{"id":3980,"date":"2019-06-03T00:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T04:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3980"},"modified":"2019-06-02T19:45:58","modified_gmt":"2019-06-02T23:45:58","slug":"sixteen-04-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3980","title":{"rendered":"Sixteen – 05"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Hecate\u2019s fingers dug hard into the flesh of his arm, so hard that he made a noise in protest.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t seem to hear, her eyes wide and staring out into the mists.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid\u2014did you\u2014?\u201d the question came as a bare, reedy whisper, almost too quiet to hear even as her fingers tightened even more in the fabric of his sleeve.\u00a0 The keening grew louder and the chill in the air deepened, accompanied by the scent of freshly turned earth.\u00a0 Matt tensed.<\/p>\n

Has something been digging out here?\u00a0 Is that why this is happening?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI heard it,\u201d Carolyn said, her voice just barely louder than Hecate\u2019s.\u00a0 \u201cWho is it?\u00a0 Do\u2014do we know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Persephone,\u201d Hecate said weakly.\u00a0 \u201cI would know her voice anywhere.\u00a0 But\u2014but I don\u2019t understand.\u00a0 If he\u2019s got her, how is she here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf who\u2019s got her?\u201d \u00a0Carolyn asked in confusion.\u00a0 Thordin just cursed softly under his breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes it matter?\u00a0 She\u2019s asking for our help.\u00a0 Where the hell is she out in this damn fog?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBreathe, mo chro\u00ed<\/em>,\u201d Matt whispered to her.\u00a0 \u201cFocus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The keening grew louder.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t hear the voice again\u2014if Persephone was still out there, she either hadn\u2019t spoken again or the wails drowned out her voice.\u00a0 It was hard to tell which was more likely, harder still to tell if there actually anyone or anything<\/em> else physically out there with them or if it was just magic being flung from afar.<\/p>\n

She was trembling against him, her fingers gripping tight enough to bruise.\u00a0 Matt didn\u2019t care about that part\u2014not about the bruises\u2014but the look in her eye left him cold.<\/p>\n

\u201cHecate.\u201d<\/p>\n

She blinked and finally looked<\/em> at him, some of the panic leaving her gaze as she focused.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2014sorry.\u00a0 Sorry.\u201d\u00a0 She swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cI just\u2014I was\u2014I can\u2019t\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFocus,\u201d he said again.\u00a0 \u201cPlease.\u00a0 Is she here<\/em>?\u00a0 Can you tell?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate stared up at him, chest heaving as she sucked in air like someone drowning.\u00a0 She was at least trying to calm down, which he hoped boded well.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she whispered.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t think.\u00a0 I can\u2019t\u2014I can\u2019t focus enough to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt swallowed hard, then gently disengaged her fingers from his arm.\u00a0 \u201cStay with Carolyn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d Hecate blinked at him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStay with Carolyn,\u201d Matt said again, unslinging his hammer.\u00a0 \u201cSomething\u2019s wailing out there, and she might be trapped nearby if she\u2019s calling for help.\u00a0 Thordin and I will just have to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] Hecate\u2019s fingers dug hard into the flesh of his arm, so hard that he made a noise in protest.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t seem to hear, her eyes wide and staring out into the … 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-3980","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-12c","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3980","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=3980"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3982,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3980\/revisions\/3982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}