{"id":4572,"date":"2021-03-19T18:00:55","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T22:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4572"},"modified":"2021-03-19T18:00:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T22:00:55","slug":"eighteen-02-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4572","title":{"rendered":"Eighteen – 02"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The sound of the hammer stopped as they came closer to the door and for a second, Phelan held his breath, wondering if Matt was about to come out of the forge, if he was going to take a break.\u00a0 Then he heard the soft murmur of voices inside and exhaled.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt and Thordin,\u201d Jacqueline said softly.\u00a0 \u201cWe could do worse for this conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s true.<\/em>\u00a0 Phelan nodded.\u00a0 \u201cAye.\u201d\u00a0 He reached for the door\u2019s latch, tugging it open and allowing the morning sunshine to flood into the small space.\u00a0 The sound of Matt and Thordin\u2019s voices faded as both glanced toward the suddenly open door.\u00a0 Matt frowned and Thordin arched a quizzical eyebrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d\u00a0 Matt asked immediately, as if he\u2019d been waiting for the other shoe to drop.<\/p>\n

He probably has been, knowing him.\u00a0 He\u2019s more like them than he\u2019s ever thought about.<\/em>\u00a0 Phelan glanced sidelong at Jacqueline, who drew a slow, deep breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe peace is breaking down,\u201d she said without preamble.\u00a0 \u201cThe camazotzi<\/em> are probably what attacked our guests on their way here, based on what they said about it and what David\u2019s wounds look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDavid,\u201d Matt echoed, his gaze meeting Phelan\u2019s for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s your nephew?\u00a0 Aoife\u2019s son?\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan nodded slowly.\u00a0 \u201cYeah.\u00a0 I can\u2019t say I\u2019ve gotten to talk to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to venture a guess, I\u2019d say he takes a bit more after Gray,\u201d Jaqueline said, squeezing him gently.\u00a0 \u201cThough his talents are definitely along a family line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan shivered.\u00a0 \u201cWhat kind of talent?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacqueline looked at him, then back to Matt, seemingly watching his face.\u00a0 \u201cSomething close to what Marin and Thom could do, but not the same.\u00a0 But close.\u00a0 I think he\u2019s seen things that have brought them here.\u00a0 That\u2019s my working theory, anyway, and they haven\u2019t said anything that\u2019s changed my mind about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re looking for Phelan,\u201d Matt said softly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than Phelan, I think,\u201d Jacqueline said.\u00a0 \u201cBut I\u2019m not sure how much more.\u00a0 Not yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the camazotzi<\/em> attacked them.\u00a0 You\u2019re sure?\u201d
\n\u201cAs sure as I can be at this point.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t give a very in-depth description, but I\u2019m sure if I show them some of the sketches from back then.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty sure they\u2019ll recognize it as what attacked them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt\u2019s lips thinned and he nodded, turning back to the forge.\u00a0 He exhaled softly, staring at the glowing embers.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s it, then, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can hope it\u2019s coincidence,\u201d Phelan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not,\u201d Matt said.\u00a0 \u201cThough it\u2019s a nice thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is.\u00a0 Even if it\u2019s not true, it\u2019s a nice thought.<\/em>\u00a0 Phelan exhaled a sigh, closing his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cWe knew it wouldn\u2019t last forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 We just hoped it would last long enough.\u201d\u00a0 Matt shook his head again and banked the forge.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not like we ever really thought it wouldn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phelan forced a sad smile.\u00a0 He knew different on that account.<\/p>\n

They all did.\u00a0 They\u2019d hoped it would hold\u2014and hold forever.<\/p>\n

A hope in vain, regardless.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.] The sound of the hammer stopped as they came closer to the door and for a second, Phelan held his breath, wondering if Matt was about to come out of the forge, … 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":[336,337,367,14],"tags":[340,150,171,170,174,181,149,173,148,168,147,165,169,146],"class_list":["post-4572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-18-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-jacqueline-bell","tag-matthew-astoris","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-1bK","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4572","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=4572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4573,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4572\/revisions\/4573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}