Activity

@wingiby-iggiby

I’ve never heard of that series, but, IF YOU’RE DOING BAD THINGS THEY ARE BAD! That’s a very unrealistic perception portrayed in that book. Evil cannot be portrayed as good; if anything, the book should show how his wrong decisions caused pain and more trouble, and then reconciliation — he realizes he’s wrong and there’s a better way.

I totally agree! I think what contributes to that phenomenon is when characters don’t have realistic consequences and reactions to their actions. As far as I can remember (I read it almost two years ago) he didn’t have any consequences for the stuff he did. I think that’s what makes it seem ‘good’ because he seems to get satisfaction (of some sort) from his vengeance.

That is a really interesting observation (how do you notice this stuff???)!

Over-analysis, of absolutely everything XD Writing has ruined books and movies for me. I’m constantly thinking stuff like ‘that was an excellent use of the catalyst’ or ‘oh, they changed X to give the protagonist more agency’ or ‘The sword clearly represents unforgiveness. Without a doubt.’ It’s kind of fun, though it annoys my family when I start analyzing the movie out loud XD

It brought this scenario to my mind: in Star Wars (have you seen it?), Anakin doesn’t agree with everything the Jedi Order believes (such as their take on love), but the other Jedi seem quite fine with it and try to correct him. It makes you think Anakin was wrong . . . or was he actually right, on some points at least?

Well, I haven’t seen it, but I think that the conflict between the heroes kind of forces you to make up your own mind on things since it messes with the black-and-whiteness. Personally, I love it when the heroes still have conflict, since it makes them individuals instead of a uniform group. Like, they can have different opinions and still have the same goal. Especially if their opinions tie back to their backstories and personalities! It seems to be pretty common that the heroes agree on everything, and that’s throwing away an opportunity for character development!

Oh, I read that a long time ago, y’all! I don’t remember much, but I do remember that I was TOTALLY hooked (and that the characters were some of the most colorful I’ve ever read of)! And are you saying that you skip school?

Yes, those characters are SO good! I loved them all, especially since they were so vastly different! And no, I don’t. XD As I mentioned before, I’m homeschooled, so my school times are irregular sometimes.

*Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident) It’s a real song, and really fun, LOL

Okay, I had to check it out, and it is really fun, but it’s going to be stuck in my head from now until eternity XD

Liorah

I sighed. My leg was throbbing so badly I had to grit my teeth. It would heal quickly, but right now, it hurt so badly that it was the only thing I could think about. I leaned back against the corner, nestling myself in the dark. Gavril stood by the door, reluctant to step away from the light.

“I’m going to help Riure, stay here,” he said, briefly, before heading down the stairs again. His footsteps sounded slow and heavy. After all, this was his third time back and forth, and it was a long way.

Dancrow thunked down against a wall, then scrabbled at the ground, before picking up a small black box. I glanced at it before dismissing it. Just a black box. Dancrow cradled it, turning it over and over, then thumped his head against the wall. I raised an eyebrow. That was one way of coping with frustration.

He turned a dial and the loudest music I’d ever heard blasted out of it. I clapped my hands over my ears. It was loud and fast, a singing voice over some sort of plucked instrument I wasn’t familiar with. It sounded faintly like an oud, but not quite. How did that music get in the box?

Dancrow quickly turned it down to a moderate volume, but he was grinning.

“It works! It works! Ecray Was!! YES!”

I frowned, puzzled, then shrugged it off.

“Good for you. Nice music. How’d it get in there?” I asked. I didn’t intend to be sarcastic, but I was tired and it came out that way. I sighed. What did it matter, after all? He already had a bad opinion of me, so he wouldn’t care.

Gavril

Liorah settled in a corner and I hovered near the entrance. I didn’t want to venture into the dark if I didn’t need to. Liorah sighed, stretching her wounded leg out in front of her. Fresh red spots had appeared on the bandage, the recently healed wounds torn open again. There was nothing I could do about it. She closed her eyes, leaning back against the wall. She looked tired, almost fragile, her face drawn in lines of pain. There was nothing I could do about that either, after all, she wasn’t fragile and she was fully capable of taking care of herself.

If it had been Keturah, for example, I would have had to comfort her or something of that sort. Keturah was a noble’s daughter and a friend of mine. My thoughts drifted toward her. The way she smiled, the way she drew a wrinkle between her eyebrows when concentrating, they kept nudging into my mind at the most inopportune moments. I shook my head, forcing myself to focus on the present situation.

“I’m going to help Riure, stay here,” I said, turning and heading down the stairs again. Exhaustion dragged at me, making each step even heavier than usual.

Before long, I was downstairs. Ehud, Rosario, Riure, and two others were at the bottom, hesitating whether to go up. Gwen was just about to cross the bridge.

And the armored figure was on the other side of the chasm, drawing something that looked like a weapon. Gwen held a bare sword, but I didn’t think she’d get through the armor.

“Does anyone know where I am?” The armored figure asked. He let his helmet slide back, revealing his face, but he didn’t put away his weapon.

“Welcome to Lord castle.” Gwen said, ”where all your nightmares come true. We’re just trying to find a way out. You’re welcome to join us.” She lightly stepped over the bridge, having little trouble with it.

“Go on, I’ll manage here. It might be dangerous.” I said, quietly. “Ehud, Rosario, help Riure, please, and be careful.” While I was speaking, I had unwrapped my sling from where it hung on my belt. Before I’d finished talking, it was loaded and I could loose within a second or two.

“You know, I understand the sentiment, but I’d appreciate it if you put away that weapon. Besides,” I offered a half-smile, “I can shoot before you can.” I gestured toward my sling but made no aggressive motions. I didn’t actually know if I could shoot first, but he probably couldn’t recognize my weapon and would err on the side of caution. Hopefully. My tone was relaxed and controlled. It was the same voice I used while trying to calm a panicked horse. I needed to get him to put away those weapons before someone (Likely Liorah)’s actions were interpreted as dangerous.

A thought occurred to me and I said,

“Are you in the military?” It seemed likely, judging by the armor and the weapons. If he was, at least we’d have something in common. Uncle had let me start taking over the cavalry drills two years ago. Even though I’d mastered everything we practiced, it was a lot harder to earn the respect of the warriors. There hadn’t been a war since the one ten years ago, and I had only faint, haunting memories of that. I stubbornly refused to remember them. I’d pushed them into the same place as my father’s death. That was over.

If there ever was another war, I would have to lead them, and I prayed every day that wouldn’t happen.

I decided to assume he was and continued, in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Here are the basics: The castle is aware of us, to some degree at least, and is malicious. There was a recent attack, by some sort of beasts. I wasn’t here, so I can’t give you information on those, but at least two people are seriously injured. My sister, and Gwen,” I gestured toward her. “The castle seems to possess healing properties, or it might be the alteration of time, but the wounds are healing at approximately twice the usual rate. We have a limited food and water supply. There is no distinguishable link between any of us, and we all seem to be from different worlds and time periods, as far as I can tell.” I paused.

“Liorah and I are Lehabim, from Yerasht. We live in the 70th year after the Great Treaty, but I don’t think that says anything to you.” I wanted to give some information, in hopes he would give some too.