Author's note: This story is coming to an end soon. I'm not sure how many chapters are left but just giving a heads-up
Ontari stood in the shadows. A quiet drip of water could be heard somewhere in the distance, its presence something that had become too familiar to her over the last few weeks. Part of it reminded her of home, of the frozen waterfalls. The cold of the air reminded her of home too. It reminded her of the wind, the chill of the frozen plains.
But she wasn't amongst the frozen plains of Azgeda.
Instead she stood in the shadows of a tunnel.
Behind her stood other warriors, each one hand picked, each one a volunteer. Some crouched behind a stone barrier, quivers of arrows laid out in organised rows, arrows easy to grab when needed, quivers easy to sling over a shoulder if they needed to run, to pull back, to stall for as long as possible.
Word had come earlier that day that their scouts had seen the Mountain Men pulling back from their usual patrols above ground and Ontari knew it meant that the Mountain prepared to attack, that they had fallen into the first of Heda's traps. She expected them to attack soon. Perhaps they had already entered the tunnels. She wouldn't underestimate them, either. Too long had she wished for this opportunity, too long had she dreamt of what it would be like to face the Mountain in open combat.
She knew their strengths and weaknesses. She knew that they were dangerous. But with Maya's help they could even the playing field enough that it would take the Mountain too long to get to the dam.
There was a quiet noise just barely heard somewhere in the distance, but it was enough to tell Ontari that something was coming.
And with that she stepped a little closer into the shadows, the prepared to draw her sword and she smiled.
It was almost too tense as Lexa and the warriors continued to stalk forward. The quiet of the forest had long since been replaced by the sound of the dam and the water crashing in the distance. Even birds unwilling to venture this close. As the minutes passed Lexa couldn't help but to find herself thinking between the moment she shared with Clarke and in the cave and what Clarke must now be going through inside the Mountain.
She didn't think she felt exactly hurt by the fact Clarke hadn't told her anything of her plan. It was who she was. But still, some part of Lexa felt like she had deserved to know. She would have scoffed at her thoughts, rolled her eyes and thought herself a little too dramatic in any other circumstance.
But in that moment all she did was shake her head and push those thought aside.
They came to a stop at a thinning of the trees. Behind them stretched the forest they had just travelled through. But in front the forest turned into rocky outcrop and poorly paved path. The roaring of the dam seemed even louder, too and Lexa could tell they had come to their destination.
The rocky outcrop housed a large building complex. Its front was dominated by a large set of doors behind which she could see stretched a winding complex of structures that led away from them. Even the mist from the falling water seemed to cling the air and settle on the ground and for a brief moment Lexa found herself wondering why they had never bothered to explore where the rivers led and or even why they had never noticed the dam before.
But perhaps the roaming reaper parties had kept them a little distracted and unwilling to venture too far—
"Are you ready?" Maya whispered to her and Lexa turned to find the other woman kneeling beside her.
"I guess so," Lexa said and she looked at the warriors who had also come to crouch nearby, some in the shadows of bushes, others behind a tree trunk or two as they took in whatever they saw.
"We'll have to move fast," Maya whispered. "It doesn't seem like Ontari's forces have been attacked yet but still, we'll want to get inside before they realise what is happening. They'll already be on edge consider Heda gave herself up and told them an attack was coming."
"But they aren't counting on you knowing how to get us inside," Lexa said half in an attempt to reassure herself, and half to reconfirm that that was actually the plan.
"That's right," Maya nodded. "Once we're in we'll be able to breathe a little easier."
That same warriors who had spoken to Lexa earlier— Tobias— shuffled closer to her and she looked up at him to find him staring keenly at Maya for a brief moment before he spoke.
"We will move quickly," he said. "Their entrance is not guarded however you say there is tech that will see our approach."
"Yeah. Cameras," and Maya pointed to one in particular that was attached to a pole on one corner of the main entrance. "Another," she pointed to the other side. "They'll see us coming if they're paying attention. But they won't do anything. Not until they realise we're inside."
"What if they've laid a trap?" Lexa asked. "What if they're expecting us."
"Then we all die," Tobias said with a simple shrug.
"Great," Lexa rolled her eyes.
But she turned her attention to the security cameras and found herself eyeing them a little more carefully. Both cameras were pointed outwards, their place on the pole clearing indicating that they would have a clear line of sight over the entire rocky outcrop that separated the group from the dam's entrance.
But as Lexa continued to look, as she continued to study what she saw she found herself finding it a little odd.
Perhaps if the cameras were somehow attached to the structure of the building itself she'd be a little less suspicious, but as she continued to look at the cameras she realised they seemed to have no power source. Where she would expect wires to extend from them and to a power box, or even towards the buildings or lead underground, all she saw was nothing. No wires. No power box. No connection of any kind.
"Maya," Lexa said quietly. "How sure are you those cameras work?"
Maya looked outwards and seemed to study them for a moment before she turned back to her.
"I just assumed all the cameras worked?"
"The cameras in Mount Weather might be working, even some of the ones closer to Mount Weather in the tunnels might work because they're close enough to be serviced without risk of getting attacked," Lexa said after a moment. "But out here?" and she gestured around them. "Who'd risk getting up there and servicing them, fixing them if anything went wrong?"
