Secret Island

By Christopher Hayes-Brown

Christopher and David are two lecturers who have come to Egypt to visit the magnificent pyramids. But awaiting them are not the mysteries of Egypt but of a land altogether unknown. Beyond a shroud of mist and raging seas, guarded by ferocious creatures, Atlantis is as mercurial as it is eerily familiar. Its people are proud guardians of all life on earth, from the dinosaurs they have given refuge to, to the eagles they revere.
This story tells of a race of people whose aim is to replenish the world with their stewardship. Chris and David are thrust into their enigmatic world with Amon, who has been separated from his homeland for years, and the first thing they have to face is a tribe of cannibals, intent on their next meal…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Apr 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781528906494

Christopher Hayes-Brown

An accountant by profession, wildlife conservation and subscribe to various animal charities, love gardening, and growing exotic plants, have various pets, enjoy writing, love various music, ancient history, cinema and theatre, human cultures, traditions, religions and beliefs, student of Lau Gar Kung Fu and interested in all forms of the Martial Arts, helping to support cancer, arthritis, heart, and war veterans etc., fascinated in evolution.

Book preview

Acknowledgements

About the Author

An accountant, always willing to support/help others, keen in wildlife conservation, helps to fight cancer, loves gardening and growing exotic plants, including orchids, has various pets, loves writing, dancing, Lau Gar Kung Fu, ancient history, various music and entomology.

Dedication

To my beloved Layla, Troy, and Libby who we all miss so much, but never forgotten in our hearts, it has been an honour and pleasure to have known you, and to call friends, God Bless you.

To those wonderful people/organisations, and the indigenous tribes who care for the animals, plants and their habitats that we share, thank you.

To all those animal lovers who have lost their wonderful pets, to their current pets and the wonderful wildlife of our world who we share with, thank you, the world would not be the same without all of you.

To our beloved Honey, Bramble, and Ollie.

To also thank the publisher Austin Macauley and their staff from the bottom of my heart for making this dream come true.

Copyright Information ©

Christopher Hayes-Brown (2018)

The right of Christopher Hayes-Brown to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781786129123 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781786129130 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781528906494 (E-Book)

www.austinmacauley.com

2nd Edition

First Published (2018)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgements

My mum, dad, grandparents Nephew Oliver, to my numerous friends in the Martial Arts, orchid growers, entomologists, wildlife conservationists and my work colleagues past and present, and to all my wonderful pets, to PDSA, WWF, BBONT, RSPB, RHS, Orchid Society of Great Britain, Hardy Orchid Society, Marie Curie, NSPCC, War Veterans organisations and to all the animal sanctuaries of the world. Pets at Home, Buckingham Nursery, Phasmid Study Group.

There are many people in this world, including the indigenous tribes, who care for passionately, and act as good custodians in the caring for our planet, the various species of wildlife and their varied habitats.

Their belief is to live in harmony with nature and to use precious resources wisely, but to also return what they already have taken out in a managed way, without any detrimental effect to the environment and those around.

But, unfortunately, we also have people who are only interested in greed and profit and care nothing for the overall impact this has on wildlife, their habitats and their overall population, when extracting any form of natural resources for their own gains.

How can you look a child in the eye and say that there were once tigers and dolphins, great apes, birds of paradise, elephants, snow leopards (to name but a few); there were rainforests, moorlands, grass plains, so many creatures and plants, life that lived in the seas and rivers; there were polar caps, and there were indigenous tribes that once lived in those forests?

But there is hope that we may be able to turn the planet around for the benefit of all—our fellow creatures, plant life, shared habitats—and still be good custodians.

This story tells of a race of people, whose aim is to replenish the world with their stewardship and custodianship. They will be the guardians of life.

This story happened five years ago, in the year 1996, while we were travelling to Egypt, on our quest to visit the pyramids and the great Sphinx.

Our names are David Cook, a lanky ginger-haired 35-year old lecturer in ancient history, travelling with fellow lecturer Christopher Moore, a muscular brown-haired 34-year old. We are both originally from Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, a very beautiful county with diverse habitats, steeped in history and culture.

Our goal was to learn more about the history of ancient Egypt. Little did we realise that we would end up embarking on an incredible journey to a land of mystery and magic.

