{"id":4395,"date":"2020-08-19T08:47:17","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T12:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4395"},"modified":"2020-08-19T08:47:17","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T12:47:17","slug":"ten-04-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4395","title":{"rendered":"Ten – 04"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The strangers reined up about twenty yards from them, arranged as they\u2019d ridden\u2014the three in front, the two behind, the last behind them. The outrider\u2019s horse pranced a little, and the man\u2014because it was a man but barely that\u2014kept his head on a swivel even as he tried to hold his mount in check.<\/p>\n

Matt tried to hide a frown. Once burned, twice shy? It would be a familiar feeling.<\/em> His gaze went from the outrider back to the man who appeared to be the lead rider. He couldn\u2019t see the other man\u2019s face beyond the hood he wore, but he did see the glitter of dark eyes from the shadows. The lead rider was broad-shouldered, a sword strapped to his back and a rifle slung across his front. Matt had no doubt there were likely more weapons on the man than he could see.<\/p>\n

He let the silence linger for a few seconds more, watching the riders as they watched him, Phelan, and Carolyn.<\/p>\n

The lead rider drew himself a little taller, shifting in his saddle. It wasn\u2019t as if he seemed uncomfortable under Matt\u2019s eyes\u2014no, it seemed that he was stretching his legs, resettling in case they were in for another long ride should they be turned away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re travelers,\u201d the lead rider said, his voice a deep baritone, mellow and soothing, a type given to speech and song more than battle cries. \u201cWe ran afoul of some nastiness a few days back on the road north of here and we\u2019ve been looking for a place to shelter since.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNastiness,\u201d Matt echoed, feeling his stomach twist back on itself. \u201cWhat kind of nastiness?\u201d<\/p>\n

The lead rider glanced to the companions on his right and then his left before his gaze turned back to Matt again. \u201cSeemed like outriders for something bigger. Not sure, but it reminded me of the army that wiped out a village a couple hundred miles east last year. Doubt it\u2019s the same one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh. I don\u2019t.<\/em> Matt\u2019s jaw tightened, not for the first time wishing Cameron was there. \u201cHow did you know where to find us?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t,\u201d the lead rider said. \u201cWe\u2019d heard about two settlements out this way. We just kept riding and hoped we\u2019d find one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne with a healer,\u201d one of the two figures behind the lead rider muttered. Her voice was almost too quiet to hear, but Matt heard her all the same.<\/p>\n

He glanced at Phelan, then at Carolyn. The grim set of their jaws told him enough\u2014told him that they, at least, were mostly of the same mind as he. He nodded almost to himself, then turned his attention back to the riders.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll leave your weapons at the gate,\u201d he said. \u201cYour gear you keep. We\u2019ll figure you out inside the walls. You\u2019re not the only one who\u2019s run afoul of nastiness<\/em> lately.\u201d<\/p>\n

He turned to head back to the gate, waving for the riders to follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Matt’s point of view.] The strangers reined up about twenty yards from them, arranged as they\u2019d ridden\u2014the three in front, the two behind, the last behind them. The outrider\u2019s horse pranced a little, and the man\u2014because … 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":[336,337,353,14],"tags":[340,150,163,171,170,354,181,149,173,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-4395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-10-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-carolyn-roberts","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-grey-company","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-18T","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4395","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=4395"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4396,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4395\/revisions\/4396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}