Home > Work > A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes, #2)
21 " Most people...are nothing but glimmers in the great darkness of time. But you...are no swift-burning spark. You are a torch against the night - if you dare to let yourself burn. "
― Sabaa Tahir , A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes, #2)
22 " It's a trick question, Aquilla. A Mask is not made. She is remade. First she is destroyed. Stripped down to the trembling child that lives at her core. It doesn't matter how strong she thinks she is. Blackcliff diminishes, humiliates, and humbles her." "But if she survives, she is reborn. She rises from the shadow world of failure and despair so that she might become as fearful as that which destroyed her. So that she might know darkness and use it as her scim and shield in her mission to serve the Empire. "
23 " I miss you. I'll always miss you. Even when I'm a ghost. "
24 " Family is worth dying for, killing for. Fighting for them is all that keeps us going when everything else is gone "
25 " His eyes are unfathomably sad as he lifts my chin. "Most people," Cain says, "are nothing but glimmers in the great darkness of time. But you, Helene Aquilla, are no swift-burning spark. You are a torch against the night -- if you dare to let yourself burn. "
26 " Veturius is a Mask like the rest of us, yes. Bold, brave, strong, swift. But those were afterthoughts for him. Elias sees people as they should be, not as they are. He laughs at himself. He gives of himself - in everything he does. [...] He's the things that I can't be. He's good. "
27 " But you are not finished. You are my masterpiece, Helene Aquilla, but I have just begun. If you survive, you shall be a force to be reckoned with in this world. But first you will be unmade. First, you will be broken. "
28 " I turn to look into my brother's eyes. For a long moment, all we can do is take in each other's faces. "Look at you, little sister, " Darin finally whispers. His smile is the sun rising after the longest, darkest night. "Look at you. "
29 " Tell me something about her," he whispers. "Something good." "I didn't know anything." My voice cracks, and I clear my throat. "I knew her for weeks? Months? And I never even asked her anything worthwhile about her family or what it was like when she was young or- or what she wanted or what she hoped for. Because I thought we had more time. "
30 " I know it hurts. Of all people, I know. But pain is how you know you loved her. "
31 " Esto es lo que significa tener fe, creer en algo más grande que uno mismo. "
32 " —Tus emociones son lo que te hace humana —dice Elias—. Incluso las desagradables cumplen una función. No las reprimas. Si no les prestas atención, empeorarán. "
33 " —Esto es una mala idea —murmura. Estamos tan cerca que le veo una larga pestaña en la mejilla y percibo el tono azulado de su cabello.—Entonces, ¿por qué no lo evitas?—Porque soy idiota. "
34 " —Tú eres mi templo —murmuro al arrodillarme a su lado—. Tú eres mi sacerdote. Tú eres mi plegaria. Tú eres mi liberación. "
35 " La mayoría de las personas no son más que reflejos en la gran oscuridad del tiempo. Pero tú, Helene Aquilla, no eres una chispa que se consume en un instante, sino una antorcha en la noche… si te atreves a arder. "
36 " No te cierres a los que se preocupan por ti solo porque temas hacerles daño o… que te lo hagan a ti. ¿Qué sentido tiene ser humano si no te permites sentir nada? "
37 " Quizá la tristeza sea como la batalla: después de experimentarla en cantidades ingentes, el instinto toma el control de tu cuerpo. Cuando ves que te acorrala como un pelotón de la muerte marcial, te insensibilizas. Te preparas para el dolor de un corazón hecho trizas. Y cuando llega el golpe, duele, pero no tanto, porque has guardado tus puntos débiles bajo siete candados, y solo quedan la ira y la fuerza. "
38 " El fracaso no es lo que te define. Lo que determina si eres un líder o un desperdicio de vida humana es lo que haces después de fracasar. "
39 " Qué tonta, Helene —pienso—. Cuando amas, siempre hay más dolor. "
40 " What is there to live for if not the moments of joy? What is there to fight for? "