The story begins on a warm and humid morning on the banks of the River Nile. We were both to join a tourist party to visit some of the wonderful temples and, of course, the magnificent pyramids.

‘Chris, come and look at this wonderful sight! The sun is starting to rise over the River Nile,’ David said.

‘There is no doubt, David—it is going to be the start of a great day. I just have a feeling that it will not be the marvels of Egypt we will end up seeing, though,’ Chris said.

Pondering on the comment Chris made, we started to move towards the coach that had arrived at our hotel (called the Majestic).

After what seemed like an endless time travelling on the coach in hot and humid conditions, we finally arrived at the pyramids.

Once disembarked from the coach, we followed the guide and party towards the larger of the pyramids.

Descending deeper and deeper into the pyramid, hearing the guide talking about the mysteries of pyramids and why they were built, suddenly, a gleam of light caught our eye.

‘Chris, look! What on earth can it be? I think there is someone in that chamber, trying to draw us in,’ David said quietly, without drawing attention to us from the rest of the coach party ahead.

‘David, let’s allow the coach party to move on. I feel like we should investigate the light coming from that chamber,’ Chris said.

We moved towards the small, well-lit chamber, only to find there was no one there. Or was there?

So we started to look at the wonderfully illustrated pictures and ancient writing on the walls of the chamber.

‘Such workmanship, time, hard work and dedication by the artists! They’ve created these colourful, detailed pictures, telling a story of a world long since passed,’ said David, stunned and overwhelmed with the joy of such finds.

‘David, come here! Look at what I have found! There is something strange about these pictures here—they are certainly not Egyptian,’ said a rather puzzled Chris.

‘Yes, you are right. These figures are more like Greek or Roman noblemen with an armed escort and a priest carrying a glowing torch. What is even more puzzling is that I cannot decipher the ancient writings. What does this all mean?’ a bemused David asked.

‘Well, it seems like we may have stumbled onto something here! We know from history that various races of people did trade with the Egyptians, including the Greeks and the Romans, but never have I seen such detailed illustrated drawings before, in any of the other pyramids we have visited!’ Chris said.

All of a sudden, a chill ran down our spines, as if someone was walking on our graves. The air became cold and the light started to dim.

As we turned to the main chamber entrance, a voice spoke out.

‘You are quite right. My people came here many centuries ago, to visit the children of the Sun,’ he said.

‘If you look here on this wall, you will notice a pyramid with a dot at each corner of the pyramid, as well as a dot in the centre of the pyramid. This, my friends, is a map. The dot in the centre is where I come from,’ said the stranger. ‘As fellow historians, are you not intrigued as to what all this means?’

‘But please forgive me. My name is Amon. I feel that I can put my trust in you both, and I need your help to get me back to my home—if you are willing to help a stranger,’ said Amon.

David and Chris introduced themselves to Amon.

‘I do not understand—are you in any danger, Amon?’ David asked, in a concerned manner.

‘Please, please, come! We must go, I will explain on the way to the hotel that I am staying at,’ said Amon.

Chris and David were dressed in cool cotton shirts and beige shorts, while Amon was adorned in a light brown Arab hooded robe. His facial features were very much of Greek origin, and he had dark brown hair. From his looks, he could only be about thirty years old.

We did as we were asked and hurried through the lighted passageways of the pyramid, eventually arriving at the main entrance. We came across a taxi parked at the side of the pyramid. Amon seemed to know the driver reasonably well, from the discussion that he was having with him.

We were beckoned to enter the taxi and Amon asked the driver to return to his hotel, called the Royal Sphinx.

Sitting eagerly in the taxi, we listened to Amon’s story with great interest and intrigue.

’I come from an island unchanged for thousands of years, a world steeped in mystery and full of ancient beliefs, ruled by the Council of Twelve. They are made up of the High lords, including the Maji Grand Master called Riccardo, the Lord High Priest called Ankh and the Keeper of the Arks of Life called Rameses, who reports directly to Riccardo and the High Council of Twelve.

The Leader of the Guardians of the island continent is called Basu. There are seven other tribal High Lords, and they are all overseen by our Imperial Emperor Tao, who is also a High Lord,’ Amon said.

’My home is situated in the centre of a pyramid. The three points of the pyramid represent the three continents of Africa, South America and Asia. And my home is the island continent of Atlantis.

‘The empire is steeped