{"id":119,"date":"2012-05-15T07:49:56","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T11:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/?p=119"},"modified":"2012-05-15T07:49:56","modified_gmt":"2012-05-15T11:49:56","slug":"zervakan-free-fantasy-novel-chapter-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/?p=119","title":{"rendered":"ZERVAKAN – Free Fantasy Novel – Chapter 10"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\"\"<\/a>
Cover by TJ Lomas.<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\nI’m posting a chapter from my latest fantasy novel for free every Monday and Friday (click Zervakan<\/a> above for a synopsis and to start from the beginning). It’s in a “pre-published state,” meaning you might find the occasional spelling\/grammar mistake. If you do, please leave a comment below or email me at robsteiner01 [at] gmail [dot] com.<\/p>\n

If you’re uncomfortable getting something for nothing, you can hit the PayPal Donate<\/a> button in the Tip Jar section to the right. If you donate more than $3, I’ll send you a non-DRM ebook once the book is published (summer 2012). If you donate more than $20, I’ll send you a printed copy.<\/p>\n

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it!<\/em>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ZERVAKAN<\/h1>\n

by Rob Steiner<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chapter 10<\/h2>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcZervakan het gaklai na Zervakan,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Taran explained to Edoss, Cursh, and General Myndehr in the Speaker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s car.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That is what I think I heard.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an ancient Mystic dialect.\u00c2\u00a0 Now I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what \u00e2\u20ac\u02dchet gaklai na\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em> means, but I think Zervakan<\/em> means something like a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcequal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 or \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmaker.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

It had been several hours since the attack in Doare, and the train had not dared stop in any of the villages it passed.\u00c2\u00a0 For they were all destroyed or still burning.\u00c2\u00a0 There had been no more attacks by things similar to the Doare creatures.\u00c2\u00a0 But near three o\u00e2\u20ac\u2122clock in the morning, while Taran was in his cabin searching his books for a translation of the madman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shouts, the train passed a hillside a hundred paces from the tracks.\u00c2\u00a0 Taran saw what looked like a carpet of human limbs without torsos slithering over each other like mating snakes.\u00c2\u00a0 Moonlight reflected off the glistening mound, and the limbs swayed back in forth in unison\u00e2\u20ac\u201dlike a wheat field moved by a breeze\u00e2\u20ac\u201das the train sped by without slowing.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Which is it?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cursh asked.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEqual\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 or \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmaker?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know for certain,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Taran said.\u00c2\u00a0 Cursh went to fold his arms, but winced as he touched his bandaged arm.\u00c2\u00a0 He let his arms fall to his sides again.\u00c2\u00a0 Taran knew he risked the ire of Cursh who seemed to have no patience for people who said I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know.<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0 But the truth was the truth.<\/p>\n

