16 The Mountain

Inside the war room there was nothing but senseless fear induced arguing between the war council members. The council members consisted of Heda and a general from each of the twelve clans. Since Polis was not part of any clan territory and was a neutral territory, it had its own army in which I was the general of.

Mountain men have been spotted near a small Trikru village located alongside the river running through the territory. The river serves as the boundary line between Trikru lands and the mountain's territory. We have a strict law about the boundary line, if anyone is to cross into the mountain's territory they will be killed. Heda has been very firm about this, especially since the coalition was formed. We've discovered that the mountain men would use war as a guise to raid and kidnap people for whatever reason that they take them.

Now that the coalition is formed and there is no war between the clans, the mountain's activity has been made quite obvious. Due to this fact, they have been much more blunt in their actions. The number of reaper attacks and mountain men sightings have been multiplied and people are getting scared. Heda has ordered Trikru to place several warriors along the river's boundary and make sure that no one crosses. Orders are if anyone attempts to cross, stop them. If the warriors fail in stopping individuals from crossing, then kill them. Heda does not want to risk a war between the clans and the mountain unless absolutely necessary.

Currently the only general that was not stating their opinion was from Floukru. I was wondering why they were even here, Floukru is located in the middle of the ocean and so the mountain issue doesn't even affect them. That's not even mentioning the fact that they are a pacifist clan. Either way we are not getting anywhere with the way this meeting is going.

Catching Heda's eye at the head of the table, she nods approval in my nonverbal request. Mentally thanking Lexa, I stand from my chair and slam my hands on the table to catch everyone's attention. I have grown to be a very large and powerful man and I have a reputation to match. If I am to speak, people will listen.

"Generals, brothers and sisters in arms. Yesterday we faced each other on the battlefield, today we face the mountain. Will we continue to face the mountain tomorrow or will we face each other once more?" I ask aloud to the gathered men and women. "If we continue to argue and spew senseless insults at one another we will be enemies once more. All the progress each and every one of us has made will be for naught. Heda has formed this coalition to grow as one clan, not to stand and bicker like children while a foe who has been tormenting us all for generations looms on the horizon."

Pausing in my little speech, I can see that my words are definitely having an impact on my audience. These clans have been fighting for decades so every once in a while all it takes is a little bit of a nudge to get them on the right path.

"You are all generals of each of your great clans, the best of the best. You are all great warriors but it's time you learn that not all battles are with weapons. There are battles of wills, and there are battles in subterfuge. The mountain is very good at reconnaissance due to their guns. But we are better when it comes to stealth and camouflage. We need to start using that to our advantage!" I finish loudly, causing many of the generals present to shout their agreement with my words.

Smiling at their approval I look towards Lexa, she is also looking at me with approval which brings me pride.

"Well said, my shield. As The Shield has just said, you are not enemies anymore. You all are brothers and sisters in arms and we need to combine our brain power and come up with a plan to deal with the mountain." Lexa encouraged, while sending a message of unity.

It's been multiple years since the coalition has formed and yet some days the clans act like it was just formed yesterday.

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After several hours, the coalition still hadn't come up with an actual plan to go against the mountain. From the outside it seemed the mountain was as impenetrable as well… a mountain. Besides the huge blast doors and many feet of solid rock and concrete as its walls, you couldn't even get close enough to lay siege. The mountain has a defense set in place in which it allows them to create an impenetrable wall of acid fog and they are able to use it at a moment's notice. The least defended part seems to be the tunnels around the mountain. The only issue with that however is that the reapers live in those tunnels. Of course we could take a small army and attack the tunnels and if we actually got past the reapers we'd have to make it through the doors.

If we managed to do that however, odds are we would be met with a wall of rifles once we got through any door.

Rubbing my temples trying to alleviate a growing headache, I enter my quarters and dump myself into the nearest chair. Today's war meeting wasn't the first where the mountain was the main topic, and I guarantee it wouldn't be the last. It seems like we keep going in circles whenever the subject of taking down the mountain gets brought up. The mountain will be going down though, I vow to myself.

Nearly falling asleep in my chair I get up and make my way to the bedroom. Sitting on my bed I place my spear in it's mount above my headboard and start to remove my boots. Just as I had removed one of my boots I heard a knock on my door. Groaning aloud I trudge to the door and open it only to see Lexa on the other side.

She was still in her full commander regalia, which didn't surprise me. She had letters to write to leaders of several tribes so she would be up late. Seeing that I only had one boot on, she let a small laugh leave herself which caused me to scowl openly.

"What can I do for you Lexa?" I ask just before a yawn escapes me.

She smirked at my yawn and pushed me aside as she made her way into quarters like she owned the place and sat in one of my cushioned seats. "By all means come on in, I insist." I mutter, closing the door and making my way to a seat across from her.

Lexa waits until I am seated before speaking. "I came tonight to inform you that you and I will be traveling to Ton DC in the evening tomorrow. " She informed me, looking at a wooden carving of the Pauna situated on the table between us.

Journeying to different clans was rather a common occurrence as of late. Lexa tries to take trips to a random clan at least once every couple months or so. As Heda she needs to show her people that she isn't afraid to leave Polis. What was strange however, was that we were leaving in the evening. Usually we would make our trips in the morning depending on the destination. It made it even more weird that Trikru was the closest clan and there was no reason to travel late in the evening. It would maybe take us a few hours on our horses tops.

"Why are we leaving in the evening?" I asked curiously, leaning back in my seat trying to get comfortable.

"We are leaving in the evening because we will be using the cover of darkness to travel." She informed me, much to my surprise. My curiosity was piqued, whatever the reason for our trip must be important if we are using the darkness.

"What's the reason for the secrecy?" I asked, leaning forward in my seat now extremely engaged in what she had to say.

