CHAPTER TWO
leading me to do their dirty work
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𝐄lliot knew she was back home when she felt the same familiar chills down her spine again. The cold had always been relentless. They slowed down just by the border and Octavia set her horse near them. Elliot knew the area like the back of her hand. She could still remember every little she had done on these grounds. Death. So much death that no one could take back. Not even God himself.
She stepped out of the rover, her hands hovering above her swords, watching their surroundings with cautious eye. She could never be too sure. Especially in this godforsaken land. Everything was a threat to the girl who once lived there. She was one of them. The threat that looms over the darkest corners of the Ice Nation.
"These woods must be the border," Bellamy said as he led the group further into the unfamiliar barren land.
"So where's all the ice?" Jasper questioned.
Elliot had the urge to drag him back into the vehicle. He didn't seem like he was in his right mind right now. They shouldn't have brought him with them. He was a liability. She did not like liabilities. It wasn't that she didn't like Jasper, but their lives were at stake the moment they stepped into the land of the cold.
"Much further north," Elliot muttered from behind them. No cloth covered her face but she still tended to hide her face in the shadows. "Azgeda stretches for a thousand miles."
"Good thing we only have to go two hundred meters," Monty said, his focus on the tracking device in his hand, not looking at where he was going.
"Slow down." Bellamy placed his arm out in front of the eager boy which made him stop in his tracks. "Remember, rules of engagement are nonlethal force. Tight formation on my command." Then he glanced at Raven and told her to get back inside the rover, which she did not do as she stood stubbornly by their side.
"We need every gun we've got," Octavia told him.
"They're coming," Monty said eagerly. Bellamy pointed his rifle in the direction of where the Farm Station beacon was alarmingly getting closer and closer. "A hundred-twenty meters... One-ten."
Elliot rolled her eyes and swiftly grabbed her swords out, subtly being hidden by their figures as Bellamy stopped Monty from walking forward. She didn't trust them enough not to engage if these were Azgeda, and what more could the damage be if they saw her? She was pretty much wanted in her clan. They would get every chance they got to take her head.
"They're our people," Monty exclaimed at the sight of their rifles. "What are you doing?"
"We hope they're our people," Bellamy retorted just as his sister pulled out her own sword. "On my command."
After hearing the neighs of white horses and rough voices with even stranger language, she concluded it wasn't the sky people as the sight of a few Azgeda warriors came into their vision. Her jaw clenched, realizing just how long she had been cast away from her clan. They were no longer her people. Briefly glancing at the others with her━Elliot decided to raise her swords for them instead.
"Ice Nation?" Bellamy asked quietly.
"Yes. White war paint," Octavia muttered uneasily before she sauntered towards them.
"Stay calm," Elliot warned behind them, making sure not to make herself known unless she had to. She might provoke other violent reactions from these warriors and she was not getting these people in that mess.
The three Azgeda warriors in their white horses still hadn't noticed her as they glared at Octavia who came up to speak to them. Elliot wanted to be the one who spoke if anything like this exactly happened. But after Lincoln told Octavia a bit of her story━she kind of insisted she would step up. Besides she was pretty good at their language ever since Lincoln started to teach her.
It helped that Octavia was a fast learner. She adapts well to her surroundings.
"They think we're looking for Wanheda," Octavia told them, looking as baffled as the rest of them. Elliot frowned at that name. It can mean a lot of things. But the exact translation was: Commander of Death.
"Who's that?"
"I don't know."
The Grounder stepped off his horse and stood a few feet from them. She couldn't lie that Azgeda warriors were intimidating even when they weren't doing anything. Just what she was avoiding, the Grounder snapped his head towards her. His glare became deeper and the angry frown on his face more prominent. Elliot eyed him. Waiting. But he stood still. Plotting.
"The light. That's the beacon."
Elliot followed his gaze and found a strange object that was blinking with a red light, hanging around the Grounder's shoulder. Apparently, Jasper thought it was an invitation to start walking towards the Grounder who had it. She tried to grasp him back but he mindlessly shoved her away, even Bellamy couldn't do anything about it as his grip around his rifle tightened as he exclaimed: "Hey, get back here!"
With one wrong move, they'd be dead before they could even blink.
Octavia tried to hold him back but it was no use. The white-haired grounder, whose hair resembled the faint snowflakes on the trees, stepped forward as well. The white war paint on the Grounders' faces made her feel like she was looking at a ghost of herself. Her hands gripped her swords tight as one of the Azgeda warriors loaded his bow, pointing it at the careless delinquent.
"Tell them we observe the commander's truce," Bellamy said urgently. "Do it now."
Octavia spurted out the words he wanted her to say, and the Grounders lowered their weapons with clear hesitation. Jasper had a stare-down with the Grounder who was in front of them, and then what he did next made the team freeze completely. He abruptly snatched the beacon hanging on his arm. Elliot let out a deep sigh. Jasper just had to make a scene for them to clean up.
