{"id":4323,"date":"2020-06-05T08:26:20","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T12:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4323"},"modified":"2020-06-05T08:26:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T12:26:20","slug":"six-04-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4323","title":{"rendered":"Six – 04"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

J.T.\u2019s brows knit as he stared at Phelan, leaning a little more heavily on the cane in his hand. Despite the moratorium on violence, the years hadn\u2019t always gone smoothly for him. It was something that Phelan could empathize with on many levels. \u201cWhat else is there?\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan exhaled, shifting his weight slightly to ease the pain starting in one leg, suddenly starting to feel the weight of centuries for the first time in a long while. \u201cI killed a camazotzi<\/em> today just at the edge of the wards,\u201d he said quietly, carefully, then rushed on before anyone could protest or interject. \u201cIt was chasing Lin up the slope and he was already bleeding, which means either that camazotzi<\/em> had gotten a piece of him or it was another one that\u2019s either dead in the ravine or still out there somewhere looking for its partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few seconds of stunned silence met his words. Hecate drew closer to Matt, her arms wrapping around his waist, her face going moon-pale. She as much as any of them had reason to fear the old monsters and their power.<\/p>\n

That sort of thing happened when you used to be<\/em> one of those monsters mothers used to scare their children into behaving.<\/p>\n

Carolyn found her voice first. \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen those in\u2014what, five years? Not since Thom and Marin\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan nodded slowly. \u201cI know. And we were lucky, then, and so was he. I don\u2019t know how lucky he or we will be this time, especially not with the news the Hunt\u2019s brought us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe peace breaks,\u201d Thordin said slowly, softly. His gaze shifted over toward Matt. \u201cWhat do you want to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make ready,\u201d Matt said quietly. \u201cThat\u2019s all we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have to make sure the kids stay inside the wards,\u201d Carolyn said. \u201cInside the wards, preferably inside the walls, too. I mean, I hate to think about losing their help out in the fields and the orchards but I don\u2019t think we have a choice, do we? It\u2019s too big a risk if things are out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were kids when this started,\u201d Jacqueline said softly. \u201cWe managed to come through it okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we mostly stayed safely inside the wards and the walls,\u201d Carolyn said, her jaw tightening slightly. \u201cWe stuck together and that helped us make it through safely. I\u2014the kids\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve lived a different kind of life,\u201d Hecate said, then shook her head. She scrubbed a hand over her face. \u201cThey\u2019ve lived a different kind of from any of us.\u201d She looked at her husband, then to Thordin and Sif, to J.T. and Carolyn, to Jacqueline and Phelan, and then to Neve. \u201cHas there been any word from Cameron?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hugging herself slightly, Neve shook her head. \u201cNo. But he\u2019s only two months into his ride. I don\u2019t expect anything for at least another month, probably longer. I can\u2019t sense anything\u2019s wrong, though\u2014if I did, I\u2019d tell all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan\u2019s gaze drifted toward Matt. His friend was staring out into the trees of the ravine, expression faraway and thoughtful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish they were still here,\u201d Matt said, the words barely audible.<\/p>\n

No one had to ask who he meant. They all already knew.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.] J.T.\u2019s brows knit as he stared at Phelan, leaning a little more heavily on the cane in his hand. Despite the moratorium on violence, the years hadn\u2019t always gone smoothly for him. … 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":[336,337,348,14],"tags":[340,150,163,171,170,194,160,174,181,151,149,173,148,168,147,167,165,169,146],"class_list":["post-4323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-06-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-carolyn-roberts","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-j-t-mackenzie","tag-jacqueline-bell","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-neve-vaughan","tag-original-fiction","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-sif","tag-story","tag-thordin","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-17J","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4323","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=4323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4324,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4323\/revisions\/4324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}