Shadow of Hope
by Elsye Harwood
A simple shepherd in ancient Greece, Cimon struggles to deal with the aftermath of being torn from his home and wife by a wandering Rabisu. As he changes in ways he could never have imagined, it seems that the gods may not have finished with him yet. Might there be a chance for him to regain his former life and love, a shadow of hope?But Kora sat unmoving, in great magic. The walls, her home, faded about her. Warmth went; all alone and on a freezing plain, dressed in a tunic, sharp knife in her belt, bow on her shoulder, arrows in a quiver behind. Her eyes gleamed; a pale cold light, ˈlɪmpɪd ɪn ˈdʌlnəsShe looked around. Away, at vision’s limit, a dark shape rose above the plain: a Tower, the only thing in all this barren place: no bird flew, no grass grew. Despite the wool she shivered. Breath-clouds hung in the raw air, ˈsləʊli dɪˈzɒlvɪŋThen in eye’s corner something moved. She turned to gaze across the Waste and saw a Cloud. Far, almost straight behind her as she faced the Tower, it too reared up black and sheer. Unlike the Tower, moving, whirling, wisps trailing their tentacles around a core, ˈtwɪstɪŋ ɪnˈseɪnli