The Dragon Republic

Fire and water looked so lovely together. It was a pity they destroyed each other by nature.

People will seek to use you or destroy you. If you want to live, you must pick a side. So do not shirk from war, child. Do not flinch from suffering. When you hear screaming, run toward it.

She liked listening to Nezha talk. He was so hopeful, so optimistic, and so stupid.

Between us, we have the fire and the water. I'm quite sure that together, we can take on the wind.

He brushed his lips against her forehead as he drove the knife deeper into her back.

Rin was so tired of having to prove her humanity.

But eventually, you'll have to ask yourself precisely what you're fighting for. And you'll have to find a reason to live past vengeance.

You asked how large my sorrow is. And I answered, like a river in spring flowing east.

If nothing lasted and the world did not exist, all that meant was that reality was not fixed. The illusion she lived in was fluid and mutable, and could be easily altered by someone willing to rewrite the script of reality.

The anger was a shield. The anger helped her to keep from remembering what she'd done. Because as long as she was angry, then it was okay — she'd acted within reason. She was afraid that if she stopped being angry, she might crack apart.

I mean, if that ship were a person, I would fuck that ship,” said Baji.

This was not a world of men. It was a world of gods, a time of great powers. It was the era of divinity walking in man, of wind and water and fire. And in warfare, she who held the power asymmetry was the inevitable victor.

Our dead don't leave us. They'll hunt you as long as you let them.

She knew with certainty that she'd lost Nezha forever.

They believe in a singular and all-powerful deity, which means they cannot accept the truth of other gods. And when nations start to believe that other beliefs lead to damnation, violence becomes inevitable.

She had a weapon now. She wasn't defenseless against him. She'd never been defenseless. She had just never thought to look.

—and I don’t care if you’re pissed, you can’t throw food at the Dragon Warlord, said Nezha. Kitay’s face was purple with anger. If he was at all relieved to see Nezha alive, he didn’t show it. “Your men tried to blow up my house!” “They tend to do that,” Rin said. “I was still in it!” Kitay cried. “And so we’re my ledgers!” Nezha looked amazed. “Who gives a shit about your ledgers?” “I was doing the city’s taxes.” “What?” Kitay stuck his lower lip out. “And I was almost done.

I think we’re about to be handed off,” Baji said. “It was nice knowing you all. Except you, Chaghan. You’re weird.

Problem?” Nezha asked. “No, just a question. Have you ever considered being less of a pretentious fuck?

Life and death, they're equal to this cosmos. We enter the material world and we go away again, reincarnated into something better.

You will die thinking I have abandoned you all. But I do not hesitate to say that I value the lives of my people far more than I have ever valued you.

She wondered if he was going to kiss her now. She didn't know much about being kissed, but if the old stories were anything to judge by, now seemed like a good time. The hero always took his maiden somewhere beautiful and declared his love under the stars. She would have liked Nezha to kiss her, too. She would have liked to share this final memory with him before she fled. But he only stared thoughtfully at her, his mind fixed on something she couldn't guess at.

Ah. I get it.” Baji gave her a curious look. “You’re in love.” “Don’t be disgusting.

And you think you're on the brink of madness, you think that this moment is going to be when you finally snap, but it's not. "How do you know that?" "Because it gets easier every time. Eventually you learn to exist on the precipice of insanity.

Nothing lasts,'" said Nezha, at the same time that Kitay said, "'The world doesn't exist.

It's not about who you are, it's about how they see you. And once you're mud in this country, you're always mud.

His hand went into the skimmer's hull, an inch from her head. She didn't flinch. She turned her head slowly, trying to pretend her heart wasn't slamming against her chest. 'You missed,' she said calmly. Nehza pulled his hand away from the hull. Blood trickled down his knuckles from four crimson fots. She should have been afraid, but when she searched his face, she couldn't find a shred of anger. Just fear. She had no respect for fear. 'I don't want to hurt you,' he said. 'Of, trust me.' Her lip curled. 'You couldn't.

You poor thing," she said. "What are you talking about?" he asked. She just hugged him tighter. She didn't want this moment to end. She didn't want to have to go. "I just don't want the world to break you.

Hey,” Kitay said. “What’s so interesting over there?” “Nothing,” Rin said. “Just gossip. Have you cracked the nature of the cosmos?” “Not yet.” Kitay tossed his stick onto the dirt. “But give me a year or two. I’m getting close.

You let me think you were dead.” “What did you want, a letter? It’s not like it was terribly easy to track you down, either.” “A letter would have been better than bombing my ship!” “Are you ever going to let that go?” “It’s rather a large thing to let go!