Author's Notes:
Hi folks! Once again, allow me to apologize once more for the tardiness that has plagued me for the last couple months.
Please enjoy this chatper I whipped up. I'm feeling the surge of inspiration more so I'm hoping to be able to write & release at least a chapter a week but I will not promise it outright. I do - however - promise to be more efficient!
Okay, enough from me.
Happy reading.
(PS. For those of you who love the tender moments, stick around. They're on their way!)
Veda feels her legs carry her forward as a voice cries out behind her. Her hands tighten around the different swords in each hand. One is heavy and solid, the other light and balanced. Veda was unfamiliar with swords but could use any weapon well enough because of her speed and strength.
The euphoric rush washes over her body. The pulse races down her spine, bouncing around her chest before shooting down to her extremities. The air feels electric as a mixture of blood and pine waft into her nose. The river's constant bubbling hums amongst the quick voices of worry behind her and the clicking of weapons ahead.
She agrees not to look back as she moves forward, taking in the scene ahead. The leader is easy to identify: a bear of a man, dressed in black and wielded a huge black axe like a toy.
Veda sees him wave a signal to his men who approach and seize the Commander. Lexa's face grimaces as she lets out a grunt when they yank her arms back to restrain her. Feeling her eyes narrow, Veda makes note of Lexa's injuries, they were more serious than she thought. Veda picks up the pace.
The Demonkai leader reaches his massive hand behind his head to pull out another axe. He swings them lazily as he walks towards Veda with a dark sneer stretched across his face.
Unsheathing various weapons, his men form a semi-circle behind him. Armed with their black weapons and dark leathers and furs, they form a wall of black. None of them move an inch as their leader approaches to face Veda. It seems the leader planned to fight her alone.
Good, Veda thought. This will be over quickly.
Not giving the Kai a chance to prepare, Veda unleashes her speed to tear forward. She moves in a blur but the hulking man raises an axe just in time. Veda lashes out again and again with her mismatched swords but the Kai bunkers down to barely deflect her attacks.
Eventually, Veda spots a small opening between his axes and lunges forward. Just as she feels the blade sink into his shoulder he immediately unfolds his arms, using his axes to snap her sword. Veda frowns just before he slams his head onto hers with loud bark.
Stunned, Veda staggers back blinking through the disorientation to see Lincoln's sword snapped about halfway up the blade. In a blink, she jerks out of the way as the Kai brings his axe down where her body was less than a second ago.
Veda leaps back to give herself time to assess. No warrior had ever given her this much trouble, especially in single combat. He was skilled, she thought, faster than his size would imply and as strong as a gorilla. She needed to tire him out, if she could. Her eyes glance behind him at his line of black soldiers and she knew it was only a matter of time before they joined the battle. She couldn't wait to exhaust him, she needed to deal with him quickly and get Lexa out of here.
Tossing Octavia's sword to her dominant hand, she strikes again. This time, Veda circles him as she attacks. The Kai moves carefully, keeping his footing even and solid. Shifting his axes fluidly to block her attacks, the Kai pivots on his heel to keep up with her. Swinging around him quickly, Veda makes her attacker literally spin in circles and after a few moments, it works.
The Kai sways as the imbalance swamps his mind. He moves his axe too far and gives Veda a chance to plunge her sword above his hip. As she does, he lets out a roar and drops the axe in his left hand. Before the axe touches the ground, his huge hand wraps itself around Veda's forearm like a python. Veda immediately releases Octavia's sword and desperately tugs at her arm, wiggling around at every angle to slink out of his grasp but it doesn't budge.
She sees his sickly yellow teeth smile down at her before his fist meets her face. One, twice, three times, she feels like she's being hit in the face with a brick wall. He continues to slam into her face long after her vision blurs.
It didn't look good from where Lexa was standing. The girl was freakishly fast but the Demonkai was an incredibly skilled warrior.
He was slamming this girls head so hard, Lexa was sure he was going to kill her. Something had to be done or this would be the end of Veda, the end of her reign as a Commander, and the end of Skaikru… and Clarke.
Her eyes scan the trees for anything that could help. She notices a dark blotch of gooey sap trickling down a tree. As she follows the sap up, Lexa smiles weakly when she finds the flaky lump sitting in the tree about 20 meters above their heads. After a quick sweep, Lexa counts 3 different hives above them.
Razor wasps, Lexa thinks, exactly what we need.
Springing into action, the Commander lifts her left heel to smash it down on her captor's foot. He shouts in pain and Lexa uses the element of surprise to her advantage; bringing her left knuckle up just as the man brings his face down. The two connect hard and Lexa feels a deep crack on her fingers. The man goes silent as he falls backwards.
The guard on her right unsheathes his sword and yanks Lexa back hard, trying to wrestle her back under control. Lexa grabs his sword hand just before he swipes it and uses her other hand to snatch the knife hooked onto his belt. In a swift motion, she snakes her arm free and dives the dagger into the man's chest.
He yells loudly before she pulls it out and he sinks to the ground. As the other Demonkai turn to her, Lexa takes aim and throws the dagger at the closest hive. The blade hits its target, the small accumulation of sap that formed a tether to the branch above it, making the hive coming crashing through the air before landing with a crunch a few feet away from the others.
Lexa doesn't waste time and grabs the sword by its writhing owner's body to throw it at another. Again, the hive falls, racing to the ground in a blur.
