Kristalia > Books: 6-stars‎ (40)

► WORLD BUILDING:

‘Let me state for the record,’ Phaerakh Ossuaria said. ‘That this is not officially a trial.’

‘Can we be executed?’ asked Orikan.

‘Yes,’ said Zuberkar, with a note of unpleasant eagerness.

‘Then it’s a trial,’ Trazyn said.

‘In a technical sense,’ said Overlord Baalbehk. ‘It is an enquiry.’

Orikan shot a look at Trazyn, signalled: Look where you have landed us, you crook-backed madman.

Madman? So says the delusional fanatic who speaks to illusions.

I do not–

‘No, no,’ scolded Ossuaria. ‘Phillias, activate the signal dampeners. Anything you two say we shall all be a party to. No colluding on testimony–’

‘I would rather collude with the Void Dragon,’ snapped Orikan.

‘Why not?’ said Trazyn. ‘Serpents belong together.’

► STORY:

And next to it, a necrodermis-sheet letter that had ejected from the device, along with the creatures. It bore the marks of alien mandibles, but was still legible.

Greetings, Orikan! it began. I apologise for having to borrow back my astrarium. I know how deeply you appreciated it, but you work too hard, my astromancer. Consider this a relaxing break. And what is more relaxing than a hunt?

Orikan heard legs scraping in the scarab vents. Interstitial messages alerted him that a scarab swarm and two wraiths were reporting in as inoperable.

These creatures will make fine quarry. They’re from an Imperial jungle planet, and so famous that the locals named their local regiment after them. Highly venomous – not that it would bother you, dear colleague – and can grow to over fifteen khut long when they reach maturity. But the real challenge is how quick they breed. In fact, if you want my advice, I would start the pursuit quickly. Fourteen juveniles were in this particular gift. Or was it sixteen? Anyway, within twelve hours the population will have established roving kin groups to place their eggs. Did I forget to mention the eggs? Half of the breeding pairs already have sacs. The population will double in less than twenty-four hours, provided they don’t eat too many of the young. Happy hunting!

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This tale was a story of a reader who wanted to change its conclusion.⸥

This tale was a story of a reader who wanted to change its conclusion.⸥

"The act of understanding someone started off with admitting that you didn't know anything about that person."

STORY AND CHARACTERS:

[To someone like that, telling him that he's not alone a few times won't suddenly change anything.]
[You need to tell him, always be next to him, and reaffirm it for him.]
[Until he realizes that he's truly not alone anymore.]

OVERALL:

“You know,” Carter said, “this is the point in horror movies where I usually shout at the screen for the people to not go

“You know,” Carter said, “this is the point in horror movies where I usually shout at the screen for the people to not go inside the house.”
“You’re a werewolf,” I muttered. “You’re the one that’s usually waiting for the people inside the house.”
He looked offended.

►►► STORY & CHARACTERS:

If we tried, I didn’t know if there’d be enough pieces of us left to put back together.
Once, there was a boy.
An extraordinary boy.
And as an Alpha held him down, this extraordinary boy’s father whispered in his ear while taking a needle to his skin, etching ink and leaving a trail of magic in its wake.
Once, there was a wolf.
A brave wolf.
And as this brave wolf grew, he followed the scent of dirt and leaves and rain, his Alpha telling him that he had found the one to make him whole.
The boy had loved this wolf.
But it hadn’t been enough.

They sang.
They laughed. They howled.They looked at me.
I thought of a boy with eyes of ice telling me that he loved me, that he didn’t want to leave again but he had to, he had to, his Alpha was demanding it, and he would come back for me, Gordo, you have to believe I’ll come back for you. You are my mate, I love you, I love you, I love you.
I couldn’t do this.And then Joe put his hand on mine.He squeezed, just once. “Come on, Gordo,” he said. “You know the words. You got this.”
I sighed.
I sang.
We were all hungry like the woooooolf.
We drove on and on and on.And in the furthest recesses of my mind, I heard it again. For the first time.It whispered pack and pack and pack.

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That was the danger with knowing and loving others. You always knew things about them to throw back in their faces.
I was capa

That was the danger with knowing and loving others. You always knew things about them to throw back in their faces.
I was capable of doing that. Most people were.
But it came down to a choice.

