Journeys of a Bent Mind

The evening sky was clear, and the stars began to appear as diamonds in the tiara of the heavens. ShadowFax moved slowly across the hanging bridge over the Rhue Gorge, and as he approached the landing at the southern end, Princess Tara nodded off to sleep, a smile playing with the corners of her lips. The Black Knight held his arms in tight, protecting the young princess, providing a safe haven. She was nearly home. It was a moonless night, and dark as the underside of the Sanguine Mountains they had just left, but the sound of Rogue’s wings flapping almost silently above them Continue reading →

A strong wind blew down out of the mountain pass from the north, bringing a brisk chill to the morning. A lone figure stood beside a magnificent stallion on the crest of a hill overlooking the lush green valley. He was dressed in armor the color of onyx, a lavender plume adorning his helmet, his visor of burnished gold, and a long and a short sword at his side. His steed was a full eighteen hands tall at the shoulders, his coat a shiny black that matched his rider. The two stood in the shadows of an ancient oak as the rider surveyed the countryside ahead. Suddenly, there was a rush of air and the flapping of wings, and a powerful Gyrfalcon Continue reading →

Lightning slashed across the darkened skies, and peals of thunder rolled across the Ottokurss excavation site, echoing off the mountains on the far side of the valley. Huge raindrops pelted the ground, sinking immediately into the thirsty desert sands. Tamil, the Elder, a wizened old Bedouin of seventy circuits around the sun, strode across the sands through the driving rains Continue reading →

The sun rose amid gathering storm clouds, and the Ottokurss dig team hurried to protect the exposed viewing tables near the grand pyramid. Tori Jessica Powell had set this as the optimum site for displaying artifacts during the process of photographing, describing, and cataloguing each of the items taken from within the pyramid. Some of the artifacts brought out into the light of day for the first time in millennia were fragile and highly subject to the elements, and the dry and arid climate during these summer months aided in their preservation. The destructive power of the moisture in the air that would accompany a storm, however, would be another matter. The numerous clay tablets Continue reading →

As lead archeologist and head of the team for the Jherq-Ah-Yem III excavation site, Tori Jessica Powell’s continuing fascination focused on the political significance of the actions of one lowly slave standing in defiance of the ancient and powerful ruler. Reuben Hodh had single-handedly thumbed his nose at the Pharaoh, stolen his fortunes, made a mockery of his courts and accountants, and placed his signature on his deeds in the form of the secret antechamber next to the royal tomb. What made a man take such clandestine and defiant measures? What in the times had spawned this rebel to set his mark on the kingdom of the most powerful dynasty in the history of the Nile? Such were the questions that continued to pique Tori’s imagination as the dig moved into its third year. Continue reading →

New Year’s Eve, December 1938. Across the globe there are growing rumors of war. Europe is in unrest, the Mediterranean area, a sea of turmoil. In the wide Ottokurss Valley on the Upper Nile, it is another world, eons away, and quiet. The 18 month old archaeological dig at the pyramids of Jherq-Ah-Yem III is proceeding well, and the charismatic leader, Tori Jessica Powell, keeps her team focused on the larger picture of what occurred at the royal tombs three millennia ago: What happened at this one juncture in history, where one courageous slave embracing a defiant symbol of freedom, challenged the most powerful dynasty of the ancient Nile’s long and tortuous history? Why did one lowly slave tackle the mightiest power on earth with the flimsiest of weapons, graffiti? And, how did he get away with it? Continue reading →

Tori Jessica Powell had fooled them all – she had graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California in Berkeley, the highest ranked in her class. She had earned the begrudging praise and commendations from leading archaeologists around the world for her groundbreaking doctoral thesis on “Humor and Slave Mentality in the Third Dynasty.” Women didn’t enter the field of archaeology, and they didn’t best males in that brotherhood. In spite of numerous and monumental obstacles in her path, she had done both. So when in the summer of 1937 she began a major dig at Ottokurss on the Upper Nile seeking the lost pyramids of the Third Kingdom of Amen-Hi-Teq, everyone wondered what she would turn up. Continue reading →

Sandi listened to the waves lap the shore as she walked down the beach, the morning sun to her back. Last night had been a little cooler, the harbinger of the coming fall, but it was still warm enough now that she wore only a light tee-shirt and shorts. She felt the coolness of the sand between her toes, and a light breeze playing in her hair. It had been a long quiet summer with no one to bother her, no media to shout obscene headlines at her, no telephones breaking the pure silences, and only Terrapin to keep her company. Terrapin was her constant companion, her confidante, the best four-footed therapist and friend in all the world. The feelings were mutual. Continue reading →