I was a bit bored so I decided to write some Red Rising related things for fun. All three paragraphs take place in all three of the first trilogy.

I'm not the best author, so don't expect some really awesome stuff, but it may be some of the best writing I've done, but to be fair I don't write too often so it's not hard to claim that spot.

Each paragraph is from the perspective of a real character in the series, though the first one is an unnamed character who dies very shortly in the Lion's Rain (in Golden Son). Second paragraph is from Pax au Telemanus's POV, and third is from Roque au Fabii's.

Some of the dialogue is straight from the books but a lot of it is either written by me or edited. If there are any inaccuracies, that's my bad. I'm not really sure if there are any because I was reading the scenes from Darrow's POV right as I wrote them, but there still may be some.

Iron Rain:

“Tell all who will hear, the Reaper sails for Mars. And he calls for an Iron Rain.” – Darrow O’ Lykos

I lie in the body of a SpitTube, the suffocating, claustrophobic space clawing at me. As I look out at the surface of Mars, terror wells up inside my gut. I’m not made for this. I should be at home with my family, not facing down against the gorydamn sovereign forces! I shouldn’t have ever listened to the bet. I’m no peerless scarred—I’m just a fucking cowardly pixie. My thoughts instantly get pulled away as I hear others on the comms spinning into a whirring frenzy of voices. Then, in seconds, I get sucked out of the tube into the vacuum of space. Nervousness wracks my body as I rocket down towards Mars’ atmosphere at Mach Six. Explosions cloud the HUD of my starShell, and I hear the screams of other men as their suits get enwrapped in flaming coffins of shrapnel. I look to my left and see Augustus and Bellona ships flaying each other’s armor, leeches getting launched through the air, only to get blown out of the sky in seconds. I look back down towards Mars, preparing to enter the atmosphere. Fire clouds my vision, forcing me to go blind and move with telemetry data. My entire starShell starts violently shaking, and I freeze up. No. I can’t do this. I want to go home–I can’t.  By the time I’m through the atmosphere, I’ve lost my squad, thrown off course from where I’m supposed to be. Flak screams past me as I descend from the atmosphere, and I see more men left and right getting minced like meat from the shrapnel. That’s when I see him—the gorydamn messiah himself. The Reaper of Mars, Darrow au Augustus. The sun eclipses his starShell, hints of growing gold outlining him in the glorious dawn. That is a true gold warrior. He looks back at me, staring. I feel as if he knows me right there and then, truly knows me. Suddenly, my starShell starts shaking, and then everything goes black. 

Discomfort:

“You’re a hard man to like, Reaper.” – Pax au Telemanus

“Did you try to rape Nyla?” Darrow asks Tactus, his face flat.
“Laws are silent in times of war,” he says, grinning at Darrow. I’d punch his face in if I could, but his punishment is Darrow’s. Darrow sighs, as if exasperated.
“Don’t quote Cicero to me.” 
Tactus looks up into Darrow’s gold eyes and begins to speak about the greatness of the gold race, Homo aureus. The superior beings of Society. They can take what they want.
I pay attention to House Diana’s soldiers, growing weary of their restlessness. Darrow stays still, staring at Tactus relentlessly. He suddenly signals Tactus to stop. He asks the girl—Nyla—what the punishment for his crimes should be. To Darrow’s surprise, she says she wishes nothing to be put upon Tactus. Darrow stays quiet for a moment, his eyes darting around, but then he speaks up.
“Twenty lashes will do,” Diana’s soldiers step forward in anger, but I quickly heft up my axe to my shoulder, and they step back. Virginia—Mustang steps forward and takes off Tactus’s shirt. Darrow lifts the leather switch he holds and then brings it down on Tactus in a violent crack. Tactus barely flinches at the first strike, but after twenty lashes, the leather digs into his back, blood streaming down from the wounds. His resolve is gone. One of House Diana’s soldiers runs forward to stop the punishment, but I swing my axe down in front of them, narrowly avoiding cleaving their arms off. Darrow finishes off the twenty lashes, and Tactus struggles to stand up, his eyes betraying his otherwise calm face, burning in wrath. Abruptly, Darrow leans close to Tactus and shoves the leather switch into his hands. The whole room stirs in surprise at what Darrow had just done. What? I faintly hear Darrow whisper something into Tactus’s ears, and his eyes widen in confusion and shock. Tactus stands there, looking at Darrow. Finally, Tactus brings his arm up to give Darrow the lashings, only delivering five of the twenty-five before Darrow stands up and turns to me. He shoves the lash into my hands, and my brain short-circuits. I look at him in the same shock that Tactus looked at Darrow with. He looks me in the eyes, and his expression tells me what he wants me to do. Darrow’s army shouts in protest, but he signals them to stop and looks back at me. By the time I’m done with the twenty-five lashes, my hands are shaking, and Darrow struggles to stand up from the pain.

Regret:

“I am the star in the night sky. I am the blade in the twilight. I am the god, the glory. I am the Gold.” – Roque au Fabii

“All this…,” I whisper. I watch into the black void of space as my once invisible armada is destroyed by Darrow and his Rising. “Was she so lovely?” I ask.
“Yes. She was like you,” he tells me. “A dreamer,” He looks into my eyes as I stay silent. I wonder what he’s thinking at this moment. His former friend facing the grip of death. I’ve never felt so old. It seems only yesterday that we were arm-in-arm, happy at the institute. As brothers. I wish it could be different, but Darrow betrayed me. He betrayed the Society. He was never a true gold. We look at each other, more of our old selves showing through than the hard shells molded from the past years of war. I make up my mind, resolve building up in my head.
“You don’t have to die,” Darrow says to me. The hope and forgiveness in his eyes burden me, but I know that it must end here. “I have lost the invincible armada,” I say. I grip my razor and step back from Darrow. His eyes flick behind me, looking at the displays that showcase the death of my fleet to Rising hands. “How can I go on? How can I bear the shame?” Darrow attempts to give me solace, but I refuse to listen to him. How can I? He’s fighting against the very Society I love.
“Can’t you see? I love my people.”
“I can,” He responds.
“And you love yours. I cannot watch my own people fade. I cannot watch it all burn.” He attempts to comfort me, but I know it is just placation. I hear Victra au Julii tell him that he should let me do it, but I see him shrug off her words.
“I’m sorry for what happened, Victra. Remember me fondly.”
“I won’t.”
I smile at Victra sadly, strip my Imperator badge from my left shoulder, and clutch it in my fist. I then toss it to the ground in finality. My time as Imperator for the Society is over. Tears well up in my eyes as I stare down Darrow.
“I do not deserve my badge. However, I shall still have glory by losing today. More than your vile conquest will ever have.”
“Roque, just think about this. This doesn’t have to be the end. This is the beginning of a new time. The worlds need you. I need you.” Darrow says in desperation. It’s clear he’s beginning to realize I won’t change my mind. He was lost to me the moment I learned what he truly was.
“Keep swimming, my friend,” Darrow says to me softly.
I nod to Darrow, wrap my razor around my throat, and stiffen my spine. “I am Roque au Fabii of the gens Fabii. My ancestors walked upon red Mars. They fell upon Old Earth. I have lost the day, but I have not lost myself. I will not be a prisoner.” I close my eyes in totality, ready for what comes next. My hand trembles, but I continue. “I am the star in the night sky. I am the blade in the twilight. I am the god, the glory.” I am afraid. I don’t have to die here, but I must. “I am the Gold.”