Chapter 30
Clarke was angry. She was pissed. But, she knew that it would do no good. Echo had been right in making them stay. If they had left so quickly after hearing the news, something would have been said. She wasn't sure if the gona that had joined them knew who they were or if they were on the run, but they didn't need to cause any more suspicion about themselves than they already had. It was hard, but Clarke dealt with it.
The only reason that she felt some sort of peace about the entire situation was because she knew that the world would reset with her death. She would have her friends again, but it was still painful to lose them in such a horrific manner. What made it worse was the fact that she didn't know if any of them actually survived. And, she wouldn't...probably ever. It wasn't like they could just go running across the desert and hope that no one in Sangeda wouldn't try to stop them on their way to Floukru. Clarke was pragmatic and practical, even when she was hopeful. She knew that it wasn't feasible. She hated it.
And, that is why Echo was taking the brunt on her abuse. She knew that it wasn't fair, but she couldn't stop herself. Her anger knew no bounds. Echo had just become a convenient target, and Keyron bless it for it, because she didn't fight back. Echo would just grab her around the waist and hold her, tight, until all the fight left her body. She would whisper in Clarke's ears words of understanding, but Clarke didn't want to be placated. She wanted blood, so Echo gave it to her.
It should have frightened her how easily she was giving into her anger, but it didn't. Echo kept her contained. Clarke knew that it couldn't be easy for the other woman. She wasn't exactly acting her part. Echo kept cooped up in the room for as long as she dared before making her go to the market with her. She found a small art supply store and got Clarke some good paper and pencils to add to her growing collection. She told Clarke to "draw it out." It worked for a while until the nightmares, scars, and memories of dozens of lives and rebirths started to flow together into a collection of sketches that Clarke had a hard time explaining away to Echo. The older woman stared at the scenes that Clarke produced and realized that Clarke had defied Death completely.
It made Echo look at her in more awe. Clarke hated it. She burned most of the sketches. She didn't want to explain them. She didn't want to remember them. She just wanted to die. She figured a reset would fix things, but she knew that it wasn't the entire truth. She refused to look Echo in the eye anymore, and it broke the older woman some. Clarke didn't mean to hurt her, but she couldn't stop herself. Echo was slowly learning the truth of the curse it meant for her to be Wanheda. And, damn the woman for caring about her more because of it.
Finally, their time at the tavern was over. Clarke was ready to go, though. Tawa held nothing for her. It never did. It was just a stopping point in their venture to Becca's. And, that got her to thinking. She wondered if she could use Becca's computers to get into some sort of weapons system and take Azgeda off the map. An eye for an eye and all, but she quickly dispelled the idea. She didn't want to wake ALIE for any reason.
(She filed that away for another life. Find a way to get Raven on the ALIE issue from the Ark before the 100 are dropped and Arkfall. If anyone could do that, it was Raven. Clarke would get her an army of techs to help, too, if needed, starting with Monty.)
Like before when they came into the village together, Clarke followed Echo's leave. She watched as she said goodbye to a few of the villagers. Clarke didn't even wonder if they were in Echo's spy ring or not. She didn't care. They had a goal to get to Becca's. That was all she could focus on now. It was all she wanted to focus on, because anything else would either make her cry or go charging into Polis sword held high as she led an unformed rebellion against Nia and Ontari. She didn't fear her own death. She feared for everyone else's.
They mounted up and continued their journey east. She knew that the desert loomed in front of them, but Clarke didn't care. She was beyond it. She was angry and sad. She knew that it wasn't a good combination, though. People did strange things when they were both angry and sad. She didn't want to condemn the world, but she already had in this lifetime. There was no way for her to save anyone, but maybe Echo, and that wasn't even a given. She wanted Echo to survive now because she was the only one that Clarke honestly had left in the world.
She thought about Madi. She was still a child, hiding away to protect herself from an early death, only to be completely alone after Praimfaya. She could tell Echo about her, and probably had, and while Madi was a concern of Clarke's, she needed to find a way to convince Echo to take the marrow.