►►► STORY & CHARACTERS:

He was in my arms now. I didn’t want him to fall. He took my face in his hands and squished my cheeks together. “Why do you smell like that?” he demanded. “Where did you come from? Do you live in the woods? What are you? We just got here. Finally. Where is your house?” He put his forehead against mine and inhaled deeply. “I don’t get it!” he exclaimed. “What is it?” And then he was crawling up and over my shoulders, feet pressed against my chest and neck until he clambered onto my back, arms around my neck, chin hooked on my shoulder. “We have to go see my mom and dad,” he said. “They’ll know what this is. They know everything.”
He was a tornado of fingers and feet and words. I was caught in the storm.

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His voice cracked when he said, “You’re awake now. Ox. Ox. Ox. Don’t you see?”
“See what?”
He whispered, as if saying it any louder would make it untrue. “We’re so close to each other.”

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Despite everything, they had a plan. It was a ridiculous plan and they would likely all be ki

Despite everything, they had a plan. It was a ridiculous plan and they would likely all be killed, but they weren’t going down without a fight. ‘If it was easy, it wouldn’t be any fun, would it?’

► STORY:

‘Frith,’ she said, as her mother took the offered seat. ‘This is Devinia the Red, notorious captain of the Crimson Sea Witch, scourge of the Bararian flotilla, first pirate to sail the Shadow-Bone Pass without smashing her ship to pieces, popularly referred to as the “Succubus of the Silent Sea”—’
‘No one has ever called me that,’ put in her mother, evenly.
‘… The Eighth Wonder of Crosshaven, or the Terror of the Torrent,’ continued Wydrin. ‘She is wanted in several countries with rewards healthy enough to set you up for life, if you live to claim it. She is also my mother.’

‘It seems you have gained yourself the services of the Black Feather Three, Mum.’ Wydrin took a sip of her mead. ‘Now we just need to discuss the fee. There will be no family discounts, of course.’

‘It will still be dangerous,’ said Sebastian, his voice low. They all turned to look at him. ‘There will be monsters, or other pirates, or dark magic. Things hidden in the hills, history we shouldn’t be disturbing.’ He met their eyes, one by one. ‘And men and women will die. Your crew will die, Devinia. Screaming, frightened and in pain. If it is one thing I have learned, it’s that death is everywhere. Is gaining the centre of Euriale worth the price, Devinia? Are you willing to let your own people die for it?’

► CHARACTERS:

‘As far as I can see, Wydrin, the only skills I have are to alienate those I love, and to fail in my responsibilities.’ When she opened her mouth to protest, Sebastian held his hands up. ‘I will still come with you, if that is what you wish. I can still wield a sword well enough, after all.’

‘We keep throwing ourselves at ludicrous situations, again and again. Haven’t we done enough damage? Haven’t we caused enough trouble?’ The world was spinning again – Sebastian squeezed his eyes shut, urging everything to keep still. ‘The people we’ve hurt, the lives lost because of us. And here we are again, on a cursed island. We should go home, or at least start trying to find one. You two should be enjoying the time you have together, not looking for more inventive ways to get yourselves killed.’

The figure was still there, watching him. Without thinking too closely about what he was doing, Sebastian pulled himself up onto the guardrail. He looked over his shoulder once, half expecting Wydrin to have appeared out of nowhere to tell him he was being an idiot, but he was alone.
Standing up straight, he felt the world turning around him. There was a sense of something new beginning, or ending. It didn’t seem to matter which. ’

It was different, she told herself; where once she had invaded, now she explored. The difference was important.
‘I have made a choice,’ she said aloud. ‘The choices are mine.’

‘Course I don’t. It’s a bad place. Unnatural. Cursed. No one with any bloody sense would sail into those waters. If I had my way we’d never set foot on the island, and that goes for bloody Two-Birds too.’ She patted absently at the knives on the belt. ‘What’s there is best left alone.’
‘And what is there?’ asked Sebastian. Frith was surprised to see that he looked angry again, as though the old woman were lying to them.
‘Ghosts,’ said Augusta. ‘Ghosts and wolves.’

‘Don’t I know you, girl? You look awful familiar.’
‘You’ve probably met my mother,’ said Wydrin, looking tired for the first time that evening. ‘Devinia the Red, Terror of the Torrent, blah blah blah, pain in my arse.

