Quotes from Andrew Rowe

I shot Jin a look. I don't know what kind of look it was. I'm not sure there's a word for a combination of shock, horror, and admiration occurring all at once. I'm going with shorrorulation. If they can make up words, so can I.

I felt my hands quiver at the unexpected contact. I... wasn't used to being touched in a way that didn't involve violence, at least not in the last few years. It helped that it was Sera. I pictured when we'd held hands as children. It had been perfectly normal, even comforting, when we were little. I hadn't associated touching with pain back then.

That was my father's philosophy, and we'd both been trained to believe it completely. I didn't start to have my doubts until after Tristan was gone. I was grateful that Sera had never been raised with those values.

A part of me tried to fabricate reasons in my mind why it was too dangerous, or why it couldn't be possible. But I knew the truth — there was a part of me that was just afraid of change. And another part that was afraid of losing what made me special. I'd risked my life for that attunement. Was it really fair for others to get them for free? Perhaps even any attunement of their choice? But that was an inherently selfish line of thinking.

Oh, she meant my team members. I hadn't really processed most of them as friends yet, other than Patrick. I still wasn't sure I could call Marissa a friend; I barely knew her. Jin was closer, but he was more of a business associate. Probably.

I didn't like my hand exploding.

Spike traps are not my friends. Spike traps are the enemy. I will avoid them at all costs.

Apparently, just adding mobility by itself would add force to my motions without any stability, so I'd basically be blasting myself forward with each step. Hilarious, but impractical.

Father probably expected me to fight back, to compete, to try to prove myself... and for Sera to have to try harder to measure up to that. He'd never understood. His approval had stopped being important to me the moment he'd written his elder son off as dead.

Chapter XVIII – Everything That Could Possibly Go Wrong

I'd always thought "die" would have more symmetry in the last line, but when I'd brought it up to my parents, they'd accused me of being needlessly fatalistic.

I wasn't going to compete with her for Father's approval, but that didn't mean I couldn't find a way to make this into entertainment of my own.

Right, right. You know, you really look quite unwell. You probably should see a healer or something. You humans are so fond of those." The karvensi took to the air, flying high above the writhing wyvern. "You really are quite a disappointment, wyvern. I expected better from one of the serpent's children. But alas, few can match my own splendor.

Tashday, the first day of classes. I hadn't been murdered in the middle of the night. Success! I didn't feel that successful, though. I felt exhausted, cranky, and a little bit numb.

The path of dawn shines brightest in the dark.

Hope can be a source of strength, but when it fails to deliver what I want, I've found a good degree of stubbornness to be an appropriate substitute.

I took a moment just to process the creature's huge size.""Huh"", I managed, proving my mastery of articulation. Then it hit me. Not a thought; the dragon literally hit me, with a tail the size of a wagon.

Enough talk. Now this ends."" That was my signal to dodge. I was always grateful to enemies that telegraphed their attacks.

Actually, she wanted my help, so she broke all my things. Women are so complicated, you know? Goddesses are no different, it seems.

remember to call them by neutral pronouns like "they" unless they asked me to use a gender. That was the polite thing to do.

My plan was pretty much to flee in terror and hope for the best.

The dragon wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Eat you? Why would I eat you? You probably taste terrible. I was just going to maim you a little.

Somehow I'd forgotten about the six-foot tall stone man with wings and impressively chiseled — possibly literally chiseled — abs. Vanniv put a hand over his chest. "Ooh, yes. I love secrets! Tell me all your secrets.

After I'd picked up the bell and rod, he'd "sold" me three more items that he considered essential —