A/N: the battle begins. Enjoy!
Chapter 20: Mount Weather - part 1
Over the next week, Lexa was reassured to see Clarke slowly regain her former energy and smile. She was still sad, but she no longer seemed numbed by her pain. Raven also seemed to recover, and had somehow managed to drag Monty out of his room.
Titus had been… difficult, since she informed him of his new apprentice. Ironically, his main displeasure with her choice was that Murphy was not from any clan – which had been one of her motivations. When she had stated as much, her Flame keeper had floundered and brought up the weak argument that the boy knew nothing about their traditions.
''Then teach him, Mentor.'' She had snapped before leaving the room he had barged in to argue again.
Murphy had taken his oath, and seemed to tolerate his master's sneers well enough. In fact, she suspected him of aggravating the man on purpose. But he was attending to all the tasks and studies assigned to him, and she recalled stories from the previous Heda about Titus being somewhat insolent himself as an apprentice. Of course, this was four Hedas ago, so the story might have been enhanced by multiple retellings.
Yet, she had noticed how her old teacher had been intently observing as Murphy directed the games of Natblidas before she named him as apprentice. She was confident Titus would overcome his frustration and become more amiable. Eventually.
After all, despite his constantly saying that choosing the sky boy was a bad idea, he had yet to come to her with a real argument against the skills or dedication of his apprentice.
The dynamic between Clarke and herself had also shifted. The distance that had grown between them when she was first dealing with the news of the Ark's fate was gone. They again shared many meals, and though the blonde still spent more time than before dedicated to healing, she had resumed her former routine of training with the Nightbloods or attending to Lexa in the mornings.
She was slowly building up muscles, and was now capable of holding a bow and firing several arrows without her arms trembling from the strain. It quickly appeared, however, that she was not very accurate when the target was distant of more than a hundred feet. When Lexa commented on that, Clarke had just shrugged and reminded her that she was not a warrior, and had no wish to become one – she was still faithful to her vow not to harm another human, and would only do so in defense.
The young woman was also starting to be decent with a dagger.
Meaning she no longer cut herself with her own dagger. It had taken ridiculously long for her to understand that doing grand slashing motions with it only opened her guard, and the blonde had first been unable to stop her arm before the blade connected with her own leg. Apparently, the woman had seen many 'movies' about fighting, and had hoped that the knowledge from them would prove as useful as that from the books.
Needless to say, it was not. Lexa did not know if people really used to fight like Clarke had tried, but if they did then it was not surprising they had died. But after seeing Octavia train once, she had reached the conclusion that Clarke was simply not natural with a blade. Archery came faster to her. Either that, or the Spirit had given her the power to heal herself because It knew the blonde would never survive her own weapons otherwise. She had given up sword training when the blonde enthusiastically swung the blade and embedded it in her own foot. Lexa was sure she had glimpsed at bone when the wound healed.
Moreover, the healer had no real wish to become proficient in combat, relying on her healing abilities to survive in battle.
It annoyed Lexa greatly. Yes, Clarke was right that killing her in a fight was nearly impossible – if not wholly so – but death was not the only form defeat could take. Similarly, Raven and Monty had only half-heartedly picked up swords for a couple candle-marks when she suggested they get some training in case they found themselves having to fight during the attack against Mount Weather.
It was evident that any sort of physical training had been discouraged in their old home – a fact Clarke had confirmed when Lexa asked her. It certainly explained why the blonde was so knowledgeable in many intellectual matters. Just like Lexa had been trained to excel both in fighting, strategy and politics, the young sky woman had spent her years reading and learning about medicine, society, history and many other subjects that had been lost to Lexa's people.
Clarke had called this a partial inheritance. Those who had stayed on the ground had kept only knowledge that had been immediately necessary in the chaos following the death of the old world. And those who had lived in the sky had lost all knowledge of basic skills such as farming, riding, hunting… The blonde had told her about 'Earth skills' lessons, where they had been taught about some of these subjects, but there had been none of the practice truly required to keep a skill alive.
The one subject she was most hesitant to talk about with Clarke was the attraction that existed between them. Lexa was now quite convinced that Clarke felt the attraction as much as she did, but had no idea what were her customs on the subject of relationships. Some clans forbid warriors to take a partner until they had officially finished their time as a Seken, or earned their first kill mark. Another was extremely formal in the process of establishing the relationship, as you had to earn the approval of at least two friends of your intended.
With Costia, things had been relatively simple. They were both from Trikru, where relations were considered to be no one's concern but your own. She had been craving human comfort after her Conclave, and Costia had been her friend when she served as Anya's second. When they both realized the attraction between them, they smoothly transitioned from friends to lover.
