Of Empires and Dust (The Bound and The Broken, #4)

by Ryan Cahill

he needed a moment. In truth, he needed a lifetime, but he’d settle for a moment.

They’d had no choice—No, that wasn’t true. They’d had a choice, and they’d made the only decision worth making. A decision they’d make again to protect the ones they loved. But that didn’t mean Calen didn’t hate himself for it.

You were not the cause, but on the night the Dragonguard flew over this city, you rose to meet them.”

Dragonbound by fire, Broken by death. Here we wait. Here we rest. Until we are called to make whole what is half.

It wasn’t a resignation. It was a proclamation: ‘We will fight until our dying breath. We will not be bowed. We will not yield.’

Fear wins more battles than steel.

As Tarmon left, Dann leaned in closer. “Do you want me to come?” Calen shook his head. “Well, that’s awkward because the mead is in my room… which is in that house… because that’s where we sleep.”

We now stand in the heart of this Age’s great war.”

“It’s not like the stories.” “Nothing is ever like the stories. If the stories told the truth, people would never pick up swords.”

it heard Calen calling just as she did – their family. Their pack. They would not go quietly into the darkness.

And she had turned her agony inwards so as to protect Ella and Calen from its touch.

The Shadow is rising, and we will be there to meet it.”

There wouldn’t be time for a count before the next attack. There would just be faces never seen again.

brutal.

“There’s a lot you all don’t know. After the council, we’ll talk.”

why did all that give me chills!

He has a death wish, one the gods won’t grant – thankfully for us.”

The resulting fight lasted all of three heartbeats.

None of us, not one soul here, has seen darker times than these. And still, this fool wants to squabble and argue over who has ‘power’. None of us have power. We are not fighting for control, we are fighting for survival. We are fighting so that our bloodlines are not ended here, so that fear is not the last thing our children know. My boy died of the blood lung when he was no more than five. My wife, the only piece of me that was worth anything, died the night I lost my home. I fight for all of you, in the hope that you never know my pain. If any of you have a problem with that, speak now.”

Yarik stared open-mouthed at Erdhardt. The look on the man’s face mirrored how Dahlen felt. This had been the last thing he’d expected.

I kinda saw that coming

Some scars were worth keeping, if only to remind a person of how close they’d come to Heraya’s embrace.

I choose my champions with care, Grandmaster Kallinvar. And I chose you.”

And when my soul finally leaves this world, I will walk into Achyron’s halls telling The Warrior himself that I died fighting alongside Grandmaster Kallinvar, alongside one of the greatest souls I have ever known.”

Belina’s face lit up. “Be the bush!”

Those who fought to the bitter end were given that end.

“This is it. This is where the future of Valtara is decided. I want Loren and every soul under his command to see me in their nightmares. I want them to fear us like they feared the night as children. I am ready to be their demon.”

Despite the disparity between the elves and humans, between the armies of Aravell and those who stood behind Calen, there was something common between them, something shared: pain. Dann had felt it from the moment they’d stepped out into the streets. It clung to the air, made its home in the stone, and pierced the heart of every soul that walked towards the ceremony.

“Correct me if I’m mistaken,” Vaeril said, lifting his index finger in the air, “but I do believe Therin would also find great dishonour in you shitting on his doorstep.”

Dann hoped he’d never grow so accustomed to beauty that he failed to notice its presence.

“Does anybody realise how bad an idea it is to put me in charge of anything?” Dann whispered to Tarmon.

“He’s in charge.” Erik inclined his head at Tarmon as they started off once more, a shit-eating grin on his face.

I freaking love Dann.

After a moment, Therin leaned in, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Dann…” “Please don’t.” Dann shook his head, a knot twisting in his stomach. He knew what Therin was going to say. And he wasn’t quite sure why, but the sincerity in the elf’s voice had somehow cut straight through him. “Baldon thought very highly of you, Dann.” “Therin, I said please.” Therin nodded gently, letting out a soft sigh.

To Dann’s surprise, a raucous cheer erupted from the gathered elves. They’d never seemed the cheering type. They barely ever seemed the smiling type, if he was being honest, more like frowning happily.

There was no greater act of decency than giving someone your time. Time was precious and the only resource in the world that was truly finite. He cherished it.

Seeing all that had changed the way Rist looked at the world, which in turn had changed the things he was willing to do to save it.

“When you care for someone, tell them. There are things in this world we always assume don’t need to be said because they are understood.” Magnus shook his head, leaning one arm on his knee. “But we’re always wrong.

“What is the point of tearing something down if what we build in its place is no better?”

“You burned my world. You slaughtered those I held dear. You murdered my master and put a demon in his place. You are not Eltoar Daethana, though you may wear his skin. You are a pale imitation, a shadow, an empty shell. There is not a word you can say, not a thing you can do. Forgiveness is not within your reach.”

I will give you the death you did not give our brothers and sisters. Not because of who you are, but because of who I am.”

They were nothing but hatchlings in his shadow.

“There are so few of us left.” “Because of you!”

With his soulkin’s hatching, there was once again hope for the future, hope Eltoar had thought he’d all but destroyed… hope that needed to be protected.

“—I will give you the courtesy you never gave me. I will let you mourn, let you weep. And then I will destroy this world you have stitched together from the carcass of the one you ripped apart. I will burn it to the ground, and I will kill everything and everyone your black heart still cares for.”

Don’t hold these things in hope for what might be. Embrace them, let them fill you with longing. Let them fuel you. We cannot wait for our destinies to unfold. We must forge them ourselves.”

Cut off the blood, and the limb will die. Cut off enough limbs, and the body will die.”

Steel met leather. Leather failed. Flesh parted.

Give me the strength I need. “You already have it, my child.

One constant had always remained throughout his many lifetimes: the young always paid the price for mistakes made long before their time – and the price was always blood.

“The duty of the strong is to protect the weak, mage. These are just children. Children. You should have protected them, but instead you preyed on them, mutilated them… Is this the god you worship? The god that feeds on the young?”

I would give everything to forget. I thought we were on the right side. It all made sense, until it didn’t. Though I suppose that’s always the way.”

whoever this guy is I already like him.

“This belonged to a great man.” “I’ll wear thick socks.” Kallinvar laughed at that.

Saldan’s eyes snapped open, bulging, but he didn’t scream. He shook, jaw clenched tight, hands tearing tufts from the grass. “Pain is the path to strength, brother.” Smoke drifted upwards, the smell of burning flesh reaching Kallinvar’s nostrils. Saldan convulsed, mouth open, breaths short. And still, he didn’t scream.