chapter 46

Clarke nodded and said,"Well, I haven't had much practice with some of my powers, but I didn't mean to hurt her. I just needed something from her."

Raven was about to ask a question, but it died on her lips as Clarke immediately faded from view. Raven was shocked by this and she whirled around the room trying to track Clarke.

It took Raven a massive amount of effort to not scream in surprises Clarke laid a glowing hand on her shoulder from behind. The girl had reappeared behind her and she had a serious expression on her face as she said,"Raven, you're the smartest one of all the delinquents and with me gone you'll be the strongest. I'll need you to do whatever it takes to keep them safe. I'll activate the last two of your powers, but you need to swear that you won't hold back if the Mountain Men come after you guys. They won't hurt you because they need me and Dante knows what I'd do if you guys got hurt, but... just in case... you have to promise."

The glow faded from Clarke's fingers and Raven turned around before pulling the younger girl into a hug,"I promise, Griffin. Go kick some ass."

"You should also keep yourself safe too,"added Clarke softly as she held onto the othee girl,"I can't lose you too."

Raven felt touched by the sheer concern in Clarke's voice a she said softly, "I will. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Clarke tightened her grip on Raven and said,"We need to get as much suspicion away from you as possible. You're gonna have to act like I attacked you. Make sure you tell no one about everything until you're sure it's necessary."

Raven nodded and said,"Okay, fine. Let's get this over with and you'll owe me big when this is all done."

Clarke lifted her left hand and it began to crackle with electricity,"Yeah, I'll think of something. "

Raven clenched her fists and waited for the inevitable. It happened quickly. It felt like the nerves on her body were on fire and her muscles locked up violent as the pulses of electricity flew through her. It lasted only a couple of seconds before she felt her grip on consciousness slip.

Clarke caught Raven before she fell to the ground and then she placed her on the ground gently. Clarke activated her invisibility and exited the door making her way to her first destination.

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Whitman sighed as he made his way to the room where the machines that created The Veil was located. There had been a report that somehow someone had gotten in, but the card used did not even have an ID or anything. The cameras didn't even show anything and so he was the only one sent as it was believed to simply be a glitch in the system.

He tagged in and began to look through the large room for signs if anything amiss.

"Control centre, this is is Whitman,"said the guard as he spoke into his radio,"Nothing in the entry chamber proceeding to Mixing and Deployment Chamber, over."

"Roger that, Whitman. Proceed with caution, over and out."

The Mixing and Deployment Chamber as it named suggested was where the two gases that made up The Veil were mixed together and then deployed. He was one of the few guards that had permission to enter in here thanks to his seniority. The only others allowed in here were the mechanics and engineers for upkeep and check ups.

He keyed himself in and let the door close itself behind him. He walked around the pipes before he heard a noise on the catwalk above the platform. He decided no to use his radio and instead grabbed his gun off his shoulder.

The substances were flammable and he knew that there would be a massive explosion if he missed his shot when near some of the massive pipes that circled the room. He slowly ascended the stairs to the catwalk, but he was confused when there was no one there.

He looked over the catwalk and he saw nothing amiss. It was only once he heard footsteps behind him that he turned and fired. The bullet smashed into the walkway and Whitman panicked as he felt a strong hand grip him around his neck. His gun clattered to the floor and was then pushed over the edge by something unseen.

"How do I shut this thing down for good?"said a voice and he was surprised to see a blonde girl appear from thin air. Her face look deadly serious and her eyes were glowing an icy blue.

Whitman grabbed at her arm and tried to wrench free, but incredibly he wasn't even able to move it at all. The girl tightened her grip and said,"I'm not gonna ask again. Talk or you float."

Whitman felt dizzy from the restriction of his air paths and he dropped his hands to his side. He smiled arrogantly at the girl he now recognised and said,"C-clarke Griffin...Your p-people...will..die for this."

Whitman pressed a button on his radio and suddenly flares and alarms began to go off in the room and across the mountain. Clarke eyes narrowed into thin slits and the light emitting from them turned a dark blue,"We'll see."

