chapter 30

!*

Clarke's Instinct activated and she felt herself put her arms out and she spun rapidly.

The enhanced perception that came with Clarke's super speed allowed her to watch as the leaves and dust was thrown around in the shape of a dome. The wind dome she had made deflected the arsenal of arrows and spears that were launched at them.

The weapons were either trapped in the dome or were sent veering off course and Clarke kept the motion up even as Instinct had relinquished control back to her.

Clarke realised the weapons might still hurt them if she simply stopped spinning so instead she focused and the dome exploded outwards sending everything it had carried outwards.

Raven and Finn had barely moved throughout the entire wind storm Clarke had made, but they now stood at the ready as Finn pulled out his pistol and Raven had both her hands at the ready.

Clarke allowed her psionic energy to flow through and it began rolling off of her shoulders and body in waves of light blue.

"They're in the trees,"said Finn as they all scanned the canopy above them,"We need to flush them out."

Clarke nodded and said,"We're not here to kill or fight. We just need to get someone who can take us to Anya. Raven, you'll need to hold back on those beams a bit. Finn, stay out of trouble."

There was silence as the tension grew before suddenly six figures dropped down from the canopy by wires. The three teenagers watched warily as they stood opposite the Grounders.

It was only seconds later that four of the Grounders charged directly at Clarke as she had obviously been identified as the main threat.

Clarke shot two blasts at two of the Grounders and they were both taken out as they were sent flying backwards into two separate trees.

They were knocked out on impact and Clarke watched as the other two Grounders paused once they saw how their comrades fared.

"We don't want to fight,"said Clarke as she kept her arms up,"We just want to speak to Anya."

The Grounders seemingly ignored that as they kept their aggressive stances up and the man opposite Raven charged at her at full speed.

In a surprising turn of events, the man's body seemed to contort and transform while he was running and after a few metres, a big black wolf was bearing down on Raven.

Raven panicked at the sight of the wolf that was running full tilt at her and she shot two scorching laser beams from her hands just as it had leapt to bite her in the meck. The wolf let out a high pitched whine as the beams shot straight into it and sent it tumbling fully across the clearing.

If there had been any chance of this ending without a fight then the sight of Raven blitzing one of the Grounders even in self-defense blew those chances out the water.

The Grounders that were opposite Clarke paused as they glared at her. The woman had long hair and she seemed to be adjusting the tie that kept it out of her eyes.

The man drew out a horn and blew deeply into it. The sound of the horm echoed out and Clarke knew it was different from the one Lincoln used to signal that the acid fog was coming.

There was silence as no one made a move and Clarke kept her eyes on the other Grounders. It was why after a minute she was surprised when small objects dropped from the treetops and the Grounders tugged on ropes to pull them up above the ground..

Clarke was surprised that her Instinct hadn't warned her and she watched as Finn already collapsed to one knee. Raven put her hands up towards the canopy to shoot whoever was up there, but both Clarke and her were surprised when nothing came out before she fainted.

Clarke felt herself growing more and more groggy, but she tried her best to fight against the feeling. She shot out a psionic blast at the man who blew the horn and it struck him directly in the chest before sending him back to the ground.

Clarke tried to go for something more damaging and she felt the beginnings of fire began to form on her palm, but it fizzled out as she fell to the ground amidst a massive cloud of smoke.

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Clarke opened her eyes and she was surprised to find herself being carried over someone's shoulder. She couldn't see Raven or Finn from her position, but she hoped that they were nearby. Clarke looked up to the sky and she was surprised to see that it was fast approaching evening as the sky was a mix of pink and orange.

Clarke realised she had been hit with the same thing that had disabled Octavia's powers when she had been abducted by the Trikru outcasts. However, Clarke could quite clearly feel her powers were still available to her if only a little weakened and it was this thought that inspired her next course of action.

She ripped the shackles on her wrists and ankles apart with brute strength and the person carrying her dropped her from sheer shock. She kicked the man hard and he was sent hurtling metres away from her.

Clarke rose to her feet and had her hands at the ready before she noticed that she was surrounded by 10 other Grounders and Finn and Raven were nowhere to be seen.

A large spike of anger bloomed in Clarke's chest as she said,"Where are they?"

She received no response and that was what caused her anger to boil over. A scream so savage and harsh escaped Clarke's throat before a massive explosion of psionic energy shot out her body.

The Grounders were all thrown into the air by the sheer power and many were sent straight through trees and the branches in the surrounding area.

Clarke focused on the Grounders that were still able to stand after the explosion she had just caused and she recognised one of them as the woman from earlier.

"Where are they?"said Clarke as she ignored the pain her body was in before

The woman wiped the blood dripping from her forehead and said something in her native tongue before her hair unfurled and moved behind like it had a mind of it's own.

Clarke stood her ground as she formulated a plan to put this chick down. There were two others that were still rising to their feet, but they weren't the biggest threat at the moment so she put them out of her mind.

Clarke allowed the hair to wrap around her midsection and she tried to break free, but it seemed like the hair was extremely durable and it began to tighten around Clarke not allowing her to move much.

Clarke calmed down and focused internally once she felt her airways begin to close from the crushing force. It was mere moments later that the woman with long hair let out a scream as electricity cursed through her body.

The woman unfurled the hair from around Clarke, but it was all for naught as she collapsed to the ground and her body began to twitch from the amount of electricity that had just cursed through her body.

Clarke scanned the two remaining opponents and she saw one was a grown man while the other was a young girl that looked to be barely 12. They were both breathing heavily and despite her anger Clarke decided to only knock them out, but before she could decide on a course of action Instinct activated and made Clarke lean back at super speed.

!*

It was no moment too soon as Anya had appeared in front of her in a cloud of black smoke already swiping at Clarke's neck with a dagger. Clarke regained control and she used her speed to keep ahead of Anya's furious and accurate stabs and slashes.

Clarke felt herself stepping backwards as Anya advanced and so she decided to end this before things got even more out of hand. Clarke dodged another swipe from Anya and she ran around Anya across the clearing before stopping in front of the other two Grounders.

She shot a psionic blast at the grown man and Clarke didn't have to look to know that it had made contact before she grabbed onto the young girl and turned to face Anya.

This had all happened before Anya could even fully turn around.

"Look,"said Clarke harshly as she tightened her grip on the girl,"I don't want to fight. Where are Raven and Finn?"

Anya's face twisted in anger and Clarke instinctively knew what Anya was about to do.

"Don't even think about it,"said Clarke as her free hand became enveloped in flames,"I don't want to fight. I just want to speak with you. Don't let this girl get hurt because of your mistake."

The anger slowly bled out of Anya as she said,"What is it you want? I was on my way here to meet with you, but then I heard an explosion. You say you don't want to fight and yet all my warriors are laying at your feet."

Clarke kept her glare up and said,"I'll ask the questions. Where are Raven and Finn?"

Anya stared at her before she said,"The girl was sent back to your camp while the boy is in another of our villages. He was kept as insurance in case you chose not to comply."

Clarke stared at Anya and she deduced that the woman was telling the truth. She let go of the girl she was holding captive and didn't move even as the girl ran across the field to Anya.

"Tris, ha yu?"said Anya as a small amount of concern welled up in her eyes.

"Ai laik ku, Anya,"said Tris as she stood in front of the older woman. Despite her words, Tris stared at Clarke with visible fear in her eyes.

Clarke realised that Anya clearly cared for the younger girl and said,"Like I said I'm not here to fight. I wanted to talk with you. I'm sorry about your warriors, but I held back as much as I could."

Clarke held her hands up to show she meant no harm before moving to the nearest Grounder.