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Chapter Twenty-Two
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2022-01-14 05:52:19Rowan was not the only one preparing herself for the terrible weather to come. When Caine had taken his team of Domineers deep into the mountains, the first thing he had them do was construct a shelter near the edge of the clear-cut in anticipation of the storm. Most of the Domineers were skeptical of the severity of such an event, oftentimes laughing and shrugging it off as hardly anything to be worried about. It took a great deal of scrutiny from Caine, and sometimes threatening, for the Domineers to create a shelter large enough to house them all when the storm struck the Dark Zone and sturdy enough to withstand its powerful winds.
Later that evening, the Domineers had all gathered inside the tight-knit walls of their shelter. Their jeering about Caine’s warning of the storm had all but ceased after the precursor event that morning. They had moved all their firewood inside, which they were already
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Rowan knew the clay mines were always prepared for situations such as this. She and her Domineer prisoner walked through the mine for almost an hour. The darkness of the tunnels did not bother Rowan in the least, but with her captive’s arm around her shoulders again, she could feel him breathing and trembling in fear, and frankly, it did nothing but annoy her.Eventually, Rowan stopped and set the Domineer down onto the cold floor of the mine. Listening intently, she could hear that the winds of the terrible storm had already begun engulfing the mountains once more. In no time at all these mines could become nothing short of a frozen tomb. Rowan felt around the walls until her hand came across an object suspended there.At this point, she finally felt relieved as she stripped herself of the Outsider’s filthy clothes she had thrown over her own
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Miles away, Alex and Kota managed to find shelter of their own shortly before the storm resumed. They had hiked along the riverside for the majority of the day, until at last, Kota spotted a large tree growing into the rocky side of the cliff. Due to its interrupted growth pattern, the tree’s roots had been pulled upward from the ground for several feet. The two of them realized that if they could quickly secure it into a small sanctuary, then there was a chance they might be able to survive the night.As the sun slowly began its descent in the sky, and the winds picked up again, Alex and Kota finished fixing their shelter beneath the roots of the great tree, which was made of little more than branches and sticks they had anchored into the ground surrounding the tree. It was the best they could do, and both of them knew it would be nothing short of a miracle if it survived the incredible force of the
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Rowan’s eyes were glazing over as she struggled to remain awake by the fireside. Her Domineer captive had been unconscious for hours. In a way, she almost regretted having knocked him out earlier; not because it made her feel guilty, but rather she felt as though she needed the closure of finishing what her best friend had begun, and that meant finding out what the Outsider knew.The mines were quiet, and it certainly helped to soothe Rowan’s dismal spirit. The storm winds had been dying down until they sounded like hardly more than soft gusts whipping through the trees. This told Rowan that the storm was almost over and it must have been nearing dawn. She felt her consciousness daze once more with exhaustion, but she suddenly jolted awake. Whether or not it was merely her disoriented vigilance playing tricks on her, she was not sure, but she could have sworn she heard something coming fr
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Meanwhile, below in the clay mines, Matheus took Rowan back to the fire they had prepared. She was relieved to see that everyone who remained at the campsite after the Runners left managed to make it underground and away from the terrible storm. She wished she could have said the same for the last of the Runners.Rowan sat by the fireside, which was much larger than the one she had made for herself and her captive. The heat it gave off was warm and comforting, especially since it sounded as though the storm had finally passed. As she warmed herself up, Matheus gave her a sliver of venison from their rations, which she dug into heartily.As the two of them took time to relax after everything they had been through, Matheus asked Rowan what happened during the Runners’ last foray against the Domineers. Rowan proceeded to tell him about their infiltration of
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Back at Rowan’s fire, Ian had finally regained consciousness. The first thing he had noticed was that his captor was gone, and no doubt it had crossed his mind that it may have been his only opportunity to escape while he could, but something told him it was against his better judgment. The Ravennite girl who captured him may have been young, but she had proven to him a force to be reckoned with. After she knocked him out, making her angry further was the last thing he wanted to do, so he simply stayed where he was; lying by the weakening fireside in the same position as when he had awoken.Only moments later, he could see his captor returning from out of the darkness of the tunnels. Rowan did not seem to take notice of her Domineer prisoner lying right where she had left him. Her eyes were drowning in raw anger. She suddenly stopped and threw her fists against the dirt surface of the mine wall, lett
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The exhaustion was overpowering. Alex could not tell exactly how long the two of them had been lumbering through the snow. It felt like hours had gone by, and Alex was becoming dazed and tired, constantly licking his lips due to near dehydration. They did not seem to be making much progress as they hiked alongside the frozen river.As they trudged along, Alex noticed a strange sensation come over him as he felt the hairs on his arms standing up. His mind was fuzzy and disoriented, and understandably so, but with every moment that passed, the air around him was feeling more and more empty and still. It almost seemed unnatural, just like Rowan had described the storm in the first place.Alex stretched out his arms and glanced back at Kota. “How are you doing?” he asked hoarsely. “Are you alright?”
