Thread by @AlisonBlunt

1/4 'Be still, lad,” the mage said with such firmness that Arren obeyed. And presently, “Tell me what you thought at that time.” “Nothing, my lord—nothing! I thought there was no use in doing anything. I thought your wizardry was gone—no, that it had never been. That you had...'

2/4 ...'tricked me.” The sweat broke out on Arren’s face and he had to force his voice, but he went on. “I was afraid of you. I was afraid of death. I was so afraid of it I would not look at you, because you might be dying. I could think of nothing, except that there was—there..'

3/4 ..'was a way of not dying for me, if I could find it. But all the time life was running out, as if there was a great wound and the blood running from it—such as you had. But this was in everything. And I did nothing, nothing, but try to hide from the horror of dying.”'
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4/4 The mage in reply, 'There is no safety, and there is no end. The word must be heard in silence; there must be darkness to see the stars. The dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss.”'
Quote from The Farthest Shore by Ursula k. le Guin