{"id":1220,"date":"2012-05-09T00:00:14","date_gmt":"2012-05-09T04:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1220"},"modified":"2012-05-08T17:42:02","modified_gmt":"2012-05-08T21:42:02","slug":"autumn-chapter-10-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=1220","title":{"rendered":"Autumn – Chapter 10 – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSo he doesn\u2019t remember anything?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Thom shook his head miserably, knuckling his eyes.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cJust going over the edge and then being in the river, which I\u2019m pretty sure he\u2019d like to forget if he could.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He hunched slightly, resting his elbows against his knees as he perched on one of the rocks out near the well.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Life had abruptly gone back to normal for everyone except for the barest handful\u2014except for he, Marin, J.T., Jacqueline, and Matt, the ones closest to Phelan.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He\u2019d fallen asleep again after telling Thom the story and drinking half the bottle of water.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Jacqueline was keeping an eye on him for the day shift.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Thom had every intention of heading up to help Matt with the foundations for his forge as soon as he was done passing along what Phelan had said to Marin and J.T., who were with him out here, yards from either the half-constructed walls or the tent and sheds.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Marin slumped down onto the rock next to him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI can\u2019t believe it.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>If he doesn\u2019t remember whether or not he killed her, how do we know whether or not we\u2019re even safe?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Thom grimaced as he slid his arm around her shoulders.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She leaned against him, pressing her forehead against his neck.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou\u2019ve got that look, Thom,\u201d J.T. said, crossing his arms.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThere\u2019s more.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIs there?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Marin looked up at him, brows knitting briefly.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He nodded.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYeah, there\u2019s more.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He shifted uncomfortably, looking away from both of them and staring at the clouds that drifted lazily in the autumn sky.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHe said there was one other time that something like this happened\u2014that he couldn\u2019t remember what happened after a fight, after he went toe-to-toe with someone.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat happened that time?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Marin asked.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>A flicker of pain flashed through her eyes and was gone.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Thom swallowed a little, wondering why it had been there.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Focus.<\/em>\u00a0 Stay on task, here.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHe said it was forever ago, back before whenever that story he told about crossing the ocean and everything happened.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Thom frowned slightly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cStill don\u2019t know what I think about that one, but who the hell knows, right?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Anyway, back in the old country, he\u2019d somehow gotten mixed up with this tribe or clan or something called the Imbolg.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Marin went stiff in his arm.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What the hell?<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but she shook her head before he could.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cKeep talking,\u201d she whispered.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cJust tell us the story.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cRight,\u201d Thom said, shaking his head quickly to clear it, though he couldn\u2019t quite escape the nagging worry at the back of his brain.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just tell them what he told you.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThey\u2019d gotten sucked into some kind of Otherworld war or some shit, like out of mythology.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan said it was like the Trojan War but bloodier, if you can believe that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He saw J.T. wince out of the corner of his eye, the other man\u2019s face already the color of ashes.<\/span>\u00a0 He\u2019s not going to like where this leads.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cPhelan decided he\u2019d better help them out because it was kind of his fault they\u2019d gotten involved in the first place.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s what he said, anyway.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cChrist,\u201d J.T. grumbled.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIs there ever a time when he <\/span>hadn\u2019t <\/span><\/em>sucked someone else into trouble that\u2019s ten feet over their heads?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou\u2019d have to ask him,\u201d Thom said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI\u2019m honestly not sure that the Imbolg getting involved was actually his fault, but I wasn\u2019t going to press him on that after I\u2019d already pressed to get the story in the first place.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSo anyway, he finds out from this blind druid guy that\u2019s some high-ranking dude in the tribal hierarchy that there\u2019s another person like him with the army that the Imbolg are about to face, except the guy\u2019s from another Otherworld.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That makes up Phelan\u2019s mind for him completely and he recruits maybe thirty, forty guys from some other villages to join up with the Imbolg before this big battle\u2014except they show up late to the party.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cNow, according to him that turns out to be a great thing, because he ends up behind the enemy\u2019s lines with a really great shot at the Big Bad\u2019s back.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhy is this sounding like a D&D game, Thom?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He smiled wryly at J.T.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cBecause I\u2019m pretty sure if he\u2019d been a little more lucid and had access to minis or action figures or something, Phelan would have given me the play by play complete with visual aids and sound effects.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Marin sighed, fingers tangling in the fabric of Thom\u2019s shirt.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cStay on track.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What happened?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWell, he took the shot.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Thom grimaced.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAnd he missed.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Then the guy noticed him and the next thing Phelan knew, they were shouting explicatives and threats at each other across the battlefield and the gap is closing between them and the guy\u2019s swinging a warhammer at him.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s the last thing he remembers before waking up in the Imbolg camp two days later.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Marin blurted.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHe got hit by a\u2014Thom!<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What\u2019s the point of this story?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThe point is that Phelan killed the guy.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSo he doesn\u2019t remember anything?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thom shook his head miserably, knuckling his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cJust going over the edge and then being in the river, which I\u2019m pretty sure he\u2019d like to forget if he could.\u201d\u00a0 He hunched slightly, … 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":[38,35,48,14,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autumn","category-book-2","category-chapter-10-book-2","category-story","category-year-one"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-jG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220","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=1220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1221,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220\/revisions\/1221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}