{"id":4340,"date":"2020-06-24T09:55:22","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T13:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4340"},"modified":"2020-06-24T09:56:01","modified_gmt":"2020-06-24T13:56:01","slug":"seven-03-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4340","title":{"rendered":"Seven – 04"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Breath burned in her lungs as her strides ate up the distance between the orchard and the gates, gates that still stood open despite everything they\u2019d been through over the years\u2014a side effect of the peace that had held for so long. There weren\u2019t even sentries anymore during daylight. It was only at night when they kept the watches.<\/p>\n

For the first time, it seemed foolish to her.<\/p>\n

The wards can\u2019t protect us from everything.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a sobering thought, though a true one.<\/p>\n

Heart pounding, she dodged the other villagers as they went about their business, nearly colliding with a few who stepped in the wrong direction as she tried to anticipate their dodge. She didn\u2019t even have enough breath to spare to apologize as she tore through the village proper toward the hill behind the forge.<\/p>\n

As long as the weather was good, that\u2019s where her father always met with his council.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t slow as she pounded up the hill, though she tried to summon enough extra breath to shout. \u201cDad! Dad<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n

There they were, clustered together\u2014her parents, Phelan and Jacqueline, Uncle Jay and Aunt Caro, Thordin and Sif, and Aunt Neve. From the look on her face, it seemed Neve had heard her first, her brow furrowing as Kailey came up the hill as fast as her legs could carry her.<\/p>\n

\u201cKay?\u201d Her father\u2019s brows knit as she reached them, breaking away from her mother\u2019s side to move toward her. \u201cWhat is it? Is it Lin?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kailey doubled over, trying to catch her breath. She gripped her knees, knuckles going white as she gulped in air, heart still beating too fast, blood thundering in her ears. Her aunts and uncles and her mother closed in around her in a tightening circle, something that was oddly comforting and terrifying all at once.<\/p>\n

Unseen power crackled in the air and set the hair on her arms and the back of her neck standing on end.<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t even know what I\u2019ve seen and they\u2019re already\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cRiders,\u201d she managed to gasp out between lungfuls of air. \u201cBelow the orchard, in the field. Not on the road. Cross-country. I\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoa, whoa,\u201d Matt said, grasping her shoulder gently. \u201cCalm down. Slow <\/em>down. What happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hadn\u2019t he been listening?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are riders in the field below the orchard,\u201d she said more slowly this time, more carefully. \u201cIt looks like they were going cross-country. They\u2019re armed, Dad. I could see it. I couldn\u2019t hear what they were saying, but they\u2019d stopped below the orchard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many?\u201d Thordin asked, his voice a deep rumble, like the thunder presaging a storm. She\u2019d never heard his voice like that, not anytime she could remember. \u201cDid you see?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSix,\u201d she said, swallowing hard. \u201cThere were six. On horseback. They were armed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of weapons?\u201d Sif asked, her voice soft. There was a thread of anger there, though, anger and something else-if Kailey didn\u2019t know better, she\u2019d have suggested it was eagerness, a promise of something that she didn\u2019t want to fathom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she said, swallowing hard. \u201cI don\u2019t know, I didn\u2019t get a good look. I was just so scared and I knew that I needed to get back without being seen and tell you that they were here and that they were coming. They\u2019re on horseback and they\u2019re armed. I could see the sun glinting off metal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPossibly armored,\u201d Thordin said quietly, glancing to her father.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet the gates closed,\u201d her father said, his expression darkening. \u201cAnd start pulling everyone back. Set for an attack. This could be a scouting party setting up for much worse. Let\u2019s make sure they see that we\u2019re not to be trifled with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about the riders?\u201d Sif asked quietly.<\/p>\n

Her father smiled grimly. \u201cThey get to learn the lesson firsthand.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Kailey’s point of view.] Breath burned in her lungs as her strides ate up the distance between the orchard and the gates, gates that still stood open despite everything they\u2019d been through over the years\u2014a side … 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":[336,337,349],"tags":[150,163,171,170,194,160,174,345,181,151,149,173,148,168,147,167,165,169,146],"class_list":["post-4340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-07-book-8","tag-awakenings","tag-carolyn-roberts","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-j-t-mackenzie","tag-jacqueline-bell","tag-kailey-astoris","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-180","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4340","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=4340"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4343,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4340\/revisions\/4343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}