Of Blood and Fire Quotes

“I told him that the sun will set, and it will rise again, and it will do so the next day and the next. The gods are in charge of such things, but it is by our own will that we pick ourselves up when we fall.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“That’s where prophecies belong, Calen. In stories and fairy tales. Prophecies and fate are words that are used by kings and queens to send young men and women to their death with smiles on their faces, dreaming of becoming heroes. Fate is fluid.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“We must never dim our light so that others may shine.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“No decision is straightforward. Black and white do not exist. We live in a world of ever-shifting grey.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“The day we stop learning is the day we will be consumed by what we do not know.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“You are our family. Maybe not by blood, but water becomes just as thick as blood if you go through enough shit together.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Rakina may mean ‘one who is broken’, but among the elves, it is a mark of respect. It also means, ‘one who survived’.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“One should not simply wish to live. They should wish to live in a way that they deemed to be right.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Sometimes, the honourable path is not easy, and the easy path is not honourable.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Erik shrugged. “We didn’t have many options. I tossed a coin.” Dann’s eyes widened. “You tossed a fucking coin?” Erik shrugged again. “Yup.” Dann’s face twisted in disbelief as he muttered, “A coin… he tossed a fucking coin.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“You are our family. Maybe not by blood”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Six evenly spaced alcoves were set into the wall behind the dais, in a matching semi-circle. In each of the alcoves stood a statue. Each one was at least ten feet tall by Calen’s measure. He recognised them all immediately. Statues of the gods. Their placing was interesting. In all depictions of the gods that Calen knew, Varyn and Heraya, the Mother and the Father, always stood beside each other. But here, it was Heraya and Hafaesir, the Smith, who stood side by side, set into the alcoves directly behind the dais. Achyron and Elyara, the Warrior and the Maiden, stood on either side of them. Varyn and Neron, the Sailor, were set into alcoves at the end.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Gaeleron must have read his mind. “If you are going to carry an elven blade at your hip, you will learn how to use it.” The elf did not wait for a response before returning to his seat by the fire.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“When a Draleid loses their dragon,” Therin continued, “or a dragon loses their Draleid, they lose parts of themselves. They can lose the ability to draw from the Spark. They can lose fragments of their personality, emotions, connections. They can lose the will to live.” Therin exhaled deeply. “Rakina may mean ‘one who is broken’, but among the elves, it is a mark of respect. It also means, ‘one who survived’.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Why did you come here? I’ve always heard that the elves retreated into Lynalion when The Order fell. But never anything about the Darkwood – the Aravell.” A melancholy smile touched the corners of Vaeril’s mouth. “We believed different things. So, we followed different paths. Does every human always think the same way?”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Why did you come here? I’ve always heard that the elves retreated into Lynalion when The Order fell. But never anything about the Darkwood – the Aravell.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Draleid.” The man who rode the stag stood in front of Calen, his hood pulled back. Aeson flanked him on one side, and one of the hooded warriors stood on the other. He was an elf. He stood about the same height as Calen, with short, cropped blonde hair and a motley array of scars etched into his face. He had the same tapered ears as Therin. One of his eyes was a milky white all over, with no iris or pupil. “Draleid, I am Thalanil, High Captain of the Aravell Rangers.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“If there is one thing that the emperor appreciates, it is the power of magic. Rist will be safe. They will want to train him, recruit him – not kill him.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“In this time, I was the Elven Ambassador to The Order. I counted many of the Draleid among my closest friends. I have had more than one lifetime to learn of dragons, my boy.” Therin looked down at the dragon that had now crawled back up onto Calen’s lap. “Though until the other night, I never thought I would see one again. At least, not one that I would be happy to see. As for Aeson, that is a story for another time.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Oliver is a contact of ours. His grandfather built this tunnel a long time ago. He used it to smuggle Altwied blood into the city.” “Altwied blood? I’ve heard that stuff can do miracles. Pity it’s illegal.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“It was a strange twist of fate that they spent centuries searching for an egg, only to find its Draleid by pure serendipity. The fact that the Draleid was Vars’s son… what he would give to know the odds of that. Rest well, my friend. I will watch over him – at least you saw fit to pass him on my sword.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“It was a strange twist of fate that they spent centuries searching for an egg, only to find its Draleid by pure serendipity.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Moving his horse closer to Calen, Therin leaned in. His voice was a whisper in the wind. “Your father was a great man. I will mourn him with every passing day. He deserved a better death.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“With the Darkwood and the Burnt Lands bisecting the continent, boat was the only real way to travel from the South to the North. There were only two main ports that docked ships large enough to make that journey from Illyanara: Gisa and Falstide.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Therin hunkered down in front of Aeson, his hands hovering inches away from the egg. “Nomadic dragons of the Valacian icelands, with scales as white as snow and as black as the darkest night, able to grow as large as any dragon in Epheria. It is said that their connection to the Spark of magic is as raw and as old as the light from the sun. No elf, human, or giant has ever been bound to a Valacian dragon. I don’t believe one has ever even been seen in this part of the world – until now.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“More specifically, it is a dragon egg from Valacia, the northern icelands across the Antigan Ocean.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Aeson’s expression did not change. He placed his pen into a small wooden box, the inside of which was lined with a soft purple material.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Well, little one,” Asius said when the laughter subsided, “your kind have always called us giants. But to our own, we are Jotnar.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“Well, Therin always tells of how the giants ruled these lands and used magic to build this forest. He said that they used to sing to the trees and that they could create entire groves in just weeks. Maybe it’s magic?”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire

“One should not simply wish to live. They should wish to live in a way that they deemed to be right. That distinction was the separation between men.”
― Ryan Cahill, Of Blood and Fire