By the time she's thrown a rock at the third, the wasps have started to pour from the first two hives, causing a wave of confusion and fear to pass through the Demonkai and grounders alike.
It also causes the Demonkai leader to pause his assault on Veda and glance back at his men.
Taking the only opportunity she can provide, Lexa races towards the leader, pushing herself through the pain that shot through her core with every motion.
Veda didn't understand why but she is thankful that the punching has stopped. She hears a loud buzzing in her ears. She can't remember ever being this disoriented in her life. She desperately tries to clear her vision by focusing on the dark blobs that are bobbing back and forth nearby. Then, they start moving more quickly and sporadically.
Through the growing buzzing in her ears, she actively listens to the loud voices around her that are becoming more and more desperate.
Finally, in the haze, she sees the Commander's face, and then the Commander's body running towards her at full speed. She glances at her arm, still prisoner of the Kai leader, and notices he is still wielding an axe in his other hand. She turns back to the Commander who hasn't slowed her stride and looks for Octavia's sword.
It sits there, planted in the man's thick body, shimmering in the dark red blood. Veda grabs it tightly and looks back to Lexa to wait for the moment. The leader doesn't notice Veda's subtle movement as he locks his attention on his new prey.
Veda feels the Kai tense his body as Lexa gets closer. As soon as Lexa steps into striking distance, Veda yanks the sword out in one swift motion, delaying the Kai's swing just enough for the Commander to dive out of the way.
Veda doesn't give him time to recover as she uses the sword to slash up his forearm. His hand immediately releases her arm and she is freed. Veda leaps away from him and realizes the buzzing in her head is worse than ever. Ignoring it, she joins the Commander who had lunged a few feet away. Her injuries were arduous, Veda could see it in her pale face and unfocused eyes.
"Commander," Veda says.
"Go," Lexa orders. "You must return to Clarke. She needs you."
"What? No, she doesn't. I came here for you," Veda shouts above the buzzing. "We need to get you to Arkadia."
"No!" Lexa yells back.
They didn't have time for this. Veda looks back at the scene nearby and finally realizes that the buzzing isn't coming from her ears, but rather the thousands of black insects that filled the air around them. The village grounders had vanished, leaving only the Demonkai to swipe their weapons at the hordes forming around them. Some were even fleeing.
Veda noticed that the wasps were closing in on them too, as even the leader began to swipe at the air.
Lilac eyes met green ones as Veda turned to the Commander.
"Sorry," is all Veda says before scooping Lexa in her arms.
Lexa only has time to demand what the girl is doing before she is up, being carried away from the battle. Lexa looks behind the girl's shoulder and her eyes lock with the Demonkai leader. His dark look confirms Lexa's belief: that today's events meant war.
The pair race towards the tree line. If they can get there, they'll be safe; Veda moves faster than all of them, even while carrying Lexa. All she needed to do was get them there.
Her legs felt numb and her face felt wet. It was only then that she tasted the sweet metallic taste in her mouth. The buzzing in the air was beginning to fade and her vision was become crystal clear.
They are only a dozen feet from the trees when something explodes in Veda's shoulder. Lexa and Veda both feel a spray of warm liquid hit their face before they hurtle to the ground.
Lexa flies through the air before hitting the trees. She feels her body crunch like the branches around her before hitting the earth.
Pain detonates in Veda's shoulder and she feels Lexa leave her arms. She isn't sure what happens after, all she can feel is pain. She focuses on her breathing, reminding herself that she is alive. She snaps her eyes open and looks at her shoulder to see an oversized, 4-tonged, black arrow with the ends the looked like upside-down fish hooks.
A wave of nausea hits her as she views her lumpy flesh laid bare. She's pretty sure she is going to be sick, but there's no time. Veda unsteadily rises to her feet, searching for Lexa. Scanning the foliage, she finds her leaning against a tree.
Veda sighs of relief when her green eyes look towards her. She is still alive.
Then, two people burst out of the trees. Veda wants to cry when she sees Octavia and Lincoln's friendly faces. Lincoln rushes to the Commander first as Octavia heads towards Veda.
Smiling weakly, she stumbles towards her. She reaches out her arm and is inches away from clasping it with the brunette's when is jerked back as a white hot pain bursts in her shoulder.
In the blur of pain and movement, Veda feels herself being dragged by her shoulder. She looks up to see the Kai leader tugging at the thick black steel wire connecting him to the arrow in Veda's body. Every tug sends unparalleled surges of agony and desperation.
Veda catches sight of Octavia racing to catch her.
"Octavia, get back!" Veda screams to the brunette who stops in her tracks.
"You have the Commander," she yells. "Help her! You need her."
Octavia shoots a quick glance at the injured Commander behind her and Veda can tell she isn't happy with that answer. In a moment of blinding pain, Veda shrieks.
This spurs Octavia into action but Veda sees this.
"NO!"
Octavia stops again, her brow furrowing under the beading sweat.
"They'll never stop hunting me," Veda shouts to sky, choosing to close her eyes rather than look at the other girl's shrinking face. "Bring Lexa to Clarke. She needs you."
"Save the Commander! Save the Commander! Save the Commander!"
Veda continues to say it until she is at the Kai's feet.
Octavia watches as Veda is dragged away like a carcass with a clenched jaw. She sees the Kai leader use the arrow to lift Veda from the ground. Veda is still hollering as Octavia returns to Lincoln and the Commander with a heavy feeling clenching her stomach.
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