G.R. Matthews Quotes

You and the spirit are no different, there is no separation. You are the spirit and the spirit is you. It has always been this way. Where there are no spirits, there are no people. This is what we must awaken in people.

I knew my voice was getting louder. It's one of those things anger does to you, dulls your hearing and opens your throat. You have to shout just to hear your own words.

There are men, and women, Haung, who are possessed of skills beyond the ordinary. Some of these men can seem to be invisible, some to pass through walls, some are assassins of incredible skill, some swordsmen of incomparable greatness, some wise and peaceful. But each is special and I have ensured that each duke knows who they are and where they are. I am content to let these men live in peace, and to go about their business without any undue interference. There are times, in the past, and there may be again in the near future, when I will call upon them to do the Empire a service. I expect them to come and serve with all duty and honour. I have never been let down by them. In return, they are free to live and to be outside, within reason, the law of the Empire. This is the list of forbidden men, Haung.

Zhou," her voice was just a whisper, "they have not hurt me physically, they have damaged and drained my Qi. I need to rest and recover

There is bathhouse a couple of streets away." Gang walked over to Haung and slipped a hand underneath the Taiji's arm, lifting him onto his feet. "Come on, I'll take you. It is time for my yearly bath anyway.

Gone was the snow covered peak that had pierced the sky. It was shorter and from its truncated summit red flame spewed forth. He watched, mesmerised, as great sparks of red and orange, leaped into the air from the mountain only and fell to the earth in an imitation of a rain drop.

Visions of a pitched battle in the docks flashed through my mind. Innocent bystanders torn apart by gunfire and explosions. Children wailing and parents, wild eyed and stunned, stumbling round in search of their lost ones, turning over twisted bodies to gaze into the dead eyes and shredded skin of someone's shattered dream.

Lad, the Fish-Suit was one of the Special Forces during Corp Wars. They don't give off much electromagnetic radiation and they are quiet to move about in, if the user chooses. They were the sabotage units. Not much use in a fight, but they'd go in and wreck the enemies capability before the battle even started. More civilians died to them than were collateral damage in any battle," he said. "There was a time when they weren't liked by any side.

Zhou turned away and looked back at the mountain. His first home, the city of Wubei, had been destroyed by fire and he had lost his wife and child. Now, his second home was gone. All of his security, his friends, his loved ones, the roof over his head, it was all gone. A wave of loneliness swept through him. Tears swelled in his eyes and flowed down his face, leaving tracks in the dust covering his skin.

If you've ever taken a sub, you'll know they have available every luxury item the weary traveller could ever wish to purchase. Drinks, food, perfumes, clothes, blankets, anything. These compartments weren't empty, but I doubt the weary traveller was really in the market for a selection of low and high powered pistols, assault rifles, armour piercing rounds and the variety of explosive devices on offer. Unless they were on the way to a Christmas family get-together.

It may seem strange, but I have an aversion to people trying to kill me. It sparks this almost unconscious desire to do something about it. It also sets fire to my desire to survive.

With air, you can struggle for a time. If you've trained in a Fish-Suit, you can struggle quite some time. However, without blood to your brain a few seconds is all it takes to become unconscious. Keep it up a few seconds more and that brief sleep can be extended by hours. A few more seconds and you can kill someone. It was all in the timing. Too little and they'd wake up whilst you were about your business. Too much and you'd kill them.

You must be ready to change and be aware when things are changing. For instance, even now, outside the door is something that will change today's lesson. You must learn to listen between the rain drops. A change, when it comes, will step lightly before it kicks like thunder. Hear the light steps and be ready for the thunder.

The fear receded. It didn't disappear. It lurked in the shadows, its claws hooking into passing thoughts and twisting them, turning them from their purpose to its own. He held it back. It was the hardest fight of his life.

I think the measure of advancement depends on where you are stood and from what distance you look. A thousand years ago, we farmed the fields, built towns and defended our land with swords and spears. It is little different now, save for the number of people we have to protect. We still kill with a sharp edge or point of metal, blood runs red still, sons ride off to war and parents grieve. If you look at the Empire in its whole, then it is peaceful. If you look closely, you will see the small wars, the bandits and rebellions. Look more closely still and you'll see the petty crimes, the struggle to survive, the rich bleeding the poor. Even the soil can turn against its farmers, yielding few crops. Or the weather, a late frost killing the early crops. There is strife and conflict everywhere in the Empire. Everywhere you find men, you find conflict.

