Tears Of The Warrior
Zü was a mighty warrior of the Yil’parù - a tribe of forest warriors and hunters on the primitive planet Ta’nai. Born during a tremendous thunderstorm and named for their God of thunder, he had proven himself to be one of the tribe's best and most courageous warriors.
Celebrating his coming of age with a great challenge
and the taking on of a life partner, he felt his life could get no
better. Then tragedy struck. To his horror, his beloved kam'towi,
Meli'ca, and their unborn child were killed by the despicable and savage
Pùg'parù tribe.
He must now come to terms with their deaths and try not to let the darkness take hold.
This is a prequel to Given To The Warrior
While it fits chronologically before GTTW, it is intended to be read as book #2. This is not so much for avoiding spoilers, but because it allows that the reader to meet and get to know Zü at the same time Qiiraa does - gradually learning more about his back story and getting a better understanding of why he is the way he is in GTTW. To read this book first will spoil that buildup.
Content Warnings:
Zü's spouse and unborn child are killed partway into this book, and his grief and despair is a large component of the story.
Zü's heartbreak is shown with his grief, although this is not shown too graphically - the intention is to show the darkness he feels and how deeply the loss has affected him. Through the last part of the book he comes to terms with the loss and learns to move on and continue his life as best he can.
The story touches on a romance and intimacy between two bisexual male side characters - one who is openly bisexual, the other is still processing his feelings. The intimate scene is contained within a very short chapter titled "Hidden Feelings", and that chapter can be skipped without affecting the rest of the story for those who wish to avoid reading that scene.
The topic of bisexual and single sex relationships does some up a few times in the story outside of that chapter to do with those 2 characters as well as Zü's step brother, who is married to a man.