Quotes by John Flanagan

The sarcastic little know-it-all needs help, does he?

There are always risks in battle. Its a dangerous business. The trick is to take the right ones. [said Halt].How do you know which are the right ones? Shigeru asked.Halt glanced at his two younger companions. They grinned and answered in chorus, You wait and see if you win.

Now for Gods sake, will you two start behaving like a princess and a Courier? Halt told them. If you dont, Ill have to think about sending Will home.Me? Will said, his voice breaking into a high-pitched squeak of indignation. Whats it got to do with me?Its all your fault! Halt shouted irrationally.

What is this Chocho business? Will muttered to himself. But his friends overheard the comment.Its a term of great respect, they chorused, and he glared at them.Oh, shut up, he said.

What the devil is Chocho? Will whispered.Horaces grin broadened. You are. Its what the men call you, he said. Then he added, Its a term of great respect.Behind them, Halt nodded confirmation. Great respect, he agreed.

How do we get there? How did you get here, by the way? [Will asked].He heard Halts deep sigh and knew hed done it again.Do you ever, the older Ranger said with great deliberation, manage to ask just one question at a time? Or does it always have to be multiple choice with you?Will looked at him in surprise. Do I do that? he asked. Are you sure?Halt said nothing. He raised his hands in a See what I mean? gesture...Halt, [Selethen said], I could be wrong, but I think you were just guilty of the same fault. Im sure I heard you ask two questions just then.Thank you for pointing that out, Lord Selethen, Halt said with icy formality.

‎Halt looked up at the trees above him.Why does this boy ask so many questions? he asked the trees.Naturally, they didnt answer.

[Will]d barely been asleep a few minutes when Halts voice woke him.Will? Are you asleep?...I was, he said, a little indignantly. Im not now.Good, Halt replied, a trifle smugly. Serves you right.

Without thinking, [Will] spoke.Halt? Are you awake?No. The ill humor in the one-word reply was unmistakable.Oh. Sorry.Shut up.He pondered whether to apologize again and decided this would go against the instruction to shut up, so remained silent.

Gundar, seeing Halt upright for the first time in two days, stumped up the deck to join them.Back on your feet then? he boomed cheerfully, with typical Skandian tact. By Gorlags toenails, with all the heaving abd puking youve been doing, I thought youd turn yourself inside out and puke yourself over the rail!...You do paint a pretty picture, Gundar, Will said...Thank you for your concern, Halt said icily...So, did you find Albert? Gundar went on, unabashed. Even Halt was puzzled by this sudden apparent change of subject.Albert? he asked. Too late, he saw Gundars grin widening and knew hed stepped into a trap.You seemed to be looking for him. Youd lean over the rail and call, Al-b-e-e-e-e-e-r-t! I thought he might be some Araluen sea god.No, I didnt find him. Maybe I could look for him in your helmet.He reached out a hand. But Gundar had heard what happened when Skandians lent their helmets to the grim-faced Ranger while onboard ship...No, Im pretty sure hes not there, he said hurriedly.

Easy climb, Kurokuma. You do it easily.Not on your life, Horace said... Thats what we have Rangers for. They climb up sheer rock walls and crawl along narrow, slippery ledges. Im a trained warrior, and Im far to valuable to risk such shenanigans.Were not valuable? Will said, feigning insult.Horace looked at him. Weve got two of you. We can always afford to lose one, he said firmly.

Will saw the first Senshi officer release and instantly knew where the arrow was aimed. Theyve spotted Shigeru! He was about to turn and shove Shigeru to the ground, but as he did so, his eye caught a flicker of movement and he spun back.When asked later about what he did next, he could never explain how he managed it. Nor could he ever repeat the feat. He acted totally from instinct, an unbelievable piece of coordination between hand and eye.The Senshi arrow flashed downward, heading directly for Shigeru. Will flicked his bow at it, caught it and deflected it from its course. The arrowhead screeched on the hard, rocky ground and the arrow skittered away. Even Halt took a second to be impressed.My god! he said. How did you do that?

Will had been taken aback in his confrontation with Arisaka to discover that his name- Chocho- meant Butterfly... He was puzzled to know why they had selected it. His friends, of course, delighted in helping him guess the reason.I assume its because youre such a snazzy dresser, Evanlyn said. You Rangers are a riot of color, after all....I think it might be more to do with the way he raced around the training ground, darting here and there to correct the way a man might be holding his shield, then dashing off to show someone how to put their body weight into their javelin cast, said Horace, a little more sympathetically. Then he ruined the effect by adding thoughtlessly, I must say, your cloak did flutter around like a butterflys wings.

Who are you, gaijin? What do you know about honor?Im called Chocho, Will said...Chocho? Arisaka shouted, goaded beyond control. Butterfly? Then die, Butterfly!

Halt eyed them balefully. They were all being so obvious about not mentioning his sudden reappearance that it was even worse than if they had commented on it...Oh, go on! he said. Somebody say something! I know what youre thinking!Its good to see you up and about, Halt, Selethen said gravely...Halt glared at the others and they quickly chorused their pleasure at seeing him back to his normal self. But he could see the grins they didnt quite manage to hide. He fixed a glare on Alyss.Im surprised at you Alyss, he said. I expected no better of Will and Evanlyn, of course. Heartless beasts, the pair of them. But you! I thought you had been better trained!...Halt, Im sorry! Its not funny, youre right... Shut up, Will. This last was directed at Will as he tried, unsuccessfully, to smother a snigger.

Fighting positions, please, ladies...Thats debatable, Halt said in an undertone to Will as they stood watching...The fighting part or the ladies part? Will replied with a grin.Halt looked at him and shook his head. Definitely the ladies, he said. Theres no debate about the fighting.Will shrugged. He knew there was an edginess to the girls relationship and that it had something to do with him. Why that should be so was beyond him.

The two girls disappeared into the stern cabin once more. Will watched them go, then asked Halt, Anything youd like me to do? Grow a beard? Learn to walk like a rooster?If you could stop asking facetious questions, thatd be a start, Halt told him. But its probably a little late in life for you to do that.

Youre right, Halt, she said, and he nodded acklowledgement of her backing down.Nice to hear someone else saying that for a change, Will said cheerfully. Seems like Ive said those words an awful lot in my time.Halt turned a bleak gaze on him. And youve always been right.

All we could get out of them was that they were taking us to Kurokuma. We didnt know if that was a place or a person. What does it mean, by the way?Im told its a term of great respect, Horace said, unwilling to admit that he didnt know.

Shokaku is a crane of some kind.For lifting things? Will asked.For flying. A crane is a large bird, she corrected him...Seems like a logical thing for a crane to do, Halt mused. I suppose you wouldnt expect it to mean a hiking crane or a waddling crane.