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

by Helen Scheuerer

‘You taught her well,’ Talemir said. ‘It’s all her,’ Wilder replied without hesitation. He might have helped shape the Warsword before them, but she’d been a warrior all along.

Wilder bit back a laugh. ‘It wasn’t all that long ago that you were the one shoving your wisdom down my throat.’ ‘You were in dire need of it,’ Torj replied. ‘I believe you once said to me: “Your bullshit is your bullshit, Hawthorne”.’

Drue laughed. ‘If the brink of war is no time for a kiss, I don’t know when is.’

‘For the longest time, women have been erased, little by little, or in the case of the Furies themselves, in one fell swoop. We have lived in the shadow of the rights and laws of men. But when the world is reborn, it will be of our own making. You’re fighting for that world, and you have the same right to armour as the rest of us. You are surrounded by women who want to see you empowered, and that is stronger than any fucking army in these realms. 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.’

Wilder already pitied his fellow Warsword. Arguing with an Embervale sister was like arguing with a brick wall.

‘It’s always been you, Thea. And as long as I’m with you, you’re the only home I’ll ever need.’