‘Fine. Go, then, but know, Wydrin Threefellows, fabled Copper Cat of Crosshaven and unending bane of my existence, that you carry my life, and the lives of my crew, in your pockets. And if you sink that skiff, I’ll follow you into the afterlife and tan your bloody hide myself.’

The world had changed in some significant way, and the island was reacting, coming to life, or bringing life … Estenn smiled as she ran, feeling a tightness in her chest as she contemplated what that could mean. It wouldn’t be long now, and Res’ni and Res’na would call her to their service. She was sure of it.

‘My history is long and glorious, my lineage is full of pride and fury.’

Frith reached over and took Wydrin’s hand, squeezing it firmly. ‘If I should vomit, please do not tell your mother.’

‘Don’t lose my dagger. I’m very fond of it.’
‘Fine. Don’t get killed. I’m very fond of you.’

‘Don’t you see, Wydrin? If I miss the power, I am a monster. I saw what it did to Joah, how it twisted him and made him less than human. I did things I can never forgive myself for, and yet part of me wants it all back. Part of me is still the person who killed a defenceless man at the Storm Gates. I’m still the person who left Sebastian to die by the shore of the mages’ lake.’
Wydrin blinked in surprise and put the plate of pastries back on the table. ‘You still think about that?’
‘Of course I do!’ He picked up a goblet of wine and drank it down in one gulp. ‘How the two of you have forgiven me for it, I do not know.’
‘Well, if I recall correctly, I punched you in the face for it at the time, so I think we can move past it. As for Sebastian, the two of you have saved each other’s skins so often I think that particular slight is long since buried. You are not a monster, Frith. Don’t you see?’ She touched his face lightly, tracing the line of his jaw. ‘The fact that you even ask yourself these questions proves that you’re not.’

You know, if we’d just listened to them in the first place, none of this would have happened.’
‘And I would have walked away from you and Sebastian and into another life. A bitter, twisted existence, dreaming of revenge, of justice for my family, knowing I could never have it.’ Frith looked down at his hands. Once they had been scarred, his fingernails all torn off with pliers. ‘And I would never have had you. I have always been selfish, it’s true, but in this I cannot bring myself to feel guilty. Wydrin, I would not give you up for anything.’
‘And you’ll never have to,’ she replied.

‘Lord Frith, are you attempting to distract me with sex?’
‘I am,’ he said, ‘it’s true. I am occasionally capable of entirely selfless acts.’

‘When I thought you had died within Joah’s Rivener, I also did things I regret,’ said Frith. ‘And I didn’t have strange god magic addling my head.’
‘Yes. Well. I can say now that I’m really glad (view spoiler)[you weren’t stabbed to death by that bitch (hide spoiler)], because I fucking love you, Lord Aaron Frith.’

‘The tension between us. It unnerves me. I demand that you help me understand it.’
To his own horror, Sebastian felt a faint heat rushing to his cheeks.

‘Wydrin, you do not need me any more. You have Frith now, and I know that you are happy. I would not lessen that, for anything in the world.’
Wydrin threw her hands up. ‘I love you, Sebastian, but you don’t half talk some horse shit sometimes. Who says that I need you? Who says that I need Frith? We are better together, all three of us – that’s the truth. If the last few years have taught me anything, it’s that. And are you trying to tell me that because I have taken a lover there is no room for anyone else in my life?’
To her surprise, Sebastian laughed. It was genuine, and it eased her heart a little.
‘I know better than to tell you anything.’ He shrugged. ‘I see the bond there is between the two of you, and I know that Frith would tear the world apart to protect you. Probably quite literally. And that you would skin anyone alive who dared give him so much as a funny look.’

Taking pity on him, Wydrin threaded her arm through Sebastian’s and turned him to walk back to their small camp. ‘Trust you to have a crush on a (view spoiler)[god, (hide spoiler)] Sebastian.’

‘I’ve come to realise that I can’t be responsible for everyone.’
‘You can still be responsible for me, if you like,’ she said, squeezing his arm. ‘You know, when we’ve been in the tavern all night and I can’t see straight.’

‘I love you, brother.’
‘I love you too, Wydrin. My Copper Cat.’

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“There is no way back. There is only forward. It’s impossible to imagine

“There is no way back. There is only forward. It’s impossible to imagine there’s any reason to move ahead, but that isn’t the real reason you give up. The real fear—the terror that keeps you rooted—is that you might be wrong.”

