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Chapter Seventeen
Miles away, it had also been a long, sleepless night for Nickole. All of her mind was centered around the events of the previous day. She was a twelve-year-old girl who had witnessed her brother vanish in seconds inside the darkness of an unstable, abandoned mine. It was traumatizing, and no matter how many times Alex’s friends tried to assure her that he was going to be alright, Nickole’s irrational mindset caused her to visualize the most horrific possibilities.
What chewed Nickole up almost as much was the part she played in Alex’s predicament. For months, all she wanted was to strengthen the old relationship she had with her older brother. Their mother had been so protective and sheltering ever since their father left, and while Alex was out with his friends for most of the afternoon, she hardly had any time during the day to spend with him, if he even spent time with her at all. The one time she had
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Meanwhile, in the midst of the Dark Zone, a single figure was riding by horse through the trees in the faint morning light. The fog, though still very heavy, was slightly blocked by the woods of the mountains, and so even just after dawn, it was quite dark at ground level. The rider traveled swiftly, zigzagging through the woods along a narrow dirt trail. He was a young man, in his early twenties, and he was one of the people of the valley of Ravenna. He was wearing a ragged, leather chest plate, on which he carried a large knife in a holster and a wooden longbow on his back. There was also a harness attached to the horse. One side of it held a quiver full of arrows and a stone sword in a scabbard on the other side. The man wore a brown hood over his head, under which his face showed an expression of ceaseless hate and resent as well as a few old battle scars.
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The day was beginning to wear into the afternoon, and yet Alex found himself making no progress finding his way out of the mountains. He had followed the irregular ridge as far as he could, but when the terrain became too rugged and steep for him to continue, he was forced to turn away. Now his aimless path had led him deeper and lower into the mountain ranges. He was exhausted and quickly dehydrating. He was certain that as long as kept heading in one direction, he would eventually come to the end of the mountains, or at least to some sort of civilization. Still, no matter which way he went, he could be miles away from anything, and there was no guarantee that the terrain would even be traversable. How did this happen, Alex wondered. How, in the course of one day, did he manage to get himself into a situation like this? Nothing about it made sense. As the sun rose higher into the sky, the soothing heat o
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Nearly a mile had been traversed since Alex reached the bottom of the hill. He had no idea where he was headed, but stayed as straight as he could and hoped he would come across a water source soon, otherwise he was not sure how much longer he could last. Of course, Alex would be lying if he said that he was not enjoying the scenery while he was stuck out here. He hardly ever traveled outside of his home in North Elba, New York, and this was certainly a sight he had never seen before. The woods were quiet and peaceful, and the views from the mountaintops were absolutely beautiful. Still, Alex never forgot how important it was that he found his way out of the mountains sooner than later. He could only imagine how much everyone back home must have been losing their minds worrying about him. Then again, Alex was not so sure. His time alone out here in the wilderness made him look back at the life he had live
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The distant sounds of clashing blades died out quickly after Caine fled the scene. He stopped and looked back through the woods. He knew the fight would be over soon, and it was not likely that it would go well. Caine knew how ferocious the Ravennites could be. The Morenno brothers would have to be absolutely foolish to believe they could ever dominate these territories without fighting the good fight, and Caine knew that. There was no time to waste, as there was a good chance the Ravennites would be swarming the area soon. He had to get back to camp. Over the past few years since this conflict began, the number of Outsiders under the influence and leadership Ramon Moreno and his brother, Robert, continued to grow and establish numerous sites and outposts throughout the Dark Zone in order to get the lay of the land and push deeper and deeper into what remained of the Ravennites’ territories. Eventually, t
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Alex was still speechless, but he had no choice but to do what he was told. As he turned to follow the direction the man was taking him, Alex saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was something on the man’s outfit, on his left arm. It looked like a patch of some sort, but Alex was not able to make out what was on it. He was ushered through the crowd and back into the tower’s structure. He was led inside and to yet another staircase winding up the inner body of the tower, but before Alex got a chance to take a step, the man stopped him abruptly and turned him around to face him. “First of all,” he began, not sounding as harsh this time, “that was a pretty impressive run.” He seemed to be referring to Alex’s failed escape attempt. Alex narrowed his eyes in caution. “Thanks.” “Well then,” the man continued,
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Upon entering the room, Alex found himself looking around at a small, round chamber lit only by a row of torches near the ceiling. There were hand drawn maps all along the walls, which Alex guessed depicted different areas of the mountains. His attention was quickly brought to the center of the room, where he saw a man standing with his back turned to him. As soon as Alex entered the room, however, the man turned his head and looked in his direction. Alex’s first impression was that this was someone who had seen the worst of the world. His expression was that of a ragged mess, with one side of his long hair grown into a strip over the left side of his face. Alex felt a strange feeling come over him as he looked into this man’s eyes; it was no feeling that he could describe, but he could only stand there and wait for something to happen. The man breathed heavi
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Once outside, Alex came right back to the scene just before he entered the map room. Matheus and Rowan were standing by the lookout as if they had been talking to one another while Alex was inside. As he exited, they both turned their attention toward him. “How did it go?” Matheus asked, hardly sounding interested. Alex was about to mutter something before Matheus suddenly cut him off. “Just kidding, it’s not my business to ask,” he said with a clever grin about him. Alex was feeling less and less in the mood to deal with any more nonsense. He was stressed out enough as it was, and now it would seem he was going to be stuck here for a long time. “I do know, though,” Matheus continued, breaking the silence, “that we’re not permitted to let you leave these walls without Delmar’s consent. I can also see that your mind is dealing with a lot of stress and frustration right now.” “Really?” Alex responded sarcastically. “Did you figure that out on your own?” Nothing really seemed to faz
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“What are you doing here?” Delmar said as soon as Alex had left. The ceiling of the map room creaked above him. It was as if something was moving around up there. Suddenly, shrouded by the dim light in the corner of the room, a dark figure dropped down from a small, inconspicuous opening in the ceiling. The figure was tall and lanky. On his back, the hilt of a large sword was held in a leather harness. Ranger stepped forward from the darkness. “I hope you know what I’m about to tell you,” he breathed in a low, serious tone. Delmar gave an aversive nod. “First, the following conversation never happened.” “Fine. Just get on with it.” Nodding his head, Ranger continued to speak. “I’ve been watching that boy ever since he arrived here. I can’t explain it, but lately I’ve been experiencing a few less than welcome perc
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