In this third book of the Stonegate Sword trilogy, our favorite characters return, especially Donald of Fisher and Rachel of Westerly, amongst others. However, it is now twenty years since Donald claimed victory in the wars against the evil Prophet and the West, and peace has reigned over the entire East ever since. Donald and Rachel now have two children, Robby and Sara, who share a close friendship with Ari, their cousin and neighbor, who like her mother, Carla, proves to be a skilled archer and horsewoman. Suddenly, the peace in Stonegate is once again threatened as sightings of Raiders from the West appear in the East, firstly seen by Robby and Ari on a day’s hunting trip, and then by others who warn Donald of the impending time of trouble ahead. At the same time, an impossible love story begins to develop between Robby and Ari who realize that their feelings of desire for each other are thwarted by the fact that they are cousins. Will this be a story of unrequited love or will fate intervene with other plans? After an argument with his father, Donald, Robby takes off to seek out the Raiders for himself, only to find out that he has put himself in a position that will change his life forever, as secrets from the past emerge and his diminishing faith is tested to breaking point. Will Robby ever find his way back to Ari and redemption for his decisions, or will the evil False Prophet finally succeed in his aggressive quest to annihilate the East? Or will he be finally destroyed forever? Once again, love, courage and faith hold the key to these answers as Donald once again is forced to fight for the freedom of not only the East, but the West as well.
Genre: FICTION / Christian / Fantasy#517 in Christian Fantasy (Books)
#329 in Christian Fantasy (Kindle Store)
#529 in Religious Science Fiction & Fantasy (Kindle Store)
Chapter 1 †
An Incident on the Cash River
Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. Jeremiah 49:19 HCSB
The great cat lay on a granite ledge surrounded by clumps of ryegrass as tawny as his fur. his belly was full, and he had hidden the remains of a tender doe that would be good for several more meals. but that did not mean he was uninterested in the prey that stood several long bounds below. he was very interested. A human observer would have been amazed at his patience as he crouched with only his whiskers twitching. he knew nothing of the concept of patience. When he observed prey, time passed with the speed of a hummingbird’s wing. his brain was hardwired to recognize prey. it had something to do with their nervousness, the fluttering ears, and the large eyes searching for threats. These particular prey were big, bigger than most, but still prey, and they held his complete attention. but there were others there as well. They had a strangeness, a wrongness about them. They were tall, as if standing on their hind legs, and they had none of the mannerisms of prey. Their movements were deliberate, and they seemed to act like hunters, rather than the hunted. They made him uneasy. he caught their strange odor, and it had a wrongness as well. he could smell a hint of something else—another kind of wrongness, but of a familiar sort. The cat had smelled it before, from charred vegetation, turned black. he had even seen the strange red flowers that flickered and glowed and seemed to eat growing things. The smell was distinctive, and these others, the notprey, had a whiff of that strange odor about them. For all his size and strength, he was a cautious creature.