Taran put a large sheet of paper with pencil rubbings in the middle of the table, and Edoss, Cursh, and Myndehr gathered around to look at it.\u00c2\u00a0 Only one lamp burned in the car, giving off enough light to cast an eerie yellow glow on everyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s faces.\u00c2\u00a0 General Myndehr refused to allow any more light for fear of the car being targeted again.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I copied these pictographs from a stone tablet I found in Edellia near Sydear three years ago,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Taran said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They flow from right to left.\u00c2\u00a0 The first picture shows two beings fighting each other.\u00c2\u00a0 The second shows a larger being pushing the two fighting beings together so that they become one.\u00c2\u00a0 I believe this Zervakan<\/em> must be what the Mystics called the First Cause, the creator of the universe.\u00c2\u00a0 The source of both<\/em> rings.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never heard the term First Cause,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cursh said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why do the Mystics call their creator that?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well there is a philosophical theory that nothing exists unless it is observed.\u00c2\u00a0 Taking Observation Theology to its logical conclusion, there had to be someone or something around to observe the universe before there were humans, otherwise there would be no world from which humans could evolve.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, how did the universe begin if there was no one around to observe it?\u00c2\u00a0 This eternal being is what the Mystics called the First Cause, for it was the first to observe, and thus cause, the creation of the universe.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Myndehr laughed.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No wonder nobody has heard of that theory.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supernaturalist gibberish.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Taran countered, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Just because a theory contradicts current beliefs does not make it \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcgibberish.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Of course,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Myndehr said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but extraordinary claims must have extraordinary evidence to support them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Spoken like a good Pathist,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Taran said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The rings aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t evidence enough for you?\u00c2\u00a0 That thing in Doare?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Edoss interrupted.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can we get back to the problem at hand?\u00c2\u00a0 Why was this man shouting this at us?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know why he would be shouting at us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Taran remembered the madman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s crazed glare that seemed directed specifically at him.\u00c2\u00a0 But it could also have been a trick of the shadows.\u00c2\u00a0 Taran shuddered when he thought of the man pulling bloody clumps of hair from his head and throwing them at the train.\u00c2\u00a0 Those were not the actions of a sane man, no matter which theory you believed.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Somehow Angra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s touch must have driven him mad,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Taran said.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAngra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s touch?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cursh asked.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He had this black glow around him,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Taran said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A tendril of dark light came all the way down from Angra and was touching him.\u00c2\u00a0 It must have driven him mad.\u00c2\u00a0 I saw something similar in Calaman during the storm.\u00c2\u00a0 There were two tendrils of black light reaching down into the city, to what must have been harrowers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Cursh said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We received no reports of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctendrils\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 coming from the black ring during the storm.\u00c2\u00a0 Are you sure it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just part of the storm?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Before a few hours ago, I thought they were.\u00c2\u00a0 But after seeing that glow around that man…\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

General Myndehr said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And what where those creatures that attacked us?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe those creatures were once normal animals, maybe people.\u00c2\u00a0 But they were changed.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what the harrowers did\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthey warped living beings into monstrosities they could control.\u00c2\u00a0 That man must have been a harrower.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

General Myndehr shook her head.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One man destroyed an entire village?\u00c2\u00a0 Where did he come from?\u00c2\u00a0 I thought all the Mystics were in the Beldamark.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Taran said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think we may have to accept the possibility that some Mystics are among us right now.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe our next door neighbors.\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps some are harrowers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The General leaned forward, anger flashing in her eyes.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re taking the leader of our nation right to them?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 She turned to Edoss.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Excellency, I commend you for your bravery and commitment to this mission.\u00c2\u00a0 But with all due respect, there is bravery and there is foolishness.\u00c2\u00a0 As the Shadarlak commander, I must insist we end this mission and find a way back to Calaman.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Edoss stared at the darkness outside the train windows.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said quietly.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We continue on.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Taran interrupted the General as she was about to continue.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153General, the Mystics who contacted us are not harrowers.\u00c2\u00a0 The legends say that the Mystics who fled to the Beldamark were priests who helped humanity.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And according to your own words,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Myndehr said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the Mystics fled to the Beldamark because humanity turned on them.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finally payback time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Revenge is not what they want,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Edoss said, staring at the pictograph on the table.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I felt no hostility during my vision.\u00c2\u00a0 I saw a culture that only desired peace.\u00c2\u00a0 The only negative emotion I felt from them was fear.\u00c2\u00a0 Besides, if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m to understand Dr. Abreau, harrowers cannot…call on Ahura, correct?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Taran said, pleased that at least the Speaker was beginning to open his mind.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your vision was prompted when you invoked Ahura.\u00c2\u00a0 Harrowers can not call on Ahura, or vice versa.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Edoss looked at each one of his Ministers with a fire that matched General Myndehr\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My friends, the Mystics I saw are afraid of what will happen to the world if we do not help each other.\u00c2\u00a0 This \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcharrower\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in Doare is only the beginning.\u00c2\u00a0 They are already burning our cities and turning our people into Mercy knows what.\u00c2\u00a0 We need the help of the Beldamark Mystics, and they need ours.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He gave Myndehr a sharp look.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We continue on.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The General sat back, her arms folded and her face in shadow.<\/p>\n

The conductor entered the car, approached the table, and said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Excellency, we must<\/em> stop for fuel at the next station.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

