Calamity (The Reckoners, #3)

by Brandon Sanderson

The depths had claimed me as one of their own. And though I’ve pushed them back, I still bear their hidden scar.

THE sun peeked over the horizon like the head of a giant radioactive manatee.

Using those to coordinate an attack on Knighthawk’s own installation seemed about as smart as using toothpaste for salad dressing.

I smiled; the mere sound of her voice could do that to me. Hell, I’d rather be yelled at by Megan than be praised by anyone else.

She said it all in an upbeat, almost excited voice; Mizzy could be perkier than a sack of caffeinated puppies.

robots, on the other hand, acted like a bunch of youthful dreams and got thoroughly crushed.

“At least it’s not a stupid samurai sword,”

I felt cowardly, but part of being in a team was about recognizing when someone else could do a job better than you. And part of being a man was learning to let your immortal girlfriend take a turn being the heroic one.

“Like a piece of bread at a rock party.”

“Yeah, well, from what I know of Obliteration, he probably enjoyed the pain. He’s like a cat.” “A…cat?” “Yeah. A freaky, messed-up, scripture-quoting cat who loves to be hurt.” I cocked my head.

I tried to think of a proper metaphor for the way the slag crunched under my feet. Like…like ice on…No.

“You,” I said, tipping her chin up to look her in the eye, “are a sunrise.” She cocked her head. “A…sunrise?” “Yup.”

We change, like swirling clouds and a rising sun.

My Megan is a sunrise, always changing, but beautiful the entire time.”

“Well, you know what they say,” I told her, grinning. “Even a clock that runs fast is still right twice a day.”

We called it Herman. Well, I called it Herman, and nobody else had come up with something better.

“Folks,” Cody said, “looks like the lad’s finally snapped and gone completely mental. I take full credit.”

He grinned immediately, then obeyed.

That man had been wide as a boat and as morbid as a…um…sinking boat, but he’d been good with people. And good with information.

Prowling through our base unrestrained. We were specks of mud on the window; he was a giant, vengeful bottle of spray cleaner.

rusty bicycles. I regarded them, dubious. “Those look older than two guys in their sixties.”

Tia listened to him. Heck, a rabid Chihuahua having a seizure would stop and listen when Abraham spoke.

“Cody is on the team,” Abraham said. “We are accustomed to things that are not pretty.”

wore it now. After all, I did have faith in the Epics. Kind of.

Loving the character development!!!

“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “Right. Scorpions.” Megan eyed me. “Or tiny nuclear warheads,”

“That’s way romantic. Saw it in a movie once. It’s like…a passionate wet willie.” “All y’all do realize your line is open to me, right?” Cody asked.

“Sure, sure. I’ll be careful as a diabetic slug in a candy factory.”

“He’s as happy as a jackrabbit in its den,” he said. “Hunkered up on the bridge in his raincoat, chewing on beef jerky and looking for something to shoot. Nothing

The comment quieted the room, like a sudden shout of “Who wants extra bacon?” at a bar mitzvah.

“I appreciate your enthusiasm and your grit, but you are young, yet, to understand the world as much as you think you do.”

My incapacitation with broken legs had been brief, but it had still left me confined, controlled, powerless.

“Like your logic of modern rock and roll being derived from bagpipes?”

“I feel,” she said, “like a barrel of green ducks at a Fourth of July parade.”

Like a baby the moment before it barfed on you.

The metal moved with a beautiful, otherworldly flow, reflecting light as it snaked around Abraham’s arms—first one, then across his shoulders to the other, like something alive.

rarely seemed to enjoy life. It was more that he let it pass around him, regarding it curiously, like a rock watching a river.

“No. I don’t fight because of his death, Cody. I fight for his dreams.”

The sunrise didn’t need to be beautiful to be beautiful.

“You hate them, yes, but as the mouse hates the cat. The hate of envy. The hate of the small who wishes to be great.”

which I was almost certain was made up.

“Sometimes stupid is right,” Megan said, then paused. “Hell. I hope nobody ever quotes me on that one. So where’s our battlefield?”

None of us asked how Prof had located us.

Tension laced the air, like the distant scent of smoke that signaled a fire.

A few hours of practice did not an expert make.

voicelessly, each anticipating the other’s moves. Incredible powers at our disposal, weapons in our hands. Together we forced a much more experienced Epic to retreat. For a moment I let myself believe we would win.

“Thank you for bringing me back. I hate you for it, David. But thank you.”

How convenient

“Oh, son. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

WHAT

“Your corruption isn’t enough,” I said. “Your fears are not enough. Your hatred is not enough. We won’t do it, Calamity.” He wrapped his arms around himself and began to rock.

That we are, instead, inherently good?”