There is a saying among Guzman’s kind; if you have never felt the harshness of the sun, then you cannot understand the value of a shadow. Guzman had grown up under the sun’s torture. He had felt the rays burn his skin. He had felt thirsty and weak. He knew what despair was and fully fathomed loneliness. The fact that he did not wear his heart on his sleeve for everyone to see did not mean that he lacked one. Tamara was proof enough that he was in touch with his emotions, that he could feel things, that he could love.
The Sema war had ripped everything from Guzman. He had lost his loved ones at a tender age and was forced to soldier the earth without paragons. Yes, all mages were different, but not as different as he was. He was huge and intimidating. With time he learned that creatures w
