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With them came something else, something that the forest itself recoiled from. Three beings that wore the shape of men, but which were not.
Eventually, at the cost of unimaginable effort and uncounted lives, they’d have enough for a suit of witch-iron armour, which offered the strength of steel at a fraction of the weight. One day that armour would be worn by some mighty Harrish knight, or bought by a rich erl, or gifted to foreign kings, none of whom would ever consider how it all started here, in a dark, cold tunnel in the earth, with a sliver of stone cut free.
Yet what was so simple and clear in his mind was muddy and frightening in real life,
To speak from the heart required more bravery than any physical risk.
‘Doubt is healthy, but do not give up hope,’
It felt good to shake his fist in the face of a god. He’d always been afraid to before, scared that some misfortune would befall him if he questioned what he’d been taught. But misfortune had befallen him anyway. What good was piety, then, if it won you no favour?
Let each dawn find you different. Agalie used to say that, back when Vika was just an acolyte. Every day, a person should learn something, experience something, do something that left them changed, even in a small way.
It was a hard journey to forgiveness. He didn’t know if it would ever be possible. But he’d started, and there was some victory in that.
The Krodans fashioned a new god to suit them, a cold god of industry and rules, who demands you show yourself at temple on a certain day and mouth the same words over and over.
So weak, your bodies are. So frail. Bones and tubes, a rack to hang your souls upon.’
Think of all that’s ahead of you. Think of all the things you’ll do. On the other side of this, there’s a lifetime waiting. You just have to beat this moment. A little bit more, that’s all. It’ll be over before you know it.
There is nothing to fear if you’ve done nothing wrong.’ ‘In this land, that has not been true for a long time.’
But a person can be many things. There is good in the worst of us, and bad in the best.
The world had a way of providing new paths, if you knew where to look for them.
He found it hard to be afraid of something that hadn’t happened yet, and the future didn’t bother him overmuch, as a rule. It all felt beyond his control, so it wasn’t worth worrying about. Let tonight be tonight, and tomorrow be tomorrow.
Peace, Mara, she told herself as she felt the old poison oozing up inside her. You have a task. This is a time for intellect, not passion.
There were no heroes or villains here, or anywhere. He was just a man, flawed as the next, and he made his choices like the rest of them. Whether they were good choices or bad was a matter of perspective.
