A Canticle of Two Souls Quotes

“Where are you taking me?” Raziel asked through a mouthful of food.

“Wherever I desire.”

“And what do you desire, ma’am?” the boy retorted, swallowing.

“That you be silent.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“The sword pierced the general’s neck before he registered the movement.

“Just a child!” His mind screamed as the blade bit deeper.

“Just a child!” The blade chinked against his spine, a sound he refused to accept, a sound he had heard too often not to recognise.

“Just a child!” His sight faltered, disappeared, all life vanishing in one sharp spurt of pain.

“Just a child!” as Raziel damned his soul to hell.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“Shakran,” he said, his voice quiet, tired. “What time do we live in, where children lose their innocence so young?”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“The bad guys always talk a lot, don’t they?”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“A drunken man stumbled out of a door at the back of an inn and tripped over her. She bolted for the alleyway as the man looked around in a daze. Eventually, the notion entered his mind that perhaps it was due to the alcohol, and he wandered off in a more or less straight line. He broke into a sailor’s song about how difficult it was to stay standing on the deck in a storm, which he felt fit his situation quite poetically.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“All Renar flags, which had once been allowed under the war’s treaty, were now gathered and burnt in piles in Archehan’s squares. Elderly citizens wept as the red-and-gold embroidered cloth flapped in the heat of the flames, a sick parody of the wind that had made the flags flutter in the years before. The red turned to black, and in the younger men’s hearts, a similar change began, but one of grim anger.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“The men started to attack each other, blades flashing, armour clashing, voices raging. Raziel watched in shocked silence as blood flew darkly against the harsh red of the fire’s light. Screams and wails held the high ground in the battle of sound as friends and comrades attacked each other viciously. Victims screamed, and their attackers screamed just as fearfully. Horror and terror rode through the ranks, invisible beasts striking deep into every man’s heart.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“If this was death, he wasn’t enjoying it. Pain played a dark melody through his soul, and he could barely think. Black and red was all he saw and felt, flashes of white joining the sharper bites of the ever-present agony. Drumbeats pounded to the rhythm of colour, a battle song to instil deep fear and even deeper trauma. His mind reeled, seeming to sink for minutes at a time, before resurfacing in flames. He supposed it might have been interesting from an observer’s point of view. But when pain and darkness was your very being, all you really wanted was for it to end.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“They needed each other that in that moment. Two children cast in dire straits—opposite, yet so similar. Deep tragedy, near-complete amnesia, feelings of worthlessness, loneliness, and hatred eating both to the core, with no one on their side. In that moment, they discovered that they weren’t alone.

That there was still hope.

Still a chance for forgiveness.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“What is this?” she asked with a half-grimace on her face.

“Rabbit.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed that in a million years.”

“Yeah,” he growled. “But I’ve never cooked before.” He took a spoonful, trying to keep the foul-tasting mix down.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“Without hesitation, Raziel spun around and sprinted into the forest, multiple bolts zipping past. In the safety of the trees, he took a deep breath, wiped the blood from his eyes, then moved parallel to the road. The soldiers approached the trees, wary. After a moment’s hesitation, they entered the forest.

None ever came out.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“In the centre of the room was what appeared to be a solid stone table with something on top. Looking closer, he saw it was an altar of sorts with a sword on top of it. No dust or dirt covered it, though it had swamped the rest of the room. The air was oddly stale, as if nothing had ever lived there and nothing ever would. The roots of a tree had broken through one of the walls, but they had withered away and twisted into strange shapes.

“At last,” a voice in his mind said.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“What is a warchild, you ask? Some say they are human, other ‘witnesses’ call them horrendous demons. That they wield great power is undeniable. They master the very thing that makes us who we are: emotion. Love, hatred, terror, anguish, humour, sadness, joy . . . all these and a hundred more, a thousand. Imagine a thing, a creature that could take them from you, leaving you as an empty husk, able to think, but having no will to act. No will to resist.

“That, my emperor, is a warchild.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“That sword of yours tells you only lies. All it wants is death, it doesn’t matter whose! Yours would suit it just fine, it would probably relish it all the more. It’s a monster, Raziel.”

“And you? You’re a damned monster yourself!”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“Alicia watched in horror as the blood flew through the air, Raziel whipping like an eel around the soldiers. She could sense his emotions even without seeing his eyes. His hatred and anger were strong. She could feel it like a wind, buffeting at her mind. At the same time, it was like a wild tune, fast-paced, loud, drowning out all else. It was more powerful than the fear of all the soldiers combined, and she sank to the ground as her own emotions woke and intensified into a drunken clamour.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“Raziel smiled and leaped forward, a clear childlike laugh filling the air. The soldier wasn’t quick enough, drawing his sword even as Raziel cut his legs out from beneath him.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“Stop it!” he sobbed. “Leave me be!”

The girl laughed, tossing her dark hair and clasping her hands together. “Oh, Raziel,” she whispered. “This has only just begun.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“I could kill you,” she said quietly. “Kill you and leave you here with your own sword driven through your disgusting heart. Or maybe cut your head free and throw it to the wolves. Or leave you to burn alive.”

Raziel flinched at the coldness of her voice.

“You deserve no pity . . . no forgiveness. Death would be a mercy to you; I can see that in your eyes. I’ve tasted your fear, your terror, your cry for help.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“The capital was beautiful with the sun casting its rays over the high towers, red-tiled roofs, ornate buildings, and that giant, ludicrous, but somehow flattering statue of him in the main square. And what did all this represent, this beauty, this serenity, and industry?

Peace.

A peace he had fought for long and hard.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls

“Hatred. Focus on that.

Destroy the cause of the pain, and perhaps he could sleep again, could live once more. Until then, he would learn . . . and obey. And really, he didn’t mind not having to think.

Sometimes it hurt too much.”
― Steven Raaymakers, A Canticle of Two Souls