Book 1 Excerpts – Page 2 – THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy

Book I: Riding with Genghis Khan

This excerpt is from Eclipsed by Shadow, Book #1 of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy, an adventure through history―on horseback.

The scene is set in 1240, Eastern Europe, when Meagan first discovers she is riding with the Mongolian army of Genghis Khan.

Hast thou given the horse strength?
Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
– Holy Bible, Job 39:19-24

Meagan sensed excitement in the camp. An undercurrent ran through the people and the horses pranced nervously. Throwing her saddle pad over Targa, she saw something had been added: an odd-looking pole now hung from a loop of leather on her saddle. Then she saw the sharp point and realized she had been given a spear.

Leaders rode through the lines of horses, each with a string of knives hanging from one arm. Meagan took one and examined it, confused. The others were sliding theirs into belt pouches. It seemed a dangerous place to carry a knife, but she did the same.

Horn answered horn throughout the camps. A rippling change went through the horse nation. The few not yet mounted swung aboard. Meagan’s group moved out. The camp leaders rode ahead, each holding a blazing torch.

The pitch of the horns was changing, signaling back and forth down the black mass of horsemen covering the plain. The tight lines of the nomads were dissolving into chaos, melting and running in streaks. Horses were breaking from easy canters into full gallops. When the call reached Meagan’s group, Targa sprang forward, her legs stretching in exhilaration of the run.

One in a sea of horsemen, Meagan saw buildings of a settlement ahead. Tendrils of smoke rose pale against the clear sky …

Eclipsed by Shadow (Book #1 of the trilogy) won national awards including the Eric Hoffer Award for best Young Adult Fiction, and the Mom’s Choice Award for best family-friendly Young Adult Fantasy.

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Links:

» See All Excerpts from The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy.

» Read the 1st Chapter online.

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#82- The Reason for Castles

“The ground was black with horsemen. Galloping shadows swirled through the flaming village below. Black lines streaked across the green rampart. Mist rose in places to give glimpses of the nomads pausing to devour the village.”—excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow (Book #1 of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy

Under attack by the hordes of Genghis Khan…

Meagan heard the bells in her dreams long before she opened her eyes. The white glow of the room’s opaque window showed dawn was approaching. Meagan heard shouts from the Great Hall below.

Her first thought was that breakfast was even louder than dinner. Then she heard something else, or rather felt it. A tremor was coming through the stone floor, the rumbling of a hundred thousand hooves.

Shouting was in the hallways now. Meagan pulled her gown from a clothes pole and dressed in the half-light. She followed a stream of people into the hallway and through winding corridors. Bells rang from the towers as she crowded with others onto the battlements. Meagan strained to see, but all that was visible was a placid dawn sky. She pushed her way to the edge and looked across the fields.

The ground was black with horsemen. Galloping shadows swirled through the flaming village below. Black lines streaked across the green rampart. Mist rose in places to give glimpses of the nomads pausing to devour the village.

Men ran through the courtyards and lined the battlements, but they were pitifully few against the onslaught. A shrill scream drifted on the wind, a sound Meagan remembered with a knot of terror. The massed horde surged up, spreading as it came and circling the castle like a rising tide.

Thin flames streaked through the air as galloping riders shot burning darts over the stone walls. Castle archers returned waves of arrows. On the balcony, tonsured men began sacraments against the attackers as others backed away, ashen.

Copyright © 2008 John Royce

« Previous excerpt: “Mealtime at the Castle Sobrezy”

The above excerpt is from “See all Excerpts,” the medieval-era section of Eclipsed by Shadow, and is set in 1240AD. (p. 245 Hbk)

The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy is an adventure through history … each section is about a different time period.

__________

Quick Links:

» See All Excerpts from The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy.

» Read the 1st Chapter online.

» Check out Book #2 of the trilogy: The Golden Spark.

» See the Media Kit for more information about the trilogy.

#49- In the Shadow of the Coliseum

Even in this dark dream, Meagan did not want to see another death. She forgot danger; she reached over the stricken horse and touched the soldier’s arm. The eye in the scarred face fixed on her. The granite look of victory flickered as the crowd fell silent. –Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

THE CROWD BEGAN laughing at the terrified girl clinging to her fugitive mount, the only entertainment remaining. Spectators pointed and mocked her frantic ride. Meagan tried to coax her mount down to a slower pace, but the frightened horse fought every pull. The animal’s breath came in short, explosive bursts. Flecks of foam covered Meagan’s legs.

