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Chapter Thirty-Nine
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2021-12-30 03:00:27The cold air hit Robert as soon as he stepped outside. The gust gnawed at the flesh of his face. This is what the cold seasons felt like every year in these dreary hills, but he was no stranger to it anymore. Caine was already waiting for him outside the structure, just as his messenger had said. Robert glared at him through the columns of breath that escaped his nostrils. Caine absorbed his look and shot it right back at him. He opened his mouth to speak but was suddenly cut off when Robert put his hand up.
“Don’t,” he snarled at Caine. “If you’re just gonna try to give me another pointless lecture, you can leave right now.”
Caine narrowed his eyes at his ignorance. “I’m not here for myself,” he gave a sharp response. “I have more news from your brother.”
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Alex and Rowan returned to the Ravennites’ camp just before the sun had set. The temperature, though cold enough during the day, still dropped significantly. The Ravennites within the walls of their outpost were gathered by the firesides. Several were armed and guarding the wall on all sides. Alex had gone over to one of the large fire pits near the center of the campsite, where the Ravennites were preparing and cooking the meat of the game they hunted, which mainly consisted of deer. Alex collected two thin slabs of venison and headed to the small campfire that he set up near the wall. Rowan was sitting alone by the fire and looking down at her wooden pendant again. As Alex approached, he glanced at the charm. As usual, the first thing that caught his eye was the strange, red symbol at the top of the charm’s face that Rowan apparently could not see.Alex went to sit down next to Rowan. “
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Feeling himself growing paranoid, Alex groaned quietly and glanced back into the outpost. “What’s taking you so long, Rowan?” To his surprise, as soon as he had looked away, Alex heard another rustling sound amongst the trees, this one much closer than the first. He jolted his attention back toward the tree lines, breathing sporadically. It took a few seconds for his sight to properly readjust. Alex blinked his eyes a couple times to be sure that he was seeing this right: someone was standing at the edge of the trees, and they were looking right at him.The dark figure was tall and lanky, but also broad shouldered, standing absolutely motionless. Alex became just as still as he stared right back at the figure. It seemed like the environment all around him had gone completely silent; so silent that he could clearly hear his own low breathing. “Who-” Alex stammered, half-afraid
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Alex never felt himself hit the ground. Soon after his eyes had gone black, he regained his sight, but to his confusion, he could not remember where he had been before he was suddenly knocked out. Alex could not remember much of anything right now, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself gazing at some sort of vision.Nothing about his current surroundings felt real. Alex’s eyes were burning and his sight was slightly blurred. He was not sure where he was. The only thing he found himself looking at was a man standing a few yards away with his back turned to him. The man did not move, and Alex was unable to make out any of his features or anything in the distance, as his entire vision was cloaked by a bright light. The only thing he could see was that this man was holding something in his right hand. The object looked like a large sword, but instead of a blade, there were a series o
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Alex suddenly jolted awake, gasping in shock. He immediately remembered somebody blindsiding him and knocking him unconscious. He recalled a strange red light, but never felt anything hit him. He figured the Domineers had captured him as he tried to hurry back to the campsite.Alex tried to move, but realized that he was wedged into a tight alcove in the side of a dead tree. A quick look around revealed that he had not been taken anywhere after he was knocked out. He was still out in the woods bordering the outpost, but someone must have placed him in this tree. Who and why, he had no idea.As his senses quickly started returning to him, he soon became cold, as he had been lying out here for far too long. It was still nighttime, but the sound of the chaos in the distance was gone, telling him that the fight was over.
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Several miles away, at the Iron Furnace, Caine was isolated in his private quarters, which was hardly more than a large tent he built adjacent to the furnace tower. It was dimly lit by a single torch that stood on the ground near the back of the tent. Caine was standing in front of a single shelf hanging suspended on one of the beams supporting the tent’s frame. On it sat several old-looking wine bottles, all of which were filled with the clear-colored alcoholic drink.Caine poured the wine from one of the bottles into an old, aluminum cup and drank from it, wincing as he did so. One thing he learned from these outsiders when they established themselves in his territories was how to make wine for himself, which he had done over the course of the summer for when the colder months arrived. Though he had never quite grown accustomed to the taste, in the back of his mind, he felt a very distant sense of
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Less than an hour had gone by since Alex recovered Malachai from the debris. He still hadn’t woken up yet, and the nighttime sky did not lighten at all. Alex’s sense of time had been completely disoriented since he was knocked out himself. All this time he spent stealthily patrolling the shattered remains of the outpost, hoping that the Domineers in the area would not be coming back to scavenge the campsite, or that the Ravennites from the Citadel might come to his aid.Despite enduring the winter weather for weeks now, Alex was feeling colder than ever; not just on the outside, but in his mind and heart as well. In the span of less than a single night, it seemed that all of the efforts they had made in the name of hope had been ripped away. Everyone was gone; either captured or killed, and only Malachai remained. Rowan was gone, and he blamed himself. He abandoned his post, and for all he knew
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Frustrated as he was, Alex had to admit that, for the first time, he and Malachai were on the same page. Knowing this, Alex composed himself and proceeded to catch up with Malachai. “Then I’m coming with you.”“What?” Malachai retorted. “I don’t want you with me!”“But you need me. You can’t do this by yourself.”“You really think I need you?” Malachai snickered. “The Ravennites have gotten along perfectly fine without you here, and especially without the scum that came before you.”Alex was on the verge of snapping. He was so sick and tired of Malachai’s attitude toward him. “Stop blaming me for what the Morennos did to you. I’m nothing like them!”