Clarke closed her eyes as the sun bared down on them midday. Her thoughts turned from the future to water. She knew that they were carrying as much as they dared and could. They had to think about the health of the horses, too. And, while they were covering more ground faster, there was still the threat that they were being followed. Clarke was just glad that they weren't "speed hiking" through the desert. She wasn't sure that she would have been able to keep up.
The longer that they were in the desert, the more she realized why the people of the desert were so hearty. They weren't fighting the cold for food; they were fighting the earth for water. The dry heat of the area didn't help. After months of living in Azgeda, the few days in Tawa at the upper most borders of Delphikru hadn't prepared her for the change in extreme harshness. She doubted that anything but being in the desert would have, but the stark difference two days out of Tawa was striking for her.
Had she not survived Praimfaya in other lives, she would have been flabbergasted by the sheer amount of sand and sun that she was experiencing. Her exposure to such matters before the lifetime were limited to old movies, depictions in books and online while living on the Ark, and her lives trying to get from Becca's bunker/mansion to Eden. She knew that the people of the desert didn't live too far in the desert's area. That was truly the Dead Zone, and by land it was the only way to get to Becca's. Clarke had told Echo this, and they were skirting it to hopefully find a boat, and maybe Emori to take them up the coast and not through the desert into the Dead Zone to get there. Clarke was keeping her fingers crossed. She needed something to go right in this life, even if it was something small, she'd take it.
She didn't know how long it was going to take for this trip, but she knew that she didn't want to last long. She sighed as they kept moving. Sometimes, Echo would push them faster to almost a gallop, but Clarke could tell that she was worried for the horses. Every day they moved from one oasis to another. Watering hole to watering hole, conspicuously missing every possible Sangeda village that might be found. Clarke knew part of the reason was Echo's past with the clan there, but she wondered if she really knew what that past with them meant. Days upon days went by until the the sand started to show some more vegetation. It wasn't much, but it was a welcome sight.
"We'll leave the horses soon," Echo told her out of the blue one afternoon.
"Leave them?"
"In a village, soon. We're nearing the Dead Zone and the upper most edges of Floukru. The horses won't do us any good there," Echo replied.
Clarke just nodded. She was getting better at her horsemanship and didn't want to let the horse go, but she also knew that Echo was right. A horse wouldn't do them any good in the Dead Zone or at sea with Floukru. It was just as well, too. Caring for the horses was costing them time and resources as they kept on their journey. Thankfully, Echo made a habit of packing up what little bits of vegetation that they'd found at each oasis for the horses during the day.
"We need to find a place soon to stop."
"Why?" Clarke questioned.
"That ridge is the border. We need to go through our packs and decide what is really needed. We are days from Beka's place."
"Days?"
"Less than three or four, I would say based on what you told me."
"Have you checked the map?" Clarke asked as she reached into her saddleback to find it.
"Klark, the map is only so good. It doesn't show distances like you are used to. You need to trust me on this."
"I do trust you, Ekou."
And, she did. She trusted Echo more than she trusted anyone else at this point. And, it wasn't merely because she wasn't dead. It was because Echo had seen something in her in that needed to be cultivated and made it her personal mission to make sure that it happened. It didn't matter that Clarke didn't believe in it fully. It just matter that Echo believed. And, as long as she believed, she was going to take care of, protect and teach Clarke to be Wanheda in every way that Echo could think of and that she believed in based on the tales that she'd heard as a child.
Echo had trained her on how to fight. Ontari had taught her to take not only a punch but a beating. Clarke had learned how far she could push her body unitl it finally gave out on her. She was surprised at how far that limit was. She also realized that her want to believe in the best of everyone and trust them for what they did at face value was her naivety showing. Ontari had fooled her more than Lexa ever could. It smarted, but Clarke knew better. Ontari wasn't necessarily a bad person, but she'd been taught to be. Clarke wondered if Ontari would ever find redemption in any life to come that she'd have, but she also doubted it. Nia just had her hooks into the younger girl so deeply before anyone with a clue could get to her that it seemed pointless to try to save her. She was just far gone in her brainwashing to help.
Echo taught her to hunt better. It was more than that though. She taught her to read the mornings and the trees. She learned how nature would tell her the weather before the weather would hit. She knew how to track deer, elk, and the occasional moose through conditions that would make Trikru shudder, but for Azgeda meant life or death. Without Echo's teachings, Clarke realized that she would have starved to death without Echo's help and tutelage.