General Myndehr said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve gone through your backup stores already?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The conductor nodded grimly.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We only have enough for ten more miles.\u00c2\u00a0 After Brehke, there is no place to stop until Kaneta in Edellia.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Edoss nodded.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How long until we reach Brehke?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fifteen minutes, Excellency.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Edoss looked at General Myndehr, and she nodded.\u00c2\u00a0 She stood and went to her Shadarlak lieutenants, issuing orders to have all men armed and ready for combat when the train stopped.\u00c2\u00a0 The men saluted, then rushed off toward the passenger cars where their men were stationed.\u00c2\u00a0 Taran hoped fifty Shadarlak Armsmen\u00e2\u20ac\u201damong the best trained military units in the Compact\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwould be enough to hold off more of the corrupted creatures and harrowers controlling them.<\/p>\n

Though he did not say it, he thought General Myndehr was right to be concerned for the Speaker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s safety.\u00c2\u00a0 He doubted the Mystics who had sent the Speaker the letter had dangerous intentions, but harrowers were now roaming the land causing the chaos and destruction they had witnessed in Doare in every village since then.\u00c2\u00a0 What if the harrowers were also in Edellia, a vast nation of plains and forests through which the train needed to travel for two more days before reaching the port at Sydear?<\/p>\n

But Taran was not going to voice his thoughts.\u00c2\u00a0 Even if he had to march through an army of harrowers and their grotesque creations, he would do so.\u00c2\u00a0 This mission was Mara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only chance for life.<\/p>\n

The Shadarlak gathered all the train\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s civilian passengers\u00e2\u20ac\u201dabout a dozen, including Edoss and his aids\u00e2\u20ac\u201dinto the Speaker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s car, then posted Shadarlak at the windows of all four of the train\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s passenger cars.\u00c2\u00a0 As the train slowed, Taran loaded bullets into his father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s old revolver, hoping he still remembered how to shoot straight.<\/p>\n

Ten Shadarlak gathered at the windows, five on each side.\u00c2\u00a0 The train began to slow for the Brehke station.\u00c2\u00a0 They all had their revolvers drawn, pointed at the floor.\u00c2\u00a0 They eyed the sparse homes that crept past the windows, searching for movement or signs of danger.<\/p>\n

The sun had not yet risen, but it had turned the eastern sky orange, enabling Taran to get a good look at the town.\u00c2\u00a0 In between the Shadarlak crouching at the broken windows, he saw a town that simply looked asleep.\u00c2\u00a0 None of the buildings he saw were burned or damaged in any way.\u00c2\u00a0 But he saw no one walking the streets, nor horses tied to hitching posts, nor dogs, nor birds, nor anything alive besides the pine trees surrounding the village in its mountain valley nook.<\/p>\n

Taran saw the platform creep by until the train lurched to a stop.\u00c2\u00a0 Nobody met them, nor did Taran see any bags.\u00c2\u00a0 Besides the hiss of steam from the locomotive, all was quiet.<\/p>\n

Then Taran heard General Myndehr\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice outside from near the locomotive shouting orders to her men.\u00c2\u00a0 Boots fell on the wood platform, and Taran saw the gold tri-corner hats of the Shadarlak rush past the windows on the station side of the train.<\/p>\n

A Shadarlak abruptly opened the car door, making all the civilians jump, including Taran.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dr. Abraeu,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153General Myndehr needs your counsel.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Taran took a deep breath, holstered his revolver, then followed the young soldier out the door.\u00c2\u00a0 He passed Flynt and Ladak, who gave him wide-eyed stares that did not ease his anxiety over leaving the relative safety of the train.<\/p>\n

Taran stepped down onto the platform.\u00c2\u00a0 The station was small, with one platform and a long, covered bench for passengers to escape the sun and rain as they waited for their trains.\u00c2\u00a0 A small office with a closed window and drawn shade was the only nearby structure.\u00c2\u00a0 Beyond it, no one appeared on the dirt road outside the stone buildings of Brehke, though the town looked to have at least a hundred residents.\u00c2\u00a0 For what was surely an agricultural community, it was odd that the residents were not up and about before dawn.<\/p>\n

