{"id":4751,"date":"2024-04-04T00:00:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T04:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4751"},"modified":"2024-03-03T11:07:12","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T16:07:12","slug":"twenty-seven-01-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4751","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-seven – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maybe I should\u2019ve been worried about those clouds after all.<\/em>\u00a0 Bryant frowned up at the sky from the shadows of a tree.\u00a0 This is not a safe place to be standing.<\/em>\u00a0 And yet, the tree was providing some protection from the rain, despite the increasing wind and thunder, and until he knew which direction he was about to sprint in, here he\u2019d stay.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d wandered further afield than he\u2019d intended and wasn\u2019t entirely sure where he\u2019d ended up.\u00a0 He could see a watchtower and the wall off to his right, so he was fairly certain he was still within the official boundary of the village itself.\u00a0 Even that wasn\u2019t a sure thing, though, and it was hard to gauge the distances and which was closer\u2014the wall or watchtower\u2014through the pouring rain and the increasing darkness that came with the storm.<\/p>\n

There was a pavilion closer to him, though, further from where he thought the village proper was, perched in the shadow of a strange hill that seemed to curve back in on itself.\u00a0 Beyond it, he thought he saw some kind of longhouse or barracks of some kind and he thought\u2014perhaps\u2014he could see the flicker of a campfire through the rain.\u00a0 It left him puzzled\u2014and almost incurably curious in a way he thought had died in him.<\/p>\n

He could either sprint for the village, for the watchtower, or that pavilion at the next break in the rain\u2014and pray that he\u2019d have enough time to reach it before rain increased again or something worse happened.<\/p>\n

Bryant took one breath, then another, jaw firming.\u00a0 I knew I should\u2019ve stayed with Issy and David.<\/em><\/p>\n

He listened to the sound of the raindrops, waiting for it to ease for even a moment.\u00a0 Thunder grumbled, vibrating the tree, the ground.\u00a0 The hair on the back of his neck rose and a shiver skated down his spine.<\/p>\n

This is bad.\u00a0 No time.<\/em><\/p>\n

The sound changed just enough, coupled with a fresh gust of wind and he sucked in a breath, sprinting across the summer grass and a gravel path toward the shelter of the pavilion.\u00a0 The air crackled with a lightning strike close enough that he felt and heard the boom even as the flash left him momentarily blind, skidding to a halt as soon as he felt the rain stop falling on him.<\/p>\n

A hand grasped his arm and he jerked backward with a curse, ears ringing from the thunder.\u00a0 His back slammed into one of the pavilion\u2019s support posts and stars exploded behind his eyes.\u00a0 As his hearing started to return to normal, he could hear the quiet chuckle of another man\u2014one still holding onto his arm, as if to steady him, apparently.\u00a0 As his vision cleared, Bryant could make out his features in the dim\u2014grizzled, a scar slicing across his cheek, leaving a rift in an otherwise full beard of dark, curling hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cEasy,\u201d the stranger said, the scar tugging as he smiled.\u00a0 \u201cYou moved at the right time, traveler.\u00a0 If you\u2019d lingered a second longer, we\u2019d have been pounding on your chest in the hopes that your heart would start again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryant blinked, sucking in a breath as the words registered.\u00a0 He twisted slightly, back pressed against the post, and looked back.\u00a0 The tree he\u2019d been under hadn\u2019t been struck, but there was a patch of ground he\u2019d crossed that was blackened and steaming.<\/p>\n

His stomach turned over and it was all he could do to keep himself from emptying it right there.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on,\u201d the stranger said, tugging his arm gently.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve got the cookfire lit and I\u2019m thinking we\u2019ve got some tea that\u2019ll put that stomach to rights and help your heart settle down after that.\u00a0 Maybe I shouldn\u2019t have drawn your attention to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Bryant said, swallowing once, then again.\u00a0 \u201cNo, thank you.\u00a0 I\u2014it\u2019s good to occasionally be reminded of your own mortality, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Because that didn\u2019t just happen a few days ago when those things\u2014the <\/em>camazotzi?\u2014attacked us on the road.<\/em><\/p>\n

The stranger smiled wryly and nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d suppose so.\u00a0 Come on, lad.\u00a0 Come by the fire and you can tell us why you found yourself caught out in a summer squall when you seem the sort to have enough sense in your head to know better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryant started to answer but swallowed the words.\u00a0 He just nodded and let the stranger lead him toward the fire pit he\u2019d glimpsed through the blowing wind and rain.<\/p>\n

