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

by Helen Scheuerer

How many times had he woken with the same thoughts, the same physical reactions? There was an eerie familiarity to it.

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.

Bruised, but not broken,

A broken body and a broken mind – that was their intent: torture at its finest.

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.

For him, the world would wait. And when he was safe at her side, they could watch the whole fucking thing go up in flames to be reborn anew.

‘Just don’t fling it at me,’ the Shadow Prince quipped. ‘Noted.’

Why do I feel like that's exactly what you would end up doing at some point?

‘They say this is where they send the monsters of the midrealms, but it is their birthplace,’ Aemund told him.

ohh

The Archmage of Chains smiled as he revelled in Wilder’s realisation. ‘You will be our best creation yet… A general of darkness in Artos’ growing forces. A weapon of our own making…’ Wilder thrashed against his manacles and his captors, against the horrific fate that awaited him as they forced him down onto a table. Darkness swallowed him whole.

Nooo

Strong of mind, strong of body, strong of heart,

‘Then the world will know that if they hurt him, I’ll burn them all to the ground.’

She broke away, panting. ‘I love you,’ she gasped, refusing to tear her eyes away from him. ‘I love you so much I can hardly breathe. I’ve wanted to say it for so long —’ Wilder gave a hoarse, broken laugh. ‘Tell me again later. Tell me when we’re safe.’ Thea kissed him again, desperate to show him that tempest he’d brought to life within her from the moment they’d met. ‘I’ll tell you every day until my last,’ she murmured.

He simply let her take the lead, an equal, a fellow Warsword in command.

‘You’re dead anyway,’ she promised. ‘But touch him again, I dare you.’

It was her choice, and he would stand by her until the end.

‘I am the storm,’ she told herself. She let her lightning rage, right alongside her heart, and she split the gods-damned tower in two.

It was just like the one he had once possessed, its steel shining in the glow of the candlelight: two crossed swords, a third cutting down the middle, only… behind the three blades were streaks of lightning.

I can't remember you losing your mark

He would take whatever she gave him and be fucking grateful.

‘Tell me what you need and it’s yours.’

I need to do something that makes me feel alive. I need you.’

everything was too bright, too loud —

what hurts you, hurts me.

‘Right now, I need to care for you, and you’re going to let me.’

I need someone like this

‘They meant to turn me into an abomination, to unleash me upon the midrealms.’ Wilder turned to face her, uncertainty in those silver eyes. ‘And yet here you stand,’ Thea said, lifting her chin in defiance. ‘And them? They’re nothing but fucking dust in the wind.’

Why do I feel like they at least half succeeded in their task?

‘I don’t feel like myself, not yet.

‘I need to touch you.’ His voice was hoarse. Thea understood what he was asking. He needed to feel her, needed to know that she was real. And he needed to be in control.

With a shudder, he wondered if it was a withdrawal symptom from whatever drugs they’d forced into him, before he instantly shut the thought down, boxed it up and shoved it deep in the recesses of his mind.

I knew it!

With a shudder, he wondered if it was a withdrawal symptom from whatever drugs they’d forced into him, before he instantly shut the thought down, boxed it up and shoved it deep in the recesses of his mind.

I knew it!

‘You haven’t changed.’ ‘Why would she?’ Talemir interjected, striding forward and dropping a kiss to his wife’s temple.

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

‘Sounds like a solid plan to me. Of all the ways to die after everything I’ve been through, turning to a block of ice in some dead forest would be rather underwhelming.’

lol

‘But it doesn’t change the reality. Fate will come to claim me soon enough, and when it does, I wanted to leave something of me behind. I —’ Her voice cracked, but she forged on. ‘I wanted to say all the things I won’t get time to say.

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

Thea knew that when her existence was wiped from the world, everything else would remain. She knew and hoped that everyone would move forward, her ashes fading in their wake, but it didn’t make it hurt any less that she wouldn’t be there, that life wasn’t hers for the taking.

a true man won’t cut you down as you fight your battles… A true man helps sharpen your sword, guards your back and fights at your side.’

“If there’s one thing that transcends time and distance and all else, it’s love”.’

Challenge me if you dare, but you’ll leave this conversation in pieces, if you’re lucky.

But what point is there in us being here with him when the world is on fire? What is the point when there is nothing left? Ryland needs a world to grow up in. We’re going to give that to him. We have to.’

‘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.

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.’

she realised that his fury wasn’t for her alone, but for all women. That despite every ounce of evidence she’d shown him over the years that she was capable, that she was a true protector of the midrealms, he would never believe it. He didn’t want to. And that meant there was no place for him in this world, the world they were trying to defend and rebuild anew.

Together, they were a force to be reckoned with, regardless of the odds. Together, they were unstoppable.

war makes for unlikely allies.

Artos’ body sagged in its bonds, and he looked to Thea, his green eyes wide. ‘Thank you,’ he uttered cryptically, before he passed out.

War is over??? We are only 61% in??? And "Thank you"?? CRYPTICALLY??? Yeah, No!

‘We… we won?’ she said hoarsely, to no one in particular. Wilder’s stoic presence at her shoulder settled her. ‘Barely,’ he replied. ‘But yes.’

Idk about that

‘It doesn’t matter who stands against you… What matters most is who stands with you.’

It had been a long time since anyone had asked him what he wanted, since anyone was willing to hear his needs and his desires, as though he deserved to have them met.

‘I want… a life more than existence, more than survival. To experience the world to its fullest,

The wine has either gone completely bad – dead – or it’s the most incredible wine you’ve ever tasted. The only thing that’s certain is that you won’t remember leaving.’

Oh wow. Pretty sure there's a war going on out there, and you guys have no clue. How wonderful!

‘Thea’s name day is tomorrow, and Anya’s is just two months from now.

I'm sure this won't be her last birthday. Some miracle is going to happen. I just feel it.