Maya seemed to chew over her words before she shrugged.
"They've reused the wiring for something else. Something a little more sure," and Lexa nodded to herself. "That's what I'd do. If something can be used for a better, more immediate purpose it will be."
"What does this mean?" Tobias said from his position beside her, his attention having clearly been spent focusing on what was being said.
"It won't be as dangerous as we think it is," Lexa answered.
But still, she found herself frowning as she stared at the entrance to the dam, her thoughts trying to make sense of the things she could see. There were no sources of power, no wires, nothing that would suggest the cameras were operational. It even made sense that the people of Mount Weather hadn't maintained them over the decades. But realistically, what did that change? What did knowing the camera's didn't work give them other than a few more moments before they got through the main entrance and alerted everyone inside that they were coming.
"There's another entrance," Maya whispered quietly.
"Another?" and Lexa turned to face her, eyebrows raising.
"The rear entrance," Maya pointed to the main building. "On the other side."
"Explain," Tobias said simply.
"There was no point us knowing about it because we'd never get to it without being seen by the cameras," Maya said. "But if they're not working then the Mountain is blind. They won't know we're out here."
"This entrance," Tobias said, "What is it?"
"Just another access in and out of the dam. Probably meant for janitors or maintenance staff once upon a time, I doubt it's been used for years," Maya answered with a shrug. "We'd get in without alerting anyone compared to going in the main entrance. There'd be at least someone nearby who would hear it opening compared to the second way."
Lexa remained quiet for a moment longer as she let her thoughts organise, sift through the new information, the things she knew of the plan Clarke had put into motion. And then she came to a conclusion. One that she thought
"We can take the dam without Mount Weather even knowing. If we move fast. If we move now we can force Mount Weather to surrender before they attack our army," Lexa's mind started racing faster and faster. She knew they didn't have much time. She knew they didn't have long until Mount Weather attacked Clarke's army underground. But if they could act fast, if they could act silently, they could end this before more people had to die. She thought it was worth a shot.
Maya seemed to think over what Clarke said for only a moment before she nodded her head. At least the idea of saving both their people, ending the suffering before it was too late was something that appealed to her. And Lexa didn't blame her. Not one bit.
And so Lexa looked at Maya, caught her gaze for a sure moment, she turned to Tobias and she nodded her head.
"Let's go."
Quiet footsteps just barely echoed out through the tunnels. Each step Ontari heard was placed carefully, quietly in an attempt not to draw too much attention to the new presence. But she heard them. The Mountain Men had never been good at masking their trails. They relied too heavily on their tech for surprise, they relied too heavily on their egos, on their ability to call in acid fog if they needed, to even summon the reapers if they got a little desperate. But in the tunnels it was different.
Flaming torches already lit danced their light across the tunnels. It created harsh shadows that played tricks on the mind. It would help mask their presence long enough for them to strike first, to hopefully land a strong first strike against as many Mountain Men as they could before—
—Her eyes snapped into focus.
A figure slowly moved down the far end of the tunnel. She could tell by the way the silhouette paused, by the way they seemed to take in the lights that they were a warrior assessing the way forward.
She knew she couldn't be seen but still her heart beat a little more strongly in her chest as she continued to watch. More figures slowly emerged from the far end of the tunnel, each one holding the mountain tech that spat metal into her warriors with such speed it shouldn't be possible.
Ontari's gaze travelled to one of her warriors who stood on the other side of the tunnel to her. The man prepared an arrow, its point wicked and sharp and she knew he would hit true. She had seen him make shots much harder than any shot that would need to be made in the tunnels. Another warrior, this one a woman she had seen only a few other times had also prepared to fire, her own bow held firmly in weathered hands, her lip turned up at the corners just a little in anticipation.
But they would wait. They would wait until they could close with the Mountain Men, force them into as close a battle as possible.
The footsteps grew louder.
Ontari looked back towards the approaching enemy.
And they were close.
Closer than they had been. Close enough now that she felt herself recoil just a little more into the shadows.
Their footsteps were louder. She could hear the gentle clink of metal against metal.
Her breath seemed to freeze in her lungs, her adrenaline seemed to rush in her ears.
One of the enemy paused, they looked back over their shoulder as if to communicate with the closest person.
And Ontari's heart steadied.
She took in one steadying breath, she felt her mind focus, her body relax and her soul focus.
And then she struck.
It happened so fast.
Ontari leapt out from the shadows, she crossed the short distant between her and the enemy and she took off the person's head with one clean swing of her sword.
Both warriors opposite her fired, she didn't even bother to check if their arrows struck true and then she rolled.
Blood sprayed against her cheek. Shouts of warning, surprise, anger and fury filled the tunnel. And Ontari's sword moved fast. Faster than it had ever moved before. She ducked, slid against wet stone, tackled a body, pushed away, cut into and slashed at every single enemy she saw with anger, fury, hatred and disgust.