Putting down my Pauna figurine and looking at me to make sure she has my full attention before she speaks. "We will be leaving in secret because I have received word that Anya has managed to capture a mountain man." She says seriously, gauging my reaction to the news.

I was definitely surprised, no one had ever been able to actually capture a mountain man alive. Not that we encountered many of them, they were very well armed and tended to stick close to the mountain away from our eyes. They mostly used reapers to do their bidding as well so they were never on the front lines. So the fact that Anya had been able to capture one completely blind sided me. She was an amazing warrior and Lexa was her second once upon a time so I had heard many tales of her abilities so I didn't doubt that this information was truthful.

"That's insane." I uttered, completely flabbergasted.

"Indeed it is, and that's why the secrecy. If people were to know, there is a high chance that they would seek revenge upon the years of terror the mountain men have inflicted upon the clans." Lexa said seriously, gazing into my eyes trying to convey the seriousness of the situation.

What she said makes perfect sense, people would want to take out their generations fueled fear and hate upon them. If that were to happen though, we wouldn't get anything out of the mountain man, and this opportunity is not common so the information could be very valuable to taking down the mountain.

"This is an amazing opportunity." I say seriously, I couldn't wait to get to interrogate the mountain man. I haven't been able to interrogate anyone since before the coalition was formed. What's even better is that there is a very good chance that they will give us something that is detrimental to taking down the mountain.

"Yes it is, come tomorrow evening make sure you have everything you need and meet me at the stables." She said while standing up from her seat and making her way to the door. Opening it, she paused before stepping out of my quarters. "Oh and James? I enjoyed your words today during the meeting." she said, looking back and shooting me a smile before sweeping out of my quarters without another word.

I don't say anything since she has already left but her words left a warm feeling in my chest. Tomorrow was going to be a big day but my excitement was slowly fading and being replaced by tiredness. Releasing another yawn I walk back to my room and collapse on my bed, letting sleep take me.

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I awoke early dawn like I normally would and began my normal routine of push ups, sit ups, and plenty of juice. When I finished that, I took a bath which a servant got ready for me and then dressed for the day. Walking across the hall to Lexa's quarters I knocked on her door in a specific pattern to let her know that I was ready and was standing guard outside her door.

After about thirty minutes of waiting she finally exits her quarters. "Good morning James." Lexa greets me with a smile. She didn't have her commander's sash with her meaning she didn't have any commander duties to perform today.

"Good morning to you as well Lexa. So, what is the plan today?" I asked her with a matching smile. The trip wasn't until the evening which left a lot of time in between, meaning we could do a lot today.

She got a mischievous spark in her eye and smirked a little. "We are gonna go on a walk." She answered vaguely.

I looked at her suspiciously, she was never this vague, and the spark of mischief in her eye told me she was up to something. "What kind of walk? I inquire curiously.

Deciding not to answer me, she turned on her heel and started walking down the hall. I rolled my eyes at her antics and caught up to her. "Alright this kind of walk, got it." I say sarcastically, which caused her to giggle.

Wait, giggle? Lexa didn't giggle? Did she? Looking down at her weirdly, I decided not to comment on it. Something was different about her today and I wasn't sure what it was exactly. She seemed to have this "happy" Aura around her. That thought made me happy as well. I haven't sensed this feeling from her in a very long time.

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No other words were spoken until we reached the gates of Polis. When we arrived at the gates I was a little surprised, I assumed our destination would be inside the city somewhere.

"Will you tell me what our destination is?" I requested of her once we walked out of the city gates.

Laughing at my request, she shook her at me before answering. Not even missing a step. "We are heading somewhere I haven't been in many years. That is all I'm saying till we get there by the way." She added as an afterthought.

I just let out a sigh which caused her to laugh again and walked alongside her. We were walking through the forest for about an hour before we came to a beautiful grove. The grove was a large clearing with a few longs laid around, forming into a large chair in the middle of it.

"What is this? I asked her generally wanting to know. The clearing was beautiful, there were no branches situated above where the chair was, causing there to be a golden beam of light making it seem as if it was glowing.

She kept her silence which caused me to turn my head from the clearing and look at her. She was staring at the clearing with tears in her eyes and a sad smile on her face.

"This is my clearing. Costia and I found it when we were young. Costia would always find me here when I was upset. This was my escape, my happy place to be away from all that bothered me."

I understood what she meant, everyone needs a place to get away from all their troubles every once in a while. A place with no worries and that you can be alone in peace.

"Thank you for showing me this Lexa, I know it must be hard for you to come back here." I tell her honestly, knowing that the memories from this place could be painful for her, but have an equal chance to be happy memories.

"You're welcome James, I wanted to come here a lot sooner but ever since I became Heda, I haven't had the chance. I am sorry for not telling you this sooner, I just needed a place to be alone. I hope you understand?" She asked hopefully, I could see in her eyes that she was worried that I would be upset with her for keeping this place a secret from me.

I knew that she needed some type of comfort at the moment so I brought her into a hug. I could feel her wrap her arms around me tightly and could feel my shoulder becoming wet.

"There is no need to worry Lexa, everyone needs an escape so I understand completely why you didn't tell me about this location." I soothed into her ear, I could tell she was crying because of Costia though. Losing someone you love never leaves your mind, but you have to finally deal with the loss or it will torture you.

"Costia would be so happy of you Lexa, you have done things no one else has ever done. You are The Heda, you were meant for greatness and your achievements have only just begun." I whisper to her.

At my words her arms wrap around me a little tighter before letting go suddenly. Looking at her questioningly, her face still tear tracked and flushed, her eyes glance down to my lips before catching my eyes again. Before I knew it, I was leaning in.