► STORY & CHARACTERS:

"He knew not all your battles would be fair. He wanted me to educate you in the world of backstabbing, deceit, and treachery. I guess he figured I knew something about that.”
“And I was supposed to teach honor, decency, and kindness to a man raised by wolves.”

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“The definition of a lawman, (view spoiler)[Uncle (hide spoiler)], is easy,” Wax said, feeling blood from a dozen cu

“The definition of a lawman, (view spoiler)[Uncle (hide spoiler)], is easy,” Wax said, feeling blood from a dozen cuts trickle down his face. (...) “He’s the man who takes the bullet so nobody else has to.”

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“People,” Wax said, “are like cords, Steris. We snake out, striking this way and that, always looking for something new. That’s human nature, to discover what is hidden. There’s so much we can do, so many places we can go.” He shifted in his seat, changing his center of gravity, which caused the sphere to rotate upward on its tether.
“But if there aren’t any boundaries,” he said, “we’d get tangled up. Imagine a thousand of these cords, zipping through the room. The law is there to keep us from ruining everyone else’s ability to explore. Without law, there’s no freedom. That’s why I am what I am.”

“She sat for a moment, feeling the rhythmic rattle of the train’s motion. “Does it ever bother you to be in his shadow, Wayne?”
“Who? Wax? I mean, he’s been putting on weight, but he’s not that fat yet, is he?” He grinned, though that faded when she didn’t smile back. And, in an uncharacteristic moment of solemnity, he slid his boots off the table and rested one elbow on it instead, leaning toward her.
“Nah,” he said after some thought. “Nah, it doesn’t. But I don’t care much if people look at me or not. Sometimes my life is easier if they ain’t looking at me, ya know? I like listening.”

“I’m not some tortured, abandoned creature, Wayne,” Marasi said, finding herself smiling at her distorted reflection in a ladle. “I’m not sitting around pining and dreaming for someone else to decide if I should be happy. There’s nothing there. Whether that’s due to actual lack of affection on his part, or more to stubbornness, I don’t care. I’ve moved on.”

“(...). You’re good at these things, Steris. You really are—and don’t give me any more of your rhetoric about being ‘boring.’”
Her expression grew distant. “In this case, it’s not that I’m boring, it’s more that … I’m off. I’ve learned to fake being normal, but lists of prepared comments and jokes can only take me so far. People can sense that I’m not being authentic—that I don’t like the things they like or think the way they do. Sometimes it amazes me that people like Wayne, or even those kandra, can be so startlingly human when I feel so alien.”
He wished he could figure out how to keep her from saying things like that. He didn’t know the right words; every time he tried to argue the point, it only seemed to make her withdraw.”

“I’ve been a lot of people, Ladrian. Seen through a lot of eyes. There’s always another perspective, if you look hard enough.”

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"I love you. You love me. We know what we have can be strong. Stronger."

"I love you. You love me. We know what we have can be strong. Stronger."

► STORY & CHARACTERS:

“Zane,” Ty said, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat. He seemed to be fighting to meet Zane’s eyes. “There’s something . . . something I’ve been keeping from you.”

“I’m an assassin,” Ty said, his voice unsteady. “I’m a killer. I’m the tip of a spear.”

“And you,” Ty continued, his voice breaking. “You’re a phoenix, Zane. Rising from the ashes. And all I do is make you burn.”

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“Don't let them win. Don't let them beat you. Don't let them steal your magic.”

“Don't let them win. Don't let them beat you. Don't let them steal your magic.”

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“The boy planted his hands on his hips and a broad smile lit his face. "My name's Peter. Can I play too?”

There is always more to lose.

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“Go and play. Run around. Build something. Break something. Climb a tree. Get dirty. Get in some trouble. Have some fun.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t mind, Hazel Grace. It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t mind, Hazel Grace. It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you.”

So of course I tensed up when he touched me. To be with him was to hurt him—inevitably. And that’s what I’d felt as he reached for me: I’d felt as though I were committing an act of violence against him, because I was.

“Why now? Why not? Live or die, a man and a woman need love. There is a need in the race. We need to share. To belong. Perhaps you will die before the year is out. But remember this: to have may be taken from you, to have had never. Far better to have tasted love before dying, than to die alone.”

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“By nature of definition only the coward is capable of the highest heroism”

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