{"id":3282,"date":"2017-07-10T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T04:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3282"},"modified":"2017-07-09T20:26:15","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T00:26:15","slug":"fifteen-03-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3282","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen – 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Out on the field before the wall, Sif had slowed\u2014but so had the figure ahead of her. My stomach sank.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the hell is going on out here?\u201d<\/p>\n

A chill shot through me as I heard the annoyance\u2014and an undercurrent of fear\u2014in my brother\u2019s voice. My jaw tightened and I didn\u2019t dare glance back to see the expression on his face. I already knew what it looked like, anyway.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t happy, but neither was I. I didn\u2019t answer him, either, knowing that he\u2019d be on top of the wall with me soon enough\u2014he and Thom both, probably, with Thordin and J.T. likely taking the other side. I\u2019d be surprised if it turned out any different.<\/p>\n

Seamus glanced sidelong at me\u2014I caught his gaze out of the corner of my eye\u2014and grimaced. \u201cYou\u2019d better get up here fast,\u201d he called, half twisting back to look behind him, down to the ground on the other side of the wall. \u201cThere\u2019s not much time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Sif?\u201d Thordin asked.<\/p>\n

This time, both of us ignored the question. My brother climbed up onto the wall, taking up a position next to me, his eyes narrowed, gaze focused first on me and then shifting out to the field. \u201cIs that him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s him,\u201d I confirmed. My hand tightened around my bow. Sif and Anhur hadn\u2019t quite met up out there in the field, but they were getting close enough that I didn\u2019t dare tear my gaze away.<\/p>\n

This feels too familiar. I don\u2019t like it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is he here?\u201d Matt asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot sure, but we\u2019re certainly going to find out soon,\u201d Seamus said quietly. \u201cRunning theory is that it has to do with Menhit coming back for another bite at the apple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt went rigid next to me. \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are we saying no to?\u201d Thom took up a position on the other side of Matt, perching nearest to the gate, his brow furrowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can\u2019t be here because of her,\u201d Matt said, staring at me. I could feel the weight of his stare, his voice laced less with fear and more with horror. \u201cShe was working for Hecate the last time she showed up here. Then, after I went with Hecate, she told her to back off, to leave us alone. Whoever that guy is out there, he\u2019s not here because of her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat assumes that Menhit\u2019s not hiring out to the highest bidder\u2014or worse, gone freelance.\u201d Seamus took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. A shiver crept down my spine. There was a ring of rightness<\/em> to his words, as if I knew he\u2019d grasped the truth of it.<\/p>\n

Behind me, I could hear Thordin clambering up onto the wall.<\/p>\n

I held my breath.<\/p>\n

Out on the field, Sif had stopped walking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Marin’s point of view.] Out on the field before the wall, Sif had slowed\u2014but so had the figure ahead of her. My stomach sank. \u201cWhat the hell is going on out here?\u201d A chill shot through … 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":[261,150,171,170,152,181,149,148,159,168,147,167,165,158,169,146],"class_list":["post-3282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-15-book-6","category-story","tag-anhur","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-marin-astoris","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"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-QW","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282","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=3282"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3283,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282\/revisions\/3283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}