Prelude Blood Heat (short story)

Prelude Blood Heat was, as the name suggested, a prelude to Blood Heat by Jim Mortimore. It did not appear in the published novel.

Summary
The Silurians Morka and Kchtaal kill primitive humans for fun. Their tribe's leader, Morka's father, tells Morka he must go hunting for primitive humans to take into the shelters to make up for the ones that were killed.

Morka and Kchtaal encounter a tribe which attacks them with rocks and sticks, killing Kchtaal and injuring Morka. He brings Kchtaal's body back to the city. They must evacuate the city because of an earthquake, and Morka must decide whether to bury Kchtaal there, leaving him behind, or carry him to the northern city.

Characters

 * Morka
 * Kchtaal
 * Morka's father

Worldbuilding

 * The story is a twist on the prologue in Malcolm Hulke's novelisation of The Silurians: both feature the species about to enter hibernation and the status of early humans, as seen by a prominent Silurian. Instead of Okdel's despondency about the situation and his concern for the humans, we have Morka's callousness and selfishness, and his last act being to kill. The last sentence, "a rage that would last a hundred million years", twists Hulke's last line about Okdel not seeing the sun "for a hundred million years".
 * Morka rides a dilophosaurus, while Kchtaal rides a plateosaurus.
 * A volcanic eruption causes an earthquake which endangers the Silurian city and buries the entrance to the shelter.
 * Okdel is the leader of the northern city.
 * Morka thinks K'to is stupid for thinking humans can speak words.

Continuity

 * Most of the Silurians have gone into hibernation. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians)