The Daylight War (The Demon Cycle, #3)

by Peter V. Brett

“Your Tenders have lied to you!” he shouted, drawing on the power of his crown to spread his voice far into the gloaming. “Since you were infants at your mothers’ breasts, they have told you the alagai are a Plague sent by the Creator to punish the sins of man. They have told you that you deserve this, that you have no choice but to cower and hide and await forgiveness and redemption.” He scanned the men, letting them see his eyes. “But Everam loves His children, and would not curse us so. The alagai are a plague, but it is one sent by Nie, the Enemy, and redemption does not come to men who cower and skulk! It comes to those who take up the fight, struggling against the children of Nie on His Ala even as Everam struggles with Her in the heavens.” A month ago, he might have thought the words pointless with such men, but now he could see into their hearts, and knew they were tired of blaming themselves for the alagai, tired of being told that the homes and loved ones they lost were punishments they had brought upon themselves. They wanted to believe, but his people had broken them as badly as the demons, leaving them dispirited. They would give anything to be as men once more. “You have seen my people fight the alagai,” Jardir said. “You know it can be done. They have training, it is true, but more than that, they have courage. Courage coming not from their spears, but from the knowledge that they fight for more than themselves. They fight for their wives and mothers, their ...