{"id":3072,"date":"2016-12-14T00:00:05","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T05:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3072"},"modified":"2016-12-13T19:08:28","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T00:08:28","slug":"forty-seven-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3072","title":{"rendered":"Forty-seven – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Drums began again beyond the walls. The sound sent shivers skittering up and down Thom\u2019s spine, set the hairs on the back of his neck standing up on end. He sucked in a deep breath and met Thordin\u2019s haunted gaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime\u2019s up,\u201d the other man murmured. Thom nodded slowly.<\/p>\n

Time\u2019s up.<\/em><\/p>\n

He turned to climb the wall for a better vantage on what was going on for himself even as he called up toward Paul in the watchtower. \u201cWhat do you see out there, Paul?\u201d<\/p>\n

Their resident sniper leaned against the rail, his eyes narrowing as his gaze scythed over the field. \u201cThey\u2019re forming ranks. Don\u2019t see a cavalry but there\u2019s plenty of foot.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is going to be ugly.<\/em> Thom took a quick breath as he hauled himself up to his normal perch. J.T. handed a rifle up to him and Thom gave him a quizzical look.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow\u2019s the time to use some heavy firepower if we can,\u201d the paramedic said, his face pale and drawn. \u201cIf we don\u2019t use it when we\u2019re threatened at this level, when the hell else should we use it?\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s right.<\/em> Thom swallowed hard and nodded, then cleared his throat. \u201cIf something happens to me\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we\u2019re all dead anyway,\u201d J.T. said, his voice grim. \u201cDon\u2019t start that bullshit now. It\u2019s too late for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A broken laugh escaped Thom and he shook his head. \u201cThen you know where you need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

His friend gave him a grim nod. Thordin joined Thom up at the top of the wall with climbing to a perch on the other side of the gate, near Sif, who held her bow relaxed, though an arrow was in hand, ready to draw and fire. Her cold gaze was trained at the field beyond. Thom slowly turned his gaze to that field and the enemy massing more than a hundred yards away.<\/p>\n

His guts churned even as his stomach sank.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s too damned many. There\u2019s just too many. How do we stand against this?<\/em><\/p>\n

Thom grit his teeth. We do it because we have to.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve faced longer odds in lives long gone,<\/em> he thought. This is just one more battle where I\u2019ll have to do that and win in the end. There\u2019s not another choice.<\/em><\/p>\n

You do what you have to do.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thordin\u2019s hand fell on his shoulder, his friend\u2019s fingers flexing for a moment before releasing him. Thom glanced toward him and shot him a grim smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an honor,\u201d Thordin said softly. \u201cAnd it will be an honor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom nodded, once, then looked back to the field. The cadence of the drums changed. The army ahead began to move. Thom lifted an arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cArchers ready!\u201d<\/p>\n

The response echoed from the far end of the wall, where one of the Wild Hunt\u2019s officers echoed his cry, confirming readiness. Thom took a deep breath, holding it for a moment, watching the slow approach.<\/p>\n

Just a little closer.<\/em><\/p>\n

He held his breath for a moment, heart pounding and the blood roaring in his ears, the drums barely audible over the sound.<\/p>\n

Almost there.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thunder growled in the distance and lightning flashed, closer than the distant thunder. A few cold drops hit Thom\u2019s face and hair.<\/p>\n

Dropping his arm, he shouted, \u201cLoose!\u201d<\/p>\n

A flurry of arrows launched from the walls to fall like the rain on the enemy.<\/p>\n

It had begun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.] Drums began again beyond the walls. The sound sent shivers skittering up and down Thom\u2019s spine, set the hairs on the back of his neck standing up on end. He sucked in … 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":[124,236,14],"tags":[150,171,170,160,149,223,148,159,168,147,167,165,158,169,146,195],"class_list":["post-3072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-47","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-j-t-mackenzie","tag-original-fiction","tag-paul-van-rijn","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-seamus-vaughan","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-sif","tag-story","tag-thom-ambrose","tag-thordin","tag-web-fiction","tag-wild-hunt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-Ny","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072","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=3072"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3073,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072\/revisions\/3073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}