On The Ground (Lexa)

3.

They marched through the forest in a symphony of broken branches and heavy footfalls, coupled with the groans of the injured villagers that they dragged behind them on stretchers. Lexa kept her sword drawn and her green eyes trained on the trees around them, knowing well that the large group was an easy target for the Reapers. Indra had a little less than twenty warriors left after the raid that had claimed the lives of over half her village, and they spread out surrounding the elderly, the injured, and the children.

"We must pick up our pace, Anya," Lexa whispered, feeling as if the trees themselves were watching them. She marched alongside her mentor at the front of the group, leading the villagers back through the woods.

"We're moving as fast as we can," Indra replied, trudging along on Anya's other side. "The wounded cannot carry themselves."

"Just keep moving," Anya interjected. "We're almost home."

The treetops above them shifted in the wind, and through the breaks in the leaves, Lexa could see the thick gray clouds of a storm hovering just overhead. In a few weeks the temperature would drop and the rain would turn to snow, freezing the forest until the spring came around again. She knew that time was limited, and now with the addition of the new villagers, they would have to stockpile even more food and supplies to last through the winter.

Was the addition of twenty soldiers also worth the addition of forty more mouths to feed? Lexa knew that Anya had not made this decision lightly, and that her mentor truly believed this was the only way to survive. They would always do what they must to survive; that was the only thing that was certain.

A twig snapped twenty yards away, and Lexa instantly stopped in her tracks, gazing into the tree line. She saw a shadow pass between the trunks of two trees and felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end as a cold twinge snaked down her spine.

"What is it?" Anya asked as she brought the entire group to a halt.

Lexa remained focused on the forest around her. She saw another silhouette pass between trees, and then glanced behind her to see another; they were surrounded. "Reapers!" she shouted.

The group erupted in panicked screams and the children cowered behind the elderly. Then the forest exploded with commotion as a wave of Reapers emerged from the tree line. They were wild and feral beasts with the body of men and the faces of people that they once knew, but their eyes were empty and devoid of emotion, their mouths foaming with rage and bloodlust. They carried swords and clubs and moved with the speed of wolves on the hunt, whooping and hollering with animalistic shouts and growls. Any trace of the men that they once were was gone, replaced by mindless inhumanity; being taken by the Mountain was a fate worse than death.

"Form up!" Indra shouted. Instantly her warriors reacted, encompassing the group in a defensive circle.

Lexa stood shoulder to shoulder with Anya, readying her stance and bracing herself for the oncoming attack. Two Reapers emerged from the trees and darted towards them, wild hate burning in their eyes. Lexa raised her sword, quickly blocking the downward slash of the first Reaper, deflecting his blow and then spinning out of the way of his second strike.

She put all the force she could behind a heavy kick to his chest and sent him tumbling backwards into the waiting edge of Anya's sword, and then she ducked as the spear from the second Reaper passed over where her head had been. She rolled backwards and sprung to her feet, sinking her sword through the Reaper's back and watching as it came out his stomach soaked in blood. The body dropped to the ground and Lexa took her place beside Anya without once faltering her stride.