The third book in the Ascension Series.
After the destruction of Mount Weather and the end of The Shadow Bloods, Commander Lexa mourns the loss of Clarke Griffin.
Unbeknownst to Lexa, Clarke survived the fall of The Mountain and has made the heartbr...
The sky began to rumble as a storm threatened to break on the horizon. The heavy atmosphere reflected the brutality of our battle. Freya's assasins were like nothing we'd ever seen before. They were masters of their weapons, skillful with every slice of their blades, every aim of their arrows and the point of their spears. Like The Clans they seemed to prefer to shun the use of firearms, favouring a more visceral approach to warfare. Yet, with every skilled attack they brought a dark level of savagery to their combat. As we fought against them we could see how they revelled in the bloodlust, delivering one torturous death after another to our warriors. Our relief of Lincolns escape with the children from the oil rig was short lived as we watched a band of The Queens assasins charge after them on horseback. "Indra! Take half of your warriors, ride after them!" Lexa called to her General. "And you, Heda? What will become of you when we leave you outnumbered?" Indra questioned with concern. "I intend on driving them as far away from Polis as possible until those clouds eventually break?" Lexa pointed to the sky with a grin on her face. "Acid Rain!" Indra exclaimed. Her Commander nodded, "Now ride. You don't have much time." They grasped each other's arm in respect as Indra spoke, "Polis awaits your return, Commander." "Ste yuj, Indra Kom Trikru," Lexa replied as she watched the women she'd known and respected since childhood walk away. "We're not all going back are we?" I asked her. Lexa looked solemnly at me, "No. When that rain falls it will devastate our enemies but also those that ride with us. Sacrifice in war is always hardest thing to ask of our people." I glance around as our warriors fought with all of their heart and soul. Lexa called for those who could make it to their horses to prepare to ride. As we battled through our enemies to find our steeds, Lexa climbed upon her horse and pulled out a gruesome reminder from a sack of where war had led us. She held high the severed head of The Queen and shouted out to Freya's loyal warriors, "THE QUEEN IS DEAD! IF YOU WANT WHAT'S LEFT OF HER CORPSE COME AND GET IT!" We swiftly turned our horse's around and galloped away in the opposite direction of Polis, hoping death would rain from the sky before they caught up.
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Lexa's plan worked. Freya's loyalists immediately pursued us, their hearts full of fury at the sight of the remains of their dead Queen. Our horses galloped for miles, all the time the arrows of our enemies were cutting through the air at us. We led them through the forests, through valley's and through treacherous terrain in an attempt to get them far away from Polis and into the eye of the storm. The more we urged our horses onward, the more quickly fatigue began to set in until they could no longer carry us any further. We dismounted high up on a rocky outcrop and prepared to fight. Adrenaline and duty was the only thing driving our exhausted bodies on. Freya's assasins halted in front of us and drew their weapons. Lexa once again took their Queens severed head in her grasp, only this time she threw it down at their feet. "Here, take your dead Queen and fight for her lost cause!" She growled. One of Freya's warriors stepped forward, "Our Queen stands in Valhalla urging us to kill you slowly. We have no fear of death, even as it now comes for us all." He pointed his sword towards the horizon and grinned at what glimmered in the distance. We were so focused on the storm in the skies we failed to notice a fire rolling ever closer to our lands. I could see that both our enemies and our own warriors had begun to look incredibly ill, the radiation levels almost reaching critical levels even for those who'd been born into a radioactive world. Nightblood spared Lexa and I from most of the effects of our toxic atmosphere, but no Natblida could survive that wave of fire once it descended. "Choose your death. Radiation, fire or blade," offered Freya's warrior. Lexa drew her sword, "We choose survival." They clashed their swords together as we all stepped up to fight. The heavens rumbled with their own fury, lightening blazed and the rain fell, a bitter sweet saviour, but the end for us all was fast approaching. Praimfaya, Ragnarök was here.
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No matter how hard the acid rain fell, Freya's assasins fought like the Berserker Warriors of old. It was as though they were in a trance-like state, consumed by the heat of battle, knowing they had nothing left to loose. We took hit after hit, our warriors falling either to the sword or to the effects of the toxic rain. Those that fought under the cover of the trees stood their ground for as long as they could, but their red blood couldn't endure the hell that rained from the sky as our black blood did. Lexa's warriors urged their Commander to seek shelter, to survive and warn Polis of the imminent arrival of the death wave. It had reached our lands sooner than expected, an untamed force destroying all that it touched. As Lexa continued fight, I took her by the arm, imploring her to heed the words of her people, to honour this final act of loyalty they'd pledged to their Heda. She froze for a moment as she watched her brave warriors fight to the death to protect their Commander. I could see the anguish she felt for them. Lexa finally turned around and followed me away from the fight. Our horses galloped as far as they could before the effects of the acid rain consumed them. We were a long way from Polis with only some nearby caves for shelter. The prolonged exposure to toxic rain had started to take its effect on us also. There was no way we could travel whilst it still fell. Using a pool of clean water inside the caves, we washed our skin and assessed our grim situation. "Polis will have no idea the death wave is already here," Lexa said in frustration. "There was no way of knowing it would reach our lands this soon. Raven's assessment was always an estimation of the timescale we had," I replied. Lexa stared out of the entrance to the caves and looked into the distance, "After everything we've fought for I can't just hope our people have made it into that bunker. When this storm passes, if it passes, we'll be out of time to make it back home." I moved to stand by her side, "Then we find another way." She turned to face me, "How?" "Arkadia," I offered with hope in my voice.