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Sensing that he had been knocked unconscious once again, Alex opened his burning eyes. He was staring at the same mysterious vision he had seen before, but his mind was so dazed that he could not think anything of it. Just as before, he was looking at the shrouded figure of a man cloaked by a bright light in the distance. The man was holding the same massive, sword-like object. Alex remained motionless with a mixture of fear and curiosity running through his head as the vision repeated itself.“Who are you?” The echoing voice of the man spoke up again.This time, the vision did not end. At first, Alex thought the man was speaking to him, but suddenly he heard the sound of a woman's voice respond to him.“My grandfather’s grandf
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Robert Morenno and his personal guard stood on their hill aside the fight and looked on hopelessly. Caine was visibly afraid and seemed to know that the battle was already over. The arrival of Darowe’s forces was the last thing he expected. He gave his leader a serious look. “Morenno!” he urged him desperately. “It’s over! We need to retreat!” Robert did not respond to him. He turned his attention toward the bridge and saw Malachai and Alex fighting their way across. Suddenly, he reached over his shoulders and pulled two, curved swords from the scabbards harnessed on his back. With a furious glare on his face, he ran down the small hill and charged into the battle. Caine was shocked and bewildered by his actions. “YOU FOOL!”Malachai had completely forgotten how tired he was. All that mattered to him right now was finishing off their enemy. It had become enti
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The sun was beginning to make its ascent as the sky started to lighten. It was at that moment, when all the Ravennite warriors were being overwhelmed by the immense loss of hope, that a great sound suddenly rang throughout the mountains and over the Citadel. It was a deep sound, loud and echoing, originating nearby from the hills south of the plateau’s land bridge. Alex opened his eyes and gazed up curiously. All the fighting had suddenly ceased everywhere, and everyone turned their attention toward the source of the noise. There was no mistaking; it was the sound of a horn.As it rang up, Robert and Caine looked over to their left. The sound of the horn was originating about a hundred yards away, from the hills skirting the mountains surrounding the Citadel. Caine took a step back in intimidation. “Oh, no,” he muttered, a look of genuine fear on his face.
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Rowan had nearly four dozen arrows packed into her quiver before the battle, and she had just used the last one. Although she did not miss a single shot, the Domineers’ numbers were too great for her to handle on her own, but with her help, Alex was able to lead the Ravennites around him to stand their ground and keep their enemies away from the tower. Not knowing what else to do, Rowan decided that her best option was to make her way down to the tower armory and retrieve more arrows. The battle was not over yet.Even from across the distance of the plateau, Rowan’s attention was suddenly captured by a terrifying sound. She looked out with wide eyes across the battlefield and saw the Citadel’s gates being opened. She shook her head in terror, her arms beginning to tremble. It could not be true; the Domineers had taken the gates. Now Malachai and his men would be flanked and crushed, just
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On top of the tower, Rowan was shaking as she felt her restraint beginning to fail. She turned and ran back to Delmar’s map room. Altha noticed her run off.“Where are you going?” she asked, feeling worried for her. She could not believe how serious this plight had become. Even Delmar was struggling to defend his people against the onslaught of the Domineers. They were storming the ground and the long catwalks, and they had the Ravennites vastly outnumbered.Suddenly, like a blur in the corner of her eye, Altha saw Rowan rush forward and take a leap off the side of the overlook. “Rowan, no!” Altha cried.Rowan had retreated back into the map room, where she had left her bow and quiver when Delmar ordered her to take shelter. She grabbed her bow and slung her quiver full of arrows
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The treelines began to lighten up before soon breaking apart completely as the Domineers closed in on the Citadel. The snow was still falling lightly and they were all shivering in the cold, but more than that, most of them found themselves to be itching for their scrape against the savage Ravennites. Robert Morenno had them all convinced that this would be the day they crushed them once and for all. He told them that they would avenge all those they lost at the Iron Furnace, and he told them, most importantly, that they would be taking no prisoners this time. They were going to have to rely on their advantage of numbers to win.The light of the torches all around the Citadel gave it away as the Domineers finished their approach and stopped several yards before the natural land bridge that Alex had described. Robert perched himself on top of a small rise of land at the edge of the treeline, joined by Caine
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Alex’s mind was flashing back to his meeting with Robert only hours before. He recalled the sadistic and perverse manner that Robert intended to get the information he wanted from Alex. He could still hear that chilling threat replaying in his head.“Tick tock, Alex,” the voice of Robert Morenno echoed in his head. He could see him holding Rowan’s pendant in front of him. “Tell me where the Ravennites are hiding, or you can watch her die.”Alex was trembling as Robert’s ultimatum gnawed at his mind. He felt as though he was all alone now, with Malachai and Zak having been taken to a cell only moments before. Now, more than ever, he did not know what to do. He was torn between his loyalty to Rowan’s people and her own life. He despised this man for holding him by the throat with such brazen cruelty.
