{"id":2721,"date":"2016-01-04T00:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T05:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2721"},"modified":"2016-01-03T16:23:48","modified_gmt":"2016-01-03T21:23:48","slug":"twenty-one-04-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2721","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-one – 04"},"content":{"rendered":"

They walked across a pedestrian bridge over a finger of the network of ravines they\u2019d climbed coming over the river. Aoife looked beyond the iron rails, her stomach dropping to the floor of the chasm below. They\u2019d climbed that?<\/em> And probably more, she realized, since the floor of the ravine here was likely still higher than the river they\u2019d left behind.<\/p>\n

Even at that distance and difficulty of ascent, the people here had still<\/em> set patrols all the way down to the river\u2019s edge. That wasn\u2019t something you did without good reason for doing it\u2014probably more than one reason, at that.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m afraid we\u2019ll find out rather quickly what those reasons were.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSomething wrong?\u201d Seamus asked, glancing back over his shoulder, as if he could suddenly sense her discomfort. Maybe he could\u2014he\u2019d always been like that, in tune with their moods, a peacemaker when he could be, when it was safe for him to be.<\/p>\n

They\u2019d all loved Seamus even when they hated him at the same time.<\/p>\n

Aoife shook her head slightly. \u201cProbably not, but we\u2019ll see. I was just thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMm,\u201d Seamus said, turning his attention to the path ahead. Beyond skeletal trees, Aoife could see the remnants of orange bricks and green-tinted glass. They\u2019d known that this had been the site of some kind of school thanks to Teca\u2019s scrying, but seeing it in the scrying mirror and witnessing it firsthand were two entirely different experiences.<\/p>\n

Her fingers tightened around Gray\u2019s hand. He squeezed back before he let go of her hand and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her tight against his side for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeems like this might have been a nice place before everything came unglued,\u201d he said quietly, though she felt him shiver against her. He must have sensed the same thing she did\u2014the power lurking beneath the surface, the swirling knots of energy that were almost too close. \u201cHow many survivors here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot counting the Hunt? Thirty or forty, these days. The numbers fluctuate a bit. There\u2019s a pack of shifters that have come and gone from time to time and then there\u2019s the Hunt.\u201d Seamus smiled over his shoulder at them as they stepped off the bridge. \u201cThere\u2019s at least three more on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aoife frowned. \u201cTravelers, or…?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren,\u201d Seamus said, a light coming to his eyes that Aoife couldn\u2019t remember seeing since the day he\u2019d said good-bye to Brigh\u00edd of the Imbolg. \u201cNeve\u2019s pregnant and so is one of the leaders of the survivors here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aoife stumbled a step. \u201cNeve\u2019s pregnant?\u201d Her stomach sank. That\u2014there\u2019s\u2014dammit.<\/em><\/p>\n

She needed to talk to her brother, and badly, but alone<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen did that happen?\u201d she asked her cousin.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore I got here,\u201d Seamus said quietly. \u201cShould deliver before the summer\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aoife swallowed hard, glancing at Gray. He arched a brow in question and she exhaled a shaky breath, shaking her head. A chill crept down her spine.<\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s begun already.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now only time would be able to show them what tale prophecy and fate had written for them in places far away and times long forgotten.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They walked across a pedestrian bridge over a finger of the network of ravines they\u2019d climbed coming over the river. Aoife looked beyond the iron rails, her stomach dropping to the floor of the chasm below. They\u2019d climbed that? And … 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":[124,179,14],"tags":[176,150,170,177,148,159,147,146],"class_list":["post-2721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-21-book-5","category-story","tag-aoife-ocredne","tag-awakenings","tag-fiction","tag-gray-miller","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-seamus-vaughan","tag-serial-fiction","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-HT","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2721","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=2721"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2722,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2721\/revisions\/2722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}