{"id":4715,"date":"2021-10-20T12:36:16","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T16:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4715"},"modified":"2021-10-20T12:36:16","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T16:36:16","slug":"twenty-five-03-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4715","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-five – 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

They lapsed into silence.\u00a0 Hecate stared silently into her mug, half losing herself in thought.\u00a0 Somehow, somewhere deep down, she\u2019d known as well as Marin or Thom ever had that this day would come, no matter how much she would have wanted to deny it.<\/p>\n

There <\/em>are cycles to this world.<\/em>\u00a0 Her fingers momentarily tightened around the mug.\u00a0 Darkness comes.\u00a0 Light chases it away.\u00a0 Things get better.<\/em><\/p>\n

But before they get better, they get worse.<\/em><\/p>\n

She stifled the urge to exhale a sigh.\u00a0 She could feel the weight of Thordin\u2019s gaze settling on her again, knew that there was a question rising to his lips.<\/p>\n

You likely even know the question.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think it echoes that far back?\u00a0 To\u2014to the old, old days?\u201d\u00a0 Thordin\u2019s quiet question wasn\u2019t exactly the one that she\u2019d expected, though it was close.\u00a0 His memories of that time were vague and fragmented, more like those of Matt and the others who could remember past lives.\u00a0 Thordin\u2019s own return was far closer to the reincarnation of those souls than it was any sort of survival, even if his memories\u2014and power\u2014was stronger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think so,\u201d she said after a momentary silence.\u00a0 \u201cThey feared it, this turn.\u00a0 I can remember that.\u00a0 It\u2019s part of why they wanted to ensure that the Hunt couldn\u2019t be used by any of the sides\u2014they felt like the use of C\u00edar would have soured that pot.\u00a0 I\u2019m not certain how much of that I believed, you know?\u00a0 I just\u2014I tried\u2014\u201d her eyes stung.\u00a0 It was so long ago.\u00a0 Why did it still hurt so much?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Thordin said.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d she said, even as her stomach knotted.\u00a0 \u201cIt just\u2014it just hit me all of a sudden, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t mean that it had been a long time since the events she was recalling.\u00a0 She knew what he meant, though, and nodded slowly.\u00a0 \u201cIt has.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t happen very often anymore\u2014mercifully.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what Matt and I would do if it did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cManage,\u201d Thordin suggested with a wry smile.\u00a0 \u201cAs always.\u201d<\/p>\n

That made her laugh.\u00a0 \u201cAye.\u00a0 We would.\u00a0 One way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded.\u00a0 \u201cSo Olympium feared it, then.\u00a0 Feared the Once and Future King\u2014and feared his eventual return.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hecate shot him a wry smile.\u00a0 \u201cWouldn\u2019t you, if you were them?\u00a0 The whisper of it had them quaking in their sandals.\u00a0 I wish I\u2019d had more time and wits to enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Hecate’s point of view.] They lapsed into silence.\u00a0 Hecate stared silently into her mug, half losing herself in thought.\u00a0 Somehow, somewhere deep down, she\u2019d known as well as Marin or Thom ever had that this day … 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":[336,337,375,14],"tags":[340,150,171,170,194,149,148,147,165,169,146],"class_list":["post-4715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-25-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-hecate","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thordin","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-1e3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4715","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=4715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4716,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4715\/revisions\/4716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}