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Title: The Traveler
Author: Melissa Delport
Series: The Traveler Series #1
Genre: SciFi Romance
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 3 2014
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook
Blurb/Synopsis:
Seven years ago, Rachel gave her heart to a
dark, intense stranger, who left her broken and alone.
Every day since then Rachel has thought
about Dex, her memories refusing to be silenced.
Now, Dex is back, but this time he is not
alone. He has brought a formidable army – their sole purpose to conquer. Fate
will bring Rachel and Dex back together, but on opposing sides of a war that
threatens to obliterate her world.
Pitted against the power of the elements,
Rachel and her friends must survive tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes and fire,
all the while being hunted by a powerful enemy who will stop at nothing to
pillage her planet.
Fleeing for her life amidst the chaos of a
raging, burning city, Rachel realizes man’s only chance of survival lies in the
hands of the very person who betrayed her all those years ago.
Earth is destined to fall, but Rachel is
determined to save mankind, no matter the sacrifice.
~ * ~
Excerpt:
I catch Bill up and we walk side by side,
our feet echoing dully on the wooden floor. I run my hand along the cast iron
expecting it to be cold, like everything else in the city, but to my surprise
it is pleasantly warm beneath my touch. The beauty of the ornate banister still
takes my breath away – the bridge is a renowned romantic setting for lovers. I
can hear Bill’s labored breathing beside me, but I keep my eyes ahead as we
make our way up the short incline that marks the halfway point. We are over halfway
across the bridge when I finally see him.
Dex.
A myriad of memories flood my senses, more
powerful than ever before. Dex is really here. My heart both soars and sinks at
the sight of him, so many conflicting emotions overwhelm me that I lose my breath
and automatically reach for my inhaler. But then I realize that it wouldn’t
work anyway. This has nothing to do with my asthma. It runs far deeper than
that.
He is standing on the walkway ahead just
beyond the bridge. He has his back to us and is over fifty feet away but it
doesn’t matter - I would recognize him anywhere. He is tall and proud, his
black hair exactly the same as I remember, and his hands are balled into fists
at his sides. He is wearing the same black tunic as the others, the same black
pants and black boots. I don’t know why I’m not surprised. I think deep down I
knew it was him all along. I knew the moment it had started snowing. Bill sees
him too and he drops into a half-crouch but I walk forward now without
hesitation. It is still there, that physical pull I feel for him. I reach the
edge of the bridge and glance around. He is alone, standing dead still in the
center of the storm and suddenly I know that it’s him. That he’s the one
controlling it.
I make no sound as I walk, stopping only a
few feet behind him, but I know the instant that he senses me there. His
shoulders tighten and he cocks his head ever so slightly towards his right
shoulder. The storm seems to close in on us, drawing around me like a
tightening rubber band and the wind picks up, whipping my hair painfully into
my eyes. My jeans are flapping around my ankles so hard that I think they might
be ripped off at any moment and I can barely draw breath. The heavens open and
the rain immediately starts pelting down. Over the roar of the storm I hear
Bill’s bellow of panic and turn to see him sprinting for cover under a nearby
tree. He gestures frantically for me to join him but I simply stand there,
water coursing down my face and into my mouth.
I turn back to Dex and, as I watch, he
draws himself up to his full height, opening his hands suddenly and flexing his
fingers. The instant that he does, a bolt of lightning strikes the bridge
behind me where Bill had been standing only seconds earlier. With a creak of
protest the bridge crumbles almost in slow motion, a whining of tearing iron as
chunks of concrete and metal drop into the lake. Dex flexes his fingers again
and I watch in horror as the lightning zigzags through the sky overhead and
hits the tree under which Bill is standing as though it was hunting him. While
most of the energy is mediated by the tree, the current transmits over Bill’s
body on its path to the ground and, as he drops to his knees clutching his
chest, I understand what has happened - Bill has gone into cardiac arrest.
Fierce, brave Bill – the toughest of us all, who has survived war and worse,
defeated by a simple flex of the hand. My brain whirrs with the horror of the
thought.
I am about to rush towards Bill when out of
the corner of my eye I see Dex start to turn and, as he does, his fists open
once more, his fingers splaying rigidly. I know instinctively that this bolt of
lightning will strike me – I am the next target. I close my eyes, knowing it is
too late and spare a last thought for Bill, who I will never be able to help. I
can only hope that the others will make it out; that they can find somewhere
safe, somewhere far from here.
Slowly, I become aware of the silence.
After the pandemonium of the raging storm the silence is deafening. There is
not even the boom of distant thunder. My heart is beating wildly in my chest
and my breath is coming in short hysterical sobs, tears mingling with the
rainwater that is still dripping from my hair. I am too terrified to open my
eyes, too panic-stricken even to move. And then I hear him speak, closer than I
expected, sounding stunned and angry, “Rachel?”
~ * ~
Author Information:
Wife and mother of 3, Melissa Delport is the author of The Legacy Series, Rainfall & The Traveler. She graduated from the University of South Africa
with a Bachelor’s Degree in English in 2000. She currently lives with her
husband and three children in Hillcrest, South Africa, and is hard at work on
the final book in The Legacy Trilogy.
Her first novel, The Legacy, self-published in 2013, is the first in The Legacy Trilogy, and is followed by the sequel The Legion. The main-stream publisher, Tracey McDonald Publishers, is re-releasing The Legacy and The Legion in July 2014. Book 3 of the trilogy, The Legend, is due out in 2015. Melissa has also written an independent novel entitled Rainfall, a psychological romance, and a science-fiction, action-adventure called The Traveler.
An avid reader herself, Melissa finally decided to stop “watching from
the sidelines” and to do what is her passion.
“I was driving home from work when inspiration struck, and a
storyline started unravelling in my head. For a few days, it was all I could
think about and eventually I realized that the only way to get it out of my
head, was to put it all down on paper. I started writing, and that was that.”
Author Links:
Blog
Facebook Page
Goodreads
Pinterest
The Legacy Trilogy
Twitter
Website
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