ASCENSION: BOOK 3- APOCALYPSE.

Chapter 24: Risk.

We strode out into the courtyard of Polis, heads held high as the war horn sounded out.
Freya and her warriors were here.
Lexa immediately called out to her people, "You all know what is expected of you. Everyone take their positions, one way or another this ends today!"
They obeyed their Commander and waited in silence for the conflict to descend upon their Capital.
Lexa and I positioned ourselves with the archers on the city walls and looked out into the distance.
The Queen and her armies marched ever closer to their goal. Polis held as much salvation for them as it did for us. Neither side wishing to give up hope for the survival of their people.
Four riders approached our gates. Three were Freya's Generals and the fourth was an all too familiar face. She was led on horseback, hands bound, her face covered in her own blood. Anya had been captured and tortured by The Queen. The Trikru warrior was alive but was barely able to maintain consciousness.
"The Queen calls for your surrender! Give up your city or she will take it from you," her General called out.
I could see the anger in Lexa's eyes and the anguish at seeing Anya beaten and blooded, paraded infront of her in some kind of twisted attempt to mock Lexa. Anya K9m Trikru was her loyal General, her mentor but also I knew Lexa always saw her as family. Which is why what was about to come next would be so devastating. Lexa knew that sacrifice would always be a part of leadership but some sacrifices could burn through to your very soul.
As Anya looked up at Lexa, their eyes meeting in a silent understanding of the inevitable, she nodded at her Commander. That subtle gesture told Lexa to lead, to stand her ground, but most of all, Anya was telling Lexa to let her go.
As Lexa stood looking at the woman who had been a guiding light for her since childhood, her heart broke from the decision she now had to make. I saw a tear roll from her eye down the black warpaint upon her cheek. Her expression remained stoic, never giving into the heartache she was now feeling. She inhaled deeply and for the last time Lexa heeded the guidance of her mentor with honour and with strength.
"Tell your Queen to turn her warriors around before we kill every last one of them. Accept your fate General, Ragnarök awaits you," Lexa growled back at him.
"So be it!" He grinned as he took his dagger and sliced it across Anya's throat.
Her body fell to the floor, blood covered the ground where she lay slowly dying. Not satified with the disrespect of murdering one of Lexa's Generals infront of her, Freya's General pulled the severed head of Gustus from a sack attached to the saddle of his horse and threw it next to Anya as she drew her last breath.
The Nordic warriors turned and rode away, leaving Lexa crushed and full of fury at the death of her mentors and the dishonour they were both given at the hands of their enemies.
She ordered for their remains to be brought into Polis and treated with the respect of fallen Trikru Warrior's.
I looked at her, understanding the pain she was feeling, "Lexa, I'm so sorry."
She took every ounce of energy she had to swallow her pain. None of us had the luxury of time to mourn our losses, not when our very existence was at stake. Lexa's face hardened, knowing she needed to focus on what lay ahead, "Don't be. They died for their people and I intend to honour their lives and their sacrifice. ARCHERS TAKE AIM!" She called out.
As Freya's forces moved into range, Lexa paused for a moment. Her next order was about to set something into motion we couldnt turn back from.
"FIRE!" She shouted as the sky rained down arrows upon our enemies.

Freya's warriors fell as our arrows hit their targets, but it didn't stop the rest of them storming towards our city walls.
Wood stone and metal always stood strong against conventional attacks. The Queen, however, had no intension of fighting fair and neither did we.
Her warriors threw their grenades against the walls of Polis and with every explosion sections of our perimeter wall crumbled away into rubble.
"They're almost through, Commander." Indra reported.
"Good. Let them continue. Once they're inside the city don't make it easy for them, The Queen must not become suspicious of our intensions. If we can't get to her on the battlefield, then let's allow her to come to us." Lexa ordered.
Indra nodded and positioned her warriors accordingly.
Lexa looked at me with fire in her eyes, "Now we save our people."
Both of us moved to from the wall to face the onslaught at ground level. Before we knew it, Freya's forces had broken through the barrier of masonry and launched a full scale attack inside of our Capital.
We fought hard against our foes, the sound of steel clashing on steel as gunshots echoed throughout the city. Lexa gave them enough leverage in combat to think they had the upper hand, all the time positioning them where she wanted them.
It wasn't long before Queen Freya came into view, once again surrounded by her Generals. We'd reached the point in our plan where we'd defended ourselves for long enough, sustained enough minor, yet convincing injuries to hide behind. It was time to move to the next phase. Lexa ordered for The Clans to surrender. Our weapons were thrown to the ground as we raised our arms in submission and defeat. The Queens warriors rounded us up and forced us to our knees as Freya looked around at the place she'd travelled so far to reach.
She basked in her victory, her ego allowing her to think she'd now laid claim to The Capital. The Queen stood over Lexa, looking down at the Warrior Commander she had defeated and smiled at her.
"You will die knowing you failed your people, Commander. The Gods have chosen. Fremtiden har ingen plass for de svake! The future has no place for the weak!"

Queen Freya's people were ordered to search the grounds of Polis to seek out the bunker of The Second Dawn.
It was clear the radiation had begun to affect them also, many of Freya's people now looking sick from the poisonous atmosphere that surrounded us all.
Freya was beginning to loose her patience with Lexa refusal to co-operate. She ordered her General to strike her several times to get her to give up the location of the bunker. Lexa took every hit, never once giving Freya the satisfaction of seeing her break.
The Queen looked down at her with scorn in her eyes, "If you contiune this down this futile path, Commander then I'll have no choice but to start killing off your people one by one. You're all already dead, whether you die quickly or slowly, that's your choice. I will find that bunker with or without you."
Lexa glared up at the Queen with hatred in her eyes, "Then I choose a slow death, Nordic Queen!"
"Have it your way," Freya uttered in disappointment as her General continued with his brutal attack on Lexa.
I felt sick to my stomach as blow after blow collided with the woman I loved. Black blood was cast across the ground until enough was enough.
"STOP!" I yelled out in anguish.
Lexa swiftly caught her breath to respond, "Clarke, let it be. My fight is over."
Our interaction immediately intrigued The Queen, who ordered her General to cease the violence, "That's enough for the moment. Clearly I'm going about this the wrong way. There's a connection between the two of you, something personal. How intriguing. Bring her over here."
Her General dragged me over to face his Queen and pushed me to the ground between her and Lexa.
"You care for each other. Tell me, is it love or are you just fucking The Commander?" Freya sarcastically asked, purposely trying to antagonise the both of us.
I reacted the way she expected, with anger, attempting to force myself towards her to attack. She stepped backwards out of reach as her General forced me back down to my knees.
The Queen grinned at me, amused that her comment had affected me so viscerally. She turned to Lexa and continued with her sanctimonious rhetoric, "Love and leadership is a volatile combination, Commander. It makes you weak, let's your enemies know exactly how to destroy you. Sometimes a broken heart is worse than broken bones or even death itself. Now tell me where The Second Dawn is or face the consequences of your silence?" Freya spoke as she began to remove the second Flame from the locket around her neck.
I looked at Lexa and offered her the faintest of nods. She stared up at Freya with the determination of a true leader, "Death is not the end."
The Queen looked on in frustration and sighed. She held up the second Flame to show Lexa before forcing me to bow my head as she activated it, "Ascende superius!"
After that only searing pain, fire and darkeness found me.