Already, Clarke could hear footsteps outside the Mixing Chamber and she knew her time was limited. Clarke cursed under her breath and Whitman seemed smug until Clarke lifted him up and dangled him over the edge,"I guess you float."

Whitman had barely had enough time to process Clarke's last words before he was falling from the 50 meter high catwalk. He landed on the ground with a loud thud and Clarke turned invisible just as the door to the room slammed open. 7 Guards poured in and began to spread out throughout the Chamber.

Clarke shadowed them and she knew that she had to get rid of them before the place got swarmed. She needed the Mountain Men to be disorganised and the first step of that was to cut off the head of the snake.

The radios they used were all connected to each other and to the control centre and Clarke was able to listen in on the conversation as she stood unseen by all on the catwalk.

"Whitman triggered the SOS response, but I can't find him. Pan out and search for him."

The team of seven split up and Clarke began to silently descend the stairs as she knew one of them was on a direct route to Whitman's body.

The woman reached Whitman's body and she recoiled as she saw the blood pooled around his body and said into her radio,"Sandra, here Whitman is dead. I repeat Whitman is dead over here by the mixing vats. Falling damage resulted in severe damage to the head. Unclear if murder or suicide. No sign of any other people. Copy that?"

Sandra waited for a response, but she was surprised to find out that none of her fellow guards responded, "Julian, do you read me?"

Suddenly, a rush of pain flashed over her neck and Sandra was surprised to see blood flow onto her hands as she grabbed at her neck. In a matter of seconds, she was dead and her body hit the ground hard.

The sound drew the attention of all the other guards and Clarke could easily hear the sounds of boots on the ground as they rushed to the scene.

Clarke knew that she had to hurry up and knew the Mountain was probably going to be put into some sort of lockdown. She quickly grabbed the radio of the other woman before she put some distance between her and the two bodies and the hum of machinery became louder as she was now walking through a veritable maze of pipes.

She wasn't sure how to get out of this situation quickly while still managing to shut down the acid fog until she saw something plastered across one of the pipes that made her skin crawl at the implications.

"Warning,"said Clarke,"Chemicals are highly flammable. "

Clarke tightened her grip on the knife made out of ice that she had used to kill the female guard before it suddenly lit up in yellow light. The glow died down and there was now a knife made of the sturdiest metal Clarke knew of.

That was of course the metal used on the dropship and all of the Ark.

She stabbed into the pipe and cut a long slice through the pipe. She didn't stop there as she used her superspeed to allow her to run through the various corridors of pipes and cut them at a high speed.

By now, she had drawn the attention if the other guards, but it was already too late as the damage was done. Clarke ripped off a large swath of her shirt and she lit the end of it on fire before she threw it in the air behind her.

The guards had found her, but they didn't appear to even be moving as Clarke ran as fast as she could towards the door. She punched the door right off it's hinges and kept running straight past it as she moved towards the door that led back into the Mountain.

By some stroke of luck, it was still open and Clarke managed to shut it behind her. There was an extremely loud sound and Clarke felt Instinct activated and raise a dome of psionic energy around her.

A veritable firestorm poured from behind the door and even though it only lasted a few seconds Clarke's energy was almost sapped entirely from the strain of standing against the heat.

Luckily, this floor had no apartments or living units on it whatsoever so there was no damage other than burns to the walls, floor and ceiling. The water sprinklers activated soon after the flash of fire had entered into the corridor and the spray of water bounced off of Clarke's energy dome with slight thuds..

She knew that the Mountain Men probably knew it was her behind and everything and so she had to hurry. She quickly connected to the mainframe and focused on the cameras near her current position and she relieved to note that the fireball had knocked out all the cameras in the corridor she was in.

Clarke knew it was time to cause the chaos to ramp up a notch and she sat down as she focused on the task at hand.

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"Son,"said Dante with a furious look on his face as he entered the control centre of Mount Weather,"What is going on? What was that explosion I felt?"

"We're not sure, Dad,"said Cage from behind a computer and judging from the young man's disheveled appearance he was feeling the stress of the situation. The man kept typing away at the keyboard before he stopped and punched the table,"It's The Veil."

