Book 3 - Riley's Journey Trilogy - The Cros are amassing and time is in short supply.
The vicious and predatory Cros are amassing in ever growing numbers in the foothills above the travelers’ temporary encampment. Facing inevitable attack, the tribe hastens to prepare for the last leg of their journey—the perilous voyage across the Bering Strait to the shores of the Americas. But time is in short supply. Kidnapped by a band of marauding Cros, Rachel’s fate as a slave is preordained. Females are few, the tribeswomen the ultimate prize and better off dead the reality. But fate is capricious and unsettled. When the savage warrior, Hawk, overpowers her captors and takes her for his own, Rachel’s destiny takes a new direction.
Excerpt
Women! They were another matter. Raids were a common occurrence amongst the tribes and even the flesh eaters habitually invaded the surrounding territories in hopes of replenishing their meager supply of healthy females. His mind drifted back to better times. His own woman had been the result of such a raid. She was from the hunter gatherers to the north, small of stature but strong and a hard worker. Grief wrenched his heart! His son! He would have made the boy a proud warrior among his people.
The savage reached down and grabbed a fistful of the female’s dark hair and wrenched her head up. Even in the murky light of late dusk, the contours of the woman’s features were unmistakable. The foolish woman from the others’ encampment! Mottled bruises and trickles of dark blood dotted her face and the bare areas on her neck and arms. His teeth gnashed together! She’d been fiercely abused!
Why was she here? And why did this scrawny underling hold sway over her? She was young, strong and comely and only a savage of some standing in the hierarchy of the flesh eaters would warrant such a prize. He had no such standing or he would be by the great fire arguing with the rest! The solitary campsite only served to emphasize the flesh eater’s tenuous hold on the female. If those in command cast covetous eyes on the woman, the insolent underling’s punishment would be severe—even to death. He should be afraid.
Once again he considered leaving her. A careless woman would not be a fitting mate for any self-respecting warrior. His brows drew together. She was proving to be more trouble than she was worth!
Her presence here was proof enough that the flesh eaters had attacked. How many others were taken or perished beneath the weapons of the brutal savages? Those that survived would face a pathetic existence burdened by the cruelty of the flesh eaters and the endless grueling labor. The thought saddened him greatly. They deserved a better fate!
Sounds gruesome and Amazonian. Is this science fiction nor prehistorical fiction? Life 15,000 years ago certainly was much more brutal because territory and survival was always at risk. Sounds like today. ;-)
I write this kind of stuff too. In my first two novels. Try to stay as realistic as possible.
“The year is 2011 and Samuel Elmsmore is adrift in the universe. After a series of breakdowns he awakens as a virtual prisoner in a hostel for the mentally ill. He’s estranged from his family and friends, and is jobless after an unfortunate incident
Nine New Novellas, Part III is a collection of nine sci-fi/paranormal stories to complement the nine in Nine New Novellas, Nine New Novellas Part II and Nine New Novellas, Part IV.
