A tough Stone Age princess undergoes brutal initiation: two days to survive the Shaman’s tasks, return home, and prove herself worthy to lead the tribe.

SYNOPSIS:

1400 light years away, on a vast, Earth-like planet, lies the Lost Kingdom of Kardarc. Teenage Princess Proto enjoys a privileged life, playing in the forest, her affinity with animals thereby revealed, with best friend Filia. Proto’s jealous half brother, Prince Theo, bullies Filia, physically attacks Proto. With the King long dead, tension mounts as Queen Renna, counselled by Kardarc’s Shaman (her own twin sister), Merchuria, anticipates the time when one of the royal siblings must face the succession. That time comes for Proto in a night of skin striping delirium.

Cast into the Desert by Merchuria’s mystic arts, Proto is left to fend for herself while Kardarc’s drugged Warriors chase her back to the citadel. She must reach the altar of the Temple Mount before second sunset, or the tribe will tear her apart. Proto places her trust in Merchuria (her aunt) but it’s Theo who Merchuria wishes to see as successor. She gives him a secret poison Blade to kill his sister. Proto declines Filia’s help; races the desert, climbs the mountain, braves the flooded cave (uncovers the family secret), escapes the crocodile infested lakes, pursued by the Warriors, and Theo. Each trial is accompanied by Evolutions, where Proto, temporarily unconscious, develops her next set of stripes. She reaches Kardarc, time to spare, but allegations from Theo force her back to the forest, to prove her worth one more time. Merchuria agrees to ‘help’ Proto, but uses this opportunity to make things harder than ever.

Aided by a pack of forest dwelling giant dogs, Proto and Filia reach Kardarc once again, to prove her innocence. Theo puts up a good fight, but Proto, now fully evolved, beats him. Guided by thoughts of her dead father, the King, Proto banishes Theo. She is crowned, but as next Shaman, not Queen.

Proto and Theo each face different new lives that neither wished for.

THE STRIPELING