The storm
Rain fell heavily as deafening thunders loudly echoed, the sky above them was completely dark despites it was early in the evening. The old lady kept walking, leaning occasionaly on a hand-made cane she'd manufactured while on her way to Polis. A lightning struck a tree a few hundred feet away, setting it on fire partially, but the flames were quickly put off by the rain.
She kept walking, slowly but steadily making her way to the great tower. She had to warn the Commander, she doubted anyone else was old enough to remember who their real enemies were. She needed to tell Lexa that there was only a specific group of people they'd need to attack, so no more bloodshed would happen.
Then a dagger slit her throat open and a figure covered in dark rags dragged her dead body to an alley.
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Clarke rubbed the side of her hand, trying to get rid of the dark charcoal that stained it. She gave up with a loud huff and kept on drawing. Lexa opened an eye slightly when she heard the sound, her legs were crossed and her hands rested on each of her knees, the muscles in her back tense in her meditating posture. She went on with her spiritual exercise for a while. She sensed something, and she didn't like the way it felt. The gut feelings she'd been having ever since she'd become Heda had only intensified in time and proven themselves to be quite trustworthy, not having failed to the day. A cold shiver took her out of her dark thoughts, she opened her eyes and walked to Clarke's side.
"Can I see that?" She rested her hand on the blonde's shoulder. Clarke nodded and Lexa took a look at the drawing. It was a flawless depiction of the view they had from their window, and Lexa was breathtaken by the beauty of such a simple, yet meaningful piece of art. She wrapped her arms around Clarke and no words were needed between them.
Lexa then kissed Clarke's cheek and both of them went to the Main Hall, not without Clarke having to hide and work her way out of Lexa's chambers without been seen.
They arrived to the throne room, once Lexa entered it every soldier bowed their head respectfully. Clarke stayed among the crowd whilst Lexa sat on her throne.
Minutes turned into long hours of Lexa listening to her subjects' issues: arguments about borders in farming crops, families that betrayed one another, young boys and girls that seeked to be trained in the arts of war... She answered to each of their requests, of course not always granting what they wanted, but every time caring about her people. That was the moment when Clarke realised what made people love Lexa.
A farmer from TonDC was telling his desperate situation, after several villages had been burnt, he had a greater flow of clients than ever, and he couldn't manage to provide food for all of them, which had already caused several fights in the past weeks.
Indra opened the doors with a loud noise just when Lexa was beginning to reply.
"Heda. We must talk." The urgence in her voice was enough for Lexa to nod and dismiss everyone. No one was to hear that conversation.
Once they were alone in the wide room, Clarke walked out of the place where she'd hidden in the confusion of everyone walking out.
"Did you see if anyone else stayed?" Lexa whispered
Clarke shook her head, but still they spent a few more minutes searching for anyone who might've tried to hear what they were saying. It was a good idea, but they didn't find anyone. You can't see a shadow in the dark. But the shadow could hear them.
"There's a symbol that has been appearing in many places that were attacked, it has even been spotted in the immediations of Polis. It's an ancient rune, the seer in my village told us stories about it when we were children. Heda, it represents an ancient dark power, and if the stories are true, not even you can save us." Indra's breath was shaky, but she managed to overcome the fear "It's probably just a group of people who worship that Big Evil, but if it's back, I don't know how to stop it."
Clarke and Lexa's eyes locked for only a half second, then Clarke replied incredulously "You're telling us our enemy is the bad Guy from a children's tale."
"All stories bear truth in some way, Clarke"
"What is this Big Evil, Indra?" Lexa's brow furrowed
"No one knows for real. It's an ethereal being, legend says it's made of pure darkness and works its way to people's hearts, corrupting even the purest of souls." Indra shrugged "It's not the legend itself that we should fear, but what will the worshippers of such a creature do in its name?"
Lexa bit her lip trying to think, to see the big picture "So even if it's a political betrayal to the coallition, there's someone guiding and organising the whole mystical aspect of it. People do insane things for their faiths. And right now, we can't know who is a traitor and who isn't..."
"...because it's the individuals who betray you and not the clans." Clarke finished her sentence while Lexa nodded. They would be facing a battle far more challenging that anyone could've foreseen.
As soon as they walked through the door to leave the room, Indra gasped, and for the first time the girls saw fear in her eyes. They turned around to look at what she was seeing, and blood froze in their veins when they did.
A couple of feet away from the safest room in the most guarded and protected building of the capital, the heart of their coallition, there was a drawing. Painted with blood from the corpse of an old woman that was left laying under it, a spiral inside a triangle was now a macabre part of their décor.