Erich, a former Protestant soldier living in southern Germany during the Thirty Years' War, struggles to keep his family together after the Catholics took their ancestral home and properties three years earlier. Angry and frustrated, he decides to retrieve a family relic with unique powers, the Black Bow, believing it will help restore pride and dignity to himself and his family. Assigned as a guard at a trial against witches, he witnesses Mara unjustly condemned to die and feels compelled to rescue her. After much thought, he arranges for his family to move with relatives in northeast Germany and carries out the rescue with the help of another guard, Manfred. The three of them travel through the Black Forest and up the Rhine to the monastery where she was raised, founded by Hildegard of Bingen centuries earlier.
Klaus is the leader of the local Catholic League, who zealously enforces the growing power of Catholics against Protestants in the region. He tracks Erich after his escape, fails to catch him, but vows to continue the pursuit because of the deep-seated hatred he has harbored for them for many years, mainly due to their class and religious differences.
Various people join them along the way, including a band of mercenary Swedish soldiers led by Ansgar. Erich's teenage son, Cort, also reunites with his father after a remarkable trek through the Black Forest, guided and protected by a wolf he befriended.
Meanwhile, Klaus secures a meeting with Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. He impresses the court with his dedication and loyalty, earning a commission as a captain in the Catholic army. Right away, Klaus leverages his influence to find Erich and his family.
After Erich, Mara, Cort, and Manfred arrive at the Bingen monastery during a May Day celebration, Mara has a vivid vision that Erich's trip back to Leipzig will be dangerous, so she offers to go with him as his spiritual guide. Reluctantly, Erich agrees, and they start traveling across the German heartland, joined by Cort, Manfred, and the Swedes. In the town of Würzburg, Erich witnesses a witch burning being carried out and feels compelled to stop it. With the Swedes protecting him, Erich halts the burning and delivers a powerful speech to the townspeople. The speech inspires a group of fighting peasants led by Jurgen to join Erich and the others on their journey. Friedrich, a scribe who has been documenting the effects of the War on the populace, also joins him there.
Along the way, Erich discovers that Klaus and his henchmen have murdered Erich's wife and two of his family members. After mourning their loss, Erich vows to fight Klaus to the death. When Erich reaches Leipzig and reunites with his family, he discovers that Klaus and his men are nearby. To keep them safe, he decides they should all leave Leipzig and move north with the Swedes until they are at a safe distance.
The final part of the story ends with a bloody fight between Erich's and Klaus's men near Brandenburg, northwest of Berlin. Klaus's superior artillery forces Erich and his men to fall back to a small town by a large lake. Erich and his family, along with the others, manage to get on a boat just before Klaus and his forces reach them. Klaus's artillery damages the boat, but before he can sink it, Erich kills Klaus with a perfect shot from the Black Bow. However, Erich is too weakened by the fight and from drawing power from the Bow for the shot that he dies shortly afterward, after passing the Bow to Cort.
A.R. Bender is a multi-genre author of German heritage who graduated in English Literature and Journalism. His short stories have been published in numerous literary journals. You can follow him on https: //arambender.com/, https: //x.com/arambender, and https: //bsky.app/profile/arambender.bsky.social .
