The Great Horse – Page 2 – THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy

#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.

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 101)

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

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#38- The Horse Hunt

The tribe advanced, slowly tightening their circle as the herd milled in confusion. The only apparent escape was the deadly corridor between the rocks. The lead mare paced, trying to find another way before committing to the canyon’s blind entrance. – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

Mounted on a prehistoric horse, Meagan sees horse-hunting from a different point of view…

The tribe advanced, slowly tightening their circle as the herd milled in confusion. The only apparent escape was the deadly corridor between the rocks. The lead mare paced, trying to find another way before committing to the canyon’s blind entrance.

Meagan swallowed, remembering that horses were a delicacy of primitive man. Prehistoric bands of humans had ranged near such rocky formations, luring herds into blind alleys and driving them from cliffs. She remembered the caves of Lascaux in France which held the remains of thousands of horses killed some fifteen thousand years before. Thirteen millennia before the Year of our Lord.

She wished she had not read so many books.

A wisp shot past the men, a figure—a girl—running alone into the circle. Horses shied from her path. The figure slowed to a walk, approaching Meagan and the frightened mare. It was the silent girl who had tried to follow. Her crystal eyes held wonder. Thin fingers stretched to touch the gray’s matted coat, stopping short…

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow, the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 100)

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

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#37- The Horse-killers

A horse’s eyes are made to detect motion, and if the man made the slightest tremor the mare would recognize the danger. But she required that tremor. – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

20,000 years ago today…

A shape caught her attention: a person was squatting in the grass. One of the horse-killers. Meagan tensed and instantly every horse’s head was up. The lead mare froze and looked past the squatting figure as she tried to get a scent in the calm air. A horse’s eyes are made to detect motion, and if the man made the slightest tremor the mare would recognize the danger. But she required that tremor.

Another man lay behind the mare, prostrate a hundred feet away. He crept so slowly Meagan could track his movement only by marking the grass’s separation. Another man was beside the others—and another. The horse-killers surrounded them.

Looking again at the canyon walls covered with paintings, Meagan realized why it looked familiar. She had seen these canyon walls—from the other side of the cliff.

“Run!” she shouted. The horses could escape if they would only gallop away. “Go on!” She urged her mount forward but the untaught gray mare only balked. Then the stallion nipped the furthest horses to herd them closer and caught the scent of the hunters. His shrill trumpet cut the air and the electrified band swerved to take flight—but the men stood all at once and the startled horses wheeled to the center.

The tribe advanced, slowly tightening their circle as the herd milled in confusion. The only apparent escape was the deadly corridor between the rocks…

Excerpted from Eclipsed by Shadow,

the award-winning 1st volume of “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. (Hrdbk pg. 100)

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

Read the 1st Chapter online!

#35- A horse’s greatest fear

A horse’s greatest fear is a predator on its back, the only place unreachable by a bite or kick. – Eclipsed by Shadow (excerpt)

In which mounting a wild horse has the expected result…

A horse’s greatest fear is a predator on its back, the only place unreachable by a bite or kick. The frantic mare hunched herself and heaved in the water as the other animals darted and fled, but Meagan was a good rider and the water slowed the mare’s efforts. “Easy girl,” she urged the mare as they thrashed in circles, “I’m not going to hurt you.”
The other horses splashed through the shallows and kicked back in irritation once they gained hard ground. Reforming into a line, the band trotted away and began receding into the distance.
Churning in panic, the mare gradually realized her attacker was not attacking. She was a practical soul, and if her passenger was causing no injury there was no reason to be left behind. The water made a surging sound as the mare galloped from the riverbed after the others.