Bellamy

It felt good to be back on the road, back in the fresh air, and mostly healthy again. Bellamy's leg wasn't completely healed, but it could cope with being on horseback, and more importantly he was no longer burning up with fever, he was eating and drinking, and he felt normal. The downside of this was that, no longer preoccupied with dying, he became overwhelmed with worry.

Now that he knew Octavia was inside another mountain, Bellamy was plagued with dark imaginings. He saw his sister in a cage, saw her being hung upside down with tubes sucking out her life, being strapped to a table and drilled without any anesthetic, robbed of all her marrow and dead from the pain and suffering of the procedure itself. The sound of that drill and her screams jarred him from his sleep most nights.

Even when he did manage the occasional reprieve from worrying about Octavia, his thoughts turned immediately to Clarke. In a way, imagining what might be happening to her was even worse than imagining Octavia's fate, because he had so little information. He knew almost nothing about the Ice Nation, and besides Echo's dire warnings about how formidable its queen was, he had no idea what Clarke might be enduring at her hands. He was, however, sure that she couldn't be there voluntarily.

His concern for Clarke's life softened his anger towards her; he was sure it was still there, somewhere, but it seemed so unimportant compared to the possibility of her suffering or imminent death. Often Bellamy found himself replaying their last moments together over and over, wishing he had said something different, done something different- something that might have stopped her from going. If only she'd stayed at Camp Jaha, none of this would have happened.

But as anxious as Bellamy was to find Clarke and make sure she was okay, he knew he had to make sure Octavia was safe first. If he could have split himself in two, he would have, but that just wasn't possible, so Clarke would have to wait. He knew she'd understand why Octavia had to take priority.

Tonight they had made camp near a waterfall, and Bellamy could hear the distant roaring of the water plunging downward. Their camp itself was nestled among the trees, and there was a soft bluish glow of a bioluminescent moss that clung to most of the trees, so that even though the fire had mostly gone out he could still see fairly well. Echo and Lincoln were asleep, but he had tossed and turned through another series of nightmares before he finally decided to give up. He was sitting up on a log, trying to relax, trying not to imagine anything horrible.

His eyes drifted over to Echo, and then to Lincoln, who were lying not too far apart from each other, on the other side of the glowing embers of the fire, wrapped in furs. Lincoln was in pain, it was obvious, though the man tried to hide it most of the time, and pushed through it for the sake of their mission. Bellamy couldn't help but think yet again of how good he was for Octavia; even if it was hard for him to see her growing up like that, moving on to the next stage of her life that didn't include him so closely, he knew it was the right thing. She and Lincoln were good for each other, and Lincoln had more than proved himself worthy of Bellamy's admiration for how much he loved his sister.

Bellamy's eyes drifted to Echo and he frowned as he watched her for a moment. Even in her sleep she looked short-tempered and fierce, but he couldn't help but smile just a little as he shook his head. Most of the time she frustrated and aggravated him until he thought he'd go crazy, but he knew she felt exactly the same way about him. Yet she had worked so hard to keep him from dying, risked herself to keep him safe and literally forced him to recover from his illness. He knew they shared a bond from being next to each other in those cages, but he didn't know what it meant, and he didn't have time to dwell on it.

With a sigh, Bellamy rolled his shoulders back and forth, trying to force himself to relax and unwind for the night. He rubbed his hands together, trying to warm them. Each night they spent outdoors was colder than the last as they travelled further north, but he knew this was nothing compared to what was coming. He kept thinking about how when they would reach the Ice Nation- Octavia would be with them by then, of course- they would see snow for the first time. The thought appealed even to him, so he knew how much Octavia would love it.

Smiling to himself at the thought, Bellamy stood up to return to his bed and finally try and sleep, since there were only a few more hours until sunrise and Echo never allowed them to oversleep.

Bellamy had no sense of doom, no hair raising on the back of his neck to tell him that he was being watched, no feeling of eyes boring into him. He just happened to glance up and catch sight of a figure standing nearby, near the treeline. It made him jump, and with an inward groan he realised he was nowehere near his weapon. But he quickly realised that he wouldn't have used it even if it had been nearby, because the figure that he was looking at was that of a child.

Standing next to the trees was a little girl who looked like she would reach no higher than Bellamy's ribcage. She was fair-skinned, with a smattering of freckles across her cheeks and such bright blue eyes that they almost glowed out of her face. Her hair was pulled back and tied up, the tails hanging in a series of braids nearly to her waist. She was dressed in boots lined with fur, suede pants, a plain cotton shirt, and a leather coat that hung to her thighs, its hood lined with the same fur as her boots. Her eyes were fixed on Bellamy with such intensity that he had to shake off a feeling of discomfort at the gaze.

