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Chapter Twenty-Two
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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Below the towering Citadel, Alex sat on the mattress with his back leaned against the corner post of his tent. In his brief moment alone, Alex had fallen deep into thought. He rubbed his hands along his face. He was not sure what he was doing anymore. This whole place, there was something off about it; something unsettling as if it was in the air around him. He had felt this way ever since he accidentally wandered into this mysterious territory. It was like walking onto an alien planet, as if this place had some sort of invisible dome shielding it from the eyes of the rest of the world. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by someone calling his name. “Alex?” came Rowan’s voice from just outside. She carefully lifted the flap out of the way. “Are you okay?” Alex did not move, but simply nodded his head tiredly. Rowan entered the tent and let the flap fall back into place behind her. “It’s not much, I kn
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As the two of them continued to walk, they found themselves heading away from the plateau’s center and before long they came up to the lake that Alex had seen from the overlook. It was much larger in person. The water was clear and blue and gave off a cool, soothing vibe as its surface rippled in the light, spring breeze. Rowan knelt at the bank and placed a hand in the water. “How old is your sister?” Guessing they would stop here, Alex sat down by the edge of the water. “She’s twelve,” he answered her. “Two years younger than me.” Rowan continued moving her hand around in the water. “I’m sure she’s lovely.” Alex shrugged. That was something he had never really taken the time to think about, especially regarding his sister. However, it still made him recall how many
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Not long after Ranger left his presence, Delmar fell deep into thought. Things were difficult enough already within the walls of the Citadel as he tried to keep the remnants of the Ravennites together in spite of all the fear and doubt that clouded their future. It did not help knowing that many of his people were still in hiding all throughout the Dark Zone, helpless and exposed. Now there was this boy; the Outsider. Ranger’s behavior was changing, too. Delmar had no idea who he actually was nor did he care. He knew Ranger was not the man’s true name, and that was the only clue Delmar needed to know that he was running from someone. Under normal circumstances, Delmar would not have permitted any Outsiders to seek refuge within the borders of the Dark Zone, with or without his knowledge, after the Domineers’ actions against them under the influence of the Morenno brothers. The vast majority of the Ravenni
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“What am I doing?”The day wore on and night came with the warm, soothing breeze of the zephyrs from the west. Alex struggled to drift off to sleep on his ragged, dirty mattress covered by a single thin sheet. The Citadel had gone quiet and all Alex could hear was the soft chirping of crickets in the distance. This was the most peace he had felt in the past thirty hours, yet it seemed like an eternity.He still had no idea what sort of fate lay in store for him here, but bigger questions remained on his mind. Though he couldn’t sleep, Alex closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander. He did not know what to think of these people. No one had given him an actual explanation of their seemingly dire situation, but Alex could see just from looking around how devastating an effect it was having on them. He remembered his first encounter
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Alex backed up a step and turned around. He let out a loud gasp of panic and he realized now that there was no chance any of their enemies could ever breach the Citadel’s wall here. Just in front of him, the ground suddenly dropped away into a steep cliffside. The cliff dropped so far down that Alex could not see the bottom in the middle of the night. One more step back and he would have fallen right down into the abyss below. The sudden sight scared him so much that could feel his balance faltering.A hand quickly pressed on his chest and pushed him back against the wall. Alex caught his breath and saw Rowan just beside him, holding him back. He looked over at her with wide eyes of shock as he breathed heavily.Rowan stared back at him. “Watch your step,” she said calmly.Alex was baffled by her s
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