Chapter 4

The ride was just like Echo said. It was going to take them two days to travel to Troi. It wasn't unpleasant, but Echo never untied her. She would keep Clarke in front of her on the horse. She wasn't sure if it was to keep them warm or if it was to keep her there as a human shield should anyone decide to attack them.

The first day they rode from the time that the sun came up until it went down. Echo didn't stop but once. They stopped to relieve themselves and to fill the water skin that she was carrying. Amazingly though, Echo kept her hydrated and somewhat fed. It wasn't much, but it was better than the old strips of jerky, nuts and berries.

"Take this," Echo told her as she placed a bit of root in her mouth.

"What is it?" Clarke asked as she shifted it with both her tied hands to the side of her mouth.

"It is called Azfida, or Ice Root."

"Why is it called that?"

"It is something that the thompa look for when the weather starts to change. They did them up, and we learned to chew on them in the colder months. They give the locations, and we dig them up to help us pass the winter. Chew on it. It will help you pass hunger until we can actually camp."

"And, when will that be?" Clarke questioned.

"When we get inside Azgeda territory," Echo replied and Clarke felt her look up at the sky and tree tops. "It will be a while longer."

Clarke just grunted a little. She chewed on the root. It didn't have an unpleasant taste. It was like some of the candy that she'd tried in Polis. She wondered if the Trikru used the root for flavoring. She didn't think if she asked if Echo would even answered her.

It had become obvious that morning that Echo wasn't going to talk much. She tried to memorize where they were, but all the trees looked the same. And, she doubt the fact Echo was riding in circles just to mess with her. The blindfold hadn't returned in the morning, but the binds stayed. It seemed that Echo would give her some leeway, but not enough to actually matter. It was like the older woman already knew that Clarke wasn't going to fight her too much.

She didn't think too much about food, so chewing on this root was helping her further. She was still punishing herself. She knew that was why Indra had given her so much in her supplies. It wasn't things that would need a lot of cooking. It had been mostly things that she could carry for days without spoiling. She figured that this root was the same thing. It would give them some sort of nutritional value and stave off hunger until they could find something bigger. She gathered from Echo's words that they usually ate the rabbit (thompa) that showed them where the roots were. Clarke decided that she needed to remember about the roots.

It made her wonder though what their meal was going to be when they stopped. It was obvious that Echo didn't want to stop until she had to. She wondered if they warrior woman was going to try to push through the night and the dark in the woods. She knew from staying in the Trikru and riding with Lexa a few times that they didn't tempt riding at night, but Echo wasn't Trikru. She was very Azgeda.

Clarke looked up at the sky at they rode. There weren't many clouds. She knew that it meant there wouldn't be rain for now. That was a blessing in and of itself. She hated travelling in the rain, and she wasn't sure that Echo would even bother to stop to find shelter. In fact, she knew that she wouldn't. She doubted that she would even give her a cloak or something to cover herself with. Echo seemed completely unbothered by everything around her.

"If I ask you something, will you answer me?" Clarke asked softly.

"It depends on what it is," Echo replied.

"You said that you were in Mountain."

"Sha, I was."

"Do you know how long?"

"No."

Clarke just nodded. She didn't know what else to ask her. It didn't seem right for her to ask how many times she was bled. Clarke knew that it couldn't have been many times. The Mountain it seemed had a limit and they didn't like to wait. Exsanguination can occur rapidly if done incorrectly. And, the Mountain Men didn't really seem to care.

"Were you bled?"

"Sha," Echo answered.

Clarke tried to do a mental calculation. If Dr. Tsing was smart, she would have rotated those she had. So, the newest would have been bled while the others would have been left in their cages to replenish their supplies. With the lack of food and nourishment, the normal six week would have been longer. But, it was obvious that they were being cared for, even if it was minimally. Their blood meant life for those inside the Mountain. And, Dr. Tsing could have been proactive and just banked it, but they didn't. They used it live and as needed. This meant that...

"Seken taim happened before Belomi came," Echo added without any prompting.

