Morning came with silence.
Not peace.
Not victory.
Silence—the kind that follows blood, when even the birds wait to see what happens next.
Camp Drakon stood intact. Reinforced. United. The first Grounder raid had been repelled; casualties minimal, morale high. But Ares wasn't interested in mere survival.
He wanted dominion.
And dominion required conquest.
"We move at noon," he said, voice steady, carrying across the clearing.
The scouts—Monroe, Miller, Atom—stood ready. Octavia tightened her new armor: repurposed Grounder leather, blackened by fire, their old symbols cut away.
Bellamy frowned.
"We just got attacked. Shouldn't we dig in?"
"No," Ares said simply. "They tested us. Now we remind them why that was a mistake."
He turned to Clarke. Her eyes met his—steady, questioning, trusting.
I believe in you.
Don't make me regret it.
He wouldn't.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
Raid Initiated – Objective: Clear hostile scout camp in Sector 3-B
Projected Resistance: Moderate (8–12 Grounders, entrenched position)
Battlefield Bonus: Bonded Allies Present – Tactical Synchronization Enhanced.
Squad Composition:
Ares (Commander)
Octavia (Vanguard)
Kael (Enforcer)
Monroe, Atom, Miller (Strike Team)
Objective: Destroy, Dominate, or Disband hostile camp.
Optional: Leave survivors to spread the message.
The march was quiet.
No chatter. No fear. Only focus.
Tension seeped through the trees like fog. Every movement felt deliberate, disciplined—unified. The air itself seemed to bend around Ares, drawn to his gravity.
He tracked signs the others couldn't: bent leaves, faint ash on bark, the smell of cold iron half a kilometer away. The system sharpened his senses to predatory precision. Each footprint whispered how long ago it had been made. Each gust of wind told him where their prey waited.
They were close.
He crouched in the brush and studied the camp—a rough circle of spears and hides, smoke still rising from the central firepit. Seven Grounders visible. Two on watch. Likely more sleeping inside.
"Flank right," he murmured to Octavia. "Wait for my signal."
She nodded once, vanishing into shadow.
"Kael," Ares said. "When they charge, break the line."
The hybrid's scarred mouth curved into a feral grin.
"Yes… Alpha."
Ares rose from the trees and stepped into the open.
He didn't sneak.
He didn't whisper.
He announced.
"Your scouts failed," he called out, voice like iron striking stone.
"Your raid failed. Your land is now mine."
The Grounders scrambled to their feet, blades flashing, snarling curses in Trigedasleng. A tall one stepped forward, spear raised—a challenge.
Ares met his gaze.
"You want a trial by strength?"
"Fine."
SKILL ACTIVATED: Command Aura
Enemies within 15 m suffer -10 % coordination and morale.
Passive:King of the Ground — Strength & Charm boosted when leading assaults in enemy territory.
They charged.
Kael erupted from the east, smashing through defenses like a living battering ram. Octavia appeared from nowhere, her blade singing—every strike faster, sharper, guided by the divine bond. Her eyes burned faintly gold. When Ares moved, she moved. When he shifted, she struck.
They fought as if one will powered three bodies.
Clarke's link pulsed faintly across the distance, guiding troop formations and wound triage through sheer instinct. Her commands flowed through the unbonded like instinct—no hesitation, no doubt.
The Blood of the Gods was no longer invisible. It had become presence—a weight, a hum, a divine rhythm the others could feel but not understand.
Ares met the Grounder leader mid-charge.
Their blades clashed once—then again.
The third time, Ares caught the man's arm, twisted, and broke it. Bone cracked. The Grounder screamed.
Ares slammed him to the ground and pressed a knee to his chest.
"Remember this pain," he said softly.
Then darkness took the man.
The battle lasted two minutes.
Seven Grounders dead.
Four fled into the forest.
Ares let them go.
SYSTEM UPDATE:
Outpost Conquered – Zone Secured
XP + 2000 → LEVEL 6
Skill Point +1 | Attribute Points +3
Domain Expanded: Sector 3-B under control.
Bonus Activated:Territory Control — +5 % XP and morale regeneration within captured zones.
They didn't burn the camp.
They claimed it.
Ares drove a spear into the ground, wrapped in Ark cloth stained crimson. A banner of conquest.
When they returned, Camp Drakon waited. And Clarke stood at the gate.
"You left with six," she said. "You came back with six… and a map."
He handed it to her—the Grounders' patrol routes and defensive lines, drawn from memory.
"We take the next one tomorrow."
She looked at him—measuring, unreadable.
"You're building something."
"No," Ares said. "We are."
SYSTEM UPDATE:
Bonded Trait Upgrade – Clarke Griffin
Loyalty: Strengthened.
New Ability: Command Alignment — Clarke's crisis decisions now reinforce Host's active strategy within visual range.
Bond Stability: 99 % — Emotional override complete.
That night, there was no celebration.
Only construction.
Weapons sharpened.
Walls rebuilt.
Faith solidified.
And far beyond the firelight, in the deep woods, the Grounders whispered a new name with fear and reverence alike:
"Drakon kom Skai."
The Dragon of the Sky.