Free Against the Empire: The Dominion and Michian by Jeffrey Quyle

others stayed out as they ranged further towards Goldenfields in search of Alec. By the next morning, Armilla and Kinsey were getting nervous about the failure to find Alec. They met at the entrance to his empty tent, where they surprised the only two other people in camp who were not part of the search effort.
    Brother Antonio and Delle Locksfort were at the tent when the girls arrived. Locksfort had stayed at the camp when the rest of the Stronghold contingent had returned to their native home. Delle had stayed because he wanted to see Alec again, even though he was ignored if not blatantly ostracized by the other residents of the camp. The Locksfort name held a terrible stigma outside of Stronghold, and so Delle had made no acquaintances except Brother Antonio.
    “Any word on the search?” Delle asked Armilla as the women arrived.
    “Not so far, and it’s been a day and a half since he left,” she answered. “With the road being built, he could travel quite a way in a hurry,” she thought out loud.
    “What if he’s not riding on the road?” Delle asked. “What if he’s riding in the other direction?”
    “You mean he might be following Rosebay?” Kinsey asked, her curiosity sparked.
    “Or running away, or something else,” Delle replied.
    “You don’t think he would, do you?” Armilla chimed in.
    “He isn’t the type to surrender or run away,” Brother Antonio protested. “When he was trapped in his body last year, he didn’t ever give up.”
    “No he wouldn’t give up, but maybe there’s something he’s running to. He could be chasing after Rosebay, to see if he could help her,” Kinsey responded.
    “What good would he be to her, without his powers?” Armilla asked.
    There was a silent pause as they all pondered the possibility. “It sounds right. I think he did go up the river,” Kinsey interjected. “But I don’t know why.”
    “Perhaps he wanted to go back to our camp site by the river, just as a retreat, to think through everything that’s happened,” Armilla tentatively suggested.
    “Maybe,” Kinsey said without conviction.
    “Well, regardless, if he went east, and all the search parties went west, they aren’t going to find Alec,” Delle declared. “I’m ready to go after him and bring him back in right now.”
    Armilla and Kinsey looked at one another. Kinsey sensed no malevolence or ill intent in Delle, and shrugged slightly to indicate so to Armilla.
    “He’s got a day and a half lead on us,” Armilla commented without arguing, indicating she was willing to travel with the Locksfort family member. “Brother, you’ll stay here in camp and let Colonel Ryder know where we’ve gone?”
    “I will,” Antonio agreed.
    “Let’s get packed and get moving as quickly as we can,” Armilla told the other two. “Get your gear together, get a horse, and we’ll meet on the east side of camp in half an hour,” leading the group to briefly disband as they each momentarily went their own ways.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 8 – At the Ruined City
     
    Alec continued his journey across the summer time steppes of the open land between Goldenfields and the Pale Mountains. Occasional summer storms drenched him with brief bouts of rain, while long stretches of sunny days left him dry and warm most of the time during his ride along the River Giffey.
    A fortnight after leaving the army camp, Alec spotted a distant change on the horizon, a shadow that he knew was the first sign of the Pale Mountains. The flatness of the terrain diminished, and trees began to appear along more small waterways. Within two days, the mountains were an overwhelming fact, not to be ignored as they cast morning shadows far out across the land.
    The notch of the river valley was clearly evident, and the ancient city that sat above the river at that point gleamed brightly, just as it had two years earlier, when he and Leah had floated past it, traveling in the opposite direction. Alec camped across the