She remembered when she'd sent Bellamy into the Mountain to find a way to dismantle the fog. He'd been in the Mountain for a week before they attacked. Echo had to have been in there for months before that, considering the condition she was in now. It had only been a few weeks since the fall of Mountain.

"You'll be back at full strength in a few weeks. You're body still needs a few weeks to heal. You need meat and protein, nuts and such. It will help your body heal faster at least for the next two weeks...um fortin sintaim...fourteen days," Clarke told her.

"You do speak our shared language?" Echo questioned as she turned the horse to the left and Clarke watched as she sun moved.

They weren't just heading North, they were heading Northwest. She didn't know these woods. She had no idea where she was now, and running would only get her killed if Winter was as close as she believed it to be. She would freeze before she found herself somewhere familiar and friendly.

"Not really," Clarke lied.

She still didn't want Echo know that she understood her. She knew that it would something that she could hold over Nia. She had an idea that the Queen was either going to treat her like dirt or just kill her. Either way, Clarke was slightly okay with it. She'd made her peace with it. Dying meant that she would be reborn and she could try again, but that didn't mean that she didn't push as hard as she could in each life hoping that it would be her last. This one was just going to be one of the worst ones that she'd live through. She wondered though how many scars she'd carry over this time.

"I barely learned the numbers and some other things, but nothing really important. I can't really speak it or understand most of it. The little bit that I learned was in reference to pastes, teas, tinctures, and poultices. You must know that my mother was a healer and she trained me."

"I did not know that," Echo said and then hummed for a second. "It makes sense though."

"Why do you say that?"

"You are the Commander of Death, Skaigada."

"Don't remind me," Clarke said angrily.

She knew that Echo didn't deserve her anger, but she was still taking her Nia. She couldn't believe that anyone would think that her actions at the Mountain were anything to be glorified. She was a mass murderer. She committed genocide. And, it was killing her. It didn't matter how many times she tried to save them, Cage always pushed her hand and she pulled the lever. She'd realized that it was something that she couldn't change. She could help them and save a few of them, but Cage, Dante, Emerson and Dr. Tsing always got greedy and forced her hand. She wasn't going to lose her people or any more Grounders if she could help it. She just hated the actions and herself for it. She was still angry with Lexa, as well, even she understood.

Clarke thought that after six times, she'd be over it. She wasn't it. She just knew to stop Jasper before things got too real for them all. She'd saved Maya a few times, but each time that she did, it cost her another life. It was usually a Grounder or something, but when she didn't, Jasper still wanted her dead. One time she just flat out shot him. She couldn't take him being her face all the time about her saving everyone else. So, she gave him what he wanted.

"You are not proud of what you did?" Echo questioned.

Clarke just shook her head. "Why should I be proud of ending three hundred and fifty-eight lives?"

"You might have taken so many lives, but how many have you saved in doing so?"

Clarke never thought of it that way, but her knee-jerk reaction answer was, "Forty-four."

"That is the number of your people, that you saved, sha?"

"Sha," Clarke replied.

"Are they not proud of you?"

"I don't know."

"Why not?"

"I left before they could see me as the monster that I am," Clarke told her.

"You are not a monster," Echo said.

"Yes, I am," Clarke replied quietly.

Echo scoffed. Clarke knew that Echo didn't understand what she was feeling. She kept wondering if there was something else that she could have done. Hell, she'd had time and many lives to figure it out and still it always happened the same way. As soon as Tsing realized that the kids had the cure in their bone marrow, those of the Hundred that were inside the Mountain days were numbered. She'd tried getting to Lexa faster, but it never stopped Emerson and his men kidnapping those left at the dropship. And, Clarke knew the horrors of those that were taken inside.

"You are no ripa, skaigada. You are a hero, and not just to your people. You are Wanheda. You command Death. You freed us all."

"No, that was Lexa."

