204) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 36: Kohra's emotions, Dom's wisdom, and the birth of possibly the dumbest idea ever
“Plus, remember? Four THOUSAND gold?” Adopting his best Gorb-accent, he raised his hand as though holding a mug for a cheers. “Follow d’Light, lass!”
203) The Emotional Lessons I Learned From Getting My Ass Kicked
I can THINK that I deserve to win. But my FEELINGS are different. In fact, the closer I get to winning, my emotions become a maelstrom of chaos. I don’t even know what I’m feeling in those moments. Just — squirrelly. And needless to say, squirrels suck at chess.
202) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 35 -- On a Quest!
Lenny held up one finger. “I have two rules in life.” She looked at her finger. “Enjoy myself.” She raised a second finger. “Postpone dying for as long as I can.”
201) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 34 -- The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
“Say no more,” she cooed. “For you girls, I have the perfect place. Down by the pond, on the far side of the woodshed, there’s lots of space, completely private. Help yourself to the wood and — have a good time!” In a thoughtfully-secretive whisper, she added, “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”
200) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 33 -- Shameless flirting, and a great idea
Lenny and Reilly giggled. Devona’s glance would’ve peeled paint.
“Mah eyes brought y’here?” He tipped his hat. “Ah’d like to say that’s the first time Ah’ve heard that.”
199) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 32 -- The Zhaalmohhrians
This noble Whiteling family can trace its bloodline directly back to the Founders, and even further back, they claim, before the Lost Age to the Age of Gods.
198) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 31: The psychic, the library, and the clue
“Of course she’s nice and weird!” Devona half-shouted. “That’s her whole schtick, Lenny! It’s how she makes a living! Didn’t you ever learn about this? She probably started by asking you very generic things, like, ‘Hey young lady, do you like horses?’ or ‘Have you lost an important person in your life?’ or ‘Do you feel like people sometimes just don’t understand you?”
197) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 30 -- Spicy rumours...and some drinking
“Shhhhh!” Kohra was embarassed, in so many different ways she didn’t even know what she was feeling in that moment. “You shouldn’t be…she’s not…just, shhhh!” She scowled as they continued making remarks about the kinds of things that happen in steamy-bath-houses.
196) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 29 -- Murder, Suicide, Insanity, and Child Abuse
When you know only that you stand on the outside of someone else’s grief (which is always the case with grief), then you can’t even say “I know how you feel,” because you don’t.
195) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 28 -- The tale of a dying town
Dominic laughed. “The guy’s like, ‘Well, thanks young lady, but I’m asking more like 500 gold.’ And you know what Reilly says in response?” He looked over at Reilly, who was grinning, clearly enjoying this. “She says, ‘Fine! Six gold! But THAT is our final offer!’”
194) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 27 -- Smitten in Annuvin
“Famous?” Kohra asked. “For what?”
“MEAT!” he cried triumphantly, his old gregariousness sparking back to life.
“How can you be famous for meat?” It seemed like a reasonable question. “Don’t they have meat everywhere?”
193) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 26 -- Big Kitty
“The Flux lasts forever,” Lenny chimed in from the back of the cat, evidently no longer asleep.
Kohra paused, wondering. Was that true? It did jive with her limited studies. The Flux was said to be the energy, or essence, of Chaos, the Divine Movement that gave rise to existence in the first place. Philosophers believed that the Flux itself, the primordial chaos, was eternal. The only true Unchanging thing, was Chaos itself.
192) How to Slay in Chess, Part 3: The Middle-game -- Intermediate Level
Following what I’ve outlined here took me past more than 99% of chess players, based on chess.com’s stats. So, based on my own experience, this is where I’d recommend starting.
191) How to Slay in Chess, Part 2: The Middle-game -- Beginner Level
If I had to choose the single-most-important mid-game strategy, it’s this one — If all else fails, and all you’re doing, move by move, is moving pieces in weak positions, into stronger positions, then you have a fighting chance.
190) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 25 -- Frogs
In the rear, Dominic could tell they weren’t going to make it. He was taking frogs out as fast as he could, but they were advancing in endless hopping waves, spear-tips bouncing madly as the waves rippled forward. He fired as he ran, arrow after arrow, but he could barely slow them down.
189) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 24 -- The Seeds of Hate
Despair sunk into her chest. Another Art of the Infernal flashed into her mind. The Art of Sacrifice. Sacrifice? Isn’t that what I’m trying to avoid?
188) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 23 -- The Unintentionally Flying Squirrel
“Not NOW, squirrrrel!” Grob growled, more threateningly, setting her back on the ground again.
A moment later, Squirrelly was on his shield, right in his face.
“Why don’t you listen to Squirrelly?” Lenny suggested. “She‘s really smart.”
187) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 22 -- It seemed like a good idea at the time...
They knelt, placing their foreheads on the log. Kohra closed her eyes. She felt helpless, neck exposed like she was about to get beheaded. There was nothing, at all, that she could do.
186) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 21 -- The Hooded Man
Keeping to the shadows, he crept up beside Beacon and out of Kohra’s range of sight. She snuck toward the front of the wagon, barely daring to breathe, eyes straining to find something, anything, in the darkness to explain what Gorb was doing and, hopefully, placate the mad hammering of her heart.
185) The Salvation of Eden, Chapter 20 -- Kinship and Friendship
When in doubt, if you threw your head back and laughed, took another drink and pounded the person’s back beside you, then it was all good; you’d fit right in.