The fight
Lexa walked into the fighting pit as she and the rest of the initiates formed a circle. They waited until the crowd stopped cheering and eventually went dead silent, and only then was the war horn that announced the beginning of the Conclave blown. The loud sound wasn't heard for too long before the bystanders cheered again.
As soon as the fight begun, one of the initiates, a young boy called Tem turned around and swung his sword, slitting another girl's neck. She looked surprised, her eyes wide open as blood started flowing. She gurgled and choked as she fell to the ground, painfully agonising.
One down.
That was all Lexa could think. Those people weren't her friends anymore. They were her enemies, and they had to be defeaten so that she could live. She had to. If not for her, for Clarke.
She let out an almost animal war cry as she ran towards the initiate who was trying to kill her. Swords clashed with a loud metal sound. The girl kept thrusting her sword to Lexa, who blocked her attacks as well as she could. The girl was really good, and much stronger than Lexa. After a few more attempts to hit her, Lexa was cornered against the wall of the fighting pit.
A new thrust caught Lexa off guard, she could barely manage to stop the other girl's sword a half inch before it hit her neck. She tried to push back her oponent's sword, but it was impossible to her. The other girl's blade kept inching closer and closer to her neck. Lexa shut her eyes firmly, trying to figure out a way out of there.
Suddenly, the other girl stopped to the floor, an axe buried into her back. Lexa took a deep breath as Bren, the boy who'd thrown the axe, approached her, another axe in his hand, and a less than friendly expression on his face.
Two opponents were already dead. No, another one was laying on the floor about twenty feet away from Lexa. Three dead. Three to go.
Lexa dodged Bren's attack, she knew the boy was pure brute strength, but in the short distance he was no rival for her. She hit him on the side with the flat of her sword as he tried to punch her once again, this time his fist hit Lexa's stomach. She growled in pain as she quickly jumped to the right side, which his opponent wasn't shielding properly. Lexa's sword dug into his flesh as he yelled in pain. She twisted the blade until he stopped moving and then pulled it out. Lexa swallowed and noticed she had a split lip, yet she didn't let that fact distract her.
Four dead. Two to go.
The remaining two girls were fighting relentlessly in the opposite side of the arena. One of them, Geia, had a big wound on her right arm, which forced her to battle with the other one. This would've been a great advantage for her rival, if it weren't for the fact that she had a deep cut in her leg and another one in her back, not being able to move, nor fight properly.
Lexa was looking at their battle when she felt a sharp pain in the back of her left thigh. She turned around as she saw Bren, who kept trying to cause as much pain as possible, even though there was no way he'd survive, let alone win. Lexa looked at him in the eye as she dug her sword through his back, finally ending him.
When she turned around, the previous combat had ended. There was only one more left. It was either Geia or her.
Swords clashed together as both girls attacked, willing to end the Conclave for once and for all. Lexa drew another sword as the other girl hit her with the grip of her blade in her forehead, causing Lexa to bleed and back off. It took her a half second to recompose and throw a new thrust, which barely touched her opponent. Lexa kicked Geia in the stomach, causing the other girl to fall on her back. Lexa approached her to give her the coup de grace, and just when she lifted her sword, Geia threw a dagger that dug deeply into her shoulder, causing Lexa to fall to the ground as well.
Geia stood back up. Lexa didn't move at all. A few seconds passed. Nothing.
Geia smiled wickedly as the crowd cheered. "PEOPLE OF POLIS." she lifted her arms in the air "BEHOLD YOUR NEW COMMANDER. I AM HEDA. I WILL RULE..." she was cut off mid-sentence as blood started flowing out of her mouth.
Lexa had silently stood up when the other girl was proclaiming herself Commander and taken advantage of her self-absorption to stab her. Geia dropped dead to the ground as Lexa let go of her.
No one was left.
The crowd roared deafeningly.
She'd made it.
She'd survived.
She was Heda.