No." Her voice was a winter storm. "Understand life. You have lived, loved, lost and now live again. You are young and have suffered but you do not understand. You have the chance to live for hundreds of years, if you desire it. You have the spirit to do so. You will love and suffer again. You will know joy and heartache, trust and betrayal, the good and bad of all life.

Life is a fragile thing. You hold it in your hand for but a moment. Each heartbeat is a victory over death's questing fingers and an escape from his skeletal grip. I'd felt him a time or two run a frozen finger down my back or across my cheek, a seductive caresses promising surcease from the pain of life. I'd welcomed him with open arms on occasion over the past few years, but he always teased me, toyed with me, moving on with the promise to return another day. Other times I'd fought him off, clinging onto the last vestiges of life with ripped fingernails.

Pain, brought anger, anger brought rage, aimless rage, self-directed rage. An avalanche of 'if onlys' and a torrent of 'what ifs' assaulted his mind. Images and thoughts to torture and torment him, should he ever attempt to sleep again, seared and burnt into his brain by the heat of the ruined house. Scars to last a lifetime, however long that was.

If you can't hide, act confident. It would have to be one hell of an act.

The reality, Haung knew, would be something quite different. From a distance, civilisation looks clean and desirable. Up close, the shine is dulled by self-interest and tarnished by greed.

The sea is never quiet. There is always noise. Close to the city, the deep hum of the generators and the clanking of people and machines churning out whatever it was they made.

Be warned, the ink you use is magical and your oath will be binding. If you carry falsehoods in your heart, the ink will know and it will signal us. The punishment for a false oath will be harsh, I assure you."
Haung paused to give the troops a hard stare and then he waved the first one forward, watching as the man approached the sorcerer's apprentice who stood behind the desk. The apprentice placed a pre-prepared sheet of paper in front of the man and handed him the brush pen. With a trembling hand, the man dipped the brush into the ink bowl and shakily signed his name. The ink stayed as ink and there was an audible sigh, echoed by the other recruits, from the man.
Four more times this happened. When the fifth shaking and nervous man approached, he took the brush, dipped it into the ink and drew the character for his name. As he handed the brush back the ink on the page hissed and bubbled giving off an acrid blue smoke. Guards grabbed the man and dragged him, kicking, screaming and pleading his innocence into the dark room behind the desk. There was more shouted pleading and then a chilling, bone grating, scream erupted from the doorway followed by silence. The guards re-appeared, wiping their daggers with sword-cloth and replacing them in their belt scabbards.

Zhou watched the fake Chung's face vanish to be replaced by another's.
"Look, Hsin," Zhou snarled, "this is your fault."
"No." Hsin's voice was a desperate whisper.

There is something weird about facing a dripping wet, semi-naked man across a padded practice mat when you're wearing nothing but your own skin tight underwear and that's covered in a slippery, oily gel. If this got any more homoerotic, I'd have to think about introducing him to my parents.

I've never worried that a city would fall on me. It's not an event that I've lain awake woorying about, it's one of those fears you take as read. Sadly, a city was falling on me.

A minute later the steam stopped. By then, I was soaking wet and, no doubt, my pores were open. Some people pay a fortune for this kind of beauty treatment. I got mine for free, if you disregard the bruises, headache and all those dead people."
- Corin Hayes, Silent City (working title)

I snapped. The anger, I can still feel it now, rose through me like a wave and I drowned in it. I was reborn in it. You know what it is like, Zhou. The world lost its colour, everything turned to black and white. There were shades of grey, but no colour. Even time seemed to slow down, the pain was there and I drew on it. I made it part of me and I threw it at them.

Let the dying men die. I know it seems cruel, and it is, but they will slow us down and if we are caught out in the open this little army will be wiped out. My friends can buy us a day, maybe two, and you will need to use every moment to get as far away as you can," the lady said. "I will not leave men to die," Haung said. "They are already dead, Haung. Are you prepared to sacrifice everyone else's life just to grant them another day of agonising, painful, fear-filled life?" "They are my men," he said. "It is my job to protect them, keep them alive." "And to send them to their deaths.