Echo was the one that prepared her for the Pits. She'd gone out of her way to make sure that Clarke had good armor. She'd did everything that she could in order to make sure that Clarke was going to get through the deaths that she was going to cause while fighting. Echo seemed to know what Clarke needed before she did when it came to that. She was thankful for the nights of distraction with teas and treatments. Echo made sure that Clarke survived. She gave her things that no one else in Azgeda seemed capable of doing.
She owed Echo. Her lessons would help Clarke in her next lives. Her teachings would help the rest of the Hundred as Clarke could teach them as well. Echo's help and direction could be something that Clarke needed in order to make sure that things were different next time around. Echo didn't know that she was helping Skaikru by helping Clarke, but Clarke knew that this help would end up helping her save Man, too. It had to. It just did.
Echo steered them into a small copse of vegetation. There was a small water hole just to the side of it. Clarke dismounted and started to grab her water skins to refill them. Echo stayed with the horses to tend them and lighten their loads for the evening. The sun had finally crested and was heading down towards the horizon behind them. They would stay there for the night and move on in the morning.
Clarke was just coming back to the horses when she heard something. She popped up higher on a nearby rock to see what it was. There was dust flying in the west and it seemed to be moving towards them. Clarke didn't know what it was, so she called down to Echo.
"Something is coming!"
Echo popped up from what she was doing and scrambled over to where Clarke was. She climbed the rock and looked in the direction that Clarke pointed. They were in the desert. There was no real coverage or places to conceal themselves. Echo realized that whoever it was, they were coming fast and hard. It was most like scouts or a messenger, but she doubted that it was an messenger. They wouldn't be taking this route.
"Get your weapons and find something to stand behind. I know we don't have good cover, but I don't know who that is and what they want. As far as anyone knows me here, I'm not Azgeda. Let me do the talking, but I wouldn't be upset if you notched an arrow."
Clarke understood what she was saying. It was probably bounty hunters or scouts coming for them. Someone had found their trail and was finally catching up to them. This meant that they had to be extra careful and not spook whoever it was. Echo wanted protection and she was using Clarke for it. They had no real armor there because they were on the run and it was bulky. Clarke glanced around their little spot and realized that they had enough food for a few days to travel on foot. Since she'd filled up their water skins, they could make the food last longer if need be, but they'd have to leave the horses. She scanned the horizon and realized that the dust was getting closer. The sun was lower and the temperature was dropping, but she wasn't cold. It would be closer to twilight when the dust and whoever was coming with it got to them.
Clarke jumped down and suited up the best that she could with what they had. She grabbed her bow and a quiver. Setting up, she hid behind a small grouping of vegetation and rocks. It wasn't a lot but it did give her some cover and the perfect angle in which to cover Echo. Clarke didn't like it. She wanted to be beside Echo. She knew, she just did, that whoever was coming was coming for her. She was the Wanheda. She was the one that Nia was seeking. This was all her fault, and she needed to be the one defending them, not Echo. This was her responsibility but, she knew that Echo would take offense to it.
Echo moved her pack closer. She had her hand near her sword, but she hadn't drawn it. She was watching the dust coming, but her eyes kept glancing over to Clarke. She was trying to make sure that she was hidden as well as she could be. Echo stayed near the pack, and she pushed herself between the giant dust cloud coming and Clarke. She was making sure that Clarke was covered and as protected as possible. She made it looked like she was just playing with the packs or getting some food ready to eat for an evening meal.
Clarke held her breath. She was trying to make herself smaller, but she kept her eyes forward and an arrow notched. The heat was still high, and she could see the sweat running down the side of Echo's face. She was acting like nothing was wrong. She was acting that the dust cloud heading towards them was nothing. And, then suddenly, Clarke could actually hear the thundering of hooves. They were on horses. She looked to the side to where their horses were. Only one was saddled and it was the one closest to Clarke. Looking back over at Echo, she saw the small shake of her head and realized that it was still saddled to help Clarke get away if need be. Echo was setting herself up not only a shield, but as a distraction to let her run away faster if needed. Clarke's eyes widen and she leaned a little more into the bush.