It had not been perfect, of course. They had both been relatively young, discovering intimacy together, and weighed by duty. Lexa in particular had had some trouble balancing her new role as Commander and her relationship as Lexa. She was often unsure of what she could share with her lover, and had pushed her away more often than had been truly needed. She knew she had hurt Costia in those first months. Slowly, though, she had learned to share her problems without exposing secrets that had to remain Heda's, and Costia had learned to share her lover with the Commander and the people of the growing Coalition.
With Clarke, however, she was unsure of the protocol. She was also unsure of whether she should even wish a relationship with the blonde. She wanted one, but as Heda she could not commit lightly. Costia and her had been growing together as a couple while the Coalition was still coming together. They were still at war, and no one would judge a warrior for enjoying life when he or she could.
Now, however, any choice of her would have political repercussions. When she finally brought Azgeda into the Coalition, half of the first ambassadors of the Twelve clans had been females who had tried to seduce her. She had rejected them all, and warned that all negotiations were to take place during official meetings in the throne room, and that no favors of any kind would be offered.
Clarke was not bonded to any clan, but she was already a target for clan chiefs that hoped to sap Lexa's power. Also, her people might not take well to the Nymph and Heda becoming lovers. They saw the Nymph as a protector sent by the Spirit for the Flame, especially since she saved Aden in the streets of Polis. In their eyes, she belonged to the Flame and Heda. Not to Lexa. Then again, they might also see a relationship as a sign that the Spirit wished for Lexa to remain Heda for longer than the position was usually held.
And all that was not even considering any objections the blonde herself might have to the relationship. She could simply be hesitant like Lexa was, or unsure the attraction was even reciprocated. But there was also the possibility of something else preventing her from acknowledging the attraction. She had never heard the young woman mention anything about her love life in the Ark, or on the ground before meeting her.
She suspected the blonde to have learned a bit more about their traditions, though, because she had apparently stopped asking Raven to help her with her braids. Instead, she let the Nightbloods test several patterns on her. Lexa's heart had skipped a beat when she first saw the healer ask for the children's help, but she was also disappointed that Clarke had not asked for her help either.
For now, Lexa had decided not to make any advances to Clarke until Mount Weather attacked, or snow fell and prevented the battle from happening until next spring. They both had a lot to worry about to add awkwardness to it by initiating a discussion they might not be ready for. But she was not willing to let things eternally unsaid until it festered like an untreated wound.
So she just enjoyed the discussions and meals she shared with her healer, as well as the rare touches of comfort or support that Clarke had started to give her since the night she had helped her sort the fate of her people.
The days were very cold now, but Lexa knew from experience that snow would probably not come for another month. If Mount Weather decided to strike before winter, they would probably do it soon. It would be logical, for them, to claim the land close to winter, as it would give them the cold months to organize the defense of their new territory, and they would have settled in the lands enough at the beginning of spring to comfortably start planting. But since they must have some ways of producing food inside the Mountain, they might not follow this most logical path, and wait until they would be sure that no snow would disrupt their plans.
The answer arrived at the end of the week with Indra's urgent message: a missile had struck Tondisi.
It was time.
Lexa immediately canceled all the planned meetings with ambassadors after officially declaring war to the Maunon. Then she sent several warriors with orders to ready the departure of the warriors stationed in Polis. Most of the troops had already been moved closer to the Mountain, so it was more of an escort than an army that would leave the capitol. They would travel swiftly, and should reach Indra by tomorrow night.
She summoned Clarke, sharing the message with her, and giving her one candle-mark to ensure Raven, Monty and herself were ready to leave. They all knew this moment was coming, so they should not need more to prepare.
She then warned Titus of her departure. Her Flame keeper knew of her plans, and his only objection had been the team Lexa had chosen to lead – he feared the Flame would be irretrievable if she was killed by the acid fog or taken by the Mountain. But Lexa was Heda, and she could not let anyone else in charge of the most delicate mission.
Finally, she copied the orders she had crafted weeks ago and called for messengers to bring them to all the clans chiefs. It demanded that they prepare their own troops to retaliate if the initial attack against the Mountain failed, and the war dissolved in an open conflict on Trikru territory.
It was a necessary, but also extremely risky precaution. Because if she was victorious, all her opponents would have fresh, ready troops while she would have only combat-weary ones. She was gambling on the fact that they would not dare to move against Heda. It was why she had not sent out the orders earlier – the clans would not have time to consult with their old allies. If only one clan moved against her, it would be crushed by the others. She was betting on that fear to keep them all in place.
