Chapter 15

"Pike?" she questioned as his eyes met hers and recognition was had on both sides.

He didn't stop. She knew that he couldn't. But, knowing that he'd been in the Pits this time fighting for his life instead of trying to get those that survived Farm Station down to Arkadia hurt. The man had never been able to truly live on Earth. It had always been one big ball of shitstorm and pain for him. And, now, she could do something for him. She could end his suffering in this life.

She knew that it wasn't going to be easy. He was obviously fighting for his own life and the right to live. Nia must have done something to the rest of those from Farm Station. It made Clarke wonder how many of them actually survived their fall and internment in Azgeda.

It wasn't something that she thought to ask Echo about. It hadn't honestly crossed her mind. She just figured that they would make it on their own like they had while she was in the Mountain. That obviously hadn't happened if Pike was one of Nia's pet gladiators. But, it also made Clarke happy that he was there. Nia was handling some of her dirty work for her. It hurt that she was thinking that callously about her fellow Arkers, but if they never made it out of Azgeda, then they couldn't attack the warriors that Lexa sent to protect Skaikru from Azgeda, in particular, as they acclimated to the ground a little more fully.

The knock upside her head brought her back to the here and now. She needed to focus on Pike and Pike alone. She couldn't let her mind wander or she would get hurt. She could deal with all the "what ifs" and such after the fight. Clarke knew that she didn't need to take any blows from him to the head. She honestly didn't want to bleed either, but she knew that it was going to impossible. So, she had to watch him and decide how she was going to handle him.

Pike wasn't a brute, but he did like to throw his power around. Honestly, he would be perfect for Nia and her people, if Nia didn't want him dead for just being Skaikru. He was a good teacher, if a little overbearing, but nothing in all her time with him on the Ark could have every prepared her for the man she saw now.

He was fighting like a man possessed. She understood. He was scared, too.

She also knew that he wouldn't think anything of harming her. He didn't see her as anything more than a student. She remembered him telling her many times to "let the adults handle things." When she did, it never worked out well for anyone. She could see now that he wasn't a wild card. He was always going to turn into some sort of demon man on the Ground. While he thought that she was a "princess" like many on the Ark did because of who she her parents were and what station she grew up on, she wasn't about to let him end her here. Man couldn't afford his type of crazy. And, mixing that with Nia's sadism, it had become the perfect recipe for him to be one of Nia's prized gladiators. Too bad, she was going to have to bring him down.

She backed away from him and looked around the arena again. There were two ends. She'd come out of the one to her back. It felt like it was in the east side of the building. He'd come out of the other side directly across from her. The sun was overhead. She wondered if the arena was some old stadium. It seemed like it was, but it had been retro fitted into whatever Nia had made it. There was no roof to it, if there had ever been one. The seats for the spectators were all made out of scrap. It was large and open, but the elements had taken their toll on the fighting grounds.

She could see footprints in the mud. It was sluggish, but she could still move. The ground was still hard and hadn't completely thawed for the Spring yet. The slush and the sludge of the mud would make her dirty and cold, but she'd fought in the same conditions in the training fields for the army.

Guards surrounded the base of Nia's royal box. Ontari was in it with her to the right and Echo to the left. It wasn't a surprise to see Echo there. Nia was keeping her close on purpose. There were more guards, all heavily armored and armed. They were mostly by what Clarke guessed were the exits. They were also stationed periodically through out the crowds, near the fighting grounds and behind a railing of sorts. They were the only thing between the mob and the fighters. The crowd didn't seem to mind though. They stayed in their seats calling out for their warrior.

She wondered if Nia was using the guards to see who would call out of her. She wouldn't put it passed the queen to do so. Nia knew she was in trouble. She needed to watch her back, and she couldn't afford to have the people stand up against her. Her power while great was honestly an illusion based on marriage and her command of the armies. If Ontari turned against her, most of the troops would as well. Azgeda could fall into a civil war and Lexa would let it. The only thing that Lexa would do to help the situation was guard the border and wait for the victor. Once a victor had been declared, she would offer them a place in the Kongeda. She knew that Lexa wouldn't step in for matters of state like that, but should Azgeda pick the wrong leader to follow and come for the Kongeda, Lexa would unleash the other clans on them and make their lives hell. And, that was something that Nia couldn't allow as she planned her coup. She had to protect her front and her back.

Clarke took a deep breath. She had to focus. The only thing that she needed to worry about right now was Pike. Everything else would have to wait.

She readied her staff again and waited for him to strike. She could tell that he wasn't going to be a patient fighter. He was going to bring the fight to her and bring it hard. She was ready for him. She moved her feet slightly in the mud, digging in and finding the hard ground underneath for better traction. She kept her eyes on his face. Everyone had a tell, even in chess. She just had to find it.

