Eye of the Falcon

Jen Drapp

Description

Seventeen-year-old Re Fuller discovers the ancient amulet of a banished god, unleashing his own hidden power while unwillingly fighting a celestial war.

It is said that someone will one day uncover the Eye of Horus and harness its powers, tasked to protect it until its celestial owner claims it. For centuries, Protectors have been searching for the Eye and the one who is destined to return it, bringing peace to the world of the gods. But there have been many Protectors, and many who have found the Eye, all to be hunted down and killed before they could fulfill their purpose.

When seventeen-year-old Re Fuller discovers an ancient Egyptian amulet, he unleashes a buried power within himself, inciting the help of Kamilah and her family of Protectors.

Together, Kamilah and Re must return the artifact to its rightful owner before it destroys Re from the inside out. In doing so, they are thrust into the midst of a celestial war that leads down a path of danger and the discovery of Re’s true identity—an identity that many would kill for in order to keep it buried forever.

Sujets

• Univers ado
• Imaginaire
• Mythical Creature
• Young Adult Fiction
• Ancient Egyptian religion
• Animals
• Horus

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 25 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665731331
• Langue: English

Extrait

EYE OF THE FALCON

Book 1 of The Protectors





JEN DRAPP











Copyright © 2022 Jen Drapp.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.




Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3130-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3129-4 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3133-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022918248



Archway Publishing rev. date: 10/21/2022



Contents
Egypt 1500s

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44



Egypt 1500s
“Please. I know that you do not intend to harm me. You love me.” He backed away slowly from the woman he recognized as his wife. Though, the wild intensity of her glare was unfamiliar. She edged closer, her fingers curling stiffly inward like a feral animal ready to attack with only its sharp talons.
He was panting now, fear growing steadily, as he watched his once loving wife close the distance between them with a stare that could have torn him to shreds. There was once a time where her touch alone would have calmed and protected him.
But he could not remember such a time at this particular moment. Not when her once angelic face was now scrunched and morphed into a monster’s. A killer’s.
He held his hands out in front of him protectively. “This is not you. Just tell me how to help you. I beg of you, do not hurt me…or anyone else.” He held up the golden amulet around his neck. “This amulet has only caused us suffering. Allow me to rid us of it…you do not need it.”
She snarled like a beast and swung her arm out, trying to snatch the necklace from his grasp. He jerked back, her jagged nails nearly scraping over his chest. He started to back further away, realizing that whatever was in front of him was not the one he loved. Not anymore. He stumbled on a rock lying on the dusty path beneath his bare feet.
She was still coming at him, suddenly transforming into a beast right before his eyes.
Her dark brown eyes turned an emerald green and her deep brown skin transformed into a yellowish fur. Her two arms and legs doubled in size, and she was now running on all fours with actual claws on her oversized paws.
He gulped as a lion the size of a mammoth paced slowly towards him. He quickly scrambled to his feet and took off down the path, the fierce beast trailing close behind.
The sound of rustling leaves and sand being kicked up from under his feet as he ran for his life was deafening. His heart thumped wildly, and the heat emanating from the amulet swinging violently around his neck felt as if it was burning a gaping hole through his skin. His chest was heaving, and the soles of his feet screamed as they pounded roughly on the rocky path below.
He dared to glance behind him, and his eyes widened with fear. It was still chasing him.
Coming ever closer with each second. He forced his feet to move faster, and his hand instinctively closed around the amulet bouncing over his chest as he ran. The familiar scorching sensation was no longer a comfort, and he winced as he willed his legs to move even faster. He looked behind him once more to see that it was falling further behind.
But he knew he could not outrun it. Not for much longer, anyway.
Darting around a low hanging branch of a nearby tree, he threw himself on the ground behind a large boulder near the bank of the river flowing alongside him. He held his breath, hearing the footsteps growing nearer. The amulet seemed like it was about to catch fire, and his attention was drawn to the unforgiving tides of the river. Almost against his will, he rolled to the edge and slipped silently into the dark water.
The murkiness of the river made it difficult to see when it was safe to emerge. He tread through the deep waters, staying just below the surface, and his lungs began to ache, begging for air. He struggled to hover beneath the water against his own body’s need for oxygen.
He suddenly stilled when he saw a dark shadow slowly pass above the river. He could not hold his breath much longer and prayed that it would leave. Soon.
Just then, the water grew cooler, and a current pulled against his left side. He peered through the muddy water and let a scream escape as a giant pair of jaws came toward him at an alarming speed. The water flooded his lungs all at once, and his arms flailed in one last attempt at staying alive. The dark shadow returned above the surface of the water and two bright emerald eyes stared down at him as his world went black.



Chapter 1
Present Day
422.
That’s how many times the amulet had been discovered. 422.
And that’s how many people had been killed while trying to get it back to its owner. Who knew just how many Protectors had perished trying to keep those people safe and hidden.
It could have been thousands.
Kamilah Khader squinted against the blinding sunlight peeking through the tent’s door flap. It was way too early.
The sound of her father telling the story of their family’s history, again, woke her from what may have been a nice dream. A dream of just being a normal girl with normal expectations.
But that wasn’t true at all.
Since she was six years old, Kamilah had been told that she was special. And not just her, but her entire family. They had a greater purpose, a calling. A predetermined path that they were destined to follow.
Even if she really didn’t want to take the path. And why would she? She didn’t want to be involved in death number 423.
But there she was, blankly staring up at the canvas walls of her tent, on another outing that she had grown to loathe over the last ten years. Her father said these camping trips were necessary so she and her younger brother could learn how and when to get the amulet back where it belonged to avoid some major earth-ending disaster.
What he really meant was if their family had failed in their duties as Protectors.
She shut her eyes again and snuggled deeper into the warmth of the triple-layered sleeping bag, listening to her father’s voice grow more and more animated as he spoke. Kamilah imagined him making dramatic hand gestures as the story’s plot intensified.
Kamilah whispered the last lines of the story to herself as he said them aloud.
“It is said that one day soon, it will be found once again, and our purpose can finally be fulfilled.”
Kamilah couldn’t help but let a snort of laughter escape.
What a joke.
“Kamilah?” Her mother’s calm voice penetrated through the tent and disrupted Kamilah’s coziness. “Are you up? I could use some help out here.”
Kamilah turned her head towards the sounds of rustling outside of her make-shift home and begrudgingly unzipped the cocoon from her body and slowly emerged from the tent and into the cold outside air.
Her mother was already tending to breakfast over the fire pit. Fish. Again.
Kamilah took a seat on the grass in front of the flames and looked out over the valley under the mountain they were perched upon. The evergreens lined the valley as far as the eye could see and glowed like an emerald bracelet adorning the crystalline blue water from the lake below. Kamilah smiled and closed her eyes, allowing the cool autumn breeze to blow peacefully over her cheeks. She supposed there could be worse things that she could be doing with her weekends.
“Kamilah, come and help with the fish.” Her mother motioned to the stick she was resting over the fire. “I need to get the tea going.”
Kamilah took the stick from her mother and stared at the charring skin of the brown trout they had caught in the lake the evening before. Her mother began to brew tea in a camping tin upon their portable grill.
“When can we go back home?” Kamilah’s brother, Paki, lazily rolled over onto his back next to the pit across from his sister. His stark black hair was sticking up in all directions, and he was still wearing the same t-shirt he had worn the day before.
Did he ever care about his own appearance?
“Never. We are leaving you to fend for yourself in the valley.” Kamilah stuck her tongue out at her brother, throwing a twig at him.
“Enough.” Their mother handed them both a cup of tea. “We will leave once we have eaten and your father returns.”
Kamila