Michael J. Sullivan

Hadrian leapt to his feet. Royce was already up.__on__ bother,_ Esrahaddon told them. __he__ dead, and there__ nothing you can do. The monster cannot be harmed by your weapons. It___he two were out the door.

Revenge is a bittersweet fruit that leaves the foul aftertaste of regret.

How can you regret never having found true love? That's like saying you regret not being born a genius. People don't have control over such things. It either happens or it doesn't. It's a gift - a present that most never get. It's more like a miracle, really, when you think of it. I mean, first you have to find that person, and then you have to get to know them to realize just what they mean to you - that right there is ridiculously difficult. Then... then that person has to feel the same way about you. It's like searching for a specific snowflake, and even if you manage to find it, that's not good enough. You still have to find its matching pair. What are the odds?

I know nothing about war. But let me tell you what I believe. I think running from responsibility breeds self-loathing and despair. I think people can, and do, rise to the occasion, and even a single person can make an incredible difference. What they need are leaders who believe in them, a belief that gives birth to hope. With hope, people can do remarkable things, amazing things.

The thing about the old is that we never change so much as the young. We slip in degrees, adding rings like trees--a new wrinkle here, a shade less color there, but the young transform like caterpillars into butterflies. They become whole new people as if overnight.

And you? Did you find the doorknob?__adrian picked up a jug and downed several swallows, drinking so quickly some of the water dripped down his chin. He poured some in his palm and rinsed his face, running his fingers through his hair.__ didn__ even get close enough to see a door.___ell, look on the bright side___adrian smiled___t least you weren__ captured and condemned to death this time.___hat__ the bright side?___hat can I say? I__ a glass-half-full kinda guy.

A lot can be determined by the choices we make, even if the action is initiated by self-preservation. Many ... no, most ... of our choices are driven by fear: fear of death, fear of humiliation, fear of loneliness. But it's how we respond to fear that matters. It's what defines us. What makes us who we are. So maybe in your mind you acted selfishly, but I'm alive because of the choice you made. So I'll remember it as an act of kindness and yes, even bravery.

Bah!_ Magnus scoffed. __umans always blame dwarves. A baby goes missing and it was a dwarf that stole it. A princess runs off with a second son of a king and it was a dwarf who lured her to a deep prison. And when they find her with the prince__o, she was rescued!__ king is stabbed in the back in his own chapel, and a princess__ toweris turned into a death trap,_ Royce called back to them. __riends arebetrayed and trapped in a prison__es, I can see your surprise. Where do they get such ideas?___amn his elven ears,_ Magnus said.

When the dead betray the living, the victims are memories.--The Book of Brin

I tried to find a way to go on. I could see familiar traces of the path that was my life, but there was always the wall behind me. Do you know what I mean? First you try and climb, pretending it never happened, but it's too tall. Then you try to go around, thinking you can fix it, but it is too far. Then, in frustration, you beat on it with your hands, but it does nothing, so you tire and sit down and just stare at it. You stare because you can't bring yourself to walk away. Walking away means that you're giving up, abandoning them. "There is no way back. There is only forward. It's impossible to imagine there's any reason to move ahead, but that isn't the real reason you give up. The real fear--the terror that keeps you rooted--is that you might be wrong." --Myron, Monk of Maribor

If this hast been done to language, I fear to know the fate of all else.