6
" There was a scream from inside.
Drawing his sword, Haung crept up to the door and slid inside, merging with the shadows. The source of the scream was illuminated by the conjured light-ball in the centre of the room. Haung took in the scene and felt all strength flee from muscles. His arms fell limp by his side and the tip of his sword struck the tiled floor with a bright clink. From the rafters, two small bodies hung, rope tight round their necks, blackened tongues swelling from their mouths and sightless eyes staring into the void. Below the bodies of the two children, a naked woman, bruised body and bloody face sat staring at him. Blood pooled from between her knees and it was clear to Haung what had happened to her, and to her young children. She screamed again and again. Her eyes were desperate and disbelieving. Her claw fingered hands tore at her cheeks again and again. Ragged lines of blood dripped down her face, tears of madness and grief. Haung stared at her, unable to move. "
― G.R. Matthews , The Stone Road (The Forbidden List, #1)
9
" It is true also, Novice Feng, that negotiations, situations, can change without warning. You must be ready to change and be aware when things are changing. For instance, even now, outside the door is something that will change today's lesson. You must learn to listen between the raindrops. A change, when it comes, will step lightly before it kicks like thunder. Hear the light steps and be ready for the thunder. "
― G.R. Matthews , The Stone Road (The Forbidden List, #1)
10
" Be warned, the ink you use is magical and your oath will be binding. If you carry falsehoods in your heart, the ink will know and it will signal us. The punishment for a false oath will be harsh, I assure you.”
Haung paused to give the troops a hard stare and then he waved the first one forward, watching as the man approached the sorcerer's apprentice who stood behind the desk. The apprentice placed a pre-prepared sheet of paper in front of the man and handed him the brush pen. With a trembling hand, the man dipped the brush into the ink bowl and shakily signed his name. The ink stayed as ink and there was an audible sigh, echoed by the other recruits, from the man.
Four more times this happened. When the fifth shaking and nervous man approached, he took the brush, dipped it into the ink and drew the character for his name. As he handed the brush back the ink on the page hissed and bubbled giving off an acrid blue smoke. Guards grabbed the man and dragged him, kicking, screaming and pleading his innocence into the dark room behind the desk. There was more shouted pleading and then a chilling, bone grating, scream erupted from the doorway followed by silence. The guards re-appeared, wiping their daggers with sword-cloth and replacing them in their belt scabbards. "
― G.R. Matthews , The Stone Road (The Forbidden List, #1)
16
" New life is a wonderful, precious thing, Jiin-Wei,” Marbu smiled. “Very precious as it is so fragile. I will be thinking of your family a lot in the coming days, Haung.”
“Your concern is appreciated, Secretary Marbu.” Haung struggled to keep the fury from his voice as he tried to match the ice of the other man's stare with a cool voice. “I will know where to look if something untoward or unlucky should happen. For help, I mean, of course. Rest assured, Secretary Marbu, that I would always call on you first. "
― G.R. Matthews , The Stone Road (The Forbidden List, #1)
18
" The room was more than twice his height and larger than the floor of the inn above. The walls were not the brick, or wood, he had expected. Instead, rising from floor to ceiling, were twisting, intertwining roots and tendrils. Perhaps, he pondered, it should be the other way around, the roots fell from the ceiling to the floor. The floor was a carpet of roots and he saw that, wherever the girl trod, the roots rose to meet the fall of her feet. Underneath his own, they were still and immovable. "
― G.R. Matthews , The Stone Road (The Forbidden List, #1)
19
" The tingle raced up his arm and met the duke’s invasion in Zhou’s head. His whole body convulsed, heels drummed against the stone, arms muscles locked rigid, and Zhou felt time stop between one heartbeat and the next. Everything was silent and still.
The smell of damp earth, the bracing winter wind, the spring sun upon skin, the dry heat of summer, all exploded in Zhou’s mind. New life flooded his limbs and the roots of purpose dug down through his thoughts, anchoring him and making him whole again. Control returned to him. "
― G.R. Matthews , The Stone Road (The Forbidden List, #1)
20
" I see nothing,” Zhou said.
“Look again, past the horizon. Now tell me again, what do you see?” the emperor said.
“I see,” the emperor saw wrinkles appear around Zhou’s eyes, “a red flame.”
“Good,” said the emperor. “Though good is not what I would term the flame of itself. Haung, the refugees who have arrived at the city gates are only the first of flood heading our way. There is something to the north, something so horrible whole nations are fleeing from it. "
― G.R. Matthews , The Stone Road (The Forbidden List, #1)
