Trail of Lightning

“But I’m no hero. I’m more of a last resort, a scorched-earth policy. I’m the person you hire when the heroes have already come home in body bags.” 

Maggie thinks this to herself when she approaches the Lukachukai Chapter House, ready to accept another job slaying another monster. In this thought Maggie shows the extreme strength of her power, which she will display later during her actual monster hunt. However, she also shows by implication how her power separates her from other people. In comparing herself to a scorched-earth policy, Maggie equates her clan powers with the forces of nature. In calling herself the one hired after the heroes die, she elevates herself both above and separate from most normal people. This comment shows how Maggie’s abilities factor into her self-isolation and her struggle to connect with others.

“I scream, exhilarated, obscenely euphoric. I know this high. K’aahanáanii, my clan power, a bloodlust that revels in the kill. Guilt and horror suffuse me, and I try to mentally push K’aahanáanii away, but it won’t be denied as long as I am covered in the blood of my enemy, his lifeless body at my feet. I listen as my voice echoes back to me through the trees and wait for the perversity of my killing clan power to pass.” 

Here Maggie shows the power and violence of one of her clan powers. This ability gives her an unparalleled skill in killing, although a side effect is the bloodlust that takes over afterwards. Although Maggie uses this clan power to do good in the world—namely by killing monsters and trying to save people—she tries her best to deter the accompanying bloodlust, which makes her feel terrible about herself. This plays into the larger problem that Maggie has throughout the novel with considering herself less than human or even monstrous. To Maggie, killing, even monsters, is something generally bad.