How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Miri heard the lowlander traders complain, but she was accustomed to heaps of rock chippings underfoot, fine white dust in the air, and mallets beating out the sound of the mountain's heartbeat. (1.32)
The sound of quarry rock being harvested and the dust in the air may be annoying to other people, but to Miri and the other mountain folk, it's just a reminder that they're home. There's no place like Mount Eskel.
Quote #2
"You know how harmony sounds? That's how working linder feels." (7.4)
The mountain people don't just harvest the linder—they live with it and respect it deeply. That's why harvesting it is an emotional affair too; it makes people feel closer to the mountain and to each other.
Quote #3
All her life, Miri had been awakened by such a noise. It almost always came at night, as though the mountain knew the quarry was empty and the shifting rocks would not crush anyone in their fall. (7.75)
The people of Mount Eskel have this crazy belief that the mountain knows them well and senses their presence. After seeing how quarry-speech works, we can't totally rule that out.
Quote #4
She wanted to speak back to the mountain, send some greeting in a childish hope that it would hear her and accept her as one of its own. (7.77)
Miri doesn't feel like she has a relationship with the mountain like everyone who's worked in the quarries, but she's wrong—she can speak through the mountain too. She just has to learn how it works.
Quote #5
From a spot on the cliff's edge, Miri could see the mountains and hills ringing out from Mount Eskel like water ripples from a thrown stone. Just below her, instead of sheer cliff, a shelf stuck out, so if she happened to slip on rubble rock, she would land on the ledge instead of falling a long way down. (16.71)
The girls know Mount Eskel so well, and they know every ledge and cliff. It's a good thing they have this mental map, because it comes in handy when they're trying to outsmart the bandits.
Quote #6
That night, winter came early. Snowfall slowed the morning's arrival, and the groggy gray light finally filtered out the night some hours past dawn. The view from the window showed a world lost to a storm of snowflakes thick as ash thrown from a bonfire. It was enough to change Dan's mind—they would stay at the academy until the storm broke. (21.1)
The mountain really does work in the girls' favor—instead of allowing the bandits to take them away from Mount Eskel, it boxes them in with a snow storm. Now they have more time for their parents to come and save them.
Quote #7
"Mount Eskel feels the boots of outsiders." They paused, and then not even Bena stayed silent for the final line. "Mount Eskel won't bear their weight." (21.65)
The girls are doing some creepy horror movie routine by repeating this story to the bandits. There's some truth behind it though; the villagers definitely have some kind of connection with the mountain and will use it to warn each other of outsiders.
Quote #8
There, just before the bend in the road, she saw a line of darker shapes. To a watchful bandit they might appear just lumps of rocks, but Miri knew the shape of every rock around the academy. (22.8)
There's the Mount Eskel native's advantage—Miri is really good at memorizing the landscape around her. The silly bandits may just think that they're surrounded by rocks, but Miri knows the lay of the land… and backup has definitely arrived.
Quote #9
"Something's not right on this mountain. It knew we were here, told the villagers, just like the girls said. Next thing, the mountain will bury us alive and no one will cry, or those men will lop off my arms. I lost an eye for you once, Dan, and I'm not losing my arms, too." (23.22)
The bandits are starting to suspect that the mountain really does have some kind of magical power. Isn't it kind of creepy how the villagers turned up out of nowhere—almost as if they'd been summoned by the mountain itself?
Quote #10
Miri knew the mountain. Even in the snowstorm she could see he was veering too far to his left. The cliff edge was getting closer. If only she could prod him closer still. (23.41)
Come on, Dan—keep stepping to your left toward that steep cliff over there. Miri's trying to make Dan fall to his doom Mufasa-style. She may be small, but that doesn't mean she's not a clever girl.