MAN BEFORE THE STORM by E. R. Ellis III releases next Friday, September 27!
Today, we're giving you a look into the book. Gaze upon the gorgeous cover, check out the description, and read the prologue!
Cornelius, an outsider in his wife’s desert tribe, has spent a lifetime yearning for acceptance among the Vañara. When a cataclysmic event threatens to destroy their community, he must find a way to protect them while respecting their traditions.
Man Before the Storm is a triumphant fantasy tale of sacrifice, the complexity of cultural integration, and the extraordinary courage it takes to be a hero in the face of overwhelming adversity.
PROLOGUE
“Forces! That hurts!” Cornelius shouted, holding his lower leg.
Vinja finally found what she needed from her pack and pulled it out. She opened the small container and dipped two fingers into the viscous ointment.
“Pull up your trouser leg, Cornelius,” she said in a tone that he felt was far too calm.
With shaking hands, he pulled up the trousers, revealing the two small holes now in his leg. They were raised and red with thin tendrils of scarlet snaking about a finger length away from the area. With a cool grace, Vinja began applying the ointment to the wound.
“Will that neutralize the poison?” Cornelius asked, trying to keep the angst from his voice.
“No,” Vinja said, shaking her head. “We would need an actual serum for that.”
“Of course!” Cornelius cried out, losing his composure. “Two days from anywhere in the middle of the desert and I get bit by a venomous snake.”
“I already told you, you’re going to be fine. The venom isn’t lethal.”
“Neither is amputation but that doesn’t make it pleasant!”
Vinja gave him a look that he knew meant he was being a bit dramatic, and Cornelius sighed his frustration.
“I’m sorry. I’ve just— This has never happened to me before in all my years of traveling this route. Of course it happened now.”
Vinja just looked at him, saying nothing, but her expression told him everything. The desert wind blew by, a gentle and warm breeze and constant companion this day. Cornelius let the silence drag for a moment, and Vinja seemed content to let it stretch. He looked back over to the rock outcropping. Wisdom told him he should have walked wide around it as desert critters like the desert eye cobra would use the rocks as shelter. But today he decided to boldly step up the small outcropping and leap down like a foolhardy explorer finally leading his own expedition and immediately forgetting the basics.
“Am I really so great a fool, Vinja?”
“You are not a fool. You let yourself get a bit carried away is all and that is okay. Often, you’re so serious and calculating, it was nice to see you just act like other young men. It is no crime to give in to whimsy from time to time, especially with what happened in Coté.”
Cornelius sighed again, not out of frustration this time but as though he was laboring under a great weight.
“You are too kind to me, my love,” he said, reaching out and taking her red-skinned hand with his pale one.
She squeezed his hand tight.
“You are the kind one. I am merely returning what I have been given.”
Cornelius looked at her. Her fiery hair and deep red lips matched her red skin in a way that was breathtaking. All the Vañara had similar coloring, but he would have sworn none of them was quite so beautiful. No other Vañara he had met had those stunning eyes that shone like rubies. The Blanen people that inhabited Coté just seemed so plain by comparison. How could one not be fascinated by the appearance of the desert dwellers.
Vinja’s face started to drift to the left. Indeed, her whole body seemed to be shifting. Was he turning his body or maybe falling? He felt Vinja’s touch on the side of his face before he saw her move. She gently applied pressure, straightening his head.
“Your head was listing to the side. That means the venom has reached your mind.”
“It really is a fascinating effect,” Cornelius remarked, trying to remain calm. “I never wanted to experience it personally, but I was always curious how it would feel.”
“If you live in the Harasa, you’ll get bit by a snake at some point. Luckily, the desert eye dominates this region. Other bites could be far worse.”
Cornelius’s vision still swam from when Vinja had first moved his head. He squeezed his eyes shut to stave off his growing nausea.
“Regardless, I don’t much like this. I feel like if I try to walk or even keep my eyes open I will be sick.”
“Then don’t. We will rest here for the day until you are well,” Vinja said, going back into her pack. “Keep your eyes closed and try to keep down anything I give you.”
“I’m scared of what would become of me without you.”
Something soft and squishy landed in his hand. He felt for the stopper and opened the waterskin then placed it to his lips and took a long draught. Replacing the stopper, Cornelius sat with his eyes closed and tried to ignore the dizziness that swirled about his head and the pain throbbing in his leg.
“I think I’m just scared.”
“You will be alright,” Vinja replied, and he could hear the warm smile in her voice.
“It’s not the bite. I’m scared I’m making a mistake. I’ve left everything behind.”
Silence stretched. The thought crossed his mind that he had made her mad.
“Would you take it back?” she asked.
“What?”
“Everything—your decision to leave your home, to be with me, to live out here instead of in the city.”
“No,” he said without hesitation. After a moment, he continued. “Perhaps some of the things I said to my father. I never meant for things between us to reach such a point of contempt.”
“Give him time. You are his only child. He will come around.”
“I was just so mad. He was wrong! Everything he said about your people was wrong! He doesn’t know you like I do.”
“I fear many in Coté share is view,” Vinja replied sadly.
“That’s the problem. That ignorance leads the people in Coté to believe they have some kind of superior culture. With real knowledge and understanding, both peoples could grow. I would have thought a merchant like my father would have a bit more understanding.”
“You care a great deal about this.”
“It’s not right! The Vañara are an ancient and wonderful people. I wish to learn more about them and live as they do. Then maybe I can help to bridge this gap. Prove we are not so different.”
Silence followed his last statement. Cornelius wanted to open his eyes to see Vinja’s expression, but he dared not.
“You are a wonderful man,” she replied suddenly. “It’s why I love you. I never thought I would marry a foreigner until I met you.”
“Foreigner? I’m hardly far from home.”
“You are in Vañara Sovereign Lands now, and whether you live here a week or a lifetime, part of you will always be an outsider.”
That gave Cornelius pause. This life in the desert would not be easy. He opened his eyes and looked at Vinja. Her face seemed to swim before him, but he kept staring. She was worth it.
“I will be as close to a Vañara man as any outsider can be then. Because I love you, Vinja.”
He felt her hands on his face again and then his head being moved. Her thumbs pushed down his eyelids, sending him to the blissful darkness again. Her lips pressed against his. After a long moment, they parted.
“And I love you, Cornelius. Now, as far as becoming a Vañara man, let’s consider the snake bite a very bold first step.”
They both laughed and drank more water, Cornelius now feeling much better about his lot in life.
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