Dante looked confused and said,"What about it?"

"That explosion you felt?"said Cage and frustration and anger was clear in his voice,"That was The Veil. All the systems are offline and the team we sent into there have not responded."

Dante felt a flash of panic rise up inside him and he sat down in one of the chairs as one of the other guards said,"President Wallace, sir. Who's responsible?"

It was a stupid question. Dante knew who was responsible and Dante knew that this was his fault. He had invited the girl unbidden into the Mountain and now he had to kill the girl. He only hoped that he could up with a good enough reason to appease Clarke's friends.

It would be a shame to have to harvest them too.

"Put a locate and subdue order on Clarke Griffin,"said Dante to the guards and they nodded before speaking into their radios.

Dante closed his eyes from the stress of the situation, but he opened them when he heard Cage speak,"Found her. "

Dante looked at the screen his son was looking at and he was surprised to see Clarke standing right in front of a camera with Maya held hostage. There was a large knife held to the other girl's throat and she seemed positively petrified.

Clarke lifted something else to her face as she adjusted her grip on Maya and Dante was surprised to hear Clarke's voice come out of the PA system on the Mountain.

"Citizens of Mount Weather,"said Clarke and her voice came out unwavering, "I'm currently holding Maya Vie hostage. All I want is to leave this Mountain. If anyone attempts to enter Medical then she will die and it will be your fault. She is the only Mount Weather citizen that is immune to radiation so I imagine you guys wouldn't want that."

Cage looked at his father and he felt his own nervousness rise up as he saw how pale the man's face was,"Dad? What should I do?"

Dante sighed heavily and not for the first time Cage could see the weight that came with being President press down on his father,"Tell all units to stand down. If everyone knows we attacked despite Maya's life being threatened there'll be chaos."

"Why can't we just threaten her own people?"said Cage, but that idea was immediately rejected by a shake of the head from Dante.

"What Clarke has done will alienate her from her people. We can finally integrate them into our genetic line while we allow you and Lorelei's project to go on. This way we will have established our return to the ground without having to dispose of Clarke,"said Dante and he said,"Let her leave. I want squads covering all possible exit routes from the Mountain covered. If you can't subdue her..."

Dante looked at Clarke on the screen and he was surprised when all of a sudden all the monitors blacked out. He knee that it was the work of the girl and he knew that if she escaped the Mountain he would have to pull out all the stops to make sure she wasn't a threat anymore.

"If you can't subdue Clarke Griffin then you kill her."

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Maya and Clarke both made it into medical and Maya looked slightly pale. Clarke turned to her and said,"Hey, we had to do that or else Dante would have been suspicious now what's this way out you were talking about?"

Maya looked nervous and said,"It's better if I show you."

Clarke followed the girl as she was guided into to a room with pipes coming out of the wall that led to the beds that were in the room. Clarke was confused because it looked like an infirmary, but there were no patients whatsoever.

"What is this place, Maya?"said Clarke as she looked at the other girl.

The other girl seemed scared for some reason and said,"This is where we get our treatments. My mom died in here after refusing to take any treatments. "

Clarke looked at the girl sympathetically and said,"This must be hard for you."

Clarke placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder,but she was surprised to see the girl flinch away from her.

Maya tried to play it off and said,"This isn't why we here come on."

Maya led Clarke to another door and she was surprised by what waited for her on the other side. The first thing that she noticed as she stepped into the room.

It smelled like some odd mixture of medicine, flowers and some other unknown ingredients. However, it was what she saw next that made her forget completely about the scent of the room.

Cages. Hundred and hundreds of cages were stacked upon one another and inside were emaciated people deep in the throes of sleep. It was with closer scrutiny that Clarke realised that the people inside were Grounders as she recognised the distinctive tattoos of the Trikru on some of them. The pipes from the other room led into here and although they weren't connected to anything the multitude of blood stains on the floor beneath the pipes was enough of a clue for Clarke.

Clarke looked at Maya and said with pure anger in her voice,"This is what you were talking about? Your people have been treating the Grounders like cattle and bleeding them for your treatments?"

