{"id":4375,"date":"2020-07-29T08:40:30","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T12:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4375"},"modified":"2020-07-29T08:40:30","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T12:40:30","slug":"nine-02-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4375","title":{"rendered":"Nine – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Kailey tore her gaze from the faces of the people manning their defenses\u2014most of them faces she\u2019d known her whole life\u2014and looked out over the field again, straining her eyes to see beyond its edge to the edge of the old hills. Those hills had once been buildings, according to her father, buildings that had been slowly reclaimed by the earth since Meteorfall. That was what they called it\u2014either Meteorfall or simply \u201cthe Fall.\u201d She\u2019d never asked for the full story of it, though she\u2019d heard bits and pieces over the years. Growing up in the Valley, it was hard not to.<\/p>\n

Unless the riders took those low hills head-on, they\u2019d funnel through a narrow space between them to the wide field below the walls. Kailey wasn\u2019t sure which would happen.<\/p>\n

After all, this was something new for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cSif,\u201d Matt said, glancing past Kailey and Hecate. \u201cReady the warning shot. Two hundred yards out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sif nodded slowly, notching the arrow but not drawing yet.<\/p>\n

Kailey swallowed.<\/p>\n

This is real. I\u2019m not dreaming. This is <\/em>actually happening.<\/em><\/p>\n

The sound of riders grew closer and for a second, she held her breath, her heart starting to beat faster. She groped for her mother\u2019s hand, found it, squeezed.<\/p>\n

Hecate squeezed it back, leaning into her ear. \u201cSteady, ceann daor<\/em>. It\u2019s all right. Nothing will harm you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She wanted to tell her mother that wasn\u2019t what she was worried about, but the words stuck in her throat. Her head bobbed in a slight nod. \u201cOf course, mum,\u201d she whispered, her throat tight.<\/p>\n

Maybe nothing today<\/em>. But what about the day after? Or the next?<\/p>\n

Something was going on. All of them knew it. Why else would her father have reacted like this?<\/p>\n

Why else would she have panicked at the sight and sound of riders while she was out in the orchards?<\/p>\n

\u201cI have eyes,\u201d Neve called from the other side of the gates, her voice just loud enough to reach them. \u201cThey\u2019re coming through the narrows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt just shook his head, holding up a hand. \u201cOn my signal, Sif.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got it,\u201d she said, her voice grim as she lifted the bow, readying to aim without drawing\u2014not yet.<\/p>\n

Why waste the energy if you might need it? Who knows if there\u2019s an army behind them?<\/em><\/p>\n

A chill skittered down Kailey\u2019s spine and she swallowed hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Kailey Astoris’s point of view.] Kailey tore her gaze from the faces of the people manning their defenses\u2014most of them faces she\u2019d known her whole life\u2014and looked out over the field again, straining her eyes to … 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":[336,337,352,14],"tags":[340,150,171,170,194,345,181,151,149,148,168,147,167,165,200],"class_list":["post-4375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-09-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-kailey-astoris","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-neve-vaughan","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-sif","tag-story","tag-thomas-merlin-ambrose"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-18z","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375","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=4375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4376,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375\/revisions\/4376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}