For this week, I thought I’d do something from a
WIP, the next novel in A Leap of Faith series. It’s called To Touch the Sky. The main character is Chetan, a Native American red-tailed hawk shifter. It’s still in early draft form, lol, and may be
a little rough yet.
Enjoy! And don’t forget to visit the rest of Blog
Hop!
“Oh
spirits,” Chetan whispered. He’d let his attention drift from his nephew and
now… His own cries joined the madness as a monstrous bull darted from the
stampede and charged Isi.
Several
spears protruded from the maddened bull, but it didn’t slow the great beast
down. The night was cool, and steam blew from its nose. The rank smell of the
animal nearly gagged him. As reality slowed to a crawl, he saw Isi standing
still, his hands by his side… doing nothing. Sound distorted and warped as Chetan
yelled—his voice hopelessly lost in the pandemonium raging around him—for Isi
to move, draw his bow… do something.
Chetan
continued to yell, running toward the young brave, waving his arms frantically.
If he could just get the bull’s attention… If he could just get to Isi’s side
before… He saw a black cougar casing the buffalo, gaining rapidly. More cat shifters
landed on the buffalo’s back and attacked, sinking their great canines into the
animal. It still wasn’t enough. The bull was now a short distance from Isi and
bearing down, the young warrior in its sights.
Oh Wha-tay, I’m not going to make
it.
His legs pumped, his breath wheezed… and it didn’t matter. Oh please, Great Mother, no. Not this young one. Please. It’s my fault.
I let myself get distracted. Don’t let him… Take me, instead.
The
black cougar raced besides the buffalo then darted in close as it latched on to
the throat in an effort to suffocate the massive beast. The danger was immense;
the buffalo would trample the black cougar if given the chance. The bull was
too close and still Isi stood unmoving. Why
is he just standing there?
There
was no way, no way for him to get to Isi in time. Chetan stumbled to a stop and
raised his bow, carefully taking aim. Please,
please, let my aim be true. The arrow struck the buffalo dead in the face,
but it was too late. It plowed into Isi with its mighty horns. Isi’s body flew high
into the air, blood spurting form the terrible wounds in his body. A scream
filled the air. Was that Isi? Isi’s mother? Or the bull?
“No.
No!” Chetan’s own scream joined the
ones around him.