As he came at her again, she finally saw the scars carved into his face. He'd gone native. She couldn't really blame him though. He honestly probably didn't have a choice. And, the scars on his face would tell the story of a man from the stars who fell to Earth only to become a gladiator for the Ice Queen.

His wild eyes watched her as she deflected his stabs time and time again with her staff. He was one of the few that knew that she was left handed. He was purposefully going to her right side, hoping it would be weaker. He found that he was wrong in that assessment. Thank you, Echo!

When he realized that he wasn't just going to be able to intimidate her, he decide to try beat her into submission. Clarke could only guess if he was allowed to kill her there or not. He seemed to be going back and forth with his strikes. Some looked to be kill strikes, while others were just to knock her out. He hadn't landed one yet, but that wasn't stopping him from trying.

He came again and again with an overhead strike to her right. She kept blocking it, but that didn't mean that she didn't feel it. He had plenty of power behind his strikes. She couldn't let him get in close enough to her to make a good strike. It was going to hurt if she did. He didn't back down. He just kept coming. She was surprised that he wasn't trying to stab her, at first. Then, she realized that he was doing the same thing that she was doing. He was trying to wear her down. He could tell by her armor that she had training, but he didn't know how much. She wasn't giving him much of a fight, so he just kept swinging at her right shoulder as hard as he could.

The more he swung at her, the more she realized that this was Nia's little surprise for her. Nia was baiting her with Pike. But, Nia didn't know that Clarke wasn't going to feel as bad about killing Pike as she would say Wells. Pike had always turned, so him being the first of many, she assumed, that she'd fight wasn't going to stop her. She would use it as a stepping stone and she knew that Pike would be proud of her for using him as a step in securing their freedom. He didn't know that it wasn't going to be in this lifetime, though.

He back peddled a little and drew her in. She felt stupid for following him, but she fell into his trap. He lured her in and then came down with a devastating blow to her staff. It snapped in half. She looked at the two pieces almost in a daze. She quickly realized what he'd done and knew that she had to move out of his strike zone. She tossed both piece at his face and back peddled away from him.

She slid in the mud and ice, but she got enough ground between them. She chanced a glance up at Echo. She could tell that the older woman wasn't happy.

Clarke knew that it was time to quit playing. Not that she was really playing before, but now, she was going to on the offensive. She reached back and drew her sword from her back. Holding it out in front, she waited for Pike's next move. She had both hands on it.

Pike wasted no time in pressing what he thought was his advantage. He advanced on her even as she pulled her sword. She could see that he was miscalculation her want to live and her ability to fight. He was still picturing her as Abby and Jake's priviledged daughter. He didn't know what she knew. He also would never believe in the power of Wanheda. And, while she didn't believe that she was the fabled Wanheda, she knew what belief in something could do. She was embracing the title because she needed the belief in it to keep herself alive.

He gave a few experimental jabs with the end of the spear. She deflecting them. He circled her, but she kept him to her front and just out of range. She was going to make him commit to something. She wanted him moving towards her before she struck. She was going for a defensive offense. It would look like she wasn't pushing him, but she actually was. She was playing the long game. She was fighting with her mind and her body. Pike might have her out muscled and out weighed, but he didn't have the rational thought that she did. As he moved, she was already five to six moves ahead of him in his mind with multiple outcomes and counters to thinks she thought he might try.

He was getting angry that he hadn't gotten a hit. He hadn't even drawn blood. All he'd managed to do was push her back in the sludge and break her staff. It wasn't looking like it was going to be as easy a fight as he was told or thought. The crowd was eating it up though.

Huron and Erie must have been somewhere in the crowd. Or, it was some more of Echo's underground Wanheda movement, because Clarke could hear them. It started out faintly, barely there at all. She could just make it out over the blood rushing through her ears. Her nerves were helping to keep her focused, but that didn't stop the words she was picking out from the cheers and jeers of the arena.

"Wanheda! Wanheda! Wanheda!" was called out over and over again.

Clarke found herself smiling. She wasn't playing to the crowd. She was using their energy to keep her going. She knew that Nia wouldn't see it that way. But, even Nia would have to admit that she hadn't had any contact with the outside world beside Echo and Ontari, for the most part, in order to command the people to do anything in her "name." Huron and Erie must have passed along the word that she was there. And, having a nephew that is part of the Royal Guard didn't hurt to make things a little more believable, especially when he supported anything that Huron or Erie said to the people of the village.

"Wanheda! Wanheda! Wanheda!" the cheers kept coming.

