Ruin Quotes

“Family. Friendship. Loyalty. These things have been my guiding stars, my light in these dark times.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“It was no dream. The Ben-Elim, he gave me a choice. Go forward or go back. I wanted to cross over, to be with my kin, my friends. To find peace.´

´Why did you come back, then?´Fidele asked him.
´Three reasons. Three people. Jael. Lykos. You.´He paused and looked up into her eyes. ´Two for vengeance. One for love.´
She stared at him a long, timeless moment, then she leaned forwards and kissed him. Page 273 (Fidele and Maquin)”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“Two for vengeance. One for love.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“We are what we choose to be. What makes a king a king? Is there something different about him? Does special, sacred blood run in his veins? No. He is chosen; he believes it, and the people believe. He rises to the task, or he fails it.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“My da used to tell me, don’t hit if you can help it, but if you have to, hit fast, and hit hard.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“He does not want to lead, and that is a good start. Only the vain and foolish crave such a responsibility.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“Sometimes it is just best to accept what is, and get on with doing.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“Life should be lived, and what is life without heart and passion?”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“How fickle are these men, who are swayed so by a little flattery.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“Keep a close watch on the path you follow, my friend, else one day you will look about you and not know where you are.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“Family is politics, the hottest forge you'll find.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“the blow that ends the fight is the one your opponent doesn’t see coming. Make them look somewhere else, then make your move.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“YUK -Craf”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“Dath’s no coward,’ Corban said. ‘He just screams louder than the rest of us, that’s all.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“Keep a close watch on the path you follow, my friend, else one day you will look about you and not know where you are,’ Nathair said quietly.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“There was the sound of beating wings again. Craf glided down onto the dying hawk, pinning it with his talons. Even now the hawk’s beak lashed out, trying to strike Craf, but there was no power and Craf brushed off the blow. He raised his head and struck down with his own beak, straight into the hawk’s head. Again and again. When he stopped the hawk lay still. ‘For Fech,’ Craf squawked, looking up, his beak dripping red. ‘For Fech,’ Corban echoed.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“My head tells me to choose Drassil,’ Corban said. ‘For all of the reasons that you state. Mostly because Meical tells me to, and, as you say, he is Ben-Elim, so he should know. But my heart whispers to me of my oath to Edana. I can’t get her out of my mind.’ There was a loud crack. Coralen was sitting with two halves of a stick in her hands. She was glaring at it. They all stared at her. After a few heartbeats she must have felt their eyes, for she looked at them. With a snort of disgust she threw the two halves of the stick into the stream, then rose and stalked away. ‘What’s wrong with her?’ Corban asked. Brina laughed.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“It was no dream. The Ben-Elim, he gave me a choice. Go forward or go back. I wanted to cross over, to be with my kin, my friends. To find peace.’ ‘Why did you come back, then?’ Fidele asked him. ‘Three reasons. Three people. Jael. Lykos. You.’ He paused and looked up into her eyes. ‘Two for vengeance. One for love.’ She stared at him a long, timeless moment, then she leaned forwards and kissed him.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“So Corban’s part of it. Why not? And that would explain a lot of things: like why we’re here, with giants and Jehar all around us and Kadoshim a dozen leagues behind us. Besides, if anyone is going to be this Seren Disglair, I, for one, am happy it’s Corban.’ ‘What do you mean?’ Cywen asked him. She noticed Coralen was staring hard at Farrell. ‘He’s the best of us,’ Farrell said with a shrug. ‘Honest, brave, fair. Loyal. I’d follow him into any fight.’ Voices drew her attention then–Corban and Meical. Without thinking she rose and strode towards them, seating herself beside Corban.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“Coralen,’ Corban called. ‘Scout ahead, take whoever you wish.’ Coralen stared at Corban with one eyebrow raised. Then she nodded.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“I do not possess great wisdom…’ Tukul heard a cough, saw Brina staring at Corban, a smile twitching her lips. ‘But there are things that I do know,’ Corban continued, ‘things that I have clung to through the dark times that I–we–have already faced.’ He waved a hand at his friends. ‘Family. Friendship. Loyalty. These things have been my guiding star, my light in these dark times.’ He looked to his mam’s cairn beside the stream. He stopped then and met Meical’s gaze.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“Corban nodded, then looked at Meical. ‘What next?’ ‘That is what we have come to ask you,’ Tukul said, staring at Corban. ‘Me?’ ‘Of course you. You are the Seren Disglair. We follow you.’ Corban felt a shift around him and looked about to see the whole camp still and silent, all watching him. He gulped.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“You are the Black Sun,’ Veradis said.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“I cannot kill them.’ ‘Break some bones,’ Tukul said. ‘What?’ ‘Break the thumb and a finger or two of their sword hand. Break an ankle. They’ll not be able to hold a weapon or move in combat. They’ll not face you in battle any time soon. And they’ll be alive.’ Corban thought about that a few moments. A relieved smile spread across his face and he squeezed Tukul’s shoulder.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“As the sun sank into the west it bathed the flat land of glistening marsh spread before them in its orange glow, myriad waterways and stagnant pools glistening like liquid amber. Behind them the bastion of the Darkwood stood stark and silhouetted, fading into the distance, and along with it the realm of Narvon.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“It is a serious thing,’ Laith said, ‘taking a life. A sad thing, I think, though better to take another’s than to lose your own. Many of my kin consider the thorns a badge of honour. I suppose it is that as well.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“How is it that you and Calidus are here? Made flesh?’ Meical looked into his cup, swirled it around. ‘It is part of the prophecy; one Ben-Elim, one Kadoshim. Part of Elyon’s fairness, I suppose.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“She took a sip of the mead, the taste of honey combining with a pleasant heat in her belly. ‘It’s”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“I am weak,’ the Kadoshim rasped. ‘This body is failing.’ ‘I warned you,’ Calidus said. ‘These bodies are still mortal. Soon it will die from loss of blood.’ ‘Help”
― John Gwynne, Ruin

“You’ve done well,’ Sumur said, his voice a demonic rasp, ‘better than I’d ever have imagined, but the end is, has always been, inevitable.”
― John Gwynne, Ruin