Chapter 50: Ch. 50 – Iseto, the Blodripa

Ashville turned out to be the ruins of Nashville which made my heart ache slightly as a former country girl. Nashville was the hometown of country music and bluegrass and where the Grand Ole Opry was built. Although I had always wanted to visit the city in my past life, I had never made the time to do so, but this time would not be able to make up for that.

 

Before we had even reached the city, I sensed a fiery, twisted source of mana which made me concerned. Lexa's felt cold and elusive while she described my own as bright and explosive. This was all the confirmation that I needed to be sure that this was some kind of test or trial from Tori. He had said that he needed our help far into the future, so we were bound to have to face off against people who could wield powers similar to our own at some point. Things had been complicated enough without an opponent that could rival us, so now that one had appeared, I could not help but feel nervous.

 

"Everything okay?" Raven asked, noticing my change in mood as I kept driving towards Ashville.

 

"I can sense someone with mana... so they can probably sense me," I replied.

 

"Should we turn around then?" Raven asked with concern.

 

"We've come too far to run away with our tails tucked between our legs. Abandoning people just because there is some danger to me isn't something that I can do... despite what it has cost me," I sighed. "You guys just need to stay on guard, and everyone should carry a gun. I know that you two have issues with them, but even I can't stop a bullet easily, especially if I was surprised."

 

"We haven't been trained to use them," Echo said.

 

"Point the barrel at whoever you want to shoot and pull the trigger. There, training is done," I retorted. "I hope that we won't need them, but this isn't up for discussion. I'm not going to lose anyone this time, damnit!"

 

Raven placed a hand on my shoulder and rubbed it softly, trying to comfort me. I sighed and leaned my head towards her hand, but also kept my eyes on the road. We were headed up a hill when our conversation started, and we reached the top as it ended, but even if we had still been talking, it would have stopped.

 

I let the rover come to a stop as we looked out over Ashville. The ruins of downtown Nashville were impressive, but it was the hundreds, if not thousands, of tents that drew our attention and alarm. This was not a thousand-man army, but a loose assembly of every member of the three clans that filled the western banks of the river that ran through Nashville.

 

"This isn't possible... Iseto could never muster this many people," Luna said as she looked out over Raven's shoulder in the back of the rover.

 

"Depends on what his powers are... Lexa's and mine have little in common, so who knows what he can do," I replied.

 

Raven placed a hand on my thigh, and I covered it with my own, giving her a weak smile. Considering my record so far, it would not have surprised me if she had asked to get out and start walking back, in fact it would make me feel better if she did, but she just sat there and gave me an encouraging smile. It was hard to imagine what I would do without her constant support.

 

Despite the uncertainty of what we were facing, no one looked like they wanted to turn around, so I started driving again. There was a large bridge that spanned the river, so I headed for it. I parked the rover on our side of the river then made a stone garage for it with a few metal bars to lock the collapsible wall in place. Raven and Echo already knew how my metal worked, so I just had to explain the idea behind the structure to Luna. 

 

If things started to go bad, they knew to run for the rover and take off while I held the army back. With such a large bridge, all it would take to stop the army was to destroy the bridge, or so I had hoped, but as we walked across the bridge, I saw over a hundred small boats. It was quickly becoming clear that the only way that I would stop this army was by taking out the head and somehow getting control over the mob that would be left behind.

 

I frowned as a dozen men on horseback rode up with bows in their hands. Luna carried no visible weapons, but Echo had her bow and quiver while Raven was carrying an automatic rifle. I had a pair of rough swords, made out of my metal, strapped to my back, but they were more for show, since my powers were stronger than my skill with the blades. 

 

What bothered me about them was that I could feel a lingering presence of mana in their bodies that felt similar to the strong force that I could sense deep within the campgrounds. I had never sensed mana inside anyone other than Lexa, so the small amount that I felt was troubling. I did not think that they themselves had mana, but rather this was an effect of Iseto's power, similar to how my mana would stay in the metal that I could create. Something that he had done had placed a 'brand' of sorts on these men was what my instincts were telling me.

 

"The center rider is Jako, Iseto's son. He is said to be even more twisted than his father," Echo whispered to me.

 

"Gray flame tattoo over the right brow... You must be Natfaya, the Mountain Slayer," Jako said as he and his men came to a stop.

 

"I am," I replied, stepping a few paces in front of my group.