Pike must have realized that he was losing favor with the crowd. He snarled at her. She cocked an eyebrow as she let go of the sword with her right hand. He watched as she wrapped around her hips and drew the dagger that was sitting on her left hip.

Standing as she was, she remembered Lexa and her two swords. Echo had told her that it was hard to master, so she wasn't going to try to teach Clarke anything like it until she had one sword down. She did however push Clarke to be more than proficent in both hands.

What are you going to do if you are so injured that you can't use your left arm, Clarke. So, again, and use only your right arm. Lead with it. Fight with it.

Clarke hadn't seen the relevance or understood what Echo was doing until now. Pike was going to keep attacking to her right and hope that she mis-stepped or fumbled just enough for him to land a good solid hit. Only problem was, she wasn't.

While she was deflecting his attack again, she was looking for chinks in his armor. It light and barely there. He wasn't fighting to win or lose. He was fighting to fight. She realized now that he didn't care if he died, but he wasn't going to go down with a good fight.

He came her left side for once and stepped into him. She could tell that he was getting tired. She wondered how long some of his former fights had lasted. Echo had drilled and drilled her until she couldn't stand and even then, Echo would attack on her on the ground. Clarke wasn't allowed to give up...ever. She had to find the strength and the capacity to keep going. So, she did. Being this close to him, she could see a new type of fear and loathing in his eyes. She pushed against his arms getting the spear out of her way as she drug her dagger across his chest. It was shallow, but it would bleed.

She'd drawn first blood. The crowd erupted. Chants got louder and Clarke had to tune them all out. She was focused on Pike and Pike alone. She no longer heard them calling out for Wanheda. She knew that they wanted her to finish him, but she wanted to give him a chance. Fighting in the Pits didn't necassarily mean death. She could spare him, but she wanted to know if he wanted it. He deserved death for just breathing air on the Ground in past lives. But, Clarke being Clarke needed to know what type of man he'd become.

"Are you all that is left?" she questioned him as smacked him on the back with the flat of her sword.

It was a warning about exposing his back. She really didn't want to hurt him if she didn't have to, but she needed to know. And, she wondered if she could actually trust him, seeing how he'd become Azgeda. He snarled out a "no," and returned to attacking.

Her braids, one on each side from her temples that met in the back and braided together in a triple braid from a loose braid in the middle, flew around. She kept circling him over and over again. She would faint an attack and draw him towards her just where she wanted him. She would step inside him, not allowing his spear any room to engage and she'd cut him again with the dagger. She was mostly using her left arm and the sword as shield. Her right arm and the dagger were her weapon. And, she was precise. Each cut had to feel like fire. She knew where to cut to inflict pain without too much damage.

Damn my medical brain, she thought to herself.

He swung wildly at her. She ducked the brunt of the spear and stepped into him. Before she realized what happened, he had a dagger near enough to her to hurt her. He cut wildly and without restraint. Finally landing one, he pulled her into him. Putting his mouth near her ear, he told her what she didn't want to but needed to know about the rest of Farm Station.

"Those that they didn't kill or feed to their hell hounds, I killed in this arena. One by one over the winter, in the snow, in the icy, I made it red with the blood of those from the Ark. I've fought my way to food, clothing and shelter. And, now, I will kill you," he spat at her.

Clarke turned until he could see her face, clearly. She wanted to make sure that he was looking at her when she dispatched him. He didn't know that she saw the break in the plates of metal that he wore as armor. As he moved to try to stab her with his knife, she grabbed him into almost a bear hug. She buried her dagger in his side, between his ribs and straight to his heart. He winced and then smiled at the pain.

"Didn't know you had in you, Clarke. But, do me a favor and kill them all. For us, for you people. Kill them all," he said as she eased him to the ground.

Blood was already coming through his lips. She knew that he had seconds to live. If the nick to his heart, if she'd aimed true, didn't kill him quickly enough, he'd drown in his own blood. It was a sad way to go, but he was smiling at her. She knew that it was his way of thanking her, for releasing him from his pain and suffering on Earth. Only he didn't know that she was going to end it permanently.

Before the guards could get to her and make her submit, she whipped her sword around and cut off his head. She grabbed it and held it aloft for Nia to see. She'd just ended the life, and soul, of Nia's play gladiator. Her dreams and memories would haunt her for days after this, she was sure. But, it didn't matter in the grand scheme of her trying to understand what she was supposed to do to save all of Man. She dropped the sword and looked at the guards. There was an air of defiance about her, but she turned and looked up at Echo. A quick snap of Echo's head was it took for Clarke to drop the dagger and wait to see what Nia was going to do now. Wanheda had just taken a life in front of the mob of Troi. She could only wonder what legends would be told about her now.