A candle-mark later, she joined her escort and the three sky-people. Anya had been explained the full plan earlier, and was accompanying them. For the duration of the trip, Lexa tasked her with keeping an eye on Lincoln and Octavia. She would deliver them to Indra, after which their fate would be decided by the village chief.
There was little talk as they traveled, because they had to maintain a fast pace. The sooner they reached the area around Mount Weather, the smoother the plan would go as timing would be most important. Indra had confirmed in her message that she was already following Lexa's instructions.
Once the missile had struck, Lexa had asked Indra to feed the Maunon's arrogance. All nearby villages would stage an apparently hasty and disorganized exodus. The number of scouts in a few areas would be drastically reduced, while small groups would lead seemingly uncoordinated attacks against the Reapers in others.
The Mountain was convinced of the superiority that technology gave them. They expected Lexa's people to react with fear, so that was what Lexa and Clarke had planned to show them.
Because an overly confident opponent always made mistakes.
When they finally met with Indra in the command center they had established in the forest, away from all the villages and far enough from the Mountain that none of its scouts would stumble upon it, the general was stern but satisfied. As expected, the first missile had been followed by others that had struck the most populated villages.
Or, more precisely, the villages that had been the most populated before they discretely evacuated as many people as possible.
They had passed through Tondisi, and Lexa had seen the devastation a missile could cause for the first time. She had seen the burned bodies and the destroyed houses. She wondered how many of the volunteers had regretted their choice to stay when fire fell upon them. She wondered, briefly, what she would have chosen in their place, if she was not Heda.
But she was Heda. And she had to ensure the sacrifice she had ordered would not be for nothing.
So far, it seemed the Mountain was bombing with some regularity, which Raven analyzed as either the time needed for the spotter to move from one place to the next and confirm coordinates, or perhaps the time needed to reload the weapon.
Despite the horrors the missiles left behind, and the flow of injured men and women that they had passed, things were going as expected.
The sky people had taken the scenes of destruction especially hard, though they had made an effort to keep their composure. She heard them whispering amongst themselves, but did not bother to try and make out what they were saying. Clarke had begged her to stop the group when they encountered those that had been injured by the missiles, but Lexa refused and pressed on.
''They volunteered, Klark. Once the battle is over and the Mountain's shadow no longer looms over the lives of my people, you may heal them. But until then, your attention and strength is needed elsewhere. Do not lose sight of the main goal because of some of the consequences along the way.''
The blonde had visibly wanted to argue her case further, but Lexa had shook her head and silenced her with a glare before glancing meaningfully around them. This was not one of their private conversation, where she accepted and even welcomed a challenge of her opinions. Clarke nodded her acceptance, but kept staring longingly at the wounded.
Indra informed them that no Maunon had been seen yet, except for a spotter that had been disposed of a few hours ago. Since two more missiles had been sent after his death, there was probably another in one of the areas where they had reduced the number of scouts to convince the Mountain of their disorganization.
Lexa inspected the preparations with Indra, Clarke and Anya. They reviewed the plan again, answering final questions about timing and other missions.
Indra decided to use Lincoln's and Octavia's help in the Reapers tunnels, but warned that she did not care what happened to them during the battle, and that Lincoln's forgiveness was in no way guaranteed even if they survived and won this war. To which Raven had snorted.
That was when Lexa first realized the distance between Clarke and the mechanic. The other brunette disapproved of Clarke's choice to entrust Lexa with Lincoln's fate, and not to ask for his death in exchange of Finn's. She hoped this would not interfere with the young woman's mission – Monty seemed to have found back his purpose now that they were about to attack those who had taken his companions, but it was becoming obvious that none of them were used to the horrors of war. There were countless stories of brilliant sekens who had been paralyzed by fear and died at their first battle. Because no matter what warriors could tell you about their own experiences, it was never enough to prepare you to live through it yourself.
The teams were quickly organized. Anya and Raven's group left immediately, as they had a few hours of walking to reach their target, and would need to be ready as soon as possible. Indra, Lexa and Clarke stayed put, waiting for the news of the scouts to officially launch the assault. The waiting was frustrating, but they could not move closer to the Mountain without alarming them and being caught in acid fog.
They slept in turns that night, and Lexa was thankful for the years of experience that allowed her to find rest despite the unnerving circumstances. Clarke, however, kept tossing and turning.
''You need to sleep. You will be of no use otherwise.'' Lexa told her when the blonde's noise woke her up.
''I can't rest. What if they attack while I am asleep?'' She whispered back feverishly.
