Excerpt: Blackbird's Gate

“So you’re saying France had a revolution long before Europe became The Union?”
“Yes. In fact, France rejected the very idea of The Union when it first arose. Its people, together with the people of the nation that was once called the Netherlands, refused the constitution that would one day result in the Second Breaking. Ireland, too, retaliated in kind with a firm ‘no’ in place. I have a feeling that these people knew what they were getting into long before anyone else did.”
“They still supported ideals my nation did not agree with,” retaliated Ilyena. “I have always been told that The Union is absolutely filled with Outlanders. When I hear your story now, I realize that all of the tales I was told are true. Revolutionary indeed…”
“I have not given you a proper history lesson yet. The real revolution of the French started many years prior to any notion of the European Union. They were the first to overthrow their totalitarian king and seize the power for themselves. Many died back then, just like many died during the First Breaking, and the world changed forever.”
“It seems like change always walks hand-in-hand with people dying,” commented Ilyena dryly as she sunk to the floor in order to check up on Pandora. “We should do something about that.”
Byron dropped into a crouch himself as Pandora mumbled something under her breath. He did not comment on Ilyena’s words. Such words were dangerous, made up out of more than simply the letters that made them understandable, and the ideas behind them even more so. Change required death, he felt, even if that death was merely a symbolical one. The human race had always demanded sacrifices. The Outlanders demanded this even more so, although they found the notion of certain deaths to be somewhat barbaric in nature, and of course he was one of them. The very fact that he had taken on the form of the raven determined what view he had of life and death.
“No one lives forever,” whispered Pandora suddenly. Byron found his heart skip a beat as she opened her dark eyes groggily. She was almost remarkably lucid, he noticed as her eyes locked themselves into his own, which was something he had not expected. It had, of course, been hard to determine the proper dose of drugs he’d had to give her. Still, he had expected she would have been out cold for much longer than this.
“Hey Pan,” he whispered in response. He nearly laughed to himself when he saw her eyes widen in recognition. “Some of us do live forever.”