#dancer's lament

[oedonion]

He snapped his wrists and twinned blued blades in sheaths hidden up his sleeves slipped into his palms. These he slashed about him as he spun, crouched, jumped and rolled between the heaped boxes and the narrow alleys of dusty crates. The raptors’ fierce gazes followed him as he wove through the dark and they raised their wings, wary, whenever a dodge or a roll brought him near their perches. Sweaty now, he straightened and pushed the throwing blades back into their sheaths. He turned, raised a brow. ‘You are quiet. There are few who could sneak up on me.’ ‘I was watching. You move so gracefully and effortlessly,’ she said. ‘Like a dancer.’

[hamsandlich]

He was Dancer now, and Dancer from now on. But he would not regret it or hold a grudge. Perhaps he no longer had dreams. He didn’t need them. Now he had plans.

Dancers’s Lament, Ian C. Esslemont

[torpublishinggroup]

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At the heart of Quon Tali lies the powerful city-state of Li Heng, which has for centuries enjoyed relative stability under the guidance of the powerful sorceress known as the Protectress. She is not someone likely to tolerate the arrival of two particular young men into her domain: one determined to prove he is the most skilled assassin of his age, the other his quarry— a Dal Hon mage who is proving annoyingly difficult to kill. The sorceress and her cabal of five mage servants were enough to repel the Quon Tali Iron Legions, so how could two such troublemakers upset her ironfisted rule?

And now, under a new and ambitious king, the forces of Itko Kan are marching on Li Heng from the south. His own assassins, the Nightblades, have been sent ahead into the city, and rumors abound that he has inhuman, nightmarish forces at his command. So as shadows and mistrust swirl, and monstrous beasts that people say appear from nowhere run rampage through Li Heng’s streets, it seems chaos is come—but in chaos, as a certain young Dal Hon mage would say, there is opportunity…

[i-laugh-all-the-way-to-hell]

Dancer's Lament by Ian C. Esslemont

[dark5light]

The city had cut away the untried Dorin and trampled his dreams into the mud and mire. He was Dancer now, and Dancer from now on. But he would not regret it or hold a grudge. Perhaps he no longer had dreams. He didn’t need them. Now he had plans.

Dancer’s Lament (by Ian C. Esslemont)

[dark5light]

Gone was any blind devotion; hers would be a cynical eye cast upon the throne … Let Yuna come and rage at her; let her sisters scorn and disapprove of her as they would. She now had the strength not to care at all.

Dancer’s Lament (by Ian C. Esslemont)

[dark5light]

Wu: A glorious boundless future awaits, yet here I am seeing to such trivial matters. This alone is a crime!

Dorin: Boundless in your imagination.

Wu: Indeed. My imagination is boundless - and thus so my ambition and destiny.

[dark5light]

Dorin: Where are we? What happened?

Wu: I'm hit. Done for. Gods, what a waste! What a terrible waste!

Dorin: It's a flesh wound.

Wu: No! I'm dying. I feel the cold breath of Hood coming for me!

Dorin: You'll survive. Unless you get a fever; then you'll die.

Wu: I'm burning up! I swear!

Dorin: Oh, shut up. Now, where are we?

Wu: For the love of the gods, man... let me die in peace!