{"id":4514,"date":"2021-01-15T11:05:06","date_gmt":"2021-01-15T16:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4514"},"modified":"2021-01-15T11:05:06","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T16:05:06","slug":"fifteen-06-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4514","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen – 06"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The sound of Matt\u2019s hammer against the anvil was muted, the door mostly shut.\u00a0 Smoke curled into the night sky from its chimney, and Neve paused in her ascent up the hill path to the forge to watch it drift away on the night breeze.\u00a0 Again, she hitched her shawl a little bit higher, a little bit tighter, the chill creeping through her having nothing to do with the weather.<\/p>\n

Something had<\/em> changed and she suspected that it wasn\u2019t just due to the arrival of their visitors.<\/p>\n

The muffled sound of voices reached her\u2014voices deep in murmured conversation, though almost overshadowed by the sound of the hammer.<\/p>\n

If there was one thing she\u2019d learned about many of her friends, it was that it was through work that they found the time to order their thoughts.\u00a0 There had been more than a few nails and blades made in the times when Matt or Thordin needed to think\u2014and in another time, many trenches dug and walls built when Thom Ambrose had needed to think.<\/p>\n

The door whispered on its hinges as she eased it open, finding not only Matt\u2014who she\u2019d expected\u2014but both Phelan and Thordin as well.\u00a0 Matt\u2019s hammer stilled and the three fell silent as she slipped inside, closing the door behind her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, don\u2019t stop on my account,\u201d she said softly.\u00a0 \u201cGo on.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t sleep, either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToo much on your mind?\u201d Thordin asked.<\/p>\n

She smiled crookedly.\u00a0 \u201cAll three of you heard what I heard.\u00a0 Could you sleep after that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Thordin spread his hands, as if his presence was an answer.\u00a0 Neve shook her head slightly.<\/p>\n

\u201cExactly.\u201d\u00a0 She drifted to the bench next to Phelan, who sat with a whetstone, sharpening some newly-crafted knives destined for trade.\u00a0 \u201cSo.\u00a0 Do we have a plan, or are we still figuring it all out?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you think?\u201d Matt asked, his gaze straying back to the metal laid against the anvil.\u00a0 It was a sword, something he\u2019d crafted only rarely the past few years.<\/p>\n

Neve stared at it for a few seconds, then said, \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be a long night.\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded and his hammer rose and fell, rose and fell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Neve’s point of view.] The sound of Matt\u2019s hammer against the anvil was muted, the door mostly shut.\u00a0 Smoke curled into the night sky from its chimney, and Neve paused in her ascent up the hill … 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":[336,337,364,14],"tags":[340,150,171,170,181,151,149,173,148,168,147,165,169,146],"class_list":["post-4514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-15-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-neve-vaughan","tag-original-fiction","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thordin","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-1aO","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4514","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=4514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4515,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4514\/revisions\/4515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}