In the woods, Gustus collapsed to one knee, the earth beneath him turning dark with his blood. He growled and with a terrifying, wet sound, and grabbed the wooden stake. With a heave of pure, adrenaline-fueled rage, he yanked the wood from his leg. He stared at the bloody, sharpened tip, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Traps?" Gustus hissed, his eyes finding Finn, who was struggling to stand ten yards away. "Coward! You fight with tricks like a Reaper!"
Gustus forced himself up. His leg was mangled, but the rage was acting as a tourniquet. He lunged again, but as he did, his shoulder brushed a thin, nearly invisible tripwire.
'Swish.'
A second trap was triggered by the giant man, a swinging bundle of sharpened branches creaked overhead. Gustus heard the sound and instinctively dived flat into the dirt just as the lethal weight whistling inches above his head. He rolled, coming up covered in mud and dead leaves, his eyes scanning the trees like a cornered animal for traps.
Finn didn't wait, seeing the man was down, he looked up with his one good eye searching the canopy until he saw a tree with a peculiar, circular marking carved into the bark at eye level.
"Another marker," Finn whispered, his voice trembling. "Please, do something helpful." He had seen the same markings on different trees which had signified traps were set close by or with said trees and this was another one.
Gustus saw the boy stop. He saw the weakness. With a roar of defiance, he ignored the pain in his leg and launched himself in a final, desperate tackle. He hit Finn like a falling mountain, the impact throwing both of them against the base of the marked tree.
Gustus quickly immediately had his massive hands around Finn's throat again, his thumbs digging into the boy's windpipe. Finn's face turned a deep, bruised purple. He clawed at Gustus's face, his fingers finding the mangled ear from earlier, but the giant didn't flinch.
"Die," Gustus choked out, blood dripping from his nose onto Finn's cheek. "Die in the dirt where you belong."
Finn's hand fumbled blindly along the base of the tree. His fingers brushed against something hard and sharp hidden beneath the roots, designed to be pulled free.
At the same moment, Gustus felt the boy's resistance waver. In a desperate move to end it, Gustus reached for a piece of the broken wooden trap nearby. He drove the splintered wood downward, aiming for Finn's chest.
Finn twisted, but he wasn't fast enough. The wooden shard tore through his left shoulder, impaling him through the spade of his shoulder blade and pinning him momentarily to the base of the tree. Finn let out a silent scream and his back arched in agony.
But the movement had given him the angle he needed.
With his right hand, Finn swung the hidden spike he had retrieved from the roots. It wasn't a clean strike; it was a desperate, panicked shove. The hardened point caught Gustus in the soft hollow of his throat, just above the collarbone.
The sound was a sickening thudding punch.
Gustus's eyes went wide. The pressure on Finn's throat vanished instantly. The giant let out a gurgling sound, his hands flying to his neck as blood began to fountain between his fingers. He stumbled back, his boots treading clumsily over the roots, until he hit the ground with a heavy, final thud.
Finn lay at the base of the tree, the shard still protruding from his shoulder, gasping for air that finally reached his lungs. He stared at the giant, watching the light fade from his executioner's eyes as he died.
———-
Minutes passed in a heavy, suffocating silence. In the clearing, Lexa's patience had finally shattered. She looked at the dark maw of the forest, the silence coming from within now more terrifying than the screams.
"Something is wrong," she murmured. She signaled to three of her elite warriors. "Go. Find them. Bring me the head of the murderer."
As the soldiers vanished into the trees, a figure emerged from the brush.
It was Finn.
He was barely recognizable. He was covered in a thick layer of mud, leaves, and blood that was both his own and Gustus's. He staggered into the sunlight, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side, the wooden shard still embedded in his shoulder. He took three steps, his eyes glassing over, before his knees buckled.
Jason was the first to move. He didn't wait for permission; he blurred into motion, crossing the distance before the Grounders could even react. He caught Finn before the boy's face hit the gravel.
"I got you," Jason muttered, his voice uncharacteristically soft. He swept a look over the injury, his jaw tightening. "Easy, Space Walker. You're ok, you're going to be just fine."
