{"id":928,"date":"2011-12-14T00:00:45","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T05:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=928"},"modified":"2011-12-11T00:42:43","modified_gmt":"2011-12-11T05:42:43","slug":"day-21-chapter-12-marin-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=928","title":{"rendered":"Day 21 – Chapter 12 – Marin – 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>We made our way out of the arboretum and back to the concrete pathways of the lakes plaza.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>As we drew closer to the library, our shoes crunched on broken glass and I could see deep gouges scraped into the concrete.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>My lips thinned.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSome of them chased J.T. and Drew and Carolyn here,\u201d I said quietly, toeing some of the glass away from one of the deeper gouges.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat were they doing out here?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Looting the library?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He gestured toward the windowless ruin.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I shook my head slightly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cNo.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Carolyn\u2014the fairies\u2014Carolyn\u2014\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I fumbled for the words until Phelan touched my arm with a knowing smile.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI saw the little one on her shoulder.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She sees them clear as day, doesn\u2019t she?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I swallowed and nodded.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYes.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She always had\u2026glimmers\u2026of them even before this all happened.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I started to walk again, and he kept pace with me.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cStill came as a shock, though.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan grinned.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSometimes, these things do.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So what <\/span>were <\/span><\/em>they \"\"<\/a>doing out here when they got attacked?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I pointed ahead of us, at what was left of the Shakespeare garden.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He paused, rocking back against his heels, eyes widening slightly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cOh,\u201d he said quietly, then left my side and strode forward, like some kind of knight-protector or avenging angel.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>For half a heartbeat, I could see him in leathers with a bow and a blade, hair cropped short and wind-blown, a bright, intricate tattoo gracing the back of his neck, half hidden under a thick twist of metal around his neck.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The image faded as he crossed through the hedgerows into the garden. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I exhaled and followed him.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThey ripped this place apart,\u201d Phelan said quietly as he drifted through the garden, looking at the shattered plants and broken bits and pieces of wood and stone, scattered leaves and other natural debris.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There was deep pain in his voice as his fingers brushed over the remnants of what had clearly been the fairies\u2019 dominion here on campus.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI know that there\u2019s no love lost between creatures like the <\/span>camazotzi<\/span><\/em> and the wee ones of the air, but this\u2026this borders on the barbaric.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There was no reason for this.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cExcept for the fact that they joined us,\u201d I said quietly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIt was the end of the first week.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They started to come to Carolyn, then they kind of started to stick around us more, I guess.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I put my hands back into my pockets, watching him and feeling helpless.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, shaking his head.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThere\u2019s too much hate here for it to have just been that,\u201d he murmured, still looking around.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His eyes drifted toward the space beyond the hedgerows, toward the ruins of the PAC and the makeshift graveyard we\u2019d begun on its lawn.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His voice came softly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s where you\u2019ve buried your dead, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I nodded slightly, drifting closer to him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYeah.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There were, uhm, yeah.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Quite a few bodies.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Mercifully not as many as we were afraid of, but still.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Enough.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I chewed my lip and stared at the churned earth, at the clear signs of our work there.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe someday we\u2019d be able to put stones over that space, erect some kind of memorial. Until then, the turned soil and disturbed grass were the only testimony to the dead, to those we\u2019d lost.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I looked at him slowly, my stomach doing a slow turn in my belly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI wonder,\u201d he said softly, \u201cif that didn\u2019t have something to do with it.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cTo do with what?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I stared at him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cTo do with\u2026with what happened here?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>With what they did to the garden?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What could our dead have to do with that?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He frowned, sitting down on the grass cross-legged, ignoring the dampness.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThere\u2019s power here, though it\u2019s not necessarily a nexus point.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It echoes one, though\u2014once upon a time, there might have been one here, which is probably why the wee ones chose it for their home, but it feels like it\u2019s drifted since then\u2014eastward, I think, likely toward that great mess of a river.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There\u2019s a major line buried under there, you know.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 Too many Native American mounds along the river for there not to be something like that going on.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI could feel it.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There\u2019s minor lines through the ravines.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>A smile ghosted across Phelan\u2019s face.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMore than minor ones, my dear.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He waved a hand slightly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIn any case, to answer your question about the burials and the garden, it seems to me that your lost are more than a little restless.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They\u2019re still here.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I stared at him, dread coiling in my belly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI know that they are.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Jay sees them.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan stared at me for a moment.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cDoes he, now?\u201d he said thoughtfully, nodding to himself.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat certainly explains his dreams.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>And his reticence to discuss the nature of the mists you all kept referencing during your description of your first real battle with the <\/span>camazotzi<\/span><\/em> and the gremlins.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou got that out of the description of the fight?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I asked with an arched brow.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan simply shrugged.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHints of that, anyhow.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He leaned back against his hands.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou said that the first attack by the <\/span>camazotzi<\/span><\/em> happened here, then?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>On he and Carolyn and Andrew?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Did he just call Drew Andrew?\u00a0 <\/span>How did he know that\u2014no.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s not important right now, right?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Right.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/em>\u201cYes.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It was the first time any of us had seen them, I think, since that day Thom and Drew and I ran into the one down in the ravine months ago.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I exhaled quietly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThere was a group of them, and they chased the three of them all the way back to the ward lines.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I hugged my arms across my chest.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat was about two weeks ago.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It was part of how we started to realize that something was mucking around with the wards.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan nodded slowly, eyes focusing distantly for a moment.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t think the attack on this place is unconnected to the burials over there.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He nodded toward the gravesite.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI wonder if perhaps the <\/span>camazotzi<\/span><\/em>\u2019s aim was to divert your attention away from the graves and to this garden.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I just stared at him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He pushed himself to his feet.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe\u2019ll need to ward that ground.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Consecrate it.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I kept right on staring at him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He grinned at me and took my hand.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou managed to take me at my word for everything else, and <\/span>now<\/span><\/em> you look at me like I\u2019m crazy?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYes,\u201d I said firmly.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>His gaze and his voice softened.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cRegardless of what you or any of us may believe, Marin, any ground you bury the dead in needs to be hallowed and protected.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Especially this close to a place of such great power.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I shook my head slowly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cPhelan, I don\u2019t <\/span>understand<\/span><\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI know,\u201d he said softly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His calloused thumb played across my knuckles.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAnd I\u2019m sorry that you don\u2019t, I\u2019m sorry that no one teaches any of you this anymore.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>There is a simple truth when it comes to the dead.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cJust because they have ceased to live doesn\u2019t mean that their souls are beyond the reach of those who would turn them into tools, for good or for ill.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We made our way out of the arboretum and back to the concrete pathways of the lakes plaza.\u00a0 As we drew closer to the library, our shoes crunched on broken glass and I could see deep gouges scraped into … 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":[31,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-12","category-day-21"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-eY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928","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=928"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":937,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions\/937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}