This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

Oriel didn’t move. But inside of his head, all was movement, like a river running over rapids, searching for the way through, trying routes around rocks and over shallows, a turbulence of thought more rapid than he could follow. Griff, he knew, would do and say nothing until he heard Oriel’s choice.

Summary:

He was special. Different. Since he first came to the island as a young boy, he stood out among the rest. No matter how torturous the Damall’s beatings were he would not let his fear show. He was brave.

Griff watched from afar – admiring the strength of this boy who didn’t have a name. Griff, instead, hid out of sight, keeping quiet, avoiding attention.

But neither courage nor cowering would spare them from the incessant cruelty of the Damall. When the two unlikely friends realize they must escape or face a lifetime of brutality, they flee from the island, taking with them the most cherished possession of the Damall: the beryl – a green gemstone engraved with a falcon. Soon their prize binds their fates forever as they set off into a world more perilous than either could have imagined.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!