Thirty-four – 06

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.]

Matt glanced around the room one more time, then picked up Hecate’s bag—he wasn’t sure when she’d picked it up, but she’d stuffed it full of odds and ends, some useful and some not, and some things a complete mystery. He slung it over his shoulder and then stepped out, the door clicking shut behind him.

In the hall, it was still quiet.

Maybe we’re all just being paranoid. It wouldn’t be the first time, right?

Even if it wasn’t, it always felt like the first time, every time something turned out to be nothing.

He didn’t go back to the fire right away, didn’t go back to Hecate and Tala and the infants in their care. Instead, he walked out to watch the sky, standing a half dozen yards from the tent’s overhang and staring out to the west.

The storm was drawing undeniably closer. His lips thinned as he watched it. The clouds piled atop each other and then twisted back, as if churned by something sentient, something knowing. Tightness rose in his throat, born of no emotion beyond nervousness.

“You don’t like the look of it, either.”

The sound of Thordin’s voice nearly made him jump out of his skin.

“Damn it all,” he spat, voice abruptly raspy.

“Didn’t hear me coming?” Thordin shot him a wry smile that faded within seconds, his gaze drifting from Matt up to the approaching weather. “I can’t blame you. It’s a nervous-making sky, isn’t it?”

Matt nodded slowly. “Hecate said that you didn’t think it was natural.”

“I don’t,” Thordin said. “But I also couldn’t tell you who’s responsible for it—beyond being able to tell you that it’s sure as hell not me.” He exhaled quietly, crossing his arms. He was dressed in khaki shorts and an old tee, mud on his hiking boots and spattering his calves. “But there’s something off-kilter here,” he said quietly. “Something I can’t quite put my finger on but I know is out there. You know that feeling.”

“Better than I ever wanted to,” Matt admitted. He took a deep breath. “Where’s your gear?”

“I’m on my way to get it,” Thordin said. “Just been trying to figure out how to get it without tipping Sif off to something going on.”

Matt looked at him askance and got another rueful smile from his friend.

“She’s not physically ready,” Thordin murmured. “But when has that ever mattered, right?”

Matt shook his head, cracking a smile of his own. “Going to go out on a limb and guess never.”

“You’d be right, my friend.” Thordin clapped him on the shoulder. “Wish me luck.”

“Luck,” Matt said, crossing his arms, watching as Thordin ducked into the shadows of the tent.

Then his gaze drifted back to the sky. Thunder growled far in the distance, the first audible sign of the storm. The air was still. A fresh shiver crept down his spine.

There was no doubt anymore.

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