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Category:
Action/Thriller
Publisher: Createspace
ISBN-10: 1448633788
Type: Fiction
Pages: 366
Copyright: September 3, 2009
ISBN-13: 139781448633784
The Ancient Order of the Red Cross of Gold is set upon by unexplained forces as the alchemist and assassin, Chevalier Mark Ramsay, learns a powerful lesson about physical alchemy when he unexpectedly 'gives birth' to the mythical Philosopher's Stone. The arrival of the Stone sets off a chain of events prophesied in a number of obscure alchemical texts in which he and his Brothers play pivotal roles. The Stone, coveted by many, understood by few, is stolen and held for ransom by a renegade ex-Templar. His bumbling disregard for the Templar Code catches the attention of an even more terrifying old enemy.
The Ancient Order of the Red Cross of Gold is set upon by unexplained forces as the alchemist and assassin, Chevalier Mark Ramsay, learns a powerful lesson about physical alchemy when he unexpectedly 'gives birth' to the mythical Philosopher's Stone. The arrival of the Stone sets off a chain of events prophesied in a number of obscure alchemical texts wherein he and his Brothers play pivotal roles in an alchemical process. The Stone, coveted by many, understood by few, is stolen and held for ransom by a renegade Templar apprentice bent on exacting revenge for losing his place in the Order. The Grand Master must sacrifice the Knight of the Golden Eagle's immortality in order to recover the Stone and Mark Ramsay's son who has much more about him than they first imagined. The traitor's bumbling disregard for the Templar Code catches the attention of an even more terrifying old enemy.
Excerpt
Simon looked around the basement, eyes popping from his head, ready to run or die or witness something more hideous than imagination could muster. All his blood was in his feet and his heart was pounding hollowly in his chest.
The bell jar lay shattered on the rough wood lab table in thousands of sparkling shards that spilled across a portion of the floor. Mark stepped back, let go of Simon’s arm and roughly shook off the Healer’s death grip on his own arm. He looked around his feet, jerking his head this way and that, his breath coming in shallow gasps. Simon touched his back and he let go a shout in Gaelic, causing Simon to shriek with him. Mark backed into Simon, knocking him backwards, looking around the lab frantically, obviously horrified. Simon joined the search, scanning the room quickly, but he didn’t know what he was looking for. Demons from hell. Angels from heaven. Something even worse? The storm suddenly increased in fury, shaking the ground, making the glass containers on the worktable clatter with each lightning strike. Skittering noises suddenly erupted all around them. Rats?
“What is it?! Rats? Is it rats?!” Simon shouted questions at Mark, but the Scot ignored him. “What is it?!”
“Where is it?!” Mark shouted simultaneously above the roar of the storm.
“Where is what, Brother!?” Simon asked, very near fainting. He was past panic now and into the early stages of catatonia.
Mark pulled a dagger from one of his numerous pockets and held it out turning in circles in the room. Simon reached for his own knife, a slim pocket knife with a yellowed ivory handle, but his fingers would not cooperate when he tried to open it. The knife defied his efforts to hold and he lost it to the darkness under the worktable. The dark areas in the room were as dense as marble. Everything seemed to be in motion in the flickering light. He groped around his feet for the knife to no avail. When he stood up and looked around desperately, he locked eyes with the Knight of Death in a momentary blue flash that filtered down around the shutters covering the skylight. A second, closer lightning strike very near the house caused Simon to shout out a curse.
“Get out!” Mark shouted suddenly in Simon’s ear and pushed him toward the steps leading up to the outside door.
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