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Because all humans were reckless and dangerous and because humans never looked at something without dreaming up a way to kill it.
“don’t you see? Of all the monsters to set foot in your forest, by far the most evil has been man.”
Perhaps it is easier to believe some are born evil, rather than admit that predilection exists equally in every one of us.”
Evil with a name is a little less terrifying. The evil that you recognize, that you can avoid—that’s an evil you can live with.
Felka was brandishing one of Koszmar’s revolvers. Lukasz had a feeling that of all of them, she was the only one who wasn’t scared. Well, he wasn’t scared either, but that was because he was being stupid. Felka was actually being brave.
We shall celebrate. You are on a quest! Most of you will probably die,” he added thoughtfully. He tapped his club against his lip. Then he grinned at them: “So this may very well be your last celebration.”
In Ren’s experience, everything wanted to live, and nothing wanted to be alone.
“But Jakub doesn’t believe in second souls,” said Ren thoughtfully. “He thinks that saying someone is predisposed to evil is just making excuses for their poor character.”
It was unfair, she thought. She wished she was still alone; she wished they had never met; she never wanted to leave any of them again. Unfair that if you loved people, you had to feel this way.
“It is not the death that inspires fear,” said the domowik, said the ancient creature, the guardian of households, the last echo of humanity in a death-swept town. “It is the dying.”
“I have always looked like a queen,” she said, pulling him closer. She found the buckle on the belt, readjusted it so the sword lay comfortably against her hip. Then added, “I am just not the queen you expected.”
“We are two queens alone in the world and meeting for the first time,” said the Baba Jaga. “Let us speak of something other than men.”
“I am so many things,” said Ren. “I am mostly terrible things, honestly. But of one thing I am sure: I am not just a girl.”
Animals were better at grieving than humans; animals were tougher, more accepting, more used to the cruelty of the world. Less obsessed with covering it up.
