Chapter Nine

Caine knew that he had free reign of his actions in the south. When he departed from Ramon’s camp, he led his chosen team of Domineers directly south along a path leading through a gap in the Dividing Mountains of the Dark Zone. When he first proposed his plans to Ramon, he had been sure to take every element into account. He told Ramon that, given the events he witnessed take place at the Citadel, he knew what sort of strategy they would need if they had any hope of taking down the Ravennites before they attacked first.

The first thing Caine took into account about the Ravennites’ Citadel was its fortifications. The fortress was perched at the top of a lone plateau and was encircled by a formation of mountains. The plateau itself was too steep to be scaled, and it was true that the only way in and out of the Citadel was across a narrow strip of eroded land that formed a natural bridge from the plateau to one of the adjacent mountains. 

All of these details were revealed when the Outsider, Alex Lee, informed Robert Morenno about the Citadel when he was taken into the Iron Furnace camp. Even Alex had been confident that these factors would ensure the Citadel’s invulnerability. However, Robert impressed Caine when his Domineers managed to breach the walls of the Citadel by ziplining over them from a neighboring elevation. Despite the surprising effectiveness of their sneak attack, Caine doubted they would ever be able to attempt it a second time. The Ravennites would surely be prepared for it.

The second observation Caine made during the battle was the Ravennites’ defenses. He had never seen the Citadel before that night, but from what the boy from the Outside told them, it was easy to assume that the Ravennites would have fortified themselves behind their walls. He was surprised, however, to see that the Ravennite warrior, Malachai, had organized a defensive line along the land bridge that managed to fight back every single wave of attacks the Domineers sent at them. Even after the Domineers breached the Citadel’s walls and opened the gates from the inside, Malachai’s men were able to stave off their attackers. He was a remarkably powerful warrior, second only to Delmar himself, as Caine saw it. It was no surprise to him that Robert Morenno never stood a chance locking swords with Malachai. Against Caine’s advice, the fool had rushed to face Malachai hand to hand, and it did not take long for Malachai to run him through as the last of Robert’s army fled back into the woods.

The Ravennites were formidable opponents. Caine witnessed that firsthand, and the arrival of Darowe had undeniably turned the tide of the battle in their favor. In a matter of minutes, the Domineers' will to fight had been crushed. 

The Ravennites had it all; their fortress was well fortified, their numbers had doubled with the addition of Darowe’s people, and their morale had undoubtedly soared since then. Caine knew it would be impossible to attack them again like that.

Why was he doing this? Did the realization of betraying his own people, his own family, ever cross his mind anymore? It did; as a matter of fact, he felt it every day. He had grown cold and his heart had become hard as stone. 

Most nights, Caine would stare up at the moon, allowing it to envelop its light around him, and wonder what caused him to do the things that he did. His father was among the few who was against severing all ties with the Outside. He believed that the Ravennites would flourish if their two worlds continued to cooperate with each other, and he passed his convictions down to his son.

Caine’s mind had become nothing more than a solid shell enclosing his true feelings; feelings he could not release if he tried. However, there was still one Ravennite left who managed to cause him so much mental discomfort, as if the emotions he had locked away were being forced to the surface, and it was driving him to the brink of insanity. Caine thought she had died years ago when Ravenna was destroyed, and she had believed the same about him. 

Rowan; the younger sister of Delmar, the new Chief. When he confronted her at the Iron Furnace, the first thing Caine noticed was how much she had grown. She was no child anymore. Despite the suffering of her people, Rowan appeared to have the bearings of her father. It was in her enthralling eyes alone that Caine was able to realize the true convictions of her people in their darkest hour. Still, looking into those eyes, he constantly wondered if Rowan knew the truth; the truth behind the sudden attack on Ravenna - the truth of herself. 

And yet, he thought to himself, what was it she called him then? ‘Traitor.’ The word hardly fazed the cold shell of his mind. However, the thought that constantly plagued him in the dead of night was the image of what Rowan would do if she ever learned who had truly killed her father.

Caine’s attention was distracted from such thoughts as he walked out of the dense tree lines. Early that morning, as instructed by Ramon Morenno months ago, Caine had personally sent a messenger back to Ramon’s camp. It would take some time for the message to reach Ramon if they wanted to avoid the prying eyes of the Ravennites. 

For two months, Caine had established an outpost of his own just south of the mountains that divided the Dark Zone. The Ravennites had all but backed Ramon into a corner, and Caine could tell that he was itching to fight them hand to hand once more, if only to avenge his fallen brother. Caine, however, believed that he could give Ramon the edge he needed to break the Ravennites’ fortress once and for all.

In the southern regions of the Dark Zone, under no one else’s radar but his own, Caine walked out of the trees and into a large, open plain, where his team had spent nearly all their time cutting down every tree in a ten-acre area. They had plenty of time and all the resources that they needed. Caine stopped at the edge of the clear cut and examined the area. The Domineers had stocked all the trees they brought down along the edge of the plain, where they continued to cut them to pieces and shape them according to their designs.

Caine knew specifically what sort of weapons the Domineers needed for them to bring down the Citadel. Robert Morenno managed to get around the Ravennites’ walls, but it was still not enough. He knew that Ramon wanted more than anything to attack them again, but unlike his foolish brother, he had listened intently to Caine’s advice against it. If the Citadel had not been completely impenetrable before, then it was now, the Ravennites would have made sure of it. Therefore, Caine knew that instead of maneuvering around their defensive structures, they needed to simply overpower them.

Standing in the deforested plain, Caine began to grow a wide, malicious grin across his face as he stared at the center of the valley. Resting in a long row, his Domineers had constructed a series of trebuchet-like weapons with the purpose of crippling the Citadel once and for all. There were about a dozen of them standing in the center of the field, and more of them were still being built. Not even Ramon Morenno knew about this, let alone the Ravennites, and once his messenger reached Ramon’s camp, they would send a detachment down south to prepare their new strategy for one final stand against the Ravennites. If this long, painful conflict finally ended, then maybe he would be able to find a little bit of peace of mind.