Saviors ; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥

126. ꕥ A Fight For The End

The oncoming news of a final conclave was like a slap to the face when we arrived in Polis late in the night. According to Clarke, instead of a war, there would be a conclave — it had been mentioned before where children fought to the death to become Commander, but now, there was one warrior from each clan. The one warrior left alive, and their clan would survive Praimfaya in the Second Dawn Bunker while the rest were left to burn. I voiced my opinion that with only four days until Praimfaya, that was not the best idea, and Clarke informed me it wasn't her idea; it was Roan's — her original plan had been turning herself into the Commander with her newfound Nightblood to stop the potential war.

All the hope that had been previously in my system as we made the trek to Polis, where we thought our salvation would lie, drained from my body. My hope only drained faster when learning that in this final conclave, there would be no guns allowed, making the fight undeniably fair but unpropitious for Skaikru. It resulted from unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances that this, a battle to the death, would be how the human race decides their fate. But it wasn't like I, or anyone else for that matter, could fight it, seeing as everything was already being prepared for the oncoming battle.

As I stood on the second lowest level of the tower in Polis next to Bellamy and Clarke, looking over the darkened city lit up by torches, baffled was the only word that could adequately describe what I was feeling. The Flamekeeper Scouts were below us, preparing the city for what was to come, and my eyes stayed on them while listening to every word Clarke said as she explained the rules of the game.

"The entire city is the battlefield. No time limit. No guns. One warrior from each clan fights until only one remains." The blond described, her head turning to Bellamy and me, a defeated look on her face.

"And the winner's clan takes the bunker. Just like that." Bellamy's eyes moved down to Clarke, looking for confirmation as did mine, watching the blond nod dolefully.

"While the others are left to burn." I muttered bitterly, my head lulling to the side in frustration. It felt horrible having all this hope on the journey here only to have it ripped away within seconds of arriving. "And there's nothing we can do to stop it?"

Clarke shook her head. "The clans all agreed to it. It was this or have a war with more bloodshed."

"Well, I think it's safe to say in this situation, we drew the short straw." My forearms leaned to rest on the short concrete wall in front of us, my hands clasping together, a sigh leaving my mouth as I did so, feeling the hope continue to dampen from my body.

"Without guns and without anyone trained in Grounder combat, there's no way we can win." Bellamy spoke the harsh and wretched truth of the situation.

"Hey," Clarke said, her soft voice pulling our attention back to her, "we fight or we die."

Turning my head down into my hands, I let another sigh leave my mouth, pondering over the circumstances, knowing that something had to be done. Clarke was right — if we don't fight, all of Skaikru will definitely die, but if we fight, if we put up a warrior, we will have a chance at winning. I couldn't let us not have even the slightest opportunity to survive, so after a moment of silence, I picked my head up, looking between the two before my eyes remained on Clarke, trying to sound as brave as I possibly could. "I'll do it. I'll fight."

Bellamy instantly turned to me, and I could practically feel how his body tensed from beside me. "No way. That is not happening."

Keeping my eyes on the blond in front of me and not the man attempting to refute me in doing what it took to save our people. "Clarke, you said it yourself if we don't fight, we die."

The blond opened her mouth to speak, but Bellamy interrupted her before any words could come out. As he spoke, dissatisfaction and utter vexation laced his tone, showing adamantly that he did not want this happening in the slightest. "Jo, do you hear me? That is not happening. We'll find someone else."