{"id":1145,"date":"2012-03-26T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2012-03-26T04:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1145"},"modified":"2012-03-22T21:20:29","modified_gmt":"2012-03-23T01:20:29","slug":"autumn-chapter-6-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1145","title":{"rendered":"Autumn – Chapter 6 – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It was like listening to a bard of old, a teller of tales and guardian of history.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I wondered, briefly and not for the first time, if he\u2019d been a druid in some long ago past life\u2014with his power, his staff, and all those tattoos, he certainly could have been mistaken for one.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cLong ago in Ireland, there was a holy man named Br\u00e9anainn.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He gathered to him fourteen men to go on a grand voyage across the sea to places unknown.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s an old tale, doubtless one you\u2019ve already heard.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There\u2019s more to the story than that, though.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The fourteen men each had a ship apiece, each carrying fourteen others, to begin a new life far away from the old.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Men and women, children, hounds and chickens and all the rest.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We knew that it would be a long journey, but it would be worth it to escape the coming bloodshed.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan\u2019s eyes focused distantly, as if he could see that long-ago past.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cTwo hundred and twenty-five souls boarded fifteen boats and sailed into the sunset one fine summer afternoon.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Br\u00e9anainn was much like all of you\u2014his blood carried gifts from beyond normal ken.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I had watched him for a time.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He was a great leader, an inspiring man, a dreamer.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He believed me when I spoke of wars beyond imagining, wars that had lasted thousands of years, of hates older than time itself.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There was another war coming, I could see it, could feel it in my bones.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Pieces on the boards were moving.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He could feel it too.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI sailed with them.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It took us seven months to make the crossing and we almost didn\u2019t make it.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We landed somewhere on the coast and then walked and hunted our way inland, finally settled on a rocky slope overlooking fertile fields with a forest at our backs and for a time, we knew peace.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We traded with the natives\u2014they were fascinated by us, by how we looked and spoke, by our instruments, our songs.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We of course were equally fascinated by them.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan grew quiet then and just stared at nothing, his pain over what came next almost palpable.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I knelt down next to him and rested my hand on his shoulder.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He flinched slightly and shivered.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe had been there for seven years when it all began.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Strange ghosts in the darkness, the sound of spears against shields.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Then the dragon ships came, sailing up the river.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We could see them from the hill, so different from the war canoes of our neighbors.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I knew what it meant, knew what they\u2019d come for.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Vammatar\u2026Vammatar and I\u2019d had words in the past, though so long ago that I\u2019d dared to hope she\u2019d simply forget about me if I wasn\u2019t in her path, wasn\u2019t standing in her way.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I was wrong.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She came for war and she brought warriors with her.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I had farmers and holy men, women and children\u2014innocents.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cOne night, I went to Br\u00e9anainn and told him he had to flee, to take as many as he could and steal away in the night.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I was almost too late.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>As it was, some of the refused to leave\u2014they were as loyal to me as they were to Br\u00e9anainn, much to my eternal regret.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I never meant for that to happen.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>A tear trickled down his cheek.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThe night Vammatar came, every one of them that had remained to stand with me were slaughtered, save for two women and a child.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The boy\u2014gods and monsters, I pray his line lives on\u2014put my spear through Vammatar\u2019s shoulder before she could end me once and for all.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She\u2019d sworn vengeance on me for a slight that had happened before the boy was ever a glimmer and he saved my life.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI woke up four days later in a native camp.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The two women and the boy had been taken up the river to another settlement where they might be safe.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>As soon as I recovered enough, I crossed back to home and didn\u2019t return for another three hundred years.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He swallowed hard.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cJust in time for the Vikings to show up in Ireland and make a mess of things.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I squeezed his shoulder gently and he laid his hand over mine, squeezing my fingers.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cForty-seven people died for me that day.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Vammatar\u2019s words cut to the bone.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I didn\u2019t want it to happen, but it did, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He looked at me.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s not going to happen here, even if I have to sacrifice myself to make it so.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d I said.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He made a quiet noise in the back of his throat.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou know, I never did know if they actually made it back to Ireland.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Br\u00e9anainn and the rest.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I hope that they did, but I was in no shape to try and find out, and my uncle had a right fit when I came back and he found out what had happened.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Tried to forbid me from ever coming back.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He smiled humorlessly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cOf course, it didn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Matt snorted softly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou know, Phelan, sometimes I wonder about this uncle of yours.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHe loved us, but he didn\u2019t do a very good job of ruling his own family.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Then again, he always said that I reminded him too much of his sister, who could be ruled by no one.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He waved his hands and shook his head.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter now, anyhow.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He is gone and the ways are closed.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There\u2019s no going back again, not that I would ever want to.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He straightened.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMy place is here with all of you.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I just hope that I can withstand her, or at least turn her back for a time.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He swallowed hard, then said quietly, \u201cI have to.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I squeezed his shoulder again, heart aching, but knowing that if it came down to it, there were some of us who would already die for him\u2014whether he wanted it or not.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>It would be our choice, and that was all there was to it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was like listening to a bard of old, a teller of tales and guardian of history.\u00a0 I wondered, briefly and not for the first time, if he\u2019d been a druid in some long ago past life\u2014with his power, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,35,44,14,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autumn","category-book-2","category-chapter-6-book-2","category-story","category-year-one"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-it","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1146,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145\/revisions\/1146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}