"Where's Wanheda?" The Grounder demanded in Trigedasleng, the language heavy with venom as he gripped his arms around Jasper with a knife dangerously close to his neck.
"Breik em au!" Bellamy yelled, aiming his rifle at him.
"We don't know who that is!" Octavia exclaimed in Grounder's tongue, trying to ease the situation. "Beja! We can help each other."
When they didn't stand down, Elliot decided to step up to make herself known and glowered at them with her scarred face. Their faces through the thick amount of white paint tensed when they realized who she was. They took a small step back, keeping a cautious stance. Because no matter how dangerous she was━so were they.
"Natrona," The Grounder spat the words with spite but a hint of fear lingered on their faces.
"Chon ste Wanheda?" Elliot demanded, giving each of them a scrutinizing glare.
He didn't answer but pressed the knife closer to Jasper's neck, and what confused them the most was Jasper didn't even look worried for his life. In fact, he was smiling. It was almost scary to think that this boy seemed satisfied being in this life-and-death situation. Perhaps he did have a death wish. Elliot did not want to ask.
"You think this is funny?" The Grounder who held him noticed it, and he started to inch the small blade further into his until he drew blood.
As soon as he did that, Elliot expected the worst to happen. She hastily hefted her swords just as Bellamy pressed the trigger on his rifle and shot the one who held Jasper. Just like that, everything went downhill pretty fast. Miller and Raven shot the other Grounders who were about to retaliate, the two of them falling from their white horses. One of them wasn't quite dead yet.
"Hold your fire!" Bellamy ordered.
It was chaos. The look on her face hardened as one of the Grounders got up from behind Jasper. Bellamy raised his arms to shoot but Elliot suddenly rushed forward, and he held up a hand to stop his friends from shooting. She held her sword tight before making it spin in the air as the tip of the blade embedded itself in the Azgeda warrior's chest. A gasp of a painful breath escaped his mouth as his wide eyes landed on her with fury.
He didn't fall that fast, and it only took a few seconds before he realized that he'd been stabbed. The decades of suffering stab wounds took its time to take effect on him. He wrapped his shaky hands around the sword before glancing at her, his eyes becoming shallow as the life faded away. Then he fell on his knees before dropping down completely on the ground.
The scarred face of the devil was the last thing he saw.
Elliot froze for a second but snapped out of her state when Octavia placed a hand on her arm before she rushed towards Jasper. She cleared her throat as quietly as she could and she trudged towards the dead Grounder. Ignoring the other two corpses, she grabbed her sword from his chest, hearing the sound of his skin squelching against the blade before she marched back toward the rover in silence.
The female Grounder kind of zoned out after that while the others were in a frantic state and mad from the fact that they did something they weren't supposed to do. It was their ignorance that got them in trouble. She warned them. They didn't listen. Now who was at fault? Elliot sighed. She needed to stop blaming others. She was just as at fault as the rest of them.
Her thoughts drifted to what she did just a minute ago. She couldn't help but think about the look on that Grounder's face when she put the sword on his chest. How he looked at her like she was worse than what the people had whispered about her in these very same woods.
"Elliot." She looked up, finding Bellamy looking at her with a small furrow between his brows. "You're with me."
She pursed her lips, not liking the fact he was ordering her around, but she didn't hesitate jumping inside the back of the rover either. He and Monty took the front and the driver's seat, and he drove the rover fast and reached their destination in no time. Sector Four. Elliot stepped out of the rover and walked beside them. Their grip on their weapons was tight as they breathed quietly. The sound of the wind whistling was the most prominent sound they could hear in this forest.
"You were right about Jasper, okay?" Monty sighed loudly. "Is that what you want me to say?"
"Quiet," Bellamy said gruffly. "Keep your eyes peeled... I could've said no."
"He's getting worse, isn't he? I mean, getting drunk every night is one thing, but smiling with a knife to your throat, that's next-level damaged."
Elliot strode past them, muttering: "Should've realized that before you dragged him along with us."
Bellamy sighed, earning a small look from Monty before catching up next to her out of the road tunnel. He glanced at her face pulled into a frown for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. Monty became even more guilty at her words, but she was right. They shouldn't have brought him. Jasper Jordan wasn't going to get better any better by going out there.
"Who's he with?" Monty asked.
Elliot pursed her lips after seeing Kane appear with someone familiar on his tail. There was a hint of hardness in her tone. "Indra."
"That's Indra?" Monty blinked.
"He must've told her we broke the truce," Bellamy muttered as they greeted the warrior chief and their leader who approached them. He began to defend themselves, thinking that was the reason Kane called them out there. "Sir, before you say anything, there was a good reason━"
"We'll deal with that later." Kane dismissed, holding out a hand to stop him. He looked awfully serious. "This is about Clarke."
Bellamy briefly glanced at Monty and Elliot with confusion. "What about her?"
"She's being hunted," Indra said bluntly.