''Then the warriors on duty will awake us. Sleep. You barely slept last night as well. Besides, the Mountain men are probably waiting for daylight. There have been no missiles since two candle-marks before dark. They don't know the forest well enough to chance it at night.''
''You are probably right.''
The healer remained silent after that, and Lexa had closed her eyes when a worried voice commented behind her.
''I don't think they will bother with more missiles. There are only very small villages left unharmed, and they must have seen all the survivors fleeing.''
''That is why I sent Anya and Raven as soon as we arrived.''
They grew silent again, and Lexa regulated her breathing to relax and fall asleep.
''Lexa?'' Clarke whispered, lower than before.
''Um?'' She replied, eyes still closed.
''Don't die tomorrow.''
She couldn't promise that. So she just pretended that she was already asleep.
It was mid-morning when the scout arrived with news that a large group of men had exited the Mountain. Lexa nodded to Indra, giving her the signal to start her own part in the attack. Then she turned to Clarke.
''Await the signal.'' She reminded.
Grim faced, the blonde nodded. Lexa saw her exchange a look with Gustus, and rose an eyebrow in question, but Clarke just turned to the woodworkers from Polis that she had to command during the battle. Ryder, one of the guards assigned to her, shadowed her.
Lexa checked one last time with the senior scout that he knew his mission, and looked at Monty. The boy was anxious, but determined. It would have to do.
She barked her last orders, and then led her own group of warriors towards the Mountain men.
She stopped under the cover of the trees and watched as her enemies approached. As expected, they were not wearing their usual hazmat suits.
Perfect.
Though they had never managed to enter it, years of dealing with the Mountain had enabled Lexa's people to learn several things.
One of them was the exact area covered by the acid fog.
She glanced at the excited warriors around her. Many had a loved one they wished to avenge, but she had asked Indra to handpick this particular group because they would have to control their blood thirst in the heat of battle.
They were all equipped with a large, roughly rectangular shield that was made from the dropship Clarke had arrived in. According to Raven, this metal would be solid enough to stop the bullets of the Maunons weapons, unlike their usual leather armor. Unfortunately, they were too big and heavy to allow fighting, and would have to be discarded at some point.
Lexa waited until one of the warrior whispered that the blue flag had been waved. The team led by the senior scout and escorting Monty was in place. Hopefully, the same was true for Anya's. They could begin whenever she wanted.
She scanned the land where the acid fog had long prevented the growth of a forest as luxurious as the rest of Trikru territory. She had spent many month as a seken in this area of the forest, and had no difficulties in finding the peculiar tree stumps or oddly-shaped rocks Indra had told her about. She mentally evaluated the distances.
The Mountain men were much closer, but had yet to see them. They walked slowly and cautiously, but the occasional stumble revealed how unused they were to walking on an uneven ground. Some had less trouble than others – probably those that used to go out in the hazmat suits.
Finally, they passed the stumps Lexa had waited for them to reach. With one hand, she signaled to her warriors and they attacked, letting out ferocious cries.
The Mountain men were surprised by the sudden assault, but recovered almost immediately and opened fire. As soon as she saw one aim his weapon, Lexa ordered for the shields to be held up in front.
One of her warriors failed to heave the piece of metal in time and fell to the ground with a grunt of pain. She pushed on with the rest, protected by the barrier of shields.
The Mountain men seemed to realize that they were wasting their ammunition, because their fire reduced – though it did not stop – and when she chanced a glance outside of her protection, Lexa saw them begin to retreat, one of them holding a small rectangular device next to his mouth.
She smirked.
The Maunon could not unleash the acid fog without sacrificing its own soldiers, because they were now too far from the Mountain door to reach it in time. And from what Monty had said, their population was not numerous enough to afford such a sacrifice lightly. Moreover, Lexa was only accompanied by a relatively small group of warriors, not much larger than the ones the Mountain would have seen attacking Reapers since the first missile.
As far as they could tell, this attack was simply one more assault from desperate, vengeful but most importantly disorganized warriors.
The logical response would therefore be to retreat to the safety of the Mountain and then release the fog for a few hours to take care of the problem without risking any of their own. Or, if they were too impatient to proceed with caution, send reinforcement.
In both cases, they would have to open the heavy door of their bunker home.
She signaled to a warrior that had stayed behind, hidden in the bushes. He immediately raised and waved a red flag. Behind him, and all the way to where Clarke waited about half a mile away, a long chain of seconds and scouts would repeat the signal, making it travel in a few seconds.
She called for her warriors to hold their positions and awaited Clarke's response, crouched low to the ground.
She had been there when Raven had tested this invention, she knew how ground shaking it would be.
