Home > Work > Rain of Ash (Skydancer #1)
1 " She’d lost so much in the process of becoming Zyne, but somewhere in the middle of it all, she’d found herself. Her heritage had shattered her illusions of a tranquil life. Destiny swept behind in a blaze, decimating everything she tried to hold on to. She was left alone, like the solitary tree standing after a forest fire. She’d thought she would crumble to ash, just another memory on the wind. But as blackened pieces of her cracked and fell away, she saw the truth. Under all that charred wreckage was the heartwood. Bruised. Scarred. But still good. Still capable of growth. When she looked in the mirror, she no longer saw a victim, but a survivor. "
― Gwen Mitchell , Rain of Ash (Skydancer #1)
2 " Looking down from the heavens, she saw how small, and yet how important each human life is. Drops in the bucket of eternity. She saw her minute place in the organic machine of the Cosmos, witnessed the give and take and the slow, steady swinging of life's pendulum. The world relies on order, pattern, and repetition. The earth spins and swings around the sun with rational, mathematical predictability. But she also saw the chaotic nature of things. No matter what, you can never know with certainty what will happen. Lightening can strike, the ground can open up and swallow you, and the very air you breathe can tear your life away. "
3 " Changing the currents of Fate, even by accident, comes at a heavy price. "
4 " Under all that charred wreckage was the heartwood. Bruised. Scarred. But still good. Still capable of growth. When she looked in the mirror, she no longer saw a victim, but a survivor. "
5 " Words came to her from outside of memory; they fluttered against her heart like a rush of wings and soared from her voice in a song she'd never known. A song she'd always known. She hummed the incantation, and the force of magic behind it erupted in a crescendo through her blood. Every cell in her body vibrated with pure joy. I have lived this before. This is my destiny. I am Zyne. "
6 " Kean: You know, if it was just the two of us, we would be doing this moonclad, Bri.Bri: Moonclad?Astrid: Naked. Where do you think the term 'mooning' came from? Our people practically invented streaking. But you'll have plenty of opportunities to profane our ancient rituals later, Kean. For now, I don't want your hairy ass anywhere near my cornbread.Kean: You're never gonna let me live that one down, huh? "
7 " The first thing you need to learn is that an Oracle must choose very carefully how they influence the future. Sometimes a tiny ripple in the now can cause a huge drift. The future is never set, you see, it changes with every choice we make. And changing the larger currents of Fate, even by accident, comes at a heavy price. "