The One Who's Fallen

Chapter 140

Lexa and I cover Cage's body and it swiftly darkens, the red of his blood seeping into the white sheet.

"What do we do with him?" I question curiously.

Lexa uses her dagger to cut the ropes around his wrists and then wraps him tightly in the sheet. She ties the usable rope around it to keep him in place.

"We leave him for the insects." Lexa murmurs as she begins tying the knots and I can't tell if she's serious or not.

"Really?" I ask.

"Really," Lexa confirms. "People like him are not given a proper funeral. We do not burn them. Instead, we allow the earth to reclaim their bodies."

"Doesn't that like trap their soul here or something?" I say, trying to remember the Grounder lore I've been taught.

"Sha (yes). Their souls are restless, doomed to never find peace unless the Gods see that they deserve it and show them mercy." Lexa answers.

Wow. Harsh, but understandable. Especially with Cage.

She gestures for me to come closer and I help her pick up Cage's body. I grimace, trying not to think about how close I am to a genocidal man. At least he's dead. We carry him out from behind the curtains and everyone who notices gives the sheet covered body looks of disgust and rage.

"Hey Rae." I say.

Raven turns around and heads over with Luna and Anya by her side still. The Maunon and some of the prisoners inch closer, eyeing the body warily like he'll jolt and spook them or kill another couple hundred people.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to come with us to put this douche to rest?" I look around at everyone gathered. "Lexa and I are going to drop off his body. If you want to come, feel free to."

About thirty or so people end up following us as Lexa and I carry Cage out of the Mountain, including Luna, Anya, and Raven. The sky is a little cloudy but there's no threat of rain. The storm has passed, both literally and figuratively.

I shift Cage's weight, glad that Lexa's been encouraging me to keep working out. If I didn't, I would be struggling even more to carry him. We lead him away from the top of the hill where the other Maunon are, towards the woods.

We find a secluded spot where he shouldn't be found by anyone by accident. Lexa and I carefully maneuver him down. She flips it over and uses her dagger to cut slits through the bottom of the sheet, stopping before every rope and then continuing after the ropes.

"So he decomposes faster." Lexa murmurs to me.

She gestures for me to help and we roll the body over again. Lexa grabs a spare dagger, a more plain but deadly one that she keeps many of on her person all the time. She stabs it into the center of the sheet then leaves it there, standing up with an almost impassive look on her face.

"Hofli yun keryon nowe hon op chilnes (may your soul never find peace)." Lexa says.

I stand up too and brush the dirt and leaves off my knees. Lexa reaches out and takes my hand. She then looks up at the others and nods to them.

"Say what you would like to him. His soul will hear."

"Good." Some woman mutters before walking over and starting to curse him out, switching between English and Trigedasleng.

I exchange an amused look with Lexa. "The funeral for the rest of the Maunon will start after you're all done. It will be on top of that hill." She points.

People begin taking turns basically complaining about Cage or talk-yelling at his dead body. Or, like the first woman, swearing at him. Personally, that's my favorite to watch. Lexa seems to find them funny too, but her reactions are more subtle than mine. While I smirk or snicker or nod along, Lexa shows her amusement with an uptick of her lip.

I squeeze Lexa's hand, fighting the urge to burst out laughing when it's Raven's turn. She says things that make Luna and Anya blush, even promising to "blow his zombie ass up" if he ever comes back to life.

Anya promises in Trigedasleng that his name will go down in history as a murderous mad man instead of the hero he wanted to be. Luna stands there for a moment when it's her turn and I don't think she's going to say anything after it's like this for a minute.

"Jok yu (f*ck you)." She mutters, looking like she wants to say a lot more than that.

Luna spits on his body and then rejoins her girlfriends. A few more people go after that, but it's over rather quickly. Lexa squeezes my hand and then begins leading everyone towards the funeral alongside me.

There's a platform in front of the carefully arranged pile of logs with stacks of bodies covered in sheets like cage on them, all with wooden tags tied to them. It's a heart wrenching sight. So many people...

There are torches on either side of the platform, which Lexa guides me to step on by her side. Hundreds of people have gathered, all healers and prisoners and warriors and the last Maunon... Everyone.

Lexa holds up her hand and the whispering around us stops immediately.

"Thank you all for coming here." She says in a strong voice, easily carrying enough for everyone to hear. "This is a sad day for all of us. One of the things I have been taught by the Fleimkepa (Flame Keeper) is that victory stands on the back of sacrifice. However, it is never easy when our victory stands on the backs of the sacrifice of so many innocent lives. So many have died today. And we will remember them. Now we will share a moment of silence for those lost."

The only sounds come from the woods, the occasional chirp of a bird, the creak of a tree in the wind.

"Thank you," Lexa says. "Their lives are lost, but not forgotten. Clarke has even offered to paint each victim in a large portrait as a way of remembering them. They will go down in history as the ones unjustly punished by a cruel man, their lives cut too short by his greed and pride. Yu gonplei ste odon (your fight is over)." Lexa says, her last couple of words echoing across the clearing.

The gathered people repeat it, even the ones who don't speak Trigedasleng. "Yu gonplei ste odon."

With that, Lexa picks up a torch and holds it to the wood in front of her.

That ended up being a bit longer than usual... Cool, right? And hey, just so you guys know, I'm planning on ending this book on or before chapter 150. The next book will start on the same day the next chapter would've been out, so three days later! And no worries, I'll definitely let you know when it ends! Thank you all for reading and for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!