 

"What brings you to Ashville?" he asked.

 

"Jaemo kom Trishanakru brought word of an uprising in his territory, so Heda sent me to validate his claims," I answered while infusing my mana into the concrete bridge beneath my feet, readying myself for an attack.

 

Jako snickered, "So, that coward managed to survive... Father should not have trusted Jolmal with such an important task."

 

"Then you don't deny it, or his claims?"

 

"What point is there in denying it? Heda thinks that only a hundred and thirty-five people from each clan is worth saving. Tell me, Skaikru, how many of your people are going to burn in Praimfaya?" he mocked.

 

"Can your people run the machines that will give us clean air and water? Grow our food? The number of spots Skaikru takes in the bunkers is less than every other clan and only what is needed for the tech."

 

"But what of your city? No member of the Twelve Clans has been placed inside. Don't speak as if your clan is sacrificing anything," Jako snapped.

 

"Several members of Floukru and Trikru have been placed within Arkadia," Luna replied. "It is their home and they have taken in as many as they could support."

 

"A clan of cowards and another of weaklings," he scoffed. "Is that how Heda plans to keep her power, by reducing our clans to their weakest members?"

 

"We can keep trading insults all day, but we have orders to escort the four hundred people back to Polis. We would prefer that they are made up of Trishanakru, Ingranronakru, and Delfikru members, but if you have decided to abandon the Coalition, those seats can go to those who understand loyalty," I retorted.

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"'Understand loyalty'? Heda has condemned hundreds of thousands of people to die, and we don't understand loyalty?" he spat. "If my orders were not to bring you to my father unharmed, I would cut out that lying tongue of yours."

 

"You would have to have the ability," I mocked with a glare.

 

"Octavia, we didn't come here for a fight," Luna chided.

 

I let out a sigh, trying to push down my bubbling anger, and nodded.

 

"If you are going to take us to Iseto, then we should not keep him waiting," Luna said.

 

Jako snorted angrily but turned his horse and started heading towards the army with his men following behind him. I took the lead of our little group with Luna directly behind me and Echo and Raven on either side of her. Luna was carrying no visible weapons, but she, Echo, and Raven all had pistols hidden under their shirts.

 

Walking through the giant campground was unsettling. Although Jako and his men seemed fairly normal, most people we passed had a glazed over look in their eyes, as they carried out their tasks. Women and children could be seen making arrows while the men were making bows and other weapons. Everyone that I saw had traces of Iseto's mana, but there was a difference between those we passed and the warriors that were escorting us. Within the masses, the mana wavered like a candle in the wind while inside the warriors it was like a strong beating heart.

 

As we drew closer to the replica of the Parthenon, the number of people with a 'brand' instead of a flame grew quickly. They all watched us walk behind Jako's group with poorly disguised anger. The hatred in the air was palpable, and I could even feel it start to affect me, my emotions slowly being stirred.

 

Before we had even reached the steps of the large structure, I could sense his own form of a Domain. I could not tell anything about what his powers might be, but I could feel it pressing against my own. Our powers were not the same, but the mana in our bodies still had an area of influence which was what was pushing against each other. Although it seemed like I had more mana, the stone walls of the ancient Greek style building seemed to be soaked in his mana, making my Earth Domain shrink to only ten feet around me when I stepped onto the stairs.

 

Jako was the only one to dismount and lead us inside, but there were still plenty of warriors spread out inside and outside of the building. Archers lined the second floor's edge and warriors lined the back wall, as we walked into the main chamber where the giant statue of Athena was standing. On the raised platform of the statue, there was a mountain of a man in full armor sitting in a meditative pose. Streaks of gray ran through his wild, red hair that hung down past his shoulders, yet he did not give off the feeling of someone past his prime. 

 

When Iseto opened his eyes, they flashed with a red light, and I sensed a pulse of mana erupt from his body. I flared my own, covering myself in flames and sending more out to wrap around my group, as I deflected his energy. He let out a booming laugh as he stood up.

 

"Forgive me, I still have difficulties controlling my powers, especially in front of a challenge," Iseto said. "When I had heard rumors of you, Natfaya, I had hoped that you would be like me. It has been so long since I faced a worthy opponent."

 

"We have not come here to fight, Iseto, but rather negotiate for the members of Trishanakru, Ingranronakru, and Delfikru," Luna said then she placed a hand on my shoulder, telling me, "Calm down, Octavia."

