Hello everyone! Today’s, post is the second of two shared from The Bow of Destiny. This part involves the excerpt at a forge. Enjoy!
The blacksmith’s hammer rang distantly through the clamor of conversation.
Ralda touched his arm.
Athson stirred and realized the giant had spoken to him. “What?”
“We go Auguron morning?” The giant crooked two fingers and motioned them over his fist.
Athson recognized the signal as meaning tomorrow. The following gestures stumped him. “Yeah.”
“Eat. We go food.”
“Get food for our trip? Yes.”
The giant waited until Athson finished his meal. Then the two of them gathered supplies and put the cost on Safforn’s supply tab. A gracious offer for Ralda. They returned to the barracks and stowed their goods.
They planned an early start, so they readied themselves for sleep soon after packing. Sleep eluded Athson, but he soon heard Ralda’s steady breathing. They had to find Gweld. A lump rose from his chest into his throat.
More than Gweld’s safety nagged Athson. He rolled over and examined his pack in the darkness again. Why did the inheritance follow him? It was worse than Spark. The unanswered question sat in his pack, unknown to anyone else but him. Could it be real? He doubted it. He had burned it, and it appeared again.
Athson rummaged in his pack. He pulled out the inheritance and stared at it. His life had lurched out of control since the Withling pushed this package on him. Discarding it did him no good.
Ralda stirred and rolled in his sleep.
Athson slipped out of the barracks, the inheritance in his hand. He crossed the yard to the smithy. Heat lingered from the coals along with the smells of ash and worked metal. Athson stared at the remaining glow.
He squeezed the inheritance.
Burying the inheritance had failed – so had fire. If only this heat could sear it and other memories from his mind.
Clang! The hammer rang from his earlier dream. Athson glimpses his father’s sword, the stag’s ten-tined rack etched on the guards flashed red in flames. He groaned. Depenburgh’s fires flamed like a forge. The weapon gleams with angry crimson on one edge and soft blue on the other but silver along the length of the blade.
Athson’s arm shook and he squeezed the package. The inheritance and his past were linked. This truth tracked him like a troll. The day his father taught him to use a bow proved it.
They finish and collect their gear. His father stops and takes a knee, staring intently at Athson. “There’s something you must know, son.”
“What, father?”
“I can’t tell you everything but you are old enough to know some of it.”
Athson stands attentive, waiting.
“Our family comes from far away, the land of Hart. We were one of the great houses that fell into evil under Rok’s sway, under Magdronu. Withlings helped an ancestor break this hold. Since then we’ve been hiding ourselves and an item the old dragon and his wizard, Corgren, want.”
Athson swallows and nods.
His father ruffles his hair. “I’m telling you since you’re old enough to learn the bow. But you must swear not to reveal any of this to anyone – ever. Trust no one beyond our family with this.”
Athson’s voice is hoarse in answer. “I swear, father. I won’t tell anyone.”
“I swear I haven’t told anyone – and I won’t.” Athson’s jaw clenched and he squeezed the inheritance. It opened old wounds and left new ones, but it also answered old questions. The bow was what his father guarded.
Athson gazed at winking stars. “I need my father’s – my sword so I can keep these secrets safe, or they will kill me. I need – no, not that…” He whirled and walked away from the smithy but stopped. “If only I could pry that sword away from Sarneth.”
Thanks for stopping by to read today.
I’ve got an ongoing sale for The Bow of Destiny for the next several days. You can find it at one of the buy links below.
Also, I’ll get the following tidbits posted soon on the News page but I’ll make an appearance on 8/13 in RRBC’s Back to School Blog Tour. Then I’ll be on The Lost Bow Blog Tour from 8/14-20. I’ll post more news about these as it becomes available.
And one final tidbit – for those who might have seen it on my Twitter feed, I’ve been contacted by a teacher about including The Bow of Destiny in her curriculum. I don’t know much at this time other than it’s being considered. If it is, I’ll share more information ASAP. It’s interesting news at this point and another great reason to write!
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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.
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Here’s the blurb for the anthology:
