Of Ravens in Shadows

"There is as much to fear in the dark, as there is in the light"

When she was five years old, Avigayil bat Abiyah went outside her home to find her father laying on the ground the night of Passover, dagger buried into his back. Beside her stood her weeping mother, Chavivah, holding her three-year-old brother in her arms. She knew exactly who did it. It was none other than Menahem, leader of the deadliest group of assassins in the land, and her father’s own cousin. For the safety of her family, Chavivah took her two children and escaped the city under the cover of night, vowing to never return under the shadow of violence and betrayal that had killed her husband. Eleven years later, and Avi is now a thief. She is part of a faction of Robin-hood like thieves and spies named the Orev (or Ravens), a group named after birds, an omen of foreboding. High in the ranks with personal ties to their leader, she is a legend, a girl thriving in a world of men. But her reasons for this lifestyle aren’t what most expect. Her goals are simple: provide for her family and find the man who killed her father to return the favor.

But the world she lives in isn’t as simple as a girl wanting to get revenge. Judea is a haven of corruption, violence, and rebellion bubbling beneath the surface. With all of this happening, the Jews are ready to revolt, and when a fire in Rome raises the taxes in Judea, it is only a matter of time. Avi, being in one of the most influential organizations at the time, is forced to take her place with her people in a war bound to happen. This forces her to make a choice between the loyalty to her people, or the revenge she has wanted for so long. She is sure she can manage both.

And in the midst of all this, a familiar face with green eyes comes back into the picture, a boy turned man carrying shadows of the past she wants to forget. He wants nothing more than to help her on her quest, but there is one issue. He, Dahveed, is an assassin, a member of a group named the Sicarii, the very group run by the man who killed her father. The first time they met was the day of her father’s murder, and now, over a decade later, they find themselves on opposite sides of a bloody rivalry.

As he tries to grow closer to her and gain her trust, he soon faces shadows of his own, being both Greek and Jew in a land where the two do not get along. The loyalties of both are tested. And when the inevitable war does indeed break out in their beloved homeland, some problems no longer become a priority, shadowed by even more loss, pain, betrayal, and death.

And when the war does break out, Avi finds her chance, exacting the revenge she’s wanted for so long. But this comes at the cost of the lives she’s vowed to protect, the lives of so many she cared for, leaving Avi to fend and defend her war-torn homeland.

A homeland bound to lose.