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.
It took Alex a few hours to lumber back to the camp from which the Runners had departed that morning. He was exhausted from his shocking encounter with the psychotic, suicidal Domineer. His mind was cluttered with thoughts about his friends, who had all been abruptly slaughtered right in front of his eyes. Their crazed prisoner coated himself with gunpowder and attempted to kill them all in the blast so that they would not be able to track the Domineers’ messenger any further.Despite his efforts, Alex had survived. How it was possible, he did not know. He remembered being slammed by the sheer force of the blast as the intensity of it burned the side of his face. It was painful at first, but as Alex quickly applied snow to his face to cool it down, the presence of it had all but dissipated. It was a minor wound, and that was what concerned him the most. As the intense heat of the explosion knoc
Matheus stood in the doorway of the tent, returning Rowan’s saluting gesture. He was one of Delmar’s closest friends and among his most trusted allies. He was the one to capture Alex when he was lost in the mountains of the Dark Zone after knocking him unconscious. In time, Matheus began to train Alex to fight with a sword, and at the time of the battle for the Citadel, he stood by Matheus’ side as they helped lead the Ravennites to their decisive victory against Robert Morenno. Matheus looked past Rowan and acknowledged him.“Hello, Alex,” he said with a slight grin.Alex also greeted him with their salute. “Matheus,” he addressed him. “How long has it been?”“Nearly six months at the latest,” Matheus answered, thinking for a second. “How have
It was one of the shortest days for Alex ever since he took charge to lead the Runners, but it was also one of the longest. Much of his time throughout the afternoon was spent in and out of his own personal quarters, where he would sit in the back of the tent and grieve over the loss his friends had suffered that morning.What could possibly have been the Domineer’s motivation? What in the world was he trying to protect for Ramon Morenno? He tried to shake the thought from his mind. Tomorrow, they would return to track the messenger the Domineers were trying to secure, and this time, he would not slip through their grasp. It was the only thought that Alex was able to conjure up in order to keep himself calm and composed.Alex had not seen Rowan for the majority of the day, due to the both of them casually maintaining their distance for the time bein
Alex did not feel as though he was really dreaming, rather he felt more delirious than anything. He was staring out at nothing but utter blackness, hardly able to move or think. As time slowly passed, Alex heard soft voices rising all around him. He was in too incoherent a state to understand what they were saying. However, he soon began to feel his senses returning as one familiar voice echoed above all the rest.“Who are you?” The hoarse voice of a man spoke up. The darkness surrounding Alex was slowly becoming enveloped in light. As he listened to the voices, he knew that he had seen this exact vision several times before, and soon enough, he heard the woman’s voice give her reply.“My grandfather’s grandfather was called Janus.”
It was still the middle of the night. Alex figured he must have been asleep for only a couple of hours at the most. The campsite was quiet, with only a few of the Ravennites on watch around the site’s boundaries. Alex gazed around with the cold, nighttime gusts gnawing against his face, and he noticed Matheus standing near the edge of the campsite behind Rowan’s tent. He was just standing there, looking off into the dark distance. Alex walked over casually to stand by his side.Matheus looked over at him. “It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?” he muttered quietly.Alex nodded his head tiredly. “Exhausting, to say the least.”“Where is she?” Matheus asked, referring to Rowan.“Asleep by the fire.” Alex ge
When Alex woke that morning, the camp was still dark and quiet. For a few minutes, Alex lied on his thin, ragged mattress on the ground and stared blankly up at the roof of his tent. His thoughts were wandering aimlessly; thoughts about what the day ahead would have in store for the Runners. Ever since their encounter with the Domineers the previous day, Alex had been highly on edge, and he hated the idea of allowing whatever message that they were carrying to be delivered to Ramon Morenno.Nearly twenty-four hours had gone by at this point. By now, the Domineers would be nearing the outer layers of their territories, if they had not reached it by now. The Runners would have to traverse more than twenty miles before they caught up with them. Alex knew they were more than capable of doing it. The only thing that concerned him was the risk of having to rush into enemy lines. With the Runners’ num
Just like the previous day, Alex found himself out in the cold, wintertime wilderness as the sun began to rise. The Runners had been through many expeditions much like this one, tracking down the Domineers, and he was certain that they were already catching on to their tactics. He knew this had to be true, given the surprise the insane Domineer had waiting for them the morning before. It made Alex all the more nervous to be out here again with depleted power among his ranks, and he was not sure if having Rowan along this time was reassuring or just made him feel increasingly uncomfortable.It took a couple of hours to retrace their footsteps. Even in the dark, Rowan was a natural at following the day-old trails marked in the snow. At first, she led them back to the spot where the Runners fought the Domineer scouts just the day before. Alex could hardly stand to look around at the bodies sprawled upon the s
As they drew closer to the walls of the camp, they were quickly spotted by the Domineers patrolling the borders. Rowan lowered her head casually. The Domineers sent a small party out to greet them. As they approached, one of them stepped up to Kota and gave him a prying stare.“Who the hell are you?” the man uttered curiously.Kota hesitated briefly as he glanced past their confronter and noticed that the others accompanying him were placing cautious hands on the weapons at their sides. He swallowed nervously as he tried to work his disguise as well as possible. “We were separated from our scouting party,” he said, trying to think of what an Outsider might say. “We followed their footsteps back here.”For a second, it seemed as though this man was not about to buy his story one bi