SYNOPSIS
East Eats West.
It’s 220 B.C. The ancient Western Empire is crumbling. In a desperate bid to save his throne, the Greek Seleucid king over Babylon sends his son, Antiochus, a dishonored warrior, into the mysterious land of the Far East to capture a mythical creature that will give him absolute power: a dragon.
Antiochus takes with him his longtime friend, Balthazar, a member of the Magi order of Babylon, responsible for both the religion and science of the empire. But Balthazar also carries with him a dangerous secret that could destroy Antiochus’ plans and plunge the world into chaos.
They sail beyond their maps into the mysterious and uncharted Eastern Orient. They are discovered and escorted inland to the empire of Ch’in (now known as China), ruled by the first emperor, Ch’in Shi Huang Di. The emperor is a brutal ruler and is on the edge of insanity in a mad quest to find the elixir of immortality.
Antiochus meets and falls in forbidden love with a beautiful concubine of the emperor, Mei Li. But she also harbors a secret that can bring down the mad emperor. It’s the truth of China’s spiritual past that is mysteriously connected to the ancient Hebrews and the Tower of Babel.
And behind the dragon, there are spiritual principalities and powers who seek to stop them all. These are the Watchers, who have their own plans to rule the world. Finding and capturing a dragon is the least of Antiochus’ difficulties in this action-adventure clash of cultures and war of gods.
Characters
Antiochus the Younger (Xeneotas)
Disgraced general of the Greek Seleucid army in Mesopotamia. In order to redeem himself, and rescue his king’s failing power, he embarks on a journey to the Far East to capture a dragon. He is haunted by his own identity as a man without a country. He believes in the power of man to achieve justice, but the power of religion only confuses and destroys. But his best friend, Balthazar, just happens to be a magus, a priest of the religious order of Babylonian magi. Their journey together will stretch both their beliefs and force them to work together to survive in this exotic and dangerous new land.
Balthazar
Magus of Babylon, priest of Marduk, king of the gods. Close friend of Antiochus the Younger(Xeneotas). He is trained in the occultic arts of alchemy and astrology, as well as the sciences of chemistry, philosophy, and warfare. Because his order of magi was trained by the ancient Hebrew prophet Daniel, he carries a secret prophecy that could destroy the plans of all kings and tyrants on earth, including the emperor of China, who thinks he is a god.
Mei Li
Beautiful concubine of the emperor. She carries the secret answer to Antiochus the Younger’s quest. A secret, rooted in the ancient past of the Chinese people, and the royal priesthood of the one god, Shang Di, worship of whom is now outlawed by the emperor. When she falls in love with him, their forbidden love becomes the flashpoint that could bring down the entire empire, or get them all killed.
Ch’in Shi Huang Di
The first emperor of China. Huang Di is a man with absolute power, who seeks to establish a unified China that will last generations. And if he finds the elixir of immortality that he is seeking, he will be its god forever. When the foreigner Greek, Antiochus, arrives in China, Huang Di sees an opportunity to use him and his crew for his own purposes. And if they do not obey, he will kill them all.
Li Ssu
Chief advisor to the emperor of China. He is a Legalist, a believer in the power of strict law created by and for the emperor, and the elimination of the ancient wisdom of the past, such as Confucius. Why? Because such beliefs question state power and places loyalty in the family. Li Ssu is grooming one of the royal sons in his philosophy in order to take over when the emperor dies. So the emperor must die. When the Greeks arrive, Li Ssu sees his opportunity to manipulate the situation to his benefit, at all costs.
Wu Shu
Mighty warrior of the emperor. A eunuch who has known Mei Li since they were children, so he is secretly and hopelessly in love with her. He will do anything to protect her, but if he cannot ultimately have her, then no one will.
Meng Tian
General of the emperor, and war hero. He is a man of honor, a true soldier who seeks to avoid politics and stick to what he does best: fighting wars. The problem is that there is no neutrality in politics, and Meng Tian will soon find out that he must make a choice for what side he is on — that of the all-powerful emperor, or the common people, who seek liberation from that oppression in a rising revolution.
Yu Huang
The Jade Emperor. Supreme head of the gods of China. He is the Watcher of this oriental land. He secured his spiritual power and authority in the distant past at the Tower of Babel. He has supernatural plans that no one knows about, and he is not the only one.
Xiongnu Barbarians
On the other side of the Great Wall of China are the barbarians called the Xiongnu. They are mysterious warriors who have giants in their midst. These giants have six fingers and six toes, elongated skulls, two rows of teeth, and are called by a foreign tribal name: Nephilim.