Book excerpt: Four convicted killers, all sentenced to death, await their fate in the horrific confines of the northern dungeons. Life is brutal and hope all but extinguished when they are summoned before the governor. Expecting their sentences to be carried out, they instead find the governor struggling with a moral dilemma. Who has the right to take the life of another? The governor, under intense pressure from the magistrates and his own daughter, decides on a most unconventional solution. He will allow fate to decide who lives, and who dies. The Northern territory's annual festival is underway, and this year it coincides with the Festival of the Arrow, the archery championship of the entire kingdom. The convicted men, if they choose, will ride in a wagon used as the target for the long range archery competition. If they survive the two day ordeal, they will earn their freedom. They each reflect on how they got here, what awaits them should they earn their freedom, and how they are to deal with the onslaught of dozens of potentially lethal arrows showering down upon them. Emotions are raw, the fear tangible, and the stakes literally life and death. How will each cope, and who if anyone will fate allow to survive, the execution games.