Ascende Superius | Book 3

10 | Fallen

What matters is that Lincoln Kom Trikru lives to see another day, and now I have to pray what we fall to is not ALIE.

---

     It's morning by the time we've finally reached the cave, trudging in, completely exhausted. We'd been walking for hours, which, yes, was intentional for our safety, but still. Octavia ties off Helios, and we head inside.

     Lincoln races to my twin sister in the moment he sees her, and the two embrace. Then he coaxes her to a secluded part of the cave to tell her about Indra, and the ascension. She, in turn, briefs him on all of the events that had gone down in the last twelve hours on our side.

     My eyes catch Bellamy's sad gaze, and I sigh, not saying a thing to him. Leaning into the side of Jasper's chest, the two of us fumble over to our own little spot in the cavern. I start to unroll a large sleeping bag across the ground, and we hunker down, ready to sleep.

     I drift off almost the immediate second, comforted by Jasper's hold. One of his arms is around my waist, the other acting as a pillow. Our legs tangle naturally. He rests his scruffy chin on the top of my head, humming a bit as he plays with my hair, lulling me into sleep.

     We are awoken by my sister nudging us gently. She smiles a bit in amusement, unphased by our clear irritation with being woken. "Come on. We have to figure out what we're gonna do."

     Nodding tiredly, I traipse over, plopping myself down beside Miller. He makes the first suggestion. "I think we should run two-man patrols around the clock starting now."

     Kane nods, agreeing without any argument. "We'll do that, but we should be safe here. The grounder blockade is too close for Pike to risk looking for us."

     "Yeah, but are we safe from the blockade?" Bryan questions.

     "As long as we stay on this side of the line, we should be," Marcus tells him, attempting to reassure the boy.

     "They're grounders. You really think they're going to play by the rules?" Bryan deflates under Lincoln's cold glare at these words.

     "Your people started this war. Not us," he reminds, thorny. Octavia brushes her arm against his, and he looks down at her. He shakes his head angrily, going quiet now.

     Before an argument can break out, Miller softly addresses his boyfriend, saying, "Hey, Pike will want you dead now, too. We take him out, we can go home."

     "We take him out," Harper adds, raising her eyebrows, "and the grounders lift the blockade."

     "That's right," Kane backs up. "We become the thirteenth clan again, with (Y/N) representing. Those were the terms."

     "Lexa's terms," I mumble, and they all look over to me. Lincoln and Octavia are the only ones of them not confused at my statement. "There was a new ascension, a new commander. If it's the Azgedan one I saw in Polis... there is no way she'll accept us."

     "One problem at a time," Marcus murmurs. Miller scoffs, narrowing his eyes at the man.

     "What about Clarke? With Lexa gone, she's not safe in Polis."