Helen Drayton

The Crystal Bird Helen Drayton

Telescoping back and forth between modern and ancient times, ?The Crystal Bird? is a unique, compelling and magical masterpiece of adventure, star-crossed love, and history. Death waits in shadows as slavers make their way through East Africa's Great Rift Valley. They attack a group of young warriors who strike back. It is now six centuries later, and a team, led by archaeologists Allan Cline and Christopher Ward, is exploring caves in the very region. Mesmerized by 50,000 year-old-artifacts, they stumble into a strange land and find themselves among the Ashais. The advanced Ashais people protect a strange bird and world-changing secrets. The team gains knowledge of the secrets. They have a compelling story to tell?truths that upend written history and challenge beliefs about the very genesis of mankind. The archaeologists are torn between the land they must protect as cultural stewards and new truths they must herald to the world. One of them is drawn to the mysterious people. He falls in love with the king?s daughter. The people sense danger. They take pre-emptive action to protect their secrets and way of life. The archaeologists feel the weight of centuries of betrayal and brutality that shatters lives.