Clarke had begun to advance on Maya and the girl stepped back as purple light began to radiate from Clarke's body and eyes. The girl backed into the table and said,"I wanted to tell you, but we can't speak about it. The last time there had been a rebellion against this the dissidents had all been killed off. I wanted to tell you since I'veheard about how strong you were, but I still had faith in my people. It was only after you cured me that I knew I had to do something. "

Clarke stopped her advance and said,"Okay. You're right, but all your people are cowards for allowing this. This is sick."

Maya nodded and Clarke turned her back on the other girl and she began to traverse the cages. The Grounders all looked at her with exhausted and tired eyes, but it was only when she was walking through the second corridor that she heard a voice she wasn't expecting to hear.

"Clarke,"said Mbege and Clarke felt her anger at the Mountain Men grow as she took in the state of her fellow Arker. He was dressed in rags and he appeared extremely skinny to the point where his ribs were protruding,"You've got to help us.

"Mbege, "said Clarke as she knelt down to his level,"Why are you here? The reapers swarmed your camp. We thought you were dead."

"The reapers,"said Mbege and his eyes were only half-focused,"They attacked us. We stood no chance. Our bullets didn't stop them and they just kept coming and coming... The last thing I remember was getting dragged here and these guys in suits came out with these rods that made noise. They acted like it was causing them pain and they got injected with some red liquid that made them act...high. "

Clarke was stunned by the turn of events. The reapers weren't some separate faction. They were basically the foot soldiers of the Mountain Men. They stole Grounders and either bled them dry or turned them into cannibalistic, drug-addicted monsters.

"You have to kill them, Clarke,"said Mbege as he looked her dead in the eye, "All the Arkers have been bled day after day. A few days ago, they bled us one after the after for over two hours. I haven't seen Trina in long now. That bitch of a doctor came looking for her and I have no clue what happened to her...p-please help us. I can't take this torture anymore."

Clarke rose to her feet and said,"I will kill them, I promise. I can't free you all now, but I will be back."

Mbege had fainted after speaking to Clarke and the temptation to stay and heal everyone was rising up in Clarke, but she knew she had to find whi she was looking for.

It was with luck that she recognised the hairstyle from the corner of her eye and she rattled the cage to wake up the sleeping person, "Anya. Wake up, we're leaving."

The woman stirred slightly before lunging at Clarke,"This is your fault, branwada. If I hadn't helped you foolish children then the Maunon wouldn't have caught me."

Clarke shook her head in annoyance and said,"We have to leave now. We don't have much time. Anya, we need to get to the Commander now. Once we tell her what's happening in here we can get the Coalition to storm this place. Your people will finally be freed."

This seemed to placate Anya and she sighed and said,"Fine, I'll take you to her. Don't expect a warm welcome from her however."

Clarke nodded and grabbed onto the lock that was on Anya's cage. A simple twist and the lock was off and the Grounder general clambered out of the cage. The sight and noise of Anya climbing out of her cage rose caused quite the commotion in the room and Clarke was inundated by various requests to free the other prisoners.

Clarke felt trapped until Anya shouted a command in Trigedasleng. Immediately, the room fell into a deep silence and Clarke looked at Anya and said,"Do you need healing?"

The woman shook her head and said,"I am a warrior. That can wait. How are we escaping?"

"Can't you get us out of here?"asked Clarke with mounting hope that was dashed when Anya said,"If I could, why would I still be in this place? We need to find another way out."

"I know another way out,"said Maya and Anya nearly attacked the girl upon seeing her, but she was stopped by Clarke who stepped in between them,"She's the reason I got in here. If you hurt her then there's no way out for us."

"She is also one of the ones who choose the next people they will bleed,"said Anya with venom in her voice,"Why should we trust her?"

Maya, surprisingly, responded herself and said,"It's not all of us that wish for this. We do the jobs we're assigned or we might die. I know of many people who have refused to take your people's blood. When you come with your army, I need to know that them and the children will be safe."

Anya took a step forward, but she stopped as Clarke said,"Fine, we won't hurt any of them. Now, can you show us to the exit."

