{"id":4171,"date":"2019-12-16T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T05:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4171"},"modified":"2019-12-15T10:53:31","modified_gmt":"2019-12-15T15:53:31","slug":"twenty-seven-06-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4171","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-seven – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201cHow far is it to the rise?\u201d Phelan asked, glancing away from the pair of scouts and toward the small army they\u2019d craped together from their own settlers and the Hunt\u2019s members. The group was filtering in slowly, most grim-faced and determined. There was not a single one of them that didn\u2019t realize what was at stake.<\/p>\n

Survival.<\/em><\/p>\n

He took a slow breath, glancing back toward the scouts as one answered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a narrow trail about a quarter mile from here. That\u2019s the easiest way up, but it\u2019s steep. A horse won\u2019t take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all right,\u201d Marin said. \u201cWe don\u2019t need horses for what we\u2019re planning. Is there enough cover on the ridge for archers to hide? Are they watching it?\u201d<\/p>\n

The scout shook his head. \u201cNot closely enough. There should be enough cover up there as long as the force is small.\u201d He stared at all of them for a few seconds, his gaze wandering away to take in the rag-tag troop they\u2019d assembled. The juxtaposition between the more disciplined ranks of the Hunt and the more inexperienced survivor contingent was striking. Phelan knew full well that must have been weighing on the scout\u2019s mind, filling it with questions about how this was going to turn out, doubts that they would survive the battle to come.<\/p>\n

Phelan would share those doubts if he could allow himself to believe that failure was any sort of option.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll leave our horses here,\u201d Marin said, starting to unstrap her bow and quiver from her saddle. \u201cCameron and Gideon will coordinate our advance on the flats. How\u2019s the ground? Can we mount a cavalry charge?\u201d<\/p>\n

The second scout blinked. \u201cIt was fairly hard when we went through. I can\u2019t imagine the rain\u2019s softened it enough to make a charge ill-advised. Is\u2014is that the plan? To charge their camp on horseback?\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a question in his voice, doubt\u2014perhaps even the barest thread of fear. Phelan had to bite the inside of his cheek to kill a smile. If he was in the same spot, he\u2019d likely express the same incredulity and concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Marin said. \u201cAt least not before they\u2019ve seen us and started to feel the consequences of the threat they\u2019ve made.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThreat,\u201d the first scout echoed. \u201cIs that what started all of this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMm,\u201d Marin said, nodding as she slung her bow and quiver across her body. Her gaze flicked toward her brother for a second, then back to the scout. \u201cOrcus gave us an ultimatum. We\u2019re here to ram it back down his throat and send a message to all of them. We\u2019re not to be trifled with. They haven\u2019t learned that in a year of all of them being turned back from our walls. So now we take the fight to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scout sucked in a breath. \u201cYou are<\/em> dangerous, my lady.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t until the world ended,\u201d Marin said, then turned away. \u201cI need to see the maps. Phelan, Matt, round up the ranged team. We leave in half an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.] \u201cHow far is it to the rise?\u201d Phelan asked, glancing away from the pair of scouts and toward the small army they\u2019d craped together from their own settlers and the Hunt\u2019s members. … 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":[299,332,14],"tags":[150,171,170,152,181,149,173,148,168,147,165,146,195],"class_list":["post-4171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-7","category-chapter-27-book-7","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-marin-astoris","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction","tag-wild-hunt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-15h","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4171","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=4171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4172,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4171\/revisions\/4172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}