The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2)

by Ursula K. Le Guin

She had not realized how very different people were, how differently they saw life.

She was scared by the solidity of Penthe’s unfaith.

Some feeling that her will or her knowledge was not yet complete held her back.

“No,” Kossil said in her cold voice. “They have no gods. They work magic, and think they are gods themselves. But they are not. And when they die, they are not reborn. They become dust and bone, and their ghosts whine on the wind a little while till the wind blows them away.

“It’s easy to fool fools,”

Since Arha had learned (from gentle Penthe) of the existence of unfaith, and had accepted it as a reality even though it frightened her, she had been able to look at Kossil much more steadily,

Who am I? she asked herself, and got no answer.

“I am not Tenar. I am not Arha. The gods are dead, the gods are dead.”

They are dead. They are all gone. I am not a priestess anymore.”

You were taught to be a slave, but you have broken free.”

For we need peace sorely in the world.

you must unlock the door, and go out of it, with me. Leave the Tombs, leave Atuan, and come with me oversea. And that is the beginning of the story. You must be Arha, or you must be Tenar. You cannot be both.”

“You will not die. Arha will die.”

“I will come with you,” she said.

There was no answer. There had never been an answer.

Living, being in the world, was a much greater and stranger thing than she had ever dreamed.

There was a joy in her that no thought nor dread could darken, that same sure joy that had risen in her, waking in the golden light.