Someone nearby fell, from their furs she could tell it was an Azgeda warrior. She'd feel the pain at a later time, but in that moment all she did was dive for cover as the deafening crack of mountain tech roared around her, it spat into the tunnel's wall and sprayed her with shards of stone and tile. Some of it must have bit into her skin, must have drawn blood but she ignored it as she reached for one of her knives, her fingers ever sure, ever confident as she drew, as she flung it as hard and as fast as she could.
There was a yelp of pain, something that told her she had hit true and then she moved, she didn't bother to retrieve her knife as she reached for the closest of her warriors, pulled them back and began to yell, to scream, to shout over the noise.
"Fall back!" Ontari's voice was hoarse, strained at the edges. "Fall back to the second line of defence!"
She would have time to kill more Mountain Men, she would have time to make them bleed, make them suffer. But for now she must give Heda as much time as possible, give those attacking the dam as much time as possible.
And so Ontari began to run, began to duck, dive for cover and throw herself headfirst into the depths of the tunnel and she hoped just a little that she wouldn't be killed with her back to the enemy.
The restraints that held Clarke's arms to the chair were leather, thick, old, weathered from use. The pain in her arm had subsided already, the burning that came with the healing already taking hold as she grit her teeth. It always seemed to be just a little more uncomfortable when bone needed to heal. But she would deal with it for a little longer.
Clarke let her eyes focus somewhere on the white ceiling overhead as she slowly began to push the raised edge of one of the large scars on her forearm against the wrist strap. At first it didn't quite hurt. At first it felt odd, perhaps a little like having the knot in a muscle pressed just a bit too hard. It took her a moment longer to find the right angle before a twinge of pain flared beneath the scar and then she knew.
Clarke slowly began to rub her forearm against the wrist strap, the motion bringing a stabbing pain along the raised scar as she pressed harder, and harder, and harder. She glanced once to the man who had held her arm down only to find him staring off into the distance. She looked over to the healer, to Tsing, who had her back to her as she seemed to be studying the most recent sample of her blood she had taken.
A little sharper pain stabbed into her forearm and it made Clarke's eye twitch as she felt the sharp edge of the blade catch against a rather sensitive part of the inside of her arm but she ignored it. She ignored the pain, the discomfort and she pressed harder, more firmly, she let that sharp edge pressed agains the worn edge of the wrist strap and she winced.
Sharp metal bit into the underside of her skin, she felt it split muscle, press against sensitive sinew and she almost snarled, almost made a noise. But she didn't. She forced it back, forced it down.
Clarke looked at her arm then and she found the pointed tip of a knife sticking out of her forearm. She watched as black blood spilled free from the wound, began to drip and pour out of the wound and coat the armrest, coat the restraint. The tip of the blade protruded at a shallow angle from her forearm, the raised scar that had been the only sign of its existence warped, splitting down the centre as the knife was caught on the wrist strap, as she slowly began to pray it out of her very flesh.
It would take only a moment longer, only another few short moments before the knife was free, only a few more—
"Hey, Chris," Tsing's voice broke into her thoughts and Clarke steadied herself.
"Hold her down again, I want another sample— Goddammit."
Tsing soot on Clarke's right side, a frown on her face as she stared at her bloodied left arm.
"When did this happen?"
"I don't know," Chris said as he approached. "Maybe we're taking too many samples?"
Tsing sighed in frustration as she turned back towards her desk and seemed to look for something.
"Hold on a moment, let me find a vial or something to collect the blood. I don't want to waste anything."
Clarke glanced over at Tsing, she looked back at the man, at Chris and she smiled at him.
"What?" it was half cautious, half accusatory, half full of disgust and part fear.
"Your fight if over, Chris," Clarke made sure to fill his name with as much disgust and derision as she could muster.
And then she struck.
Clarke yanked her arm down hard against the restraint. The edge of the leather strap caught on the blade, it sliced through her skin, pulled apart muscle and spat blood out in every direction.
And it happened so fast, so quick. Too quick for anyone to register, anyone to even feel an ounce of pain.
Just as the blade had sliced through Clarke's arm, so too did it slice through the leather restraint.
Clarke grasped the bloodied blade in her hand, her blood make it slippery, but she didn't care, she gripped it harder, she let the edge cut into her palm, she let it become one with her mind just as much as it had been a part of her body for years.
Clarke lashed out, the blade sliced through the air, flung her blood across her face, across the wall, covered her neck in black and it cut deep, it cut true.
Clarke snarled as she sliced through the man's throat with such violence that it rocked his head back, she snarled as saw the momentum throw his head back, pull the cut open wider, expose his throat, the sinew, veins, muscle and windpipe to the open air. A strangled, shocked, gurgled, spluttering noise was the only thing he made as pathetic hands came up to this throat before his body fell to the ground with a sickening, twitching, spasming thud.
Clarke spun in the chair, she sliced down against her trapped wrist, the blade cutting through both restraint and her own body as she freed herself.
And then she came to stand on sure feet as blood dripped from her face, as blood dripped down her neck, covered her chest, her arms and soaked into the thin fabric gown she wore that did nothing to hide her anger, to shield her from the cold, to shield anyone from her hate.
"Oh my god."