Why else would the bounty hunters have taken her there? And if they didn't want to harvest her, why would the mountain have accepted her at all? They know she's a Sky Person."

Echo touched Bellamy's arm lightly. "Lincoln is right- we do not have enough information. If we assume things which may be untrue, we risk jeopardising your sister further."

"Oh, so you want to help now?" he snapped, pulling away from her.

Echo's eyes darkened. "Do not speak to me like that," she growled. "I have been helping you since we met in those cages and I have never wavered from that."

Bellamy let out a long breath and he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to calm his temper. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "We just… we have to get her out of there."

"And that is our plan," she assured him. "But we can either learn what we need to learn and go in with a high chance of success, or we can rush to action and die in the process. Which would you prefer?"

Bellamy looked at Lincoln. "They're already hurting her," he said softly. "They must be. Why would they wait?"

"We don't know enough," Lincoln said, shaking his head. "We should talk to the people who live in the lands that surround this mountain. Trikru knows Mount Weather best because we grow up in its shadow. It'll be the same here."

"Fine, then let's do that," Bellamy said impatiently, looking to Echo. "Let's go talk to them. We know where she is, we have Lincoln's directions to the mountain… let's just find whatever villages are nearby and figure it out."

Echo looked at Lincoln and a complicated series of looks passed between them before she spoke again. "You are a Sky Person," she said, her voice gentle. "It is likely they will not speak to you or answer any questions… even we are outsiders here. They may not be willing to share their knowledge with any of us."

"But we can try," Bellamy said. He looked to Lincoln. "We have to try."

The older man nodded. "He's right," he said to Echo. "We need to move quickly. She's running out of time." The fact that it could have run out already was left unspoken.

"Can you walk?" Echo asked him.

Lincoln nodded his head, and very slowly he rose to his feet. It took a while, but once he was standing he wobbled only a little. His eyes met Bellamy's. "For Octavia."

Bellamy nodded his head, relieved and grateful that they were on the same page. "We only have two horses," he said to Echo.

"I will ride with you," she said. "And we will go slowly, for Lincoln's sake."

He didn't care about any of that, he just needed to know that they were going, that things were being done. "Great, let's move."

Echo shook her head. She stood up and went back to the fire, taking a bowl from Lala and speaking softly in Trigedasleng before returning to the two men. She handed the bowl to Lincoln and said, "Drink this." Looking to Bellamy she said, "If we are to do this, you must listen to me. Can you manage that?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head. "I promise."

"A promise is not a thing to be made lightly," she warned. "Not to me."

"I know," he said sincerely, holding her serious brown eyes. "I do- really."

Echo nodded slowly. "I will prepare some supplies for the journey." She looked to Lincoln. "You take your medicine." Then to Bellamy, "And you remember the value of restraint."

Once she moved away Bellamy looked to Lincoln and he said, "We're going to get her out of there- we have to."

Lincoln nodded gravely. "I won't let her be bled like an animal at the slaughter."

Bellamy nodded and held his hand out, which Lincoln grasped and shook. He couldn't help but feel a surge of hope underneath all his fear; united in their love for Octavia, he felt confident that they would bring her home.