Thorns & Fire (The Ashes of Thezmarr, #2)

by Helen Scheuerer

“Every reign has its end.”

Were men so hungry for dominion that they would burn the world to ash around them to achieve it?

“The devastation will pass. I promise. I have felt those things before, and I came out the other side. You will too. You’re far from worthless. We’ve all watched you go from strength to strength. You’re allowed to wobble. You’re allowed to have a gloomy day. But this is not your forever. This is not the day to base all other days on.”

“Healing isn’t an act—it’s an essence. It flows not from what we do, but from who we are.”

Torj started back toward the camp and Wren scrambled

“During any conflict between ruling powers, it’s always the common folk who suffer the most and pay the dearest price.”

They had rid the midrealms of monsters years ago, only to find there was so little humanity left…

“It’s an age-old tactic, though, isn’t it? Target the poorer populations on the outskirts and work your way in, amassing followers as you go with promises of a better world…”

The world would have been so different if they’d stayed in it.

Torj had become what he was always meant to be: the shield between Wren and the world that had already taken too much.

“Every attempt, every failure, is a step forward.

“The thicket’s thorns ask no permission to protect what blooms within.”

“Mark not the thorns, but rather what they’ve kept safe through the ages.”