We didn’t want to believe our days were numbered. But here is what we did know: once we’d been many, and now we were few.
-- Byx (Part One: The End Begins: 1. Endling)

Importance: This quote establishes how the dairne species is struggling and what kind of world Byx is living in. The dairnes are slowly running out of time. Byx and her family believe they are the only ones left on the planet. But this also establishes that the species was not always so sparse. In fact, the dairnes used to roam the land as plentiful as the humans or any of the other governing species. This should be a sign to the reader that something went terribly wrong with the dairnes, something that will continue to threaten Byx throughout the novel.

Why am I disguised as a boy?” Khara tore me another chunk of the meat and pushed it into my mouth. “Girls aren’t...
-- Khara (Part Two: Captives: 13. The Cave)