{"id":3279,"date":"2017-07-07T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T04:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3279"},"modified":"2017-07-06T20:21:36","modified_gmt":"2017-07-07T00:21:36","slug":"fifteen-02-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3279","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you stop her?\u201d<\/p>\n

Seamus shook his head. \u201cHow could I and why would I? If anyone\u2019s got any chance in hell of getting them to talk before they attack, it\u2019s going to be her. She can offer the bastard his life\u2014she can tell him that he\u2019ll live if he turns back and he might actually believe it.\u201d He sighed. \u201cAnd if that doesn\u2019t work, I\u2019m sure she\u2019s got a plan. She usually does and I\u2019m sure she\u2019s playing things ridiculously close to the vest.\u201d<\/p>\n

I stared at him, jaw tightening. \u201cYou should have gone with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone had to stay on the wall and make sure Thordin didn\u2019t go off after her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations. You still have that job and<\/em> you get to convince him that this was a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

He winced but didn\u2019t say anything, turning his attention back to the field. I got myself situated next to him, readying my bow.<\/p>\n

The line of clouds heralding the storm had slowed slightly, though it hadn\u2019t stopped moving. I could see the figure leading it now, a broad-shouldered man in a dark cloak, a shadow on the landscape. \u201cWho was he then?\u201d I asked Seamus, my eyes narrowing slightly, as if that would give me a better view of the enemy.<\/p>\n

At least it looks like he\u2019s alone\u2014but that squall-line is following him. That\u2019s never a good sign.<\/em><\/p>\n

His being alone also made me wonder where his backup was lurking. On wings, in the storm? Hidden to our eye like the Greys could be?<\/p>\n

Or something worse, something more horrifying than either of those possibilities?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was from Aegyptus,\u201d Seamus said quietly. \u201cOne of the southern groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSouthrons?\u201d<\/p>\n

The ghost of a smile curved Seamus\u2019s lips and then vanished in the space of a few heartbeats. \u201cYes and no. We didn\u2019t tangle with them so much as some of the others did. They were a southern group without falling into the term. Does that…does that make sense? They warred with the Southrons as much as we did, sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It did and it didn\u2019t, but I was willing to let that much go\u2014it was thousands of miles and thousands of years away by now. \u201cRight. Keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seamus took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. \u201cHe was one of the mid-level powers there\u2014not in charge, but not a peon, either. A hunting god, which is how I think he ran afoul of Thordin in the first place\u2014ranging too far afield of territory and a lot of rot like that. I don\u2019t know. There was a lot going on during the wars and I couldn\u2019t track all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you guys had your own problems to keep track of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is that.\u201d Seamus shifted his weight slightly, repositioning next to me at the top of the wall. \u201cThere was the matter of a little war we were fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle,\u201d I said, then snorted. \u201cRight. Master of understatement right here next to me.\u201d I swallowed, tasting bile at the back of my throat. \u201cGive me the short answer, since she\u2019s almost reached him. How dangerous is he?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs dangerous as a hunter gets, especially when backed into a corner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat,\u201d I muttered. \u201cJust great.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Marin’s point of view.] \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you stop her?\u201d Seamus shook his head. \u201cHow could I and why would I? If anyone\u2019s got any chance in hell of getting them to talk before they attack, it\u2019s … 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":[240,258,14],"tags":[150,171,170,152,149,148,159,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-3279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-15-book-6","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-marin-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-seamus-vaughan","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-QT","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279","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=3279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3280,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3279\/revisions\/3280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}