Phelan turned away, back toward the barrow where his friends had buried their dead after the end had come. They\u2019d hallowed the ground here months before, back when he\u2019d first arrived on the ruined campus. A shiver crept down his spine as he thought of the night they\u2019d laid the stronger protections over the ground, the night that Vammatar had tried to kill him.<\/p>\n
That had been the start of it.<\/p>\n
He cleared away a patch of snow with his boot, trying to get down to bare ground. They\u2019d need to renew the protections after the spring melt, well before the summer solstice, but for now there was work he could do even while it was all still buried in snow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take it that I was interrupting,\u201d Cariocecus said, crossing his arms and rocking back against his heels. \u201cWill I foul anything up by staying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI doubt it,\u201d Phelan murmured, shucking off his glove. He closed his eyes as he pressed his bare palm to the ground, taking a slow, deep breath as he cast his senses into the earth of the barrow and its surroundings. He could sense the outline of their protections, lying dormant beneath the snow. They would only activate in the face of an impending threat. His senses raced along those boundaries, looking for cracks, for flaws.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow does it look?\u201d J.T. asked quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill solid,\u201d Phelan answered, brows knitting in concentration. \u201cBetter than I expected, really, considering everything that\u2019s happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least we haven\u2019t had to bury anyone else.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSeamus wanted to see this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll see it in due time,\u201d Phelan said, setting his jaw and forcing some additional power into those boundaries, shoring them up\u2014just in case.<\/p>\n In case of what<\/em>, he wasn\u2019t quite certain.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can bring them out here tomorrow,\u201d Phelan said.<\/p>\n \u201cThem?\u201d J.T. echoed.<\/p>\n Thordin snorted. \u201cSeamus and Leinth. One won\u2019t come without the other. Trust me on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Phelan smiled. Thordin knew them too well.<\/p>\n Either that, or his cousin was becoming predictable in his old age, and that was a liability that they would need to correct, and fast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Phelan turned away, back toward the barrow where his friends had buried their dead after the end had come. They\u2019d hallowed the ground here months before, back when he\u2019d first arrived on the ruined campus. A shiver crept down his … Continue reading