{"id":2979,"date":"2016-09-12T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T04:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2979"},"modified":"2016-09-11T21:18:28","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T01:18:28","slug":"thirty-nine-09","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=2979","title":{"rendered":"Thirty-nine – 09"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Something wasn\u2019t right.<\/p>\n

He realized that a heartbeat before it happened.<\/p>\n

Every muscle seized up. Even breathing was suddenly hard. He stopped dead in his tracks, trying to control the sudden panic welling up inside.<\/p>\n

Leinth reached for his arm, her eyes growing wide. \u201cPhelan?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRun,\u201d he breathed, barely able to get the word out.<\/p>\n

Run, Leinth. Run.<\/em><\/p>\n

If I can be reached here…<\/em><\/p>\n

…run.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d she snarled, her gaze darting from him to the ravine, to the open ground around them. \u201cDon\u2019t be a bleeding fool. I\u2019m not leaving you.\u201d<\/p>\n

His eyes stung, in no small part form frustration. He couldn\u2019t speak. Whatever had him in its clutches\u2014and he suspected he knew in part what that was\u2014wouldn\u2019t let him.<\/p>\n

Leinth\u2019s fingers tightened on his shoulder. Breath hissed from his lungs.<\/p>\n

Damnation, Leinth, just run.<\/em><\/p>\n

A chill washed through him. He was able to move his fingers, to breathe easier for the briefest of moments. It took a second for him to realize why.<\/p>\n

Leinth.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever this is doesn\u2019t get to take you today, Wanderer,\u201d she said. \u201cNow summon up that strength of will I know you have and move<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He gasped in a breath, then another. Muscles loosened. One stumbling step sent him forward. Leinth caught him as his fell, his muscles locking again.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamnation, Phelan,\u201d she hissed. \u201cWhat is this? Who\u2019s doing this to you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOld enemies,\u201d he whispered, the words coming as gasps as she hauled him to his feet, started to half-carry, half-drag him toward the center of their village. \u201cNew enemies. Someone hanging onto something. Someone\u2014someone who\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Darkness nibbled at the edges of his vision. He squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth.<\/p>\n

Then he reached deep and damned the consequences.<\/p>\n

In the distance, a woman screamed.<\/p>\n

Green light shot skyward beyond the walls to the north and west.<\/p>\n

For a moment, the drums faltered.<\/p>\n

Then they began again, louder, faster.<\/p>\n

Phelan\u2019s world went dark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.] Something wasn\u2019t right. He realized that a heartbeat before it happened. Every muscle seized up. Even breathing was suddenly hard. He stopped dead in his tracks, trying to control the sudden panic … 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-2979","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-M3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979","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=2979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2980,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979\/revisions\/2980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}