The crowd’s roar surged as her mount stumbled and pitched. Meagan’s shoulder hit the sand as the horse fell, and she rolled to escape being pinned. She pulled herself to her knees.

The fallen horse lay heaving. Going to the animal’s head, Meagan spoke gently, huddled against the sound of the crowd. Around her were only the dead and dying and panting soldiers leaning on spears. The crowd clamored for more blood, but the sound receded into the background of her mind.

A uniformed man strode towards her and the fallen horse. He wore no helmet and his hair was plastered in sweat. Scars slashed his face, and one slash intersected the place his left eye should have been. The man ignored Meagan and stood over the horse’s head. His living eye was filled with hard passion. She shouted to him but the man did not hear. He was savoring the moment, the glory. He lifted his sword over the horse’s neck.

Even in this dark dream, Meagan did not want to see another death. She forgot danger; she reached over the stricken horse and touched the soldier’s arm. The eye in the scarred face fixed on her. The granite look of victory flickered as the crowd fell silent. The stricken horse lifted his neck and rose in a series of well-timed jerks. Shouts began to rise across the stadium as the pardoned horse jogged stiffly away to find his partner.

The disfigured soldier pulled Meagan to her feet. She half-jogged to keep up with the man’s purposeful strides as he brought her to the side of the arena. On the platform above her, a robed man stood. He waited a moment, listening to the ovation, and thrust his fist into the air.

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 116)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published soon.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#47- Savage Nation

Meagan knelt in her tattered nightgown, barefoot on wet, cement-like flooring. This is not happening, she repeated, keeping her eye on the soldiers. The group was forced to its feet and she was shoved forward with the others. Sweat, garlic and leather mingled with the scent of animals and dung. – Eclipsed by Shadow

“HABES SPEM NATANDI!”

An icy blast of water filled Meagan’s eyes and nose. She tripped among wet bodies as she was drenched by another downpour. A crowd of ragged people crouched around her, soaked and shivering within a circle of steel spears. Men in rags stood close with brimming buckets.

Where am I now?

Another bucket was tossed. Meagan gasped under the spray and stood to escape. Metal-tipped points blocked her way. Bronze-helmeted men came closer, shouting furiously at the people cringing within the circle of spears. The prisoners were men and women both, mostly young, and all were filthy and sodden. A few bled diluted streaks into the rags they wore. Sweat, garlic and leather mingled with the scent of animals and dung.

Meagan knelt in her tattered nightgown, barefoot on wet, cement-like flooring. This is not happening, she repeated, keeping her eye on the soldiers. The group was forced to its feet and she was shoved forward with the others. Incredibly, Meagan heard something she understood just as another bucket drenched her. It was a fragment of a language heard only in a classroom, but the words were well-formed and clear: the words were Latin and they meant, you have hopes of swimming.

Soldiers forced the group against a wooden wall until splinters pressed into Meagan’s forearm. Suddenly the wall gave way, swinging open. She was pushed into open space.

Sound rose and shook the air. Filled bleachers banked a vast four-story amphitheatre. Tall masts soared to spread a high awning over the stadium. A moat circled the inner arena floor, and beyond it smooth marble walls were topped with elephant tusks and netting. Cherub-winged boys suspended by rope swooped over white sand and arced high above the audience. Near the opposite end of the stadium, a team of mules was lashed to something dark and slack. It took a moment for Meagan to recognize the shape of an elephant.

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 111)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#46- The Shadow Falls

Meagan froze with her hand on the horse, having a gradual realization she was touching cold flesh. She backed to the wall. – Eclipsed by Shadow excerpt

“Nice horse,” she said, crossing in front of a motionless mount to look for a way out. She patted the horse’s neck gently. It was a piebald, speckled black and white. The animal’s eyes were dull in the torchlight.

Meagan froze with her hand on the horse, having a gradual realization she was touching cold flesh. She backed to the wall. In the dim, red light she could see foreleg-sized posts set into the ground beneath the horses, impaling them, supporting their corpses. Now she saw the horses’ bodies were subtly misshapen, deflated, twisted in grotesque angles by the beams that skewered them into place.

She moved along the wall, her back to it, facing the grisly mannequins. The wall was smooth. She pounded her fist against it. Solid earth. Scraping, letting it tear at her hands, Meagan moved along the wall. Why did Promise bring me here? The stink of the room seemed to rise from the ground and overwhelm her.

She remembered the headdresses of the horses from magazine pictures, excavated from ancient tombs filled with horses ritually massacred for the funeral of their leader. Meagan was surrounded by the gold of a long vanished nomadic people—a dead entourage escorting their passing king to the underworld.

