Ashes of the FutureChapter 17 – Echoes in the Mist
The forest beyond Tondc was silent in a way that made Kira's instincts tighten. No birds, no wind, only the sound of her footsteps crunching over damp leaves. She had volunteered to lead a scouting party that morning, claiming she needed the fresh air. In truth, the lingering tension with Roan's arrival had frayed her nerves, and staying coiled beside Lexa in the command tent was starting to feel suffocating.
She needed to move. To think.
A few warriors trailed behind her, but she paid them little mind. Her senses reached ahead, brushing through the undergrowth like tendrils of intent. Something wasn't right.
She knelt suddenly, hand against the earth. It was cold and wet, but that wasn't what caught her attention. There—bootprints, recently made, and far too close to their eastern watch.
"Someone's been here," she muttered. "Double back to Lexa. Now."
The warriors hesitated. Kira didn't raise her voice, but her tone sharpened like steel.
"Go."
They obeyed, disappearing down the trail. Kira unsheathed her blade and slipped into the trees, following the prints.
Lexa met her halfway back to camp.
"What did you find?" the Commander asked.
Kira relayed the signs quickly. "I think it was a spy. Azgeda most likely. They're testing us."
Lexa's jaw tightened. "Roan swore he came alone."
"And you believed him?" Kira raised a brow.
Lexa didn't rise to the bait. "I believed he believed it. He's a warrior, not a fool. He knows his mother plays games."
"Then we play better."
Lexa's lips twitched. "You're beginning to sound like me."
Kira grinned. "No, you're beginning to sound like me."
They returned to Tondc just before sundown. The rain had passed, leaving behind a thick fog that crawled along the ground like a living thing. Fires burned low in the village, casting orange halos in the mist.
Roan was waiting for them.
He stood near the training yard, arms crossed, expression unreadable. Kira approached first.
"We found signs of someone watching the eastern perimeter."
His gaze didn't flicker. "It wasn't mine."
"Then whose?"
"I don't know."
Kira didn't trust him, but her gut told her he was telling the truth. Still, she wasn't about to let her guard down.
"We'll be watching you," she said simply.
"I expect nothing less."
Later, in the war tent, Kira leaned over a map while Lexa paced behind her.
"They're testing us," Lexa murmured. "Small incursions. Probes."
"They'll keep coming unless we bloody their nose."
Lexa nodded slowly. "I agree. But not with open war. Not yet."
"Then we hit their scouts. Quietly. Make them think we're everywhere."
Lexa stopped pacing. "You would lead these strikes?"
"I would. With your permission."
Lexa's eyes held hers for a long moment. "You have it."
There was something charged in the silence that followed. A current running under the surface.
"Come walk with me," Lexa said.
They walked beyond the edge of Tondc, where the fog was thickest and the stars barely glimmered through the mist. Kira's shoulder brushed Lexa's now and then, though neither moved away.
"You were dreaming last night," Lexa said finally.
Kira exhaled. "Yeah."
"Was it the fire again?"
Kira nodded. "You died. I couldn't stop it."
Lexa didn't reply immediately. When she did, her voice was low. "Dreams are warnings. Or promises."
Kira stopped walking. "Which do you think mine are?"
"I think you see more than most. And I think that frightens you."
Kira laughed once, dry and short. "Everything about this world should frighten me."
"But it doesn't."
"No," Kira admitted. "It doesn't."
They stood there in silence, the mist curling around their legs, the night heavy with unspoken things.
"I don't know what this is," Kira said softly. "You and me."
Lexa's voice was quiet. "It's something."
Kira looked at her then. Really looked. "I need time."
Lexa nodded. "I have time. But not forever."
"I'm not asking for forever. Just not yet."
Another silence. But this one was comfortable. Weighty.
When they walked back, it was side by side, shoulders brushing more deliberately.
The next morning, Kira left before dawn with her small strike team.
Three hours later, they returned with a captured spy, bloodied and silent. Ice Nation. Exactly as she'd suspected.
Lexa met them at the gates, eyes sharp.
"Well done," she said.
Kira didn't reply. She was covered in dirt and blood. But her eyes sparkled with grim satisfaction.
"I made sure he'll talk," she said simply.
Lexa watched her for a long moment. "You're becoming something... more."
"I'm just surviving."
"No," Lexa said. "You're preparing to lead."
Kira looked away. "One war at a time."
Lexa smiled faintly. "Agreed."
End of Chapter 17
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