Maya nodded and Anya walked past Clarke leaving the blonde at the back of the group. Clarke was about to turn when she heard another familiar voice though a considerably less welcome one.

"Clarke,"said Diana and if her face and voice weren't etched I to her memory, Clarke would have struggled to recognise the pale and emaciated woman before her,"Please help me. I'm on my last legs–"

Diana's plea was cut off as Clarke spat in her face. The girl's eyes were a solid purple and there was pure anger and rage radiating off of her. Clarke's hand reached through the bars and she placed it on Diana's thigh before Diana screamed in pain as pulses of electricity coursed through her veins.

The pain was excruciating beyond anything she had ever experienced and Diana was barely conscious by the time the torture stopped, but she still heard Clarke's parting words as she made her way towards the room Anya and Maya were in.

"Go float yourself, you bitch."

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"So I press this button and this will lead us into the tunnels?"asked Anya as she looked down at the floor.

Clarke nodded and said,"That's what Maya said. We need to leave now. Maya won't be unconscious for long. Press the button. "

Anya looked vaguely annoyed at Clarke, but she pressed the button anyways. There was a loud buzzing before the floor opened beneath them. The two were sliding down a chute for a few seconds before they landed harshly in a metal container.

Clarke opened her eyes and she was stunned to see the body of another Grounder and it seemed as though the man was still alive. Clarke knew there was nothing she could do for him in this moment and Anya clearly knew it too.

The woman placed her hands gently, almost motherly on the man's neck and whispered softly,"Yu gonplei ste odon. "

Clarke knew what was coming and she didn't even look away as Anya jerked the man's head suddenly and he fell limp in a matter of seconds. They laid there for a few moments in an uncomfortable silence before finally deciding that they had relaxed for long enough.

They scrambled to their feet and Clarke could see Anya smiled as she looked at her hands. Clarke was confused by the action until ,in a puff of black smoke, a set of clothes appeared and Anya quickly pulled them on much to Clarke's amazement.

"You can summon things to you?"said Clarke and she received a curt nod from Anya before the woman said,"The reapers live in these tunnels. We need to make sure we get out of here."

There was another burst of black smoke and once it cleared away Clarke was able to see the two daggers that were in Anya's hands,"Be on guard, Maunon are approaching."

Clarke wasn't sure what Anya was talking about until she too heard the heavy footsteps from around the corner in the tunnel. She allowed flames to cover her hands in preparation for the inevitable battle. The sounds got louder and louder as she waited for them to appear and she was relieved to see that they were only two.

However, before Clarke could even shoot the fireballs, Anya had already teleported in front of the one man and she quickly slashed his throat. The other had his finger on his machine gun and was about to fire at Anya, but she deflected the gun and stabbed the man in the chest.

The bullets still shot out of the gun and they ricocheted off the walls of the tunnel in various directions. One grazed Clarke's arm, but she felt the wound began to heal and so she ignored it and looked at Anya and said,"We need to leave."

The sound of gunfire had probably attracted and Anya was about to leave, but Clarke said,"Look for two metal sticks on their body. They repel Reapers."

Luckily, Anya had found both and she three one at Clarke while keeping the other for herself,"Let's go, Skaiprisa."

Clarke followed Anya as she seemed to k ow where she was going, but after some time the woman seemed to fade almost completely and whatever adrenaline boost she had had was now gone.

"Anya,"said Clarke firmly,"You're still weak from the Mountain. Let me help you."

The woman glared at her fiercely, but when a violent tremor caused her to collapse to her knees she just gave a small nod of the head. Clarke picked her up bridal style and began to walk around looking for an exit.

Somehow, the sounds of footsteps near her had increased and Clarke realised that the Mountain Men were getting near. Clarke cursed the tunnels floors because it was slick with water and also had a rough, bumpy surface.

The exact conditions her superspeed would probably be more of a liability than a boon in.

She began to run at a decent clip, though, once she realised that she was getting boxed in. Anya was barely coherent and Clarke pushed hoped that an exit would appear soon enough.