She glimpsed at the rounded pots as they flew over her and her warriors, and landed in a burst at the feet of the furthest Mountain man.
The explosion was loud, and immediately followed by three others that landed close to the first bomb. She heard the screams of pain of her enemies and their cries of confusion as Lexa's people retaliated in a way they had never expected, effectively cutting off their retreat.
Lexa signaled again to her warrior, making him wave a white flag to inform Clarke that she could stop launching the makeshift bombs with the trebuchets. The aim was unfortunately not precise enough to use the trebuchets while her warriors engaged in close-range combat.
Raven had fashioned a bomb that, though nowhere near as devastating as a missile, caused a lot of dark smoke that rose towards the sky. For a few precious seconds, the Mountain men were stuck, unable to move closer to the safety of their bunker without breathing in the heavy, burning smoke. Lexa used that time to make her archers take out as many of their opponents as possible, while the others discarded the shields and ran towards their enemies to fight with swords.
This was the riskiest part of the mission. Because they had no idea how well the Maunon could supervise the battle outside, and if the outcome of the battle was too obvious, they would probably decide to unleash the fog – no use in waiting for soldiers that would never reach the door. So, Lexa had decided to assume the worst-case scenario – that they could directly witness the fight – and had only taken twenty-five warriors, including Gustus and herself. She had had to voluntarily lower the odds in her favor.
If she had misjudged how much her warriors could take, in any way, they could all die. If they were not enough, the Mountain men would overwhelm them. If they were too numerous – or if the Mountain decided they did not care about sacrificing their soldiers after all – they would probably not have time to escape the fog.
She slashed at the right arm of an enemy, making him drop his weapon from the pain, and continued with a quick thrust of the blade into his unprotected neck. She pushed back her next opponent, who was slowed by the arrow in his left thigh, as she stepped over the body of the man she had just killed. She barked an order, and the archers abandoned their bows to join the rest in close-range combat.
Two of the archers grabbed the body Lexa had been guarding. She had chosen her target carefully, aiming for the man who had been radioing as they retreated – most likely an officer of some sort. The archers quickly searched the man until they found what Monty had told them about: a small, thin and hard rectangle with Gonasleng and a picture of the dead man.
A card, she now knew, that served as a key within the Mountain's walls.
Two other archers had searched another man and had found a similar card. Indra herself had retrieved one on the body of the spotter she had killed the previous day.
Lexa took a step back from the fight, trusting Gustus to protect her, as she ordered for the cards to be delivered to the senior scout and Indra by the fastest warriors.
All of this had happened in less than a minute after the bombs, and Lexa saw a flare rise in the sky as she re-entered the fray.
It was sign from the senior scout that the Mountain men had opened the door. It was time for Anya's team to act.
Monty had learned that the energy of the Mountain came from the dam a few miles away. Raven's task was to destroy this source of power so that the door would stay open long enough for Monty's team to enter the bunker. The tricky part was that Raven suspected them to have a secondary source of power that would take over if the first was disabled. Such systems, she had said, usually had a delay, but they could not guess how long the delay was. If it was a short one, their opponents might manage to close the door before they could enter.
Which was why Indra had been harassing the Reapers with small attacks, and was now marching against them with the largest part of the army. Monty and Bellamy had escaped through a chute and had seen a door in the tunnels, that led to the Mountain. Logically, the key-cards they had just taken would be able to open that door for Indra and her troops.
Lexa fought viciously, aiming her blows to maim rather than kill. It was not something she relished in doing, but necessary. The longer the Mountain men believed they had a chance, the longer her and her warriors would be safe from the fog, and the greater the chance of Monty and the scouts entering the Mountain. The destruction of the power source might be enough to protect them, but she could not rely solely on this wish. Around her, the trained warriors similarly restrained their attacks in order to subdue their opponents without killing them.
Though the initial numbers had been almost even, Lexa was worried to see that she had more warriors down than the Maunons. Their weapons were not ideal for close-range, but they proved no less devastating. Fortunately, most of the remaining enemies were wounded in some way or another, and only a few were still able to fire their weapons as her warriors aimed primarily for the arms. Some of the Mountain men were on their knees, raising their empty and bloody hands in surrender.
A second flare rose in the sky – the signal that the senior scout had been able to enter the Mountain. Now, she had to trust that his team would safely escort Monty to the command room of the Mountain, where the boy's mission was to disable the acid fog, the missiles, and the door. As well as any other weapons they might have had no knowledge of.
The two obstacles that had prevented all her predecessors from taking the Mountain – the fog and the heavy door – were down.
The battle to destroy Mount Weather and erase its shadow had now truly begun.