Excerpts 1: Rook the anti-hero

Some passages that I think deserve to be shown.

(From book 1: Outside of the gates of a city, Rook gets out from under a car he was holding onto the bottom of in order to gain free transport)
“Aye, you!” the gruff voice of the driver shouted to Rook. “What were you doing under my cart? Did I run you over?” Rook snuck a glance at the sunburned man who was now looking at Rook with a confounding stare.
“Not to worry” Rook said, his face still covered.
“Are you sure you are fighting fit?” the driver asked and he caught a long glimpse of Rook’s face when he climbed down from his cart and inspected him. “Do you have some wasting disease?” Rook was quite offended by that question and considered murdering the driver where he stood with a wring of the neck. He imagined the sound the driver’s neck would make as it broke and it made him smile in sickly delight...
...“You must be the product of some disease” the driver added as he climbed back onto his cart and began to drive away. Rook took a few steps towards the city and scooped a small rock off the ground.
“A product of some disease, am I?” Rook asked, then he turned around and threw the rock at the driver in his cart who was now twenty meters away with an angry shout. The rock sailed through the air and hit the old man in the head, knocking him out cold. He wouldn’t remember his encounter with Rook when he would come to the next day.

(From book 1: Rook's reaction to a dead teenager)
“Why is this so sad?” demanded Rook with a piercing voice that brought a squawking bird to mind. “He was just like everyone else who I have seen killed. What makes him so special, what did he do to earn your petty grievances?”
“He was a boy” replied Saldella “have you no understanding of this? He didn’t even live through half of his life before dying. You don’t remember much about your past, but do you at least remember the sadness endured when a young person dies?”
“No” replied Rook “I cannot be sad. It’s not something I’ve been able to do very well”.

(From book 1: Rook collects change in a tavern)
“I am giving you one last chance” said Rook “I paid a silver dollar for an eight copper dollar drink. You owe me ninety two copper dollars”.
“How will you claim it?” asked the barkeep as he drew a rapier “will you rob me?”.....The tavern exploded into chaos as the fight erupted. Glasses were thrown and tables were overturned. Punches were exchanged and some people went down with bloody noses or broken bones.
Rook parried a swing from the barkeep, then kicked him in the knee. The barkeep fell over, dropping his rapier. Rook picked up the rapier and tossed it behind the counter. Rook peacefully finished off his drink and placed the glass onto the counter, then he found the barkeep’s coin pouch sitting behind the counter. He opened it and found it overflowing with copper coins and bronze coloured coins all the size of a thumbnail. Rook saw the coins had the symbol of the Higharc on them. Rook dumped out the coins from the pouch and put ninety-two copper coins into his own money pouch. Then he decided against being honest and stole the remaining coins, including the silver dollar he bought the drink with.

(From book 1: In a deserted battlefield, Rook and Anar have conflicting means of treating prisoners)
“Go” ordered Anar. “Run away, we don’t need or want any prisoners”.
“What?” the Rushersonic scout asked. “Aren’t we on opposite sides?”
“We cannot keep you and killing you would be senseless” answered Anar. “And our sides are eventually going to reach peace anyways”. The grateful cavalryman nodded before stumbling off into the dark.
Rook walked up beside Anar carrying one of the long spears the cavalrymen had used.
“I am proud of your decision” said Rook. “But the scout was right. This is war and he is an enemy”. He threw the spear point first toward the retreating man. The spear pierced the man’s heart and he fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
Anar blinked in shock and then yelled “What in the name of all of the gods was that for?” Rook walked towards the dead soldier as he replied
“In the name of all of the gods, all of them have a big backpack filled with supplies. Plus we get these two fine horses”.
“You…murdered him. He wasn’t even facing you when you threw that spear” Anar shouted as he ran over to the felled scout to learn if he was slain.
“Again I must remind you that our two sides are at war”.
“We won’t be at war for very long” Anar remarked as he discovered the scout to be dead. “Rusherson cannot stand against the massive armies of the Higharc”.
“Not unless the demons are helping them” Rook answered. He removed the scout’s backpack and began sorting through its contents which hadn’t been damaged by his spear throw. “This looks tasty” Rook said to himself as he inspected a small item which was wrapped in paper and gave off a meaty smell.
“But…” Anar stammered, “I’ve just seen so many awful things in one day. I didn’t want to see anymore dying so I let this man go. You spoiled it”.
“You’re a smart boy. You should know that war is a terrible thing” stated Rook.
“This man didn’t have to die”
“He is only one man, there are plenty of others where he came from” Rook calmly said as he unwrapped the paper-covered object he held. “Would you like some jerky?”

(From book 2: Rook's low opinion of his comrades-in-arms)
“You may have more appreciation for nature than me, oran” the soaking man said as he slipped in a puddle of mud and fell on his stomach. The whole group stopped briefly the stone skinned sailor hauled himself up, clothes stained with dirt. “If the rest of the journey is going to be this miserable” the sailor said once he had stood up. “I’m out”.
“Be my guest” Rook muttered as he wiped dripping rain from his mask’s eyeholes. “One less mouth to feed”.
“Rook” Anar said. “Not everyone is feeling at their best right now. We’re caught in the rain, we’ve had our ship cloven in two by a giant fish, the land that we though would be peaceful contains a community of kelpies, and the war is going poorly for our side. I understand why some of the crewmen are feeling down right now. They signed on expecting a smooth voyage and now a few of the original crew have been killed. Some of the crew are just afraid that they too might die”.
“Fine then” Rook said. “Let him leave, one less corpse to bury”.

(From book 3: Inside a temple which is recovering from attack, Rook and a local talk)
“The demons have kidnapped one of my friends” he said to the governor quietly. “We need some of your mageforce to teleport over to their hideout and rescue him before the demons harm him”.
“No, teleporting is forbidden” the governor’s mage replied. “The first wall on the Temple of Laws prohibits teleporting”. Rook narrowed his eyes behind his mask.
“Why?” he asked.
“Jindar says that teleporting is an anathema”.
“Why is it an anathema?”
“Because it’s an abomination”.
“Why?”
“Because it is very offensive to the gods”.
“Why?”
“They forbade it”.
“WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY!” Rook said loudly while cupping his hands around his mouth to project his voice. The mage frowned and scratched his head.
“I don’t know” he concluded.

(From book 3: Rook interrogates a prisoner)
“Where is Usor’an’s hideout?” Rook asked the destroyer as two mind reading valkyries scoured her thoughts in case the mention of the hideout invoked its memory.
“I’ll never say its location” she promised “or think it”. She had caught onto their methods of interrogation and was showing remarkable resistance. So far she hadn’t thought about the hideout and given her captors no answers.
“Is it underground?” Rook asked.
“It isn’t” answered one of the valkyries. “She just slipped”.
“Is it similar to the place you are in right now?”
“That got no reaction” the other valkyrie said. “In her head she’s repeating the words ‘my name is Usor’manar’. Just saying it over and over”.
“Your hide-out Usor’manar, where is it?” Rook demanded as he tapped the side of her head. “The only reason I’m not torturing you is because I have nothing with which to torture”.
“Stop tapping me” Usor’manar muttered.
“Shelter!” Rook yelled in her hear as he banged her head against the wall. The two valkyries looked a little uneasy at this show of force, but were rewarded with a few slipped thoughts.
“They’re hiding in the Temple of Jindar” both valkyries replied at once.
“Now that wasn’t so hard?” Rook thought as he banged her head against the wall a second time and threw her down to the floor.