The shadow of home was a smudge on the horizon as they rode through fallow, snow-dotted fields, fields full of dead wheat and corn, lost to the early chill and the death of the modern world. If they weren\u2019t so far away, they\u2019d make good fields for replanting when spring finally decided to finally come.<\/p>\n
Maybe someday,<\/em> Thom thought, closing his eyes for a moment. Someday, they\u2019d clear the fields they rode through again, someday they\u2019d be more than what they were today.<\/p>\n Someday, a fortress on the edge of the ravine, a waterfall, the river spreading, clean and beautiful…<\/em><\/p>\n He shook himself and opened his eyes. Someday was a very long way away.<\/p>\n \u201cYou were about ten thousand miles away for a second,\u201d Cameron said, still swaying in his saddle, less with the moments of his horse and more with the effort to stay upright. \u201cOr was it years away?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThoughts running wild,\u201d Thom said, shaking his head slightly. His horse danced sideways a little before he jerked it back into check. He was tired\u2014they were all tired. They\u2019d been riding for home ever since J.T. had finished patching them up after their closer encounter with what Seamus had called shadowspawn.<\/p>\n Something about them had been damnably, frighteningly familiar and it left Thom more than a little unsettled. They hadn\u2019t been camazotzi<\/em> or Greys, but they\u2019d reminded him of them. That alone was enough to set his teeth on edge, but there was something deeper, something just beyond his memory, tickling at the back of his mind.<\/p>\n He\u2019d seen them before\u2014somewhen<\/em>.<\/p>\n J.T. appeared on the other side of Cameron, leaning out of his saddle to steady the former pilot. \u201cI think both of you had better concentrate on the landscape. Falling wouldn\u2019t be pleasant, and I\u2019d rather not have to get Cameron back in the saddle again. I know mounting wasn\u2019t pleasant for you, either, Thom.\u201d<\/p>\n Thom grimaced. His friend was right, of course, but that didn\u2019t make the words easier to take.<\/p>\n \u201cRoad looks clear between us and home,\u201d Seamus said over his shoulder. \u201cAt least it seems that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Thom sighed. \u201cThen let\u2019s hope everything\u2019s exactly as it seems.\u201d If it\u2019s not, I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s anything we\u2019ll be able to do about it now.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The shadow of home was a smudge on the horizon as they rode through fallow, snow-dotted fields, fields full of dead wheat and corn, lost to the early chill and the death of the modern world. If they weren\u2019t so … Continue reading