John Gwynne

pink, hairless skin

She knew well enough that the braggarts like Guðvarr were not the real warriors. It was the ones who never threatened violence…

“I am blood. I am death, I am vengeance,”

“Death is a part of life,”

Hard words are needed for this hard world.

“No,” the grey-beard said, his voice like gravel. “He’s one of the Bloodsworn now.”

“Hate does no one any good,” he shrugged. “Sometimes killing has to be done, but do not do it with hate in your heart. It will eat at you, like maggots laid beneath the skin.”

It is inevitable. Death comes for us all,

A question is better out than in.

“Fear is no bad thing,” Orka said. “How can you be brave if you do not feel fear?”

“I don’t understand,” Breca said, frowning.

“Courage is being scared of a task and doing it anyway.”