Her anger started to raise. She knew that she needed to reign it in before she didn't something stupid, but she couldn't help herself. She wasn't going to let Echo die for her. She'd be damned, and technically already was.
The dust cloud finally stopped. They were within Clarke's range, and they didn't know it. The leader of the bunch, which wasn't saying much, dismounted and started forward. It was obvious by the way he was looking Echo over that he didn't recognize her. But, the most Azgeda wouldn't. She was a spy, unmarked, and her hair had lightened since they left. The weeks walking, even across the ice, under the harsh late summer, early autumn sun, had put a few blond streaks in her normally medium brown hair. Clarke kept her eyes on the other four men, going so far as to notching another arrow for a split shot.
The man approached, slowly, with his hand on the hilt of the sword at his side. Echo looked up at him and didn't seem to care. Clarke knew however that Echo was searching over his armor for holes and had probably already found five. Her body wasn't tight, but Clarke could tell that she was ready to strike him dead should he prove to be a problem. And, they were both hoping that he wasn't going to be a problem.
"Heiya," the man called out.
"Heiya," Echo returned.
"You from around here?"
"I'm from a village deep in the sands. I was travelling south to trade at post I know there when we were attacked. Nomads took my furs and pottery."
"Nomads? You mean the frikdreina?" he questioned as he looked around and saw her weapons. "Should have killed them all. They can't fight."
"I assure you that they can and they do," Echo replied.
"Why two horses? They must have wanted them. Why you got them?" he questioned.
"I'm traveling with my younger sister. And, they did take some. They took the ones carrying my stuff. I know I'll never see them again. They'll just eat them rather than to try care for them. Who knows how many will be fed by my horses, poor things," Echo stated.
"What's your name Sand Rat?" he inquired, making a face at her words.
"Ash," Echo answered. "And, my sister's name is Shenan."
"Don't see any sister," he said as he drew his sword.
"Just because you don't see her doesn't mean she isn't here," Echo told him. "You might want to put that away. I would hate for you to make her angry."
"Yeah, why's that?"
"She doesn't like men too much."
"Yeah, well, maybe she hasn't met the right one," the leader said.
It was everything that Echo could do not to roll her eyes at his words. Clarke could, and she fought the urge to let loose her arrows and draw down on him instead. It would make the odds better for them. Two on two, but Clarke wasn't going to push things until she had to or Echo ordered it.
"Call her out," he demanded.
"I don't think that is a good idea."
"Why?"
"Because she is aimed on you. Like I said, we are just trying to go home. We've already lost our goods. We aren't looking for a fight."
"Yeah, well, we're looking for some traitors to the crown?"
"What crown? Nia's? Isn't she the only queen in the Kongeda?"
"There's Heda Ontari now, too. She is the Heda and Queen of the Kongeda. Heda Ontari is looking for the woman she wants to be her queen though."
"Yeah, and who is that?"
"Ontari has name Wanheda her queen of the Kongeda. Nia has sent gona far and wide to find her. They were taken from Azgeda over a month ago. General Ledo paid for it with his life, though. He let them be taken. Queen Nia wasn't happy that one of her favorite generals had betrayed her."
"I would assume not. But, I've not seen this Wanheda. I also don't know what she looks like. Do you have a likeness?" Echo asked.
"No, but she is blond like the Northerners of the Fields."
"Oh, never seen her. Sorry. But, it is just us here," Echo told him.
"Would you mind if we shared your camp for the night?" he asked her.
"As long as you stay over there," Echo replied as she pointed to the other side of the watering hole. "My sister isn't going to want you closer and I don't want to have to patch any gona up tonight. She's not known to be forgiving to anyone who says something untoward to her or myself."
He cocked his eyebrow at her words, but he nodded before moving back towards his men and horses. Clarke didn't move. She stayed down and waited. She didn't think that this man was going to let it go.
She was right. He turned back, sword drawn and coming for Echo. Clarke stood up and loosed her arrows. Drawing immediately to aim down the other men behind him and to make sure that the two she'd hit were actually dead, Clarke let loose a barrage of arrows as Echo drew her blade and dispatched the leader.
