" Bordan’s heart beat a quick march while snakes coiled around in his stomach. He took a deep breath, forcing his heart to slow and the snakes to hibernate. It was like this before a battle. The waiting and the knowing that very soon your life blood could be spilled upon the earth. That amongst the press of bodies, the stench of sweat mingled with urine, blood and fear, the screams of dying and roars of the frightened, you would be scrabbling just to stay alive. "

― G.R. Matthews , Seven Deaths of an Empire