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The very first step he took into the valley felt strange enough. Alex did not know how deep the snow would be, but he was somewhat shocked when his foot barely pressed down into it, almost as if the snow was solid. That, however, was not the only peculiar thing that dug its way into his mind. He thought the air felt still and empty before, but it was different now. Alex knew he simply had to be losing his mind; the atmosphere had never felt so strange to him before. He waved his arm through the air, but he felt little to no resistance. It was almost as though the air was not even there.Alex could not tell how long they had been walking. His natural sense of time had all but diminished. He was becoming increasingly light headed the longer he was exposed to these low temperatures, so much so that he could hardly feel the pain of the cold anymore. All he could feel was the overbearing sense of emptiness surr
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The day turned to night very slowly while Rowan and the rest of the Ravennites remained underground. Matheus warned that the temperatures would still be too cold following the storm, and that it would be best to wait until morning to leave and head back to the Citadel. It was difficult to tell, however, seeing as no one was permitted to leave the mines. It would be a journey of many miles back to the Citadel, and Matheus said he did not want to take any unnecessary risks; it would be best to give the mountains time to recover after such a terrible storm.Rowan was restless all day. She got very little sleep the previous night. The dreadful sensation of hopelessness at the thought of the loss of her friend was almost too much to bear. It engulfed her heart in a cold darkness, and had almost brought her mind to the brink of collapse, as if she desired nothing more than to simply escape this horrible reality
Last Updated : 2022-01-15
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Seven years laterFor seven years, the Ravennites worked to rebuild their lives after the devastating war with the Domineers, maintaining their distance from the world beyond their borders. No Outsider had entered the Dark Zone in all that time, until now.The Ravennites had all but abandoned the Citadel. Despite that, few Ravennite sentries remained posted atop the plateau at all times, as though they were guarding something.The sun was making its descent on a cool spring evening. After all this time, the walls of the Citadel remained standing, as well as the tower, but it was not enough to stop the dark figure ascending the steep plateau toward the fortress above. The Ravennites had long boasted of the impenetrability of the Citadel on all sides. The Domineers had been able to breach their walls only once, and near
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Alex was panting and sweating profusely in no time, but he could not let the exhaustion get to him. Walking beside the long road leading away from the mountains, he stopped periodically to rest for a moment and sip what water was left in his canteen. Every time he tasted the spring water, he felt instantly reinvigorated. Very few vehicles passed him along the way. He tried to flag a few of them down to ask for a ride, but nobody would stop for someone so ragged-looking. As Alex watched them go, it was almost as if he was on an alien planet. He had not seen one in so long, and he knew that readjusting to his old life was definitely going to take some time.Many miles later, Alex stopped to rest under the shade of a small cluster of trees along the side of the road. To his disdain, he emptied the last contents of his canteen into his dry mouth. His legs were aching and he was starting to become dehydrated, a
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Alex’s mind was made up. He had decided he would spend a final three days among the people of Ravenna before setting out for the Outside. This he felt would give him more than enough time to prepare himself to leave and, as a personal matter, a chance to spend the last of these days with his closest friend.Alex kindly requested of Delmar that word of his intentions to leave this time did not get out to the rest of the Ravennites, at least until he had gone. He thought it would be best for him to simply slip away as quietly as possible. The people had lessened their habits lately of referring to him by the name of Winter’s Bane, but their behavior around him never changed. They would salute him every time he stepped foot outside the cottage. Many of them seemed too nervous to make eye contact with him, and they almost always moved out of the way whenever they saw him coming. Alex was used
