Eclipsed by Shadow – Page 18 – THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy

#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!

Historical Notes: Leaving the Prehistoric world behind …

In Eclipsed by Shadow, the first book of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy, young Meagan Roberts takes the ride on a prehistoric wild horse … that’s just how things were between horses and humans 20,000 years ago.

In Eclipsed by Shadow, the first book of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy, young Meagan Roberts takes the ride on a prehistoric wild horse. (excerpt of the scene)

According to fossilized bones and cave paintings, that’s just how things were between horses and humans 20,000 years ago.

Our clear understanding of the distant past remains shrouded by the passage of time, but there are two important facts we can know about prehistoric horses:

1) Horses have always been with us. Early man spent many thousands of years watching, stalking, hunting … and painting horses. The horse has been part of humanity’s story since the very beginning.

2) It took thousands of years for primitive humans to even begin to learn to use horses to assist in work. Man’s journey from the caves required a change in attitude to seek forms of cooperation, away from seeing horses as only a form of prey. This new outlook took an amazingly long time to happen, especially considering that it was so tangibly rewarded by a horse’s willingness to share his strength with mankind.

Perhaps we can’t know details about how mankind’s attitude toward horses shifted from meal to tamed beast — but the change is a case of old ways of thinking being replaced by new and better ideas. In this way, horsemanship is a living demonstration that cooperation brings new possibilities to human life and can open entire new worlds.
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Copyright © 2010 John Allen Royce, Jr.

#39- The End of “Prey”

The spooked horses stampeded into the deadly corridor. The gray mare swung with the herd as Meagan grabbed mane and fought to stay mounted. Packed bodies crushed against her and she was carried with the torrent. Walls of rock blurred as the band plunged down the canyon… – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

Meagan wanted to believe the dark men tightening their circle were anything but what they seemed, anything but primitives on a well-scripted hunt…

The spooked horses stampeded into the deadly corridor. The gray mare swung with the herd as Meagan grabbed mane and fought to stay mounted. Packed bodies crushed against her and she was carried with the torrent.

Walls of rock blurred as the band plunged down the canyon. The close-running herd squeezed against her legs, threatening to pull her into the flashing hooves. There was no way to stop and a fall would mean a trampled death. The corridor curved ahead, and Meagan felt the ground begin to slope. The left wall vanished as the first shrill screams tore the air.

“PROMISE!”

The gray mare collided into the horse in front and scrambled to remain upright. Meagan buried her face into her mount’s neck, closing her eyes for the impact from behind. She fell into the rolling mass, holding the gray tightly as they were torn from the earth.