Taran shivered, and it was not from the cold mountain breeze.<\/p>\n

The young Shadarlak led Taran to the right, where General Myndehr stood with her back to him and looking down at the platform.\u00c2\u00a0 Two Shadarlak flanked her, their eyes constantly moving.\u00c2\u00a0 More men stood in lines in front of the train\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s engineers as they maneuvered a coal shoot above the locomotive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fuel bin.<\/p>\n

When he approached Myndehr, she turned, then pointed to the platform.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Look familiar?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Taran stared at the wood floorboards.\u00c2\u00a0 He knew he should not have been surprised.\u00c2\u00a0 Written in large, wide strokes that filled the entire platform, were the Zervakan pictographs that Taran had just shown the Speaker.\u00c2\u00a0 The strokes were in dark red.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Blood,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Taran said, staring at the pictographs.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So it would seem.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Yes, they were the same pictographs, all up and down the platform.\u00c2\u00a0 Taran shook his head, wondering what had happened to the residents of Brehke.\u00c2\u00a0 Judging from the amount of blood\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

The engineers cursed in terror and disgust.\u00c2\u00a0 Taran looked up to see human limbs, torsos, and heads flowing out of the coal chute and into the fuel bin.\u00c2\u00a0 One of the engineers immediately shut off the flow from the chute when he saw its grisly contents.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mercy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d General Myndehr breathed.<\/p>\n

A sudden, maniacal howl echoed off the mountains, followed by a terrible laugh that made Taran\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hair stand.\u00c2\u00a0 The laugh went on and on, as if the being making the horrible sound had no need to breathe.\u00c2\u00a0 Taran turned around, searching tree shadows along the steep mountain incline above the train for the insane laughter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s source, but saw no movement in any direction.<\/p>\n

A gunshot cracked from one of the passenger cars, followed by another, and then all the Shadarlak were firing in all directions.\u00c2\u00a0 Taran took cover next to the train as General Myndehr screamed for her men to cease fire, waving her arms above her head.\u00c2\u00a0 The men on the platform stopped firing, but it took another minute before order was restored on the train.<\/p>\n

Once the firing ceased, Taran heard the laughter again, as if it had continued throughout the firestorm.<\/p>\n

Myndehr ordered her men back onto the train, then shouted to the conductor to get the train moving again.\u00c2\u00a0 The train was already creeping forward before all of the men had returned, making them leap onto the car steps to scramble on board.<\/p>\n

Taran rushed back to the crowded Speaker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s car, found everyone staring out the windows in grim silence.\u00c2\u00a0 Taran glanced out and saw human remains flying through the air and landing in the grass, brush, and platform with wet slaps.\u00c2\u00a0 The engineers were shoveling the gruesome cargo out of the coal car.<\/p>\n

The conductor entered the car, his face tired and pale.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We cross the border into Edellia in five miles, Excellency.\u00c2\u00a0 There is a town twenty miles past the border that should have coal.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Twenty miles?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cursh said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You said we only had enough coal for ten.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We do, but the border is the high point of our ascent into the Perla Mountains.\u00c2\u00a0 Once we cross the border, we will be able to coast down hill all the way to the Edellian town of Kaneta, which has the coal.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Looking at Edoss, he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But if Kaneta is lost…\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Edoss nodded.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do what you have to do.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Edoss and his aids began discussing possible options for what to do if Kaneta had also been overrun.\u00c2\u00a0 Their discussions were drowned out by Taran\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thoughts as he watched the passing mountains and trees.<\/p>\n

Why were there so many harrowers out here?\u00c2\u00a0 Where had they come from?<\/p>\n

And were they in Calaman right now?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cover by TJ Lomas. I’m posting a chapter from my latest fantasy novel for free every Monday and Friday (click Zervakan above for a synopsis and to start from the beginning). It’s in a “pre-published state,” meaning you might find the occasional spelling\/grammar mistake. If you do, please leave a comment below or email me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,28,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free-stuff","category-novels","category-zervakan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}