{"id":3975,"date":"2019-05-29T09:52:34","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T13:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3975"},"modified":"2019-05-29T09:52:34","modified_gmt":"2019-05-29T13:52:34","slug":"sixteen-03-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3975","title":{"rendered":"Sixteen – 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A fog rose around them as they ran, chill, almost electric, setting Matt\u2019s hair on edge.\u00a0 Part of him wanted to risk a glance at Thordin, a glance that would have contained a question, but he didn\u2019t risk it.\u00a0 Part of him was afraid of what he might see in Thordin\u2019s face, another argued that looking would slow him down and that was the last thing he needed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Neither paused as they reached the Shakespeare Garden, simply charged on without hesitation.\u00a0 The fog was thick around them, and muted flashes of light reflected through it.\u00a0 They could hear it now, the keening wail.\u00a0 It was almost but not quite a song.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matt\u2019s heart seized.\u00a0 It can\u2019t be a bansidhe.\u00a0 It can\u2019t be.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that.<\/i>\u00a0 \u201cHecate!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHere,\u201d her voice called back.\u00a0 \u201cDown here.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He and Thordin were already charging down the hill.\u00a0 The torches were glowing a bright blue, though faint, as if they were in danger of burning out.\u00a0 That sent Matt\u2019s heart slamming up into his throat.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fog swirled around them and the keen grew louder, though didn\u2019t tip into howling.\u00a0 Matt\u2019s throat tightened as he plumbed the fog, half-blindly seeking Hecate.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t made another sound since answering his call.\u00a0 Now, as the fog thickened and the keen grew closer, Matt found he was worried about calling out to her again, about making any sound at all.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There was a glow somewhere in the fog, something that was light and dark all at the same time.\u00a0 It was close and growing closer, Matt could tell.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 His pace slowed.\u00a0 Thordin bumped into him gently, but he, too, had slowed in the fog.\u00a0 Matt could barely see his friend\u2019s face, but somehow Thordin\u2019s eyes were plainly visible\u2014wild, bright, and somehow afraid but not afraid.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matt\u2019s breath caught as he realized his own gaze must have mirrored Thordin\u2019s.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A hand caught his and squeezed.\u00a0 Warmth shot through him, panic abating for only a second as he drew Hecate toward him, drawing Carolyn behind her.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d Carolyn whispered.\u00a0 \u201cWho is this?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not sure,\u201d Hecate breathed.\u00a0 \u201cBut I have my suspicions and some of them aren\u2019t good.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A fog rose around them as they ran, chill, almost electric, setting Matt\u2019s hair on edge.\u00a0 Part of him wanted to risk a glance at Thordin, a glance that would … 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":[299,320,14],"tags":[150,163,171,170,194,181,149,148,168,147,165,169,146],"class_list":["post-3975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-7","category-chapter-16-book-7","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-carolyn-roberts","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thordin","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-127","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3975","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=3975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3976,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3975\/revisions\/3976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}