{"id":2797,"date":"2016-03-16T00:00:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T04:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2797"},"modified":"2016-03-14T07:09:59","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T11:09:59","slug":"twenty-seven-01-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2797","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-seven – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

The head count was off by one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Matt?\u201d Thom asked as he swallowed against a suddenly dry throat. Cameron looked at him, blinking slowly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he didn\u2019t show up in the tunnel with you and Marin, I figured he was out holding the line,\u201d the other man said as he gingerly pushed himself to his feet. \u201cAre you saying he didn\u2019t do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went back up to the forge,\u201d Thom said. \u201cSomething about extra blades. I thought I told him we didn\u2019t need them, but either he didn\u2019t hear me or he ignored me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he stayed up there after the all clear was sounded,\u201d Neve suggested. Even with the hopeful words, though, Thom could hear a note of doubt creeping into her voice\u2014the same sort of doubt that was coiling alongside dread somewhere deep in his gut.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like it. I\u2019ve got a bad feeling about this.<\/em> He checked his sword and exhaled quietly. \u201cIf Marin and Phelan come back and they\u2019re looking for me, I went up to the forge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWould she have had a reason to go after him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom winced at Aoife\u2019s question. Seamus grimaced and Leinth hissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t have,\u201d Leinth said, but this time there was doubt in her<\/em> voice, as if something had just dawned on her, as if she\u2019d suddenly realized they\u2019d made a grevious tactical error.<\/p>\n

He was the Ridden Druid once upon a time and he and Marin come from Teague Vaughan\u2019s bloodline.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHell,\u201d Thom breathed in the heartbeat before he was on the move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThomas\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMove faster if you\u2019re coming with me, Seamus.\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t break into a run until he\u2019d cleared the tent, though there was no doubt left in the minds of anyone that saw him that he was rushing, that some new crisis had probably reared its fair head and he was off to deal with it. Seamus caught up with him a dozen strides away from the fire and kept pace with him as they headed for the hill where the forge stood.<\/p>\n

Cameron caught up with them when they were a few steps away from the door of the forge. Thom had hoped to hear the sound of Matt starting to wake the fires, maybe the sound of the sharpening stones or his hammer.<\/p>\n

Instead, there was only silence except for the soft dripping of water from the forge\u2019s roof down to the bricks they\u2019d laid along the front of the small building, a steady but arrhythmic sound that might have been comforting if not for the circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not in there, is he?\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom\u2019s heart gave a painful squeeze at Cameron\u2019s words, this throat almost too tight to speak. He shook his head slowly and croaked, \u201cI don\u2019t think so, Cam.\u201d<\/p>\n

His hand was shaking as he reached for the door. Seamus took it gently and held it shy of the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me,\u201d the former Taliesin said quietly. Thom let his hand drop, nodding. He could taste salt on his lips from tears he hadn\u2019t felt begin as they\u2019d run through the misty rain to get to Matt\u2019s forge.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s my brother and somehow I\u2019ve failed to protect him. This is unforgivable.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cameron grasped his arm as Seamus pushed the door open, as if he knew that Thom was abruptly unsteady.<\/p>\n

She won\u2019t ever forgive me. I\u2019ll never forgive myself.<\/em><\/p>\n

I should have made him listen, should have made sure he\u2019d heard me.<\/em><\/p>\n

Why did I let him walk away? Why didn\u2019t I see the threat?<\/em><\/p>\n

Thom felt sick, dizzy, light-headed.<\/p>\n

There was no one inside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.] The head count was off by one. \u201cWhere\u2019s Matt?\u201d Thom asked as he swallowed against a suddenly dry throat. Cameron looked at him, blinking slowly. \u201cWhen he didn\u2019t show up in the … 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":[124,198,14],"tags":[176,150,161,171,170,166,151,149,148,159,168,147,165,158,146],"class_list":["post-2797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-27-book-5","category-story","tag-aoife-ocredne","tag-awakenings","tag-cameron-mackenzie","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-leinth","tag-neve-vaughan","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-seamus-vaughan","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thom-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-J7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797","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=2797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2798,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797\/revisions\/2798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}