"You don't understand, skaigada. Heda might have gotten us all out of the Mountain, but you are the one that destroyed it. You defeated our oldest foe. You have freed us from the shadow of the Mountain. We do not have to fear the Mountain anymore. You got us the blood that was owed. You have destroyed the real monster of this world. You felled the Mountain. Not even Heda could do that," Echo explained.

"I don't feel like a hero."

"That does not matter to the people. There are those that would seek you out for your blessing. They will believe that if you touch their child or their warrior that you will bless them and they will not fall in the battle that they are heading into," Echo stated.

"And, others will try to take my head to take my power," Clarke countered.

"There are those that will do that, sha."

"Like Nia?"

"I am not sure if she will or not. I know that she will use the power of Wanheda against Heda. I do not know if you realize but your victory has weakened Heda to some of the clans. They see that you have done something that she could not, but they are still afraid of you. They also know that she had an alliance with you, which she broke. So far though, Skaikru en Kongeda are not at war," Echo answered.

"Yeah, I know."

Echo got quiet. She heard something off in the distance. She scanned the horizon, but she didn't see anything that worried her. She knew what she heard.

"Do you want some real meat for dinner, skaigada?"

"I wouldn't be opposed to it," Clarke answered, not sure what she meant.

"Hold these and do not do anything stupid," Echo told her as she placed the reins into her still tied hands.

Clarke really didn't have a reason not to take the reins. She still wasn't the greatest of riders, but she was proud of the fact that she could actually stay on the horse and ride short distances on her own. Echo, it seemed trusted her enough not to get them killed as she raised her right leg over Clarke's. The blonde was surprised by the moved, but she didn't say anything as Echo kicked her right leg into the stirrup. Clarke didn't understand what the other woman was doing until she saw the bow out of the the corner of her left eye.

"What are you doing?" Clarke demanded.

"Getting dina," Echo said as she leaned to the left in the saddle, pushing Clarke to the right just a little.

Clarke just held the reins and the saddle as she kept the horse steady. They weren't a gallop, but she could tell that the angle in which that Echo was leaning could be problematic for two riders. Echo was doing the best that she could with what she had. She was also hunting, so far be it from Clarke to stop her.

Seconds later, an arrow came into view, but it was only there for seconds. The shot was so fast that Clarke thought that she had dreamed the arrow was there. She heard the quick twang of the bow string and a puny sound from the bushes. Echo reached over and steered the horse to the side of the thin trail they were on. As soon as they were stopped, the bow was stowed across the saddle and Echo launched herself off of it.

Clarke had no other way to describe it. Echo moved so quickly, that she was stunned. She was so stunned that she didn't even think to nudge the horse onward and to run away. Echo didn't even pay her attention as she dove into the brush and came back with a dead rabbit in her hands. She merely cocked her eyebrow at Clarke as she walked back to the horse. Echo didn't spare Clarke any mind as she moved around the horse and dug through the packs. She pulled out a small satchel that had nothing in it. After making quick work of the rabbit, she placed the meat into the bag. She tied what was left of the hide to some string and then to a bag on the back of the horse. Clarke didn't ask any questions as Echo mounted the horse and they were on their way again.

It had been all so fluid. There were no wasted movements. Echo was sure and steady with her quick hunt.

"You've done that before," Clarke stated more than asked.

"Hunted?"

"No," Clarke said as she shook her head. "Made a shot like that?"

"I spent two summers in Ingranrona. They are master horsemen. They taught me a lot."

Clarke just nodded. She knew that the people of the Plains were excellent riders. It was part of their name after being that they were the "Plains Riders," but the skill and training that it would have taken for Echo to make that shot was extraordinary. It meant that the two summers that Echo spent there, she was learning her craft. Clarke knew that it made her a better spy and possible assassin, but it also showed her dedication to learn. Riding and doing the things that the Plains Riders did weren't just for show, they were for survival, hunting and war. And, none of it was easy. Clarke made a mental note to head for the Plains in a next life so that she could learn. She wondered how skilled she could be if she spent enough time with them, especially seeing as she'd never ridden a horse until she landed on Earth. It would be something amusing to show off, especially to Octavia (pre-Lincoln) in another rebirth.