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Even Delmar knew it was not over yet. Despite the fall of Ramon Morenno and the total collapse of the Domineers, there were few who managed to escape the valley and had presumably gone into hiding. Delmar was not willing to let his guard down until he was certain that the mountains were safe once again.For the next few weeks following the battle in Ravenna, Delmar mobilized as many scouting parties as he could to comb the mountains and root out any and all Domineer stragglers. In time, many, if not all the Outsiders, were either found and captured or gave themselves up in fear, but Delmar ordered that they be brought back to the valley before exiling them back to the world from which they came.As Rowan observed her brother’s merciful actions toward them, she herself felt an unusual notion of pity. Thanks to Alex, she had more than enough faith to
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The cool gusts of wind flowed all around him as Alex slowly regained consciousness. As the light returned to his eyes, he found himself gazing up at the beautiful, green canvas of the springtime trees and the calming sound of flowing water filled his ears. He recognized the feeling of pure and intangible tranquility - he was lying in the Oasis.“This is not real,” he muttered quietly as he lay still upon the damp stone between the two flowing streams.“Of course it’s real. Why would you think that?”Alex sat up at the sound of her familiar voice. There, sitting on the edge of the cliff looking out at the mountains in the distance, was the young woman he had seen in his visions of the abandoned Citadel. Her hand was resting lightly in the stream as it flowe
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Amidst the massive skirmish, Alex whipped around at the sound of the breaking catapult. Not only him, but the Domineers had been swayed by the commotion as well, and Alex noticed the Ravennites rushing to assault the last one standing.Alex took this brief opportunity to scan the battlefield. It seemed that the Ravennites were inadvertently dividing their efforts. The majority of the chaos was spread out across the center of the valley; those around him were engaging all enemies left and right with no intentions except to kill. Delmar and Ramon were locked in a hand to hand duel as they moved blindly around the field, all while the rest of the Ravennites were pushing their way toward the Domineers’ catapults with little resistance. Alex tensed himself as he realized the tide of the battle would almost certainly shift in favor of one of them at any moment, and it all depended on who made the daring mo
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At Delmar’s command, the Ravennites retreating immediately released a series of battle cries before returning to the fight. Alex turned his head to see them charging forth. He could feel his head burning intensely amidst the raging ferocity of the battle. He glanced back around as the enemy was upon them. Their numbers were still too great.Malachai stood by his side as the Ravennites gathered. “Are you with me?” Alex said quietly. Malachai looked him in the eye with a serious expression. He said nothing, but gave a slight head nod as he seemed to understand what Alex was thinking. Without saying another word, Alex broke from the weak formation, with Malachai by his side, crying out as they charged and the Ravennites followed right behind them.There was no time between them anymore. The last of the two armies were upon each other immediately,
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Rowan had been running through the woods and hills for hours. She stopped only to catch her breath, but as she made her way deeper into the northern territories of the mountains, she was all but exhausted. She could feel the cold sweat in her hair and the sting of the winter air in her throat with every breath she took.Rowan was not sure if this was fate or irony. She knew the path she was taking up the mountainside well, for she had been through it years ago when the last of her family escaped the onslaught in Ravenna. Now she was heading back the same way to fight beside her brother and her people in the battle that would end where it all began.As Rowan climbed to the peak of the snowy hills, she could not help but collapse to her hands and knees in exhaustion, dropping her spear into the snow. She could barely breathe; tears were forced out of her eyes by
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Back at the edge of the valley, Ramon shook his head in frustration. The battle continued to proceed indecisively, but it was clear that the Ravennites were beginning to push his people back. The trees around him had soon been brought down, clearing the way for the Domineers to push the catapults into the valley. Ramon glanced back and forth between them and the battle ahead, his mind racing to come to a decision.He suddenly turned back to the Domineer by his side. “Send them in,” he commanded, gesturing to the catapults, “and run them down.”“Wait, what?” the man responded in curiosity. “But what about our men engaging the Ravennites?”Ramon only looked at him with anger growing in his eyes. “I said,” he growled viciously, “send in the catapults!&rd
