Shadow & Storms (The Legends of Thezmarr, #4)

by Helen Scheuerer

For he knew in his bones that she would emerge victorious, Naarvian steel in hand, vows of vengeance on her tongue. And that she would come for him.

The thought was bittersweet, for she’d won the Great Rite and achieved what she’d always wanted, only to have lost something more precious when she emerged.

‘But we cannot fall apart in the face of adversity.’

‘No man could have you and not be consumed,’

‘Life does not stop after the death of a single person.’

‘All women are fighters,’

It wasn’t perfect, but no battle plan ever was. It was always about finding the best option among the bad.

Don’t let the world – don’t let anyone convince you that you’re not enough. Only you define your story. You and you alone. When they tell you what you’re not, when they tell you what you can’t do, remember: you are the storm, Elwren. You split the skies and flood the plains. You make the ground tremble beneath their boots. No one can fucking stop you.’

‘Do you have a moment?’ she asked. ‘For you? Always.’

war makes for unlikely allies.

‘Even if I had forever, it would not be enough time with you.’

‘If this is to be our final stand, let us make it worthy of legend!’

She was struck by an image of the three Furies: Iseldra, Morwynn and Valdara, standing side by side as the Embervales did now.

‘We are all daughters of darkness, Thea. We were born into a world of it, a place that would dictate the way in which we defend ourselves, the way we live our lives. No more. That world is no longer. And the next one will be what we make it.’

‘I always said you’d be the end of me,’ he told her, throat bobbing. ‘But I was wrong. You’re the beginning.’