The One Who's Fallen

Chapter 139

Lexa and I lead everyone up the stairs, assisting in carrying some of the more tired children. Every adult is in charge of one kid, luckily there's enough people for that. Though the teenagers did protest at first, saying they're not kids. At least they don't use the argument that I'm almost their age.

I'm walk alongside a little boy with skin the color of Raven's and dark eyes full of awe. He has scruffy hair and another adult tells me his name is Lucas and he doesn't talk much. He looks like he's five and I think he may be on the autism spectrum. I was going to pick him up, but the terrified look on his face stopped me. We had a couple autistic people on the Ark, a few of which Mom and I worked with, so I kind of know what to do and what not to do.

I don't offer him my hand, just my silent presence, which he seems to really appreciate. He smiles up at me in thanks.

Lexa, on the other hand, is carrying an even younger kid, a two year old with dark skin she says reminds her of Costia. One of the Maunon adults told us her name is Destiny. To say the least, the others were hesitant to hand her over to Lexa. They're not used to seeing her as a good person. But once they realized that Destiny likes her, they backed off and now just watch warily from a distance.

We lead everyone upstairs, and Lucas powers through all the steps, despite looking exhausted at the end of it. We head to the main room, where the door is propped open and the sounds of people talking comes from. Lexa and I walk inside first, followed by Lucas, who swiftly rejoins my side.

People stop talking and stare at us in confusion. I'm betting no one expected us to resurface with two kids. The others pour in behind us.

I glance around the room, noticing a shower-like cream curtain around where Cage is. Smart. I had hoped that someone would think of something to stop the kids from seeing him. I can't hear his screams either, so I think they gagged him. I mentally commend whoever came up with that.

"You leave for a couple hours and come back with cute kids?" Raven calls as she approaches us, Anya and Luna by her side.

"They're some of the Maunon kids we saved," I explain.

Raven grins at my response, her eyes lighting up as she stops in front of us. "There's so many of them. Amazing."

Lexa sets down Destiny and one of the Maunon adults ushers her and Lucas back to the group of Maunon. I stop her from getting too far and whisper to her about how I think Lucas is autistic.

She nods. "We've been wondering. He's an orphan, has been since before this all happened, so he's been staying with me. We've just been waiting for a diagnosis."

"If you want one, take him to my mom. She's worked with autistic kids before, knows what it looks like. She's your best bet." I say.

"She's so busy, I don't want to bother her..." The woman trails off, glancing over at Lucas.

"She won't mind, trust me." I place a comforting hand on her arm and she smiles thankfully.

The woman nods and thanks me before leading Lucas over to my mom. I smile softly and turn back to Raven and Lexa. Lexa reaches out to take my hand, squeezing gently and not letting go.

"So... What's next?" Raven asks.

"Next, we let the Maunon who want to see Cage see him." Lexa answers. "After that, we let then say their goodbyes to their people. Then, if they want to stay here, we set up camp and help them clean the place."

"Sounds good. Do you want to let them know about Cage?" Raven questions.

Lexa nods. "Yes, Clarke and I will do it. Can you work on making sure the bodies are properly placed? This will be a large fire, we need to be sure it is not too close to any trees."

"We will do that," Anya responds, placing a hand on Raven's shoulder.

"Mochof (thank you)." Lexa says.

"Pro (you're welcome)."

Anya grasps Lexa's forearm before she, Luna, and Raven head towards the exit. Lexa and I walk back to the last Maunon.

"If any of you would like to see Cage, he is behind those curtains over there." I point to it.

They nod and only a few people break off, the others deciding they don't want to or that they would prefer to stay with the kids.

Lexa and I pull out some chairs and sit down for what feels like the first time in a while. I watch as my mom talks to Lucas and the woman, as healers swarm the prisoners rescued from the Maunon, as people go behind the curtain and come back out with a grave expression. I rest my head on Lexa's shoulder, fighting back a yawn. I'm going to sleep well tonight.

As the last Maunon comes out from behind the curtains, Lexa stands and pulls me to my feet as well.

"We must see if he is alive." Lexa explains. "If he is, we will deliver the final blow."

We go behind the curtains to see Cage, slumped on the floor, still bound and gagged. I kneel down in front of him and press my fingers to his neck to check for a pulse. My fingers come away sticky with blood and I nod up to Lexa.

"He's alive, but barely. One cut should finish him off." I answer her unasked question.

"Thank you. Shall we do this together?" Lexa questions.

I nod and Lexa pulls out her favorite dagger, the one she had when we first met. She crouches down beside me and taps his head. Cage's eyes open and then widen, letting out a muffled scream. His feet weakly scramble, trying to get traction on the floor that's sticky with his blood.

Lexa presses the tip of her dagger over his heart. I raise an eyebrow. It's really hard to pierce the heart, we will have to go through the sternum in order to do that. Lexa moves her hands down the hilt, giving me enough room to grasp it firmly.

Lexa counts down in Trigedasleng quietly. "Fai, fou, thri, tu, won (five, four, three, two, one)."

On one, we push with all our might. There's a cracking noise and Cage draws his very last breath.

Next chapter, funerals! Yay! So I was writing Lucas and I was like "wait, what if he's autistic" so he is! :) If you want to know more about autism, there's a lot of good resources on the internet! But also, don't trust autism speaks (they're really not good for autistic people). If you want to know why, look up "autism speaks sucks" or "why autism speaks is bad" or something along those lines.

Anyway! I was trying to think of a name for Destiny, so I just decided to name her after this girl I met at camp once. I don't think I've told you guys this (on this story at least)... But a couple years ago I was riding this nice horse named Malakai. We were on a trail ride and went through a pond. It was a hot day and he was like "oh I bet Lindsey's warm, she'll want to get in the water too" so he sits. In the water. With me still on his back. So I fall off into the pond, which has mud that's like a couple inches deep and Destiny, the girl leading the trail ride, is the one to help me out. Anyways, that's just why I named her Destiny. Especially you've managed to get through this long ass author's note, thank you for reading! Thank you for your amazing comments! Stay awesome!