[This post is from Thom’s point of view.]
“You took your revenge on them,” Thom said, looking away. Behind him, Seamus sighed softly.
“I didn’t. My brothers in arms taught him a lesson about respect.”
“Nothing to do with you?”
“Everything to do with me. I just wasn’t involved.” Seamus dried up alongside him and rested his palm against the wall. “They won’t linger here forever as much as some of them want to and the way the world is changing I fear has left them vulnerable to outside forces in ways that we never have been before. It worries me.”
“Does it worry everyone else the way you still talk about yourself like you were still one of them?”
Seamus winced. “I deserved that.”
“It wasn’t an attack. Just an observation.”
Seamus drew a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “Like I said. It’s hard to separate myself still. It was part of my identity for too long.” He closed his eyes. “The point remains that we have work to do on the defenses at the back side as much as we do here.”
“The way you were talking made it sound like either way would be futile.”
Seamus exhaled. “I hope it wouldn’t be,” he murmured. “Truly, I do.”
Thom grunted, staring at the wall. “This is all I’ve got, Seamus. And if we lose the Wild Hunt, I’ve got no idea what we’ll do. I don’t know if we can turn back whatever shows up without them. Now you’re telling me that I might lose them.”
“Worse, they might turn if the right pressure is applied.” Seamus shook his head. “Don’t ask me what the right pressure is. I don’t know. Nothing’s certain these days, not anymore.”
“Fucking perfect,” Thom muttered. He closed his eyes and sighed.
I’ll just have to keep hoping, I guess.
That’s pretty much all I’ve got.