"Are you lost?" he asked. The girl looked no older than twelve, yet she was out in the woods in the middle of the night. He looked around, but there was no sign of anyone else.

She just watched him, saying nothing, but she didn't look shy or uncertain.

"Where's your mother?" he tried. "Do you speak English?"

"I do."

Bellamy frowned. "Do you need help?"

"That is why I've come here," she answered.

"Okay, let me help you," he said, holding out a hand. "Come here."

She walked over, but she didn't take his hand. "I came to help you."

In spite of the strangeness of the situation, Bellamy couldn't help but smile a little at that statement, and the grown up manner of her speech, despite the high youth of her voice. "Okay then. What do you want to help me with?"

Behind him, he could hear stirring and he knew that either Echo or Lincoln was waking up, but before he could turn around the girl said something that made him freeze.

"I know who you are, Bellamy of the Sky People."

The smile dropped from his face and he swallowed a little. "How do you know my name?"

Echo was suddenly beside him, and she grabbed his arm, pulling him backward roughly. "Do not approach it!" she hissed. "That is a shadow child!"

The little girl's gaze ratcheted to Echo as Bellamy jerked his arm away. "What's wrong with you?" he snapped, though he didn't move.

"Do as I say," she growled, her eyes flashing with anger.

"She's just a little girl," he protested.

Echo gave him an exasperated look. "Keep your mouth closed and allow me to speak for us."

Bellamy glared at her, but he said nothing. He looked at the child, and it was true that her blue gaze was unnerving. He remembered Echo's warning about shadow children, but he had expected something different- this little girl looked like the farthest thing possible from a threat. Yes, she was a bit creepy, but she was so little that he couldn't imagine her causing much damage.

"Why have you come here?" Echo asked carefully.

"I bring an invitation from Elody of the Ice Nation, to invite Bellamy of the Sky People to her lands as an honoured guest. I also have a message for Bellamy, about his leader."

"Clarke?" Bellamy asked, surprised by that. "What is it?"

"Shof op," Echo hissed. "Let me speak. Apologies, shadow child. My name is Echo. I grew up in Temagami… I am a child of the frozen lands."

The girl looked intently at Echo for a moment and nodded her head. "So you are. Do you bear the marks of your village?"

"I do," Echo answered, pulling down her pant leg to show the girl the tattoo that curled along her outer thigh.

"My name is Lia," the girl said. "I have been sent to escort you to the Ice Nation, to be seen by the queen. She knows that you would seek an audience, to discuss the terms of release for Clarke of the Sky People. She wishes you to know that Clarke is well, and that she is not a prisoner."

"Bullshit," Bellamy said, shaking his head. "You're lying."

Before Echo could glare at him, smack him, or even say a word, Lia moved quickly toward him and waved her hand around. He was confused, wondering if it was some kind of ritual, but then belatedly he felt a stinging pain and saw the flash of a small knife in her hand. Only when he registered the blood- his blood- dripping off the blade, did he looked down at himself.

He had a series of shallow but meticulously placed incisions all over his body- there was one across his neck, over his jugular, one had sliced through his shirt, over his heart, and there were matching slashes on both his thighs, over his femoral arteries, and across both his wrists. Blood seeped from all the wounds, but they were shallow enough that the flow was already stopping, leaving only that uncomfortable sting, like a paper cut.

Bellamy knew that making him bleed hadn't been the point- the point was to show that she could kill him- any of them- anytime she wanted. Any one of those wounds, if deeper, could have been fatal, and he hadn't even known she was doing it until it was over.

"You must not speak to me with such disrespect," Lia said, and her blue eyes were like ice. "Do you understand?"

"He does," Echo said quickly, before Bellamy could speak. "Come and sit by the fire, and I will bring you food and drink."

"Thank you," Lia said. "It has been a long journey." He eyes trailed to Lincoln, still sleeping at the other side of the clearing. "Who is that?"

"Linkon kom Trikru," Echo answered. "He is Bellamy's brother, by marriage." Bellamy was surprised when she described Lincoln that way, but he realised it was close enough to the truth.

Lia nodded, then walked over to the log by the dying embers of the fire and sat down. Echo brought her a bowl of the stew they had eaten earlier.