If this was such a place then she was no longer home, but in a long-dead past. The words of the legend swirled in her mind … eclipsed by shadow… She was in the darkness. The room seemed to close in as she sank down, fists clenched against her head.

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy (Hrdbk pg. 109)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published soon.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#44- Into the darkness (700 BC) …

THE DROP WAS not far, not more than ten feet. For a time Meagan lay with her eyes and hands clenched shut, trying to make sense of recent events. Slowly she opened her eyes and let her vision adjust to the dim light around her. A hoof stood inches from her face. – Eclipsed by Shadow excerpt

One of the riders stopped on the ground below…

Until that moment Meagan had been too stunned for fear, but she looked into the man’s slitted eyes and backed away from the edge. He saw her. The rider’s thin arm motioned and an object whistled past her. Two yards away a spear jabbed into the bare ground. Its end rocked. Another spear shot up. Meagan scuttled for the center pit as the new missile streaked overhead. She caught the edge of the pit and lowered herself, kicking for a peg. Another spear arced up, but she did not wait to see where it fell.

She stepped down, bare foot waving until she found a peg. Heavy air insulated the sounds of battle as she descended the dim tunnel. One peg gave slightly and shifted. Meagan froze. She flattened against the side of the pit, testing the nub with her weight. With a sudden twist Meagan’s support was gone. For a brief second she hung in space, scrambling against the scraped earth, kicking dirt away before she fell.

* * * *

THE DROP WAS not far, not more than ten feet. For a time Meagan lay with her eyes and hands clenched shut, trying to make sense of recent events. Slowly she opened her eyes and let her vision adjust to the dim light around her. A hoof stood inches from her face. Meagan jerked away, but another solid limb pressed unyieldingly into her back. She was surrounded by a forest of horses’ legs.

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 106)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#43- A dawning realization …

As the wave of chariots hurled into the fight, it was clear each unit was unstoppable even by its pilot—perhaps especially by its pilot—for chariots do not stop destroying in death but come apart in deadly pieces, releasing with each horse a new force of chaos.
– Eclipsed by Shadow

Something is wrong.

The horses were small and wiry, and of every color and shade of bay, tan or white. Crowning each horse’s head was a patchwork of gold and leather supporting a fantastic headdress of golden antlers or curved horns of mountain sheep. Everywhere gold trinkets moved and flashed. Those must be the movie extras, Meagan reasoned, noting their authenticity.

The riders could have seen Meagan exposed on the hill, but they passed at an angle, eyes glazed and mouths open. A thousand tinkling gold pieces played in time with the horses’ gaits. Fractured sunlight from the metal-encrusted mob showered the ground. It was clearly a big-budget film.

A rumble started low and rose to shake the air. Meagan turned and saw that the “burning trees” had grown to a blackness swallowing the horizon. Instead of smoke, what she had actually seen was the wall of dust rising behind an approaching mass of galloping horses. Now visible were men standing on flimsy carts, their whips flashing through air filling with screeching metal and pounding hooves.

Chariots.

The golden mob shouted to each other for courage and flailed their horses into erratic gallops to meet the charge. Meagan blinked as her “movie extras” were dispersed like scraps of colored paper as the chariots ran pell-mell into them. Flashes of sunlight swirled from ornaments as the riders were annihilated in convulsions of horses, wheels and breaking leather. As the wave of chariots hurled into the fight, it was clear each unit was unstoppable even by its pilot—perhaps especially by its pilot—for chariots do not stop destroying in death but come apart in deadly pieces, releasing with each horse a new force of chaos.

A rider stopped on the ground below. Until that moment Meagan had been too stunned for fear, but she looked into the man’s slitted eyes and backed away from the edge. He saw her. The rider’s thin arm motioned and an object whistled past her. Two yards away a spear jabbed into the bare ground. Its end rocked. Another spear shot up.

Meagan scuttled for the center pit as the new missile streaked overhead. She caught the edge of the pit and lowered herself, kicking for a peg. Another spear arced up, but she did not wait to see where it fell.

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 105)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#42- The Great Denial

A tinkling swept over the hilltop, a musical sound that vanished with the breeze. Another round of chimes played in the gusts of wind, and Meagan caught a flash in the corner of her eye. A stream of movement emerged from a dip in the landscape. She stared in astonishment as horses and riders rose from the dip as if bubbling from dry ground. – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

This will be a great story, Meagan thought, hearing herself tell it: ‘And then I climbed the hill and saw the camera scaffolding. No, I wasn’t really scared. Well, maybe a little, until I was sure.’ And then we will laugh…

She climbed up the face of the hill until she could peer over the top. The open hilltop had been scraped flat. Its only feature was a circular pit dug in the hill’s center.

