{"id":4263,"date":"2020-03-27T11:02:35","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T15:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4263"},"modified":"2020-03-27T11:02:35","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T15:02:35","slug":"two-03-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4263","title":{"rendered":"Two – 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

I was probably more harsh than I needed to be,<\/em> Phelan reflected as he climbed the hill, the forge growing closer with each step. Sunshine slanted down through the trees that had grown old since the day he\u2019d come to this place nearly nineteen years before. It was still strange to think of, how long it had been, how much had changed.<\/p>\n

Some things, though, stayed the same. Families grew, but they still remained family<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t hear the sound of Matt\u2019s hammer against the anvil as he grew closer and that made him frown. If Matt wasn\u2019t working up there, then what was going on? His stomach sank. He\u2019d expected this to be about Lin, about the boy\u2019s encounter in the ravine. Something told him now that wasn\u2019t going to be the case.<\/p>\n

He ducked into the shadows of the forge, blinking slowly to let his eyes adjust. The space was dark and close but as clean as a forge could really be, lit by the embers of the firebox and a lantern hung on a chain from one of the ceiling\u2019s beams. Matt stood near the anvil, forehead creased slightly in a frown, arms crossed against his leather apron. He glanced at Phelan as he entered, nodding slightly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was faster than I expected,\u201d Matt said quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t have very far to go to find me,\u201d Phelan said, glancing toward the second figure that stood in the forge\u2019s shadows, eyes finally adjusting enough to make out the features of his face. \u201cGilad? What are you doing here? I thought you were out on patrol.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rest of them are,\u201d Gilad said, scrubbing a hand over his face. \u201cI came back to report. We decided it was best that it not wait until we finished our circle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been another week,\u201d Matt said, clarifying the Huntsman\u2019s timeline. The Wild Hunt ranged further and wider these days than they had almost two decades before when they\u2019d settled in the Valley, though most stayed nearer to the home they\u2019d created here\u2014a welcome relief for a force that had spent centuries on the road. Gilad had ridden with them for longer than most, despite not looking like he was much older than twenty-five.<\/p>\n

Phelan could empathize with him in many, many ways.<\/p>\n

He glanced between the two men, his brow furrowing. \u201cSo what\u2019s the report? What did you see?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo caravans torn apart,\u201d Gilad said quietly. \u201cAbout four days\u2019 ride south of here. The patrol diverted to check on New Hope. Orders were to send someone back after they did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lara Duchnes was one of their earliest allies and had been the leader of the settlement at New Hope, roughly forty miles south down the lakeshore from the Valley. If something had happened there\u2014<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t. Not yet.<\/em> Phelan met Matt\u2019s gaze, finding it as troubled as he knew his own was. He looked at Gilad again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do we think did it? The caravans? What do we think hit them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing human,\u201d Gilad said softly. \u201cWe all know what that means.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAye,\u201d Phelan said, stomach folding in on itself.<\/p>\n

The peace is breaking. The seals are loose. They\u2019re testing how far they can go, how strong those who would stand against them might be. The caravans are only the beginning\u2014the <\/em>camazotzi coming after Lin is an early warning.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s about to begin again and there\u2019s nothing we can do to stop that this time.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.] I was probably more harsh than I needed to be, Phelan reflected as he climbed the hill, the forge growing closer with each step. Sunshine slanted down through the trees that had … 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":[336,337,341],"tags":[150,171,170,343,181,149,173,148,168,147,165,146,195],"class_list":["post-4263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-02-book-8","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-gilad","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-16L","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4263","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=4263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4264,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4263\/revisions\/4264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}