 

Glancing around, I could see the archers were readying their bows. I clenched my jaw and retracted my flames while doing my best to replicate the aura that he was giving off with my own mana.

 

"You listen to a coward with no strength, pathetic," Iseto spat.

 

"Strength comes in many forms. It takes more resolve to put down the blade, than it does to pick it up for the first time," I retorted.

 

"Life itself is an endless fight, child. As long as there is pride, greed, and envy, humanity will never stop its vicious cycle. Putting down the blade is the same as accepting death. Someone will come and take everything that you love away... then tell me how important it is to not take that revenge, Natfaya," he growled, a faint red glow to his eyes.

 

The memory of burning Emerson to death with my black flames played through my mind, bringing back all of the pain and anger that I felt. Next came the memory of Finn dying in Clarke's arms, and so did the hopelessness and inadequacy that I could not save both him and Bellamy. More memories flashed through my mind; Monty being strapped down on the table in Mount Weather, Murphy hanging from the tree, the faces of Wells, Charlotte, and the nineteen children that I buried by the dropship. For every good thing that I had accomplished, I had allowed for so many more tragedies to happen, and for what? Because I had been nothing more than a coward.

 

The sound of a gunshot broke me out of the trance I had been in. It took a moment for the pain to register, and I touched the hole in the middle of my chest to see black blood coating my fingers. I had not seen her move while I was entranced, but my Wind Domain revealed the person who had shot me at point blank range, Raven.

 

"You are far too young to attempt to copy my power, whelp," Iseto growled.

 

A slumbering rage deep within me awoke with a vengeance, as I sensed the same twisted energy inside Raven that had been in the other people. My body was engulfed in black flames as I transformed into my black demon form which rapidly healed the hole in my chest. I could not help myself, throwing myself at him with a snarl. Iseto gave a bolstering laugh as his own body swelled and was dyed blood red then met my charge head on.

 

"Octavia!" Echo shouted over the sound of gunshots.

 

Luna took ahold of Raven after she shot me and disarmed her. Echo drew her pistol as the archers opened fire on our group and started shooting back. I knew that I needed to protect them, but more than a dozen arrows were fired at them. Forcefully, I stopped my rush at Iseto and blasted a strong wave of Wind from my body. It knocked away the arrows, and even Iseto a couple of feet back, but it also hit Echo, Luna, and Raven, throwing them back nearly a dozen feet and slamming all of them into the back wall.

 

I did not even have a second to make up my mind on whether I would fight or flee with my friends as Iseto came dashing towards me with a long saber in his hand. Honestly, that was more than enough time to make up my mind on what I would do, but it was how I would manage it that was difficult and allowed him to close the distance between us.

 

Iseto sought to bisect me from my right shoulder to my left hip as he delivered a heavy, fast chop. I twisted my body to avoid the blow by doubling my speed and drew my swords. My transformation had changed the rough swords into black rapiers with an intricate guard, that looked like barbed wire that faced outward.

 

Despite missing his first attack, he smoothly transitioned into a horizontal slice that chased after me. I used my swords to block his attack while also twisting my body so that his momentum would push me towards my group. I took in a deep breath as I was pushed back several feet then released a jet of black flames towards Iseto.

 

I conjured more black flames as I turned around and shot them towards the charging warriors to keep them back. My speed was still doubled as I dashed towards Echo, Luna, and Raven, and I grabbed each of them despite the danger that my black flames possessed, but wherever they touched turned white. Raven was unconscious, but that was probably for the best. Echo and Luna both threw an arm around me while their other held onto Raven for me since my arms were around their waists.

 

My wings gave a mighty flap under my desire to fly, and we shot into the air, flying out through the open doorway. I could feel my mana rapidly draining out of me, but I ignored it as I flew out of the area at my fastest speed. The bridge was in sight, so I headed straight for it and descended, since I knew that I could not last much longer. I had never even tried to fly before, so with the addition of three extra people, the only reason that I had managed to accomplish this feat was due to my transformed state.

 

My consciousness started fading, so I twisted my body in the air right before we crashed into the ground. I took the brunt of the impact, and because of my speed, we skidded across the ground, but I refused to let them take any hits, using the Wind around me to keep myself under them. I remembered a lot of pain before the world faded to black, but that was no longer uncommon in my life.

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