The tunnel never got any lighter as Alex crept farther down, and the beam from his tiny flashlight hardly did him any justice. The air around him was cold and moist. He could feel it coming through his thin hoodie. Worst of all were the thoughts that kept gnawing at his mind; would he be able to find a way out of here at all?
No, that was morbid thinking, he told himself. The tunnels could not possibly go on forever, and even if they did, he knew where the entrance was, or what was left of it. Help would come as soon as possible.
However, the thought of being buried alive had a mind-bending power over Alex, and he was simply not willing to wait for help to arrive. If this was a mine, then surely there was another access point to the surface of the mountain, whether it was an air duct, an auxiliary entrance, or the main entrance itself.
It was late into the night, but Rowan found no sleep. It was not often that she was able to truly relax behind the walls of the Citadel. Many mixed thoughts would rush through her head while she sat awake with burning eyes. Her quarters was built mostly of a wooden structure and the walls were hung with the hide of deer and bears to keep the space insulated and warm, and the bed she was sitting on was nothing more than a roughly sewn mat on the floor. In her hand, Rowan was fiddling around with a small, carven necklace. It was one of the last things handed down to her by her late grandmother and she never let it out of her sight. Sometimes, just like tonight, when she was alone in her Citadel quarters, she would remove it from her neck just to grasp it in her hands. It helped her recall days long ago, before her home was taken; days when she would watch
As they walked, Rowan glanced back several times. All her nine years were spent in peace here in the valley, and she had grown to love everything about it; every blade of grass and every stone in the river, and all of the people she called her family and her friends. Such a love that one might ask themselves, ‘Would they fight for it? Would they die for it?’ The two of them headed back to the outskirts of the village when they were suddenly greeted by a young man, about his mid teenage years, rushing up to them. “Delmar!” he called out. Delmar smiled as the boy stopped before them. “Morning, Matheus,” he replied. Matheus caught his breath as fast as he could before speaking again. “Sorry to bother you,” he said coyly. “I was looking for your father.” “He’s back
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
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.
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
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
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
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,