{"id":2977,"date":"2016-09-09T00:00:14","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T04:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2977"},"modified":"2016-09-08T17:28:23","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T21:28:23","slug":"thirty-nine-08-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2977","title":{"rendered":"Thirty-nine – 08"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

They first dozen steps were taken in silence as the pair walked side-by-side back toward what passed as civilization. Phelan glanced up the hill toward the forge as they walked. No smoke rose from its chimney and he exhaled a breath he hadn\u2019t realized he was holding.<\/p>\n

Leinth looked at him askance, her brow arching slightly. Phelan managed a rueful smile and pointed up toward the forge.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo smoke,\u201d he said, as if that explained everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see that,\u201d she said, her tone patient, measured. \u201cWhat I fail to see is the significance that you are placing in that fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means Thordin\u2019s not up there anymore,\u201d Phelan elaborated. \u201cWith any luck, that means he\u2019s decided to join the active defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMm,\u201d Leinth said, her brow furrowing for a moment. \u201cI wish I found that as reassuring as you so obviously do, Wanderer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s at least one thing turning in our favor,\u201d Phelan said. \u201cI\u2019ll take whatever small victories I can get at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leinth snorted, shaking her head as they walked on. \u201cYou are in fact a strange one, Phelan, but sometimes you do manage to make a little sense\u2014though only on rare occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan shrugged, his mirth fading even though her teasing didn\u2019t really bother him too much. Thordin joining the fight did<\/em> make him feel a little better, though not nearly as much as he\u2019d just pretended it did.<\/p>\n

This is going to be an ugly one.<\/em> He could feel it down to the marrow of his bones and there was a part of him that hated that\u2014but there was another part of him that was relieved<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It meant he hadn\u2019t lost the ability to see trouble when it was looming dangerously near on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Leinth put her hand on his shoulder. It startled him, but he managed to conceal his flinch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will<\/em> win, Phelan,\u201d the former goddess said softly. \u201cThere is no other choice for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d he murmured. \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.] They first dozen steps were taken in silence as the pair walked side-by-side back toward what passed as civilization. Phelan glanced up the hill toward the forge as they walked. No smoke … 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":[124,217,14],"tags":[150,171,170,166,149,173,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-2977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-39-book-5","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-leinth","tag-original-fiction","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-M1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2977","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=2977"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2978,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2977\/revisions\/2978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}