Oh, how funny this will be.

Meagan crossed the hilltop. The pit was a shaft bored into the mound, its narrow walls defined in flickering orange light from below. She leaned closer. Another set of pegs led into the murky depths. Warm, ripe scents of decay rose from the pit.

“Hello,” she called nervously. “Is anyone down there?” Her words made a dull echo. “Hello?”

A tinkling swept over the hilltop, a musical sound that vanished with the breeze. Another round of chimes played in the gusts of wind, and Meagan caught a flash in the corner of her eye. A stream of movement emerged from a dip in the landscape. She stared in astonishment as horses and riders rose from the dip as if bubbling from dry ground.

Meagan crouched on the hilltop as the disorganized procession jogged and bobbed closer. Perhaps a hundred strong, the field of riders was a carpet of color and glinting reflections. The horses were unruly and barely contained. Hopping sideways, they battered against each other. Their riders sat atop their mounts’ croups—far back—holding twined leather straps as reins.

Those must be the movie extras, Meagan reasoned, noting their authenticity.

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 104)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#41- Meagan avoids reality …

Meagan saw motion on the horizon. The distant line of trees seemed to shimmer and sway. A wispy film lay above them, as if the trees were on fire. No, she scolded herself, not everything has to be a disaster. – Eclipsed by Shadow

Legends don’t happen—that is why they are called legends … Meagan would soon find Promise and everything would be back to normal.

Meagan saw motion on the horizon. The distant line of trees seemed to shimmer and sway. A wispy film lay above them, as if the trees were on fire. No, she scolded herself, not everything has to be a disaster. The wisps were just rising dust.

She studied the raised hill behind her and walked closer. The surface was of barren, fresh earth, as from an excavation. Dirt on the mound was darker than the ground around it. A series of pegs had been driven into one sloping side of the hill, making a vertical line up the incline.

She reached to feel the flattened top of one peg. It was solidly imbedded in the hillside. On impulse, Meagan reached above it and pulled herself up, standing on one of the lower pegs. It’s like a ladder, she realized, reaching to the next in the line of pegs.

This will be a great story, she thought, hearing herself tell it: ‘And then I climbed the hill and saw the camera scaffolding. No, I wasn’t really scared. Well, maybe a little, until I was sure.’ And then we will laugh…

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 104)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#40- The First Time Jump

EVERYTHING STOPPED, WITH neither a bump nor a sensation of falling. Meagan tried to clench the horse underneath her, but there was nothing to hold. She stared at the dusty ground, feeling vertigo from the sudden stop. Around her, the landscape was changed from its flat, rock-studded panorama, folding now into gentle hills that rolled into the distance. “Is anyone here?” she called nervously. – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

EVERYTHING STOPPED, WITH neither a bump nor a sensation of falling. Meagan tried to clench the horse underneath her, but there was nothing to hold.

She stared at the dusty ground, feeling vertigo from the sudden stop. Around her, the landscape was changed from its flat, rock-studded panorama, folding now into gentle hills that rolled into the distance. A gusting wind carried the sharp tang of salt.

“Is anyone here?” she called nervously. Only the empty breeze answered. A line of trees, obscured by fog, marked one of the distant hilltop silhouettes washing against the sky like waves. The closest landmark was a steep, flat-topped hill rising behind her.

I need to calm down, Meagan told herself to avoid panic. I have a concussion and that’s all. This was strange, yes, but legends don’t happen—that is why they are called legends. She looked around the landscape, so alien it could have been a set for a foreign movie … of course!

She thought quickly. A film studio near my house, one I never knew about … yes, certainly, a movie set! After all, I am in California, where they make movies. Why didn’t I think of that before? She would soon find Promise and everything would be back to normal…

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 103)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 116) Book II: The Golden Spark will be published soon. Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 111) Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010. Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy (Hrdbk pg. 109) Book II: The Golden Spark will be published soon. Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 106) Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010. Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 105) Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010. Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 104) Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010. Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 104) Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010. Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 103) Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010. Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 116)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published soon.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 111)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy (Hrdbk pg. 109)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published soon.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 106)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 105)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 104)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 104)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 103)

Book II: The Golden Spark will be published Fall 2010.

Read the 1st Chapter online!