For thousands of years, the Keepers of the Adjik Hata have preserved the White Path of the covenant with Ofvngv,but now the Spanish attempt to forcibly convert the Adjik Hata. Mvhvlv, the last Keeper, dispatches his tvbalv, Little Bird, with a secret message to Emperor Brim and entrusts to his niece, Morning Light, a strand of medicine beads containing the ancient lore of the Adjik Hata.
As her uncle perishes, Morning Light flees the ruin of a burning chapel with the beads to seek out Hiram at Ocmulgee. But war is brewing, so Hiram sends Morning Light to the unlikely haven of Charleston. As Morning Light struggles to adapt to the strange, new ways of the whites, Little Bird is drawn into the brutal Apalachee raids by his desire for vengeance and