It appeared that luck was on her side as a tunnel opened up to her left that had a breeze and she knew that meant it led to the surface she ran down the path and now she was fully conscious of the footsteps that were behind shadowing her every step.

Clarke's speed increased at the sight, but she was surprised when her body stopped on it's own accord.

!*

Clarke looked down and she was shocked to see that she was hundreds of feet in the air at the top of a dam. She had thought the tunnels were on ground level, but clearly that not been the case. She turned to find another route, but as luck would have it a group of 7 Mountain Men were standing opposite her all of them clad in their hazmat suits.

The leader pointed his gun at her and Clarke recognised the voice of Emerson that said,"It doesn't have to end this way, Clarke. Stand down and you get to live "

Clarke didn't respond as she felt excruciating pain originate from her back. The pain was getting too much and so Clarke lifted her foot before stepping down on the ground. Large, rugged stalagmites burst from the ground into most of the Mountain Men.

Emerson was the only one to get off scot-free and as he aimed his rifle at her a wall of rock rose up and sealed him from Clarke and Anya. Only one bullet snuck through and it grazed Clarke's shoulder.

The extreme pain she was in prevented Instinct from activating and it was sheer luck that saved her. Clarke felt herself begin to run hot and she removed her jacket and threw it to the side after she put down a slowly recovering Anya.

She could just barely hear that the Mountain Men were planning something with wall and she knew they had to leave soon. Finally, the worst of the pain was over and not long after it was all gone. Anya had seemingly recovered and she rose to her feet and she went to Clarke's side, "Are you okay?"

Clarke nodded and said,"Get in my arms now."

Anya looked confused by the sudden urgency in Clarke's voice, but that disbelief was increased when she saw the girl's eyes turned from their light blue to a deep yellow with a black centre.

Anya allowed Clarke to pick her up and they both heard some screams on the other side of the wall before the sound of something approaching the wall echoed off the walls.

Clarke ran at full speed and she ignored the feeling of dread that welled up inside her as the drop came closer and closer. Clarke felt a tingly feeling at the middle of her back and she felt her shirt loosen just slightly.

Soon, the edge was just in front of her and Clarke jumped with as much strength as she could muster. Behind her, the rock wall exploded and still going at super speed she turned back to cleary see through the smoke, fire and debris that Emerson was holding a rocket launcher and was clearly at fault for the explosion.

The tingly feeling increased and just as Clarke reached the apex of her jump and gravity began to drag her and Anya down. Two, large birds wings expanded from her back and they began to flap rapidly.

Clarke let out a sigh of relief as the wings continued to carry her and Anya to safety. Anya had only now opened her eyes and she looked at Clarke with awe as she took in the sight of Clarke actually flying.

Perhaps 20 minutes later, Clarke felt she had put enough distance between her and the Mountain. The sky had begun to lighten as sunset rapidly approached. Clarke landed safely in a clearing near a river.

She placed Anya down and she had to fight back a chuckle as she saw the dizziness that was clearly evident on Anya's face despite her being able to teleport at rapid speeds.

The woman knelt down next to the river and drank some water. Clarke focused on retracting her wings and unlike before it was extremely easy to take them away.

Anya was watching her and Clarke was about to speak until she saw Anya's gaze drop to her shoulder. The woman seemed to have gained a second wind as she said,"I knew you were a liar! You do not wish for peace! You want to kill the Commander, don't you?"

Clarke was confused and said,"What are you talking about?"

Anya only screamed in response and appeared in front of Clarke in a burst of smoke. Her nails had extended substantially in length and she tried to slash at Clarke's face. Clarke was able to raise her arm to block the slash and despite the deep gouges that were cut into her forearm she still had enough presence of mind to release a large burst of air that propelled Anya away from her.

Anya slammed into a tree hard, but she still rose to her feet and said,"I won't let you succeed. There can only be one of the blood."

It was then that Clarke realised Anya had flipped out once she had seen the shoulder that had been grazed by a bullet. Clarke looked at the forearm that Anya had scratched and she was stunned into silence as she looked at the colour of her blood.

It was black.