{"id":3082,"date":"2016-12-23T00:00:34","date_gmt":"2016-12-23T05:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3082"},"modified":"2016-12-22T10:10:42","modified_gmt":"2016-12-22T15:10:42","slug":"forty-seven-05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3082","title":{"rendered":"Forty-seven – 05"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201cI need you up here,\u201d Thom said, his voice quiet but just loud enough that the words reached Matt. He gestured toward the spot between he and Thordin on the wall. Matt took a deep breath, squeezing his injured hand into a fist and wincing slightly at the sting.<\/p>\n

J.T. grasped his arm and slapped a bit of gauze against the wound. Matt was too startled to pull away, and J.T. was fast with the tape he wound around Matt\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cShouldn\u2019t interfere with your grip,\u201d J.T. said, meeting Matt\u2019s gaze. Matt shivered as he realized that Jay\u2019s eyes were as haunted as his own.<\/p>\n

But what does <\/em>he know that we don\u2019t?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGet up there,\u201d J.T. said, nodding toward the wall. \u201cHurry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt swallowed hard and nodded, scrambling toward the perch he so often occupied, the one next to Thom. His warhammer bumped gently against his back as he climbed, a reassuring weight against his spine.<\/p>\n

At least I\u2019ve got something.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a lie he told himself\u2014there was more than just the weapon on his back. He could feel the long-forgotten talent of his soul, the one that C\u00edar had tried not to use after his rescue from the Wild Hunt, from his own madness.<\/p>\n

As if he knew that it would make him a target. Is that why I\u2019ve tried to deny it for so long?<\/em><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a question he needed to ask\u2014he knew why he\u2019d tried to deny it.<\/p>\n

Fear.<\/p>\n

Leinth\u2019s voice jarred him from his thoughts. \u201cThom, the flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt hauled himself up onto the top of the wall as Thom leaned forward, squinting through the rain to see a faint square of white out in the distance, deep within the lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cShit,\u201d Thom muttered, shifting his weight as if readying to climb down. Matt reached out to grasp his arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t want to talk to us,\u201d Matt said.<\/p>\n

Thom froze. \u201cYou mean\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did<\/em> come for her, Thom,\u201d Thordin said softly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came for Matt, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt winced and shook his head slowly. \u201cThey\u2019re not stupid. They know if they get her\u2014\u201d he broke off, his throat getting tight. He couldn\u2019t say the words that came to mind and then immediately evaporated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll have a way to get to you, too,\u201d Sif said quietly, staring at him. Her gaze flicked toward Thordin for a moment, then back to Matt. \u201cAnd you both know it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd just made it worse,\u201d Seamus said, his voice low.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that supposed to mean?\u201d Thom asked, his face still pale.<\/p>\n

Matt winced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re bound, now,\u201d Seamus said softly. \u201cThat\u2019s what he did out on that field.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just finished something that was started in another life,\u201d Matt whispered, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. \u201cThat\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

He opened his eyes and looked out over the field.<\/p>\n

She was looking back at him, even as the ranks of men head parted to let a man pass through them, his gaze on her and his tread bringing him unwaveringly toward her.<\/p>\n

For a brief moment, he could see, almost feel<\/em>, her brave smile.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll get through this.<\/em><\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t sure if the voice was his or hers.<\/p>\n

Then she turned away and walked forward to meet the man coming toward her. Thunder growled in the distance and the hairs on Matt\u2019s arms and the back of his neck stood up on end. He could feel the energy building in her and it made his heart skip a beat.<\/p>\n

There may be hope yet.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] \u201cI need you up here,\u201d Thom said, his voice quiet but just loud enough that the words reached Matt. He gestured toward the spot between he and Thordin on the wall. Matt … 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":[150,171,170,194,160,166,181,149,148,159,168,147,167,165,158,169,146,195],"class_list":["post-3082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5","category-chapter-47","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-j-t-mackenzie","tag-leinth","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","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-NI","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3082","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=3082"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3083,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3082\/revisions\/3083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}