hush

commission art for upcoming book 'Call Me Traitor' by Everina Maxwell @avoliot

"Step two, analyse it—understand its structure, its shape."/"I mean, I tried. There was so much of you."

"Step three, remove and absorb it: take it into yourself without consuming it in the process.”/"I opened my mouth and tried to cram you inside."

“Step four, fix it in place so it can’t deteriorate."/" I needed a house to put you in."

"Step five, incorporate it: find a way to make the soul part of yourself without being overwhelmed."/"Fuck knows what would’ve happened if I tried to absorb you all the way; I probably would’ve burnt to death."

"Step six: consume the flesh. Not the whole thing, a drop of blood will do to ground you."/"I scooped dirt into my mouth…ate until I vomited."

"Step seven is reconstruction—making spirit and flesh work together the way they used to, in the new body."/"I conjured up a beautiful labyrinth to house you in. I was terrified you’d find some way to escape before I was done."

Harhahad Thanern. On the Gobrin. 

The twenty-third day of our journey. We are on the Gobrin Ice. As soon as we set out this morning we saw, only a few hundred yards beyond last night’s camp, a pathway open up to the Ice. (…)

I am infected by Ai’s pure pleasure in our achievement.

Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

gideon: camilla understands me because her necromancer is overbearing too