Ruin

Family. Friendship. Loyalty. These things have been my guiding stars, my light in these dark times.

It was no dream. The Ben-Elim, he gave me a choice. Go forward or go back. I wanted to cross over, to be with my kin, my friends. To find peace.´ ´Why did you come back, then?´Fidele asked him. ´Three reasons. Three people. Jael. Lykos. You.´He paused and looked up into her eyes. ´Two for vengeance. One for love.´ She stared at him a long, timeless moment, then she leaned forwards and kissed him. Page 273 (Fidele and Maquin)

Two for vengeance. One for love.

We are what we choose to be. What makes a king a king? Is there something different about him? Does special, sacred blood run in his veins? No. He is chosen; he believes it, and the people believe. He rises to the task, or he fails it.

My da used to tell me, don’t hit if you can help it, but if you have to, hit fast, and hit hard.

He does not want to lead, and that is a good start. Only the vain and foolish crave such a responsibility.

Sometimes it is just best to accept what is, and get on with doing.

Life should be lived, and what is life without heart and passion?

How fickle are these men, who are swayed so by a little flattery.

Keep a close watch on the path you follow, my friend, else one day you will look about you and not know where you are.

Family is politics, the hottest forge you'll find.

the blow that ends the fight is the one your opponent doesn’t see coming. Make them look somewhere else, then make your move.

You are the Black Sun,’ Veradis said.

I cannot kill them.’ ‘Break some bones,’ Tukul said. ‘What?’ ‘Break the thumb and a finger or two of their sword hand. Break an ankle. They’ll not be able to hold a weapon or move in combat. They’ll not face you in battle any time soon. And they’ll be alive.’ Corban thought about that a few moments. A relieved smile spread across his face and he squeezed Tukul’s shoulder.

As the sun sank into the west it bathed the flat land of glistening marsh spread before them in its orange glow, myriad waterways and stagnant pools glistening like liquid amber. Behind them the bastion of the Darkwood stood stark and silhouetted, fading into the distance, and along with it the realm of Narvon.

It is a serious thing,’ Laith said, ‘taking a life. A sad thing, I think, though better to take another’s than to lose your own. Many of my kin consider the thorns a badge of honour. I suppose it is that as well.

How is it that you and Calidus are here? Made flesh?’ Meical looked into his cup, swirled it around. ‘It is part of the prophecy; one Ben-Elim, one Kadoshim. Part of Elyon’s fairness, I suppose.

She took a sip of the mead, the taste of honey combining with a pleasant heat in her belly. ‘It’s

I am weak,’ the Kadoshim rasped. ‘This body is failing.’ ‘I warned you,’ Calidus said. ‘These bodies are still mortal. Soon it will die from loss of blood.’ ‘Help

You’ve done well,’ Sumur said, his voice a demonic rasp, ‘better than I’d ever have imagined, but the end is, has always been, inevitable.