A silhouette kneels and rocks, dark against the fire beyond it. A woman’s uneven voice chants:

“The bow shall be hidden from heart…”

The swaying speaker feeds wood into the fire. Sparks snap from the coals and whirl amid the orange-blue tongues. An arc forms in the smoke and fades into the stars.

“The eagle will guide the heir…”

An eagle’s scream pierces the night wind.

“The bow shall be found at need…”

Wrinkled hands tie a wad of cloth with string – a bowstring.

“And the arrow shall Eloch prepare.”

A shooting star streaks across the horizon and drags Athson’s attention from the crouching figure before the popping fire.

The eagle screams again – louder and nearer.

The figure half-turns and tosses the packet at Athson’s feet. He stares at it, then back to the kneeling woman. Her face half-lit by the firelight reveals a pointy nose that overshadows her receding jaw. Grizzled wisps of gray hair wave in the wind. “For you who suffers in silence for a secret.”

Athson stoops and inspects the package. He unties the knot and pushes the string into a pocket. Within the cloth he finds a tattered note and more fabric he guesses is a pennant.

“Zelma’s done it.” She gazes skyward and raises her arms.

“Why more now when so much has been taken already? Why me?” His anger flares and he tosses the packet away. “This isn’t mine.” He whirls and stumbles into darkness.

“He needs to see.” The woman’s voice screeches and slices through whistling wind.

The eagle’s deafening scream stabs his awareness as immense wings snap like a clap of thunder. Talons tear clothing, pierce flesh and snatch Athson into the air. He dangles and kicks as he yells while silver landscape yawns beneath him. The curious sound of joyous cackling trails into the distance.

The Bow of Destiny is sale this week as it’s out on The Lost Bow Blog Tour – check out today’s stop on Nicholas Rossis’ site.

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About the Author

P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.

Prequel short stories to The Bow of Hart Saga:

Trading Knives – Kobo, iBooks & Barnes & Noble, Smashwords & Amazon

What Is Needed – Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords & Amazon