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A review by laurla
Skirmish by Michelle West
"it is what the young forget: one failure does not render all past success - or future success - meaningless. it is only if we surrender to despair that we fail in perpetuity, because we cease to try at all."
"the past is part, always, of the present. we cannot leave it behind in its entirety because it is the foundation of who and what we are now."
"there were some angers that slept without dying. when she touched them, they woke, and they burned as if they were still new."
"she said nothing. ellerson said nothing as well - his was just louder."
"she wondered if this was the danger the gods presented to mortals: the sense that someone, somewhere, knew it all, and knew it well enough that there was no point and no need to struggle to reach a decision; one could leave it, for eternity, in their hands. if the Mother were here, jewel would have gratefully handed the whole of the war into her keeping. what did you become, in the end, if you never had to make those decisions and those mistakes?"
"what we appear to be to others is never what we look like to ourselves."
"i had forgotten, how hard it was not to strangle you."
"idiots. they think they'll rule small parts of the world if they can only learn the art of summoning creatures that are older, smarter, and more powerful than they are."
"you are ready."
"i dont feel like it."
"no. that is the sad truth of power: when facing the unknown, you will never feel ready. but you are."
"life doesnt have time for your tears girl. you shed them, fine. you're still a child. but you keep moving while you cry. if you dont move, the vultures will think you're carrion."
"the past is part, always, of the present. we cannot leave it behind in its entirety because it is the foundation of who and what we are now."
"there were some angers that slept without dying. when she touched them, they woke, and they burned as if they were still new."
"she said nothing. ellerson said nothing as well - his was just louder."
"she wondered if this was the danger the gods presented to mortals: the sense that someone, somewhere, knew it all, and knew it well enough that there was no point and no need to struggle to reach a decision; one could leave it, for eternity, in their hands. if the Mother were here, jewel would have gratefully handed the whole of the war into her keeping. what did you become, in the end, if you never had to make those decisions and those mistakes?"
"what we appear to be to others is never what we look like to ourselves."
"i had forgotten, how hard it was not to strangle you."
"idiots. they think they'll rule small parts of the world if they can only learn the art of summoning creatures that are older, smarter, and more powerful than they are."
"you are ready."
"i dont feel like it."
"no. that is the sad truth of power: when facing the unknown, you will never feel ready. but you are."
"life doesnt have time for your tears girl. you shed them, fine. you're still a child. but you keep moving while you cry. if you dont move, the vultures will think you're carrion."