Clarke, Abby, Octavia, Raven, and Bellamy were right behind him, running towards the collapsed boy, "Finn!" Raven shrieked, falling to her knees beside him.
Finn looked up at Jason, a ghost of a smile touching his bloody lips. "The lone tree... huh..." his voice trailed off into a whisper. "Guess it... wasn't so empty after all."
His eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness in Jason's arms.
Lexa stood frozen at the center of the clearing. Her confusion was palpable, a crack in her stone-cold facade. How could the boy be alive? Where was Gustus?
A moment later, the three soldiers she had sent in returned with their heads bowed and they were carrying a body.
Jason stood up, wiping the dust and Finn's blood from his palms onto his jeans. He gave Abby a sharp nod, gesturing for her and the medical team to take over. "Keep him breathing, Abby. He's earned it."
With a nonchalant air that felt entirely misplaced among the surrounding grief and fury, Jason turned and strolled toward the center of the clearing. He stopped just a few feet from Lexa, looking down at the massive, cooling corpse of Gustus with a tilt of his head.
"Well," Jason remarked in a smooth voice, "Who'd have thunk it? The giant falls, and the little bird flies away. Life is just full of little surprises, isn't it?"
He looked at Lexa, his eyes bright with a dangerous mirth. "Oh, did I forget to mention? I trained him. Yeah, that's my boy right there. He's a quick learner when his life is on the line. I bet you guys weren't exactly expecting this particular outcome, huh?"
Indra stepped forward, her face twisted in a snarl of pure hatred. "You—!"
Jason's expression shifted instantly. The sarcasm vanished, replaced by a cold, deadly seriousness that made the air around him feel heavy. He ignored Indra's outburst and locked eyes with the Commander.
"The results are clear," Jason said, his voice ringing out across the silent clearing. "Finn won the trial by combat. He's the one standing; your man isn't." He gestured loosely toward Gustus's body. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry you had to lose someone again, Lexa. Truly. But the debt is settled."
"This was trickery!" Indra spat, her hand trembling on her sword hilt. "A boy like that does not kill Gustus!"
Jason narrowed his eyes as a cold and predatory stillness settled over him. He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a low, icy whisper that made Indra hesitate. "Am I to assume, Indra, that the great Twelve Clans would choose to ignore their own ancient traditions just because they didn't like the ending of the show? Because that sounds a lot like weakness to me."
"Enough!" Lexa's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
She turned away from Jason, facing her army. Her expression was unreadable, but her voice was a pillar of iron. "This trial has come to an end! The boy wins by the laws of our ancestors. By that law, he shall live! The debt is paid!"
A low murmur rippled through the Grounder ranks, confusion, anger, and a reluctant respect. Indra let out a sharp, frustrated breath and stormed off toward the treeline, her cape snapping behind her like a whip.
Jason let out a long sigh and offered a shallow, mock-respectful bow. "Thank you, Heda. You are indeed as wise as they say. Consistency is key to good branding."
Lexa didn't look at him at first. She stared at the woods where her soldiers were beginning to gather their gear. "You really are a snake, Jason," she said, her voice quiet and dangerous.
Jason arched an eyebrow, his smirk returning slightly without looking up. "Ohhh? Now, what could you possibly mean by that? I've been a perfect gentleman this entire time."
Lexa finally turned just as he looked up, looking him dead in the eye. "Do you think I, for one moment, believe that boy could have defeated Gustus alone? In those woods?"
Jason shrugged, his expression a mask of feigned innocence. "Hey, you saw me right here the whole time. I didn't move an inch. Unless I've developed the ability to be in two places at once which, honestly, would be great for my schedule. I'm as surprised as you are."
Lexa didn't blink. She turned around, beginning to walk toward her horse, but she stopped and looked back over her shoulder one last time. "Hmm," she murmured, a dark, knowing look in her eyes before she turned away for good.
Jason watched her go, his hands tucked casually into his pockets. As the Grounder army began to retreat into the shadows of the forest, the "annoying" smile returned to his face, wider and more satisfied than before.
'And who says the fight had to be fair?' he thought, 'Fairness is for people who want to end up like Gustus.'