Ephraim stood on a rocky bluff that overlooked the valley where his village lay, his long dark hair whipping wildly around his shoulders. He straightened his spine as he stared at the far mouth of the valley, watching as a line of a dozen of his village’s warriors approached, returning from battle. Though Ephraim couldn’t see their expressions from this distance, their movements were slow and heavy, almost defeated.
Or perhaps that was just his imagining. After all, it was hard to notice anything about the warriors in contrast with the burden they carried, a shrouded body lying on a pallet of cloth and heavy branches.
Ephraim’s father, a fellow warrior fallen in a raid against a neighboring tribe.
Watching the warriors, with their tall frames and broad shoulders, always made Ephraim str