Clarke realized that now was not the time to be thinking of a rebirth. She needed to know more about Echo and her mission to take her to Nia. Clarke wasn't under any impression that Echo wasn't just following orders, no matter how skewed they maybe. She knew that Echo had something to prove, but she wasn't sure if it was to Nia or to herself. She knew that woman struggled, that there was a part of Echo that could be reasoned with, because she wasn't as far gone as Ontari and Nia were. Echo had morals and principles. Nia had greed and a quest for power. Ontari was just molded into whatever Nia needed her to be, and her mind was so broken that she needed Nia's "support" in order to function.

The rest of the afternoon was quiet. Clarke was thinking. She knew that Echo was right. She had to present a case to Nia to save her skin, but Clarke was under no impression that it would work for long. She was going to be a way to bring down Lexa. There was nothing else that Nia needed her for. She was going to use the "power of Wanheda" in one way or another. She'd either use Clarke against Lexa personally or she'd use Clarke's death. Either way, Nia won. And, while Clarke was resilient, she wasn't sure how much of Nia's torture that she would be able to endure before she either succumb or broke completely.

"When I tell you to move, move into the brush and stay down," Echo whispered into her right ear.

"To the left?"

"Yes, to the left and into the brush."

"What is it?"

"Raiders," Echo replied.

"From?"

"Sangeda or the Dead Zone. They are the only ones foolish enough to come this far north. Not even you sky fools made it this far," Echo hissed.

"Can I have a knife at least?"

Before Clarke could move a small dagger made of bone and metal was between her hands and she was shoved, hard, more than urged off the horse to the left. She hit the ground hard, but rolled through to minimize the impact. She moved and crawled into the brush as she hid from the marauders coming towards them. She hide among the ferns and brush, with her back to fallen tree as she watched Echo work.

And, for Echo it was work. Fighting was a part of her, just like medicine was for Clarke. She could tell how fluid it was. Echo moved through the opponents seemingly without thought. She'd seen gona fight before, but this was something else. Echo did it with such precision and skill. Clarke of course knew why, but the raiders didn't. She wasn't marked as Azgeda, and Clarke knew it was so she would be a better spy.

The first three of the raiders didn't even stand a chance. She fired a total of five shots from her bow and the three fell. The first two took only one shot, the first to the heart and the second through the throat. The third had a few more seconds to prepare and tried to dodge, but all three of the last arrows made their mark and he fell with one arrow to the thigh, one arrow to the shoulder, and one arrow in the left upper chest. Clarke wasn't sure if he died from a combination of blood loss or chocking on his own blood in his lungs. Either way, he was dead.

The last two raiders charged her, swords drawn high and voices full of a war cries. Clarke watched on as Echo simply cocked an eyebrow and waited. She didn't draw her sword. Clarke was worried until she realized that she was drawing them in. As soon as number four got close enough, she dodge him and struck him with her bow before tossing it at Clarke, somewhat. She drew her sword from her back as she stepped into the fifth and final raider, slashing him across the stomach and turning back around in time to block number four's next swing.

There was a flurry of movement and honestly it was all too much for Clarke to focus on. She just hoped that Echo won. At least with Echo, she knew what she was in for. With those men, she had no idea if she'd even live to see the morning.

In what seemed like hours, only took minutes. Echo was back by herself, sword on her back, as she reached for her bow. Once it was stowed on her back, she looked over Clarke to make sure that she was relatively unhurt. Clarke knew that something was wrong as soon as Echo's eyes bugged out. She looked all around, but she couldn't find anything that would cause such a reaction. She still had the dagger in her hands and they were still tied.

"What?" Clarke demanded, fire in her voice, but only because she didn't like the way that Echo was looking at her now.

"Yu laik natblida!?" Echo stated as she wiped some blood from Clarke's mouth and showed her the blackened finger.

Well, shit, there goes that surprise, Clarke thought to herself as she continued to study Echo's eyes.