The Tree of Life

Within the temple of Abydos, an acacia tree is dying...And through it, all Egypt is threatened. For this tree sprang forth from the tomb of the god Osiris, as proof of his triumph over death. Watered and fed on milk by the priests of the temple, the acacia is the guarantee of happiness on earth. Its withering means that great powers are conspiring to destroy Egypt.The pharaoh Sesotris III immediately joins battle against the invisible enemy who wishes to lead Egypt to her doom. But within the pharaoh's closest circle hides a traitor, a man who dreams of unlimited power a man who will sell himself to the powers of darkness in order to achieve his aim.A young apprentice scribe, Iker, becomes an unwilling player in this mystery. Kidnapped by sailors who refer darkly to a 'state secret', Iker does not know who is trying to kill him, nor indeed who is trying to protect him. Haunted by a vision of a beautiful priestess, Iker senses that someone is guiding or manipulating him; that he has set out on a path whose end he does not know.Will the two of them, Iker and Sesostris, the weak man and the strong, suceed in preventing Osiris dying for the last time - and suceed in saving Egypt?