It was so hard for Bellamy to keep quiet, but he took his lead from Echo and just remained silent, standing next to her. He stared at the kid like she had three heads, hardly believing that she could be the one who had made the cuts on his body. Eventually Echo elbowed him hard in the ribs, and he dropped his gaze. She was so tense that his muscles ached just from being next to her, so he walked away. Circling back to the horses, Bellamy opened the saddlebag where his weapon was stored, thinking he would feel better having a gun on his hip, though he couldn't exactly imagine shooting a child.

"That won't be necessary," Lia's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts. Bellamy froze and she continued, "I assure you, it would be quite useless anyway." The kid's back was completely facing toward him, yet somehow she knew exactly what he was doing.

Echo gave Bellamy a sharp look and approached him, hissing softly, "No weapons. You will only anger it." Bellamy wanted his gun anyway, but he knew he had to trust her.

After Lia ate, she went to her pack and pulled out a bedroll, laying it down near the fire. "I will sleep now," she told Echo. "At sunrise we will begin our journey north." When Echo nodded her understanding, she lay down and closed her eyes.

Bellamy and Echo moved to the edge of the campsite, sitting down together on a log on the other side of the fire from Lincoln and Lia. "We can't go north tomorrow," Bellamy said immediately, keeping his voice low. "We're going after Octavia. So what are we going to do about her?"

"Nothing," she whispered. "As I said to you on the first day of this journey, if we are to have a shadow child then we are to have one. There is no way to lose it or get rid of it."

"So we just have to put up with her?"

"It could have done far worse than what it did to you," she said, touching his wrist for a moment. "Just stay away from it."

"We have to find Octavia though," he said again. "We have to."

"I understand what you are saying," she assured him sternly. "I will talk to it tomorrow."

"Dammit, can you just… can you stop saying 'it'?" he hissed irritably. "She's a little girl. What is she- like, twelve? Maybe-"

"The number of moons it has doesn't dictate its capacity for violence," she muttered impatiently. "You are more child than that thing over there."

"What the hell does that mean?" Bellamy snapped, and then he shook his head. "Nevermind. Just stop calling her 'it.' Okay?"

"In the Ice Nation we are taught the truth- shadow children are not people. They are death bringers, destroyers, dangerous beyond measure. Not to be underestimated. Does any of this mean anything to you?"

"Yes," he said, drawing in a deep breath to steady his temper. "I get what you're saying, but she is only a little girl- it's not her fault she was taken from her mother when she was so little and raised like this. Maybe-"

"Not her fault, yes," she answered, somewhat patronisingly. "But her history is not our concern. Whether she might have been different in another life won't matter while she's slicing your throat open."

"Okay fine, but what if she doesn't know there's another option?"

Echo let out a sound of frustration, turning angry eyes on him. He was now extremely well-acquainted with that look- very much like the one she'd given him inside Mount Weather, when she'd first realised he was a Sky Person, and very like all the looks she'd given him when he wanted to go after Octavia despite the fact that he was dying of a spider bite.

"You don't know anything," she growled at him. "You are so soft, so naïve, so ignorant, so-"

"Hey, I'm trying, okay?" he interrupted, keeping his voice calm despite the insults she was hurling at him. "I'm trying to learn."

"Then learn," she snapped, her voice still low despite being angry. "Open your ears when I try to teach you. That shadow child has a small body so it can blend, fit into tiny spaces, and so it can kill you before you even see it coming. It is not a little girl. It is not to be trusted. Ge em?" She swatted him on the head. "Understand?"

Bellamy glowered into the dead fire for a while, and when it became clear that he was not going to answer her, Echo let out a frustrated breath and stood up to move away. Even on angry feet she slipped into the woods like a ghost, heading in the direction of the waterfall. His eyes followed her until she had vanished, and only then did his gaze slowly shift back to Lia.

He watched her chest rise and fall for a little while as she slept, and he tried to see what Echo saw, tried to see a dangerous assassin, a person with a small body but who was not a child. But he couldn't do it. He was wary of her because of Echo's warnings and because of the violence she'd inflicted on him, but he also couldn't help but think of Charlotte, of what she'd done to Wells, the way she'd jumped off that cliff, and how heartbroken he'd been when he wasn't able to help her. When he pictured Charlotte, or pictured Octavia at that age, and then looked at Lia, he just couldn't accept the way Echo had talked about her. He jabbed at the cooling embers with a stick, muttering under his breath as if still arguing with Echo, "She's just a little girl."