There were a few others gathered by that cookfire\u2014two men and a woman\u2014with another woman off to one side, nearer the edge of the pavilion, working on dressing a deer.\u00a0 Bryant stumbled a step, blinking at the sight of them.\u00a0 These weren\u2019t the village folk that he\u2019d seen so far in his time here\u2014these people were something else, he could tell.\u00a0 Oh, they looked as if they just<\/em> might blend in if they tried, but as he took in the cut of their clothing and the bits of armor and weapons that each carried, he knew.<\/p>\n

These people were different.\u00a0 These were soldiers, mercenaries\u2014something else, something other than the civilians he\u2019d seen and the leaders he\u2019d met.<\/p>\n

The man who\u2019d brought him from the edge of the pavilion waved him toward a bench next to the fire pit.\u00a0 \u201cHave a seat.\u00a0 That\u2019s Bastien there on the left, Miriam, Jakob, and then Ariel there with the deer.\u00a0 I\u2019m Caleb and you\u2019re quite welcome by our fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBryant,\u201d he said, sinking down into the proffered spot.\u00a0 Jakob was already reaching for a kettle that perched near the edge of the fire\u2019s glowing embers, reaching into an old picnic basket for a mug\u2014enameled steel or aluminum, Bryant guessed, watching as the man filled it with tea from the kettle.\u00a0 \u201cSorry to intrude.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEh, you\u2019re not,\u201d Bastien said, his grin broad as he regarded Bryant with bright green eyes, like sunlight through bottle glass.\u00a0 \u201cWe were taking bets on when one of the visitors would finally stumble across us.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think any of us had it during the storm, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caleb took the mug from Jakob and passed it to Bryant.\u00a0 \u201cTrying for a breath of air, I\u2019m guessing, and get caught?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething like,\u201d Bryant said, studying them.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2014I don\u2019t mean to be rude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miriam barked a laugh.\u00a0 \u201cWhenever a man says that, it\u2019s always a prelude to something offensive coming out of his mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heat washed into his cheeks.\u00a0 \u201cI just\u2014sorry.\u00a0 This is going to come out wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTry anyway,\u201d Bastien suggested, starting to lay some cast iron pots out on the stones that surrounded the fire.\u00a0 A gust of wind sent embers and smoke swirling toward him.\u00a0 He deftly shifted to one side, avoiding the worst of the embers, only a few winking to darkness against the leather of his sleeve.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not like the others here,\u201d Bryant said, the warmth of the mug bleeding into his fingers.\u00a0 The tea wasn\u2019t so hot that the cup was burning his hands, but if it\u2019d been poured any earlier, it easily could have.\u00a0 \u201cLike\u2014like most of the people I\u2019ve met so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an astute observation,\u201d Miriam said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019d be because we\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caleb slanted her a look and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve been a part of them, for better or worse, for nearly two decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you keep yourselves apart,\u201d Bryant said, his gaze wandering.\u00a0 The long building that looked like a barracks.\u00a0 A few cottages clustered around it neatly.\u00a0 Two large stables beyond.\u00a0 \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHabit,\u201d Jakob said, his voice like sifting gravel.\u00a0 \u201cCenturies of habit, lad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCenturies,\u201d Bryant echoed.\u00a0 \u201cSo\u2014so you\u2019re like the Aes Dana?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bastien started to laugh.\u00a0 \u201cFar from,\u201d he said through his chuckles.\u00a0 \u201cThank you for that, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s so funny?\u201d\u00a0 Bryant asked.\u00a0 His stomach began to sink.\u00a0 There was something tugging at the very tip of his memory, something just beyond his reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not like the Otherlanders,\u201d Caleb said, his voice gentle.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re the Wild Hunt, Bryant, and the Valley\u2019s been the first place we could call home in as long as any of us dare remember.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe I should\u2019ve been worried about those clouds after all.\u00a0 Bryant frowned up at the sky from the shadows of a tree.\u00a0 This is not a safe place to be standing.\u00a0 And yet, the tree was providing some protection from … 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":[336,337,380],"tags":[340,150,358,171,170,149,148,168,147,165,146,195],"class_list":["post-4751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-27-book-8","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-bryant-tapping","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction","tag-wild-hunt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-1eD","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4751","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=4751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4752,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4751\/revisions\/4752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}