There was a scream from inside.
Drawing his sword, Haung crept up to the door and slid inside, merging with the shadows. The source of the scream was illuminated by the conjured light-ball in the centre of the room. Haung took in the scene and felt all strength flee from muscles. His arms fell limp by his side and the tip of his sword struck the tiled floor with a bright clink. From the rafters, two small bodies hung, rope tight round their necks, blackened tongues swelling from their mouths and sightless eyes staring into the void. Below the bodies of the two children, a naked woman, bruised body and bloody face sat staring at him. Blood pooled from between her knees and it was clear to Haung what had happened to her, and to her young children. She screamed again and again. Her eyes were desperate and disbelieving. Her claw fingered hands tore at her cheeks again and again. Ragged lines of blood dripped down her face, tears of madness and grief. Haung stared at her, unable to move.

The subtle hum of the Oxyquid filters and motors ceased. A noise I'd long ago grown accustomed to, that had become just background and automatically ignored, stopped. It was unsettling in it's absence. The ocean is never truly silent but, at that moment, it was quieter than I ever wished it to be ever again. A quiet that made me doubt my sanity, made my eardrums hurt as they sought a sound, a faint tremor of noise to cup and hold ddear.

The image of Jiao's face when she was told he had been drowned with a half-naked woman tied to his body made him giggle and he realised he was close to panicking.

An information panel was helpfully flashing the word "Emergency". I couldn't fault its grasp of the situation.

Being in that suit means you are pretty much on your own. When I was being trained, the first thing I had to know how to do was fix it. From the boots to the helmet, there is nothing, given access to the spare parts, I can't fix.

We live in the deep sea, surrounded by pressure that could kill us in an instant, with no access to the surface world, that is our natural home.

Sword fighting is not a dance, not in battle. You save all that showing off for the duels if you want to. In battle, when you kill, kill quickly, and be ready for the next enemy to come at you. One strike should be all it takes. It's all you'll get

Even two steps back, I could feel the heat of his anger. If I'd had some bread, I could have stuck it on a fork and toasted it. Least that way I'd have got something to eat.

I am sorry, Zhou," the fuzzy looking figure said quietly. "War is not what I had thought. There is no honour to be earned or won. Only the blood of innocents. I am sorry.

The young woman didn't move or acknowledge my presence, but when you've lost the back half of your skull I'd imagine that the appearance of a man as handsome as me was low on your list of priorities.

The sky was masked by a column of smoke. New clouds pushed out from the main stack, one over another, higher and higher into the blue. At its upper reach, the cloud began to spread across the sky until it covered the whole of the horizon. Zhou looked up to see it pass overhead. The land grew dark as the cloud covered the sun.

Getting lost in the ocean was a sure way to get yourself killed. Back in the academy, they'd spent weeks teaching us the formulae, tips and tricks. The exams had been a special sort of hell that accounted for almost as many drop outs as the first lungful of Oxyquid. And now, out in the endless expanse of the ocean, I used a computer program that did it all for me. Education; never a waste of time.

How many millennia had she witnessed? Watching people, loved ons, be bron, live, grow and die was at once a thought of wonder and infinite sadness.

Freedom first, he thought, home second, revenge third.

Only the last gasp of evening served to illuminate the stone floor.

The moment froze. Soldiers passing by stopped and looked, confused. Zhou could taste the moment on his tongue. The wrong move by anyone, from soldier to magician, and the fear would give way to anger, anger to violence and then to death.

I don't like boats," Gang grumbled. "Unsteady and prone to sinking.

Me, a strap and a wrench. A mostly empty room and a door locked from the outside. I was trapped.

It bounded from the line of trees directly ahead. This was his first real sight of the spirit and the breath stuck in his throat. Its black fur rippled as muscles bunched, flexed and powered the sleek animal towards him. Front legs reached forward, claws extended to dig into the soft ground as its body compressed. Back arching upwards as the rear legs caught up with the front and gathered their strength, propelling the cat forward again. The panther ate up the ground between the forest and Zhou. As it closed, he could see the yellow iris surrounding the deep, black, circular pupil. Either side of its snout, whiskers sprouted, sensing the movement of air, and its mouth parted to reveal two, long, sharp canine teeth rising from its bottom jaw.