"By who?"
"By everyone."
Inda briefly glanced Elliot who seemed to be deep in her own thoughts. They both knew that she had realized the situation before anybody could even tell her. After all, there was only one thing━one reason that Grounders would hunt and kill a certain person without delay. For power. And nothing was going to stop them until they got their hands on that thing with power.
Now at least one of them knew how it felt like to be hunted. It wasn't an ideal situation. Take it from Elliot who had been in that situation and still was trying to get out of it. Surviving had never been ideal. Especially when you have the whole world against you for something you didn't ask to have.
Elliot sat in silence next to Kane while Indra explained about Clarke being hunted. She had a bounty on her head, and for what reason, Elliot believed the girl had somehow unknowingly managed to make a name for herself. But in a world like theirs, having power was not something anybody would want to mess with. There was nothing more dangerous than having killers with a certain thirst for power after you.
"Sir, we're almost out of range," Monty asked while he drove the rover further into the forest, Bellamy beside him in the passenger seat. "Are you sure you don't want to tell the chancellor?
"I'm sure," Kane told him. "I don't want to worry Abby until we know something."
"We know there's a kill order," Bellamy said dryly from where he sat, slightly emphasizing a few words obviously aimed at the Grounders. More on Indra. "You people are big on those."
Well, at least he was right at that one. That's a first. Elliot pursed her lips, staring at the gaps in the wall inside the rover to watch the trees that pass them. She fiddled with the handle of her blade, the tip just barely planted on the floor of the vehicle with every bump on the rough terrain.
"It's not a kill order. It's a bounty. Clarke's a symbol," Indra remarked. "She's known as Wanheda... The Commander of Death."
"The Ice Nation guys we killed asked about Wanheda," Bellamy said questionably, slightly trying to catch a glimpse of them from where he sat. "They're looking for Clarke. Why?"
"My people believe that when you kill someone, you get their power," Indra explained through gritted teeth, which made Bellamy shake his head at her words. It was absurd. For them to believe that. He thought. "Kill Wanheda, and you command death."
"She's just one girl," Kane muttered.
"So was the Commander. What Clarke did at Mount Weather weakened her. The Ice Nation is emboldened. Their queen wants Clarke's power. You should know all about that." Indra's hard gaze shot toward the quiet Grounder across her. Kane frowned, noticing the tension between them. "If her people believe she has it, she'll break the coalition and start a war. I can't let that happen."
Right at that moment, the tracking device sound cut through the thick air. Elliot glanced at the front, her feet quietly tapping on the floor of the rover. Her impatience shows through her actions. For a second, she regretted coming along, knowing all too well nothing right ever goes on in these woods.
"Welcome to Sector Seven. Where to now?"
"If she's here, she'll need supplies. We'll start at the trading posts."
The rover sped faster through the forest, Indra butting in directions here and there as they made their way to the nearest trading post. Night soon arrived, basking the outside of the rover with the familiar darkness. The glow from the moonlight and the vehicle's headlights were the only things that lit up the bumpy road of dirt that stretched for miles ahead of them in the middle of the woods.
Then the rover came to an abrupt stop in the middle of nowhere. Elliot quickly reached for something so she wouldn't get thrown off the floor before looking up to figure out what just happened. Her eye shot toward the windshield, her brows pulling together as she saw what was in front of them. A giant tree had fallen in front of them which completely blocked their way to their destination.
"We have to move it," Monty said, still a little aghast from almost crashing into a tree.
The two Grounders inside the rover thought otherwise. They shared a begrudging look after examining the tree that had obviously been cut down. Despite their indifference, they both think alike in terms of life and danger. Besides, after being in the ground for a long, long time, you can never be too sure anymore.
"Hod op." The tone in Elliot's voice made them stop from exiting the vehicle. They turned their heads to look at her, confused.
Indra looked at Kane. "It's been cut down."
"You don't know that," Bellamy muttered, completely ignoring their warnings as he scrambled out of his seat and towards the opening on the roof of the rover. He slightly bumped into Elliot's knees as he stood in the middle of the cramped space.
Elliot's eye twitched as she looked up at him. "Be my guest, Sky Man."
As soon as he slid the rooftop open, Bellamy knew he should've listened to them. Several creaks were heard as if someone was cutting something as quickly as they could, and right at that moment, another big tree fell behind their vehicle, completely barricading them in that space. Elliot's arm shot out, her hand grabbing a fistful of Bellamy's shirt and she pulled him back inside the rover.
"We do now," Indra said grimly as she looked at everybody, especially Bellamy who looked perplexed as he sat between Kane and Elliot who didn't look too happy.
Elliot gritted her teeth, ignoring Bellamy's eyes on her. They all whipped out their weapons, guns, and swords alike. At that moment, all she could think about was wringing her hands around whoever's neck it was that decided it would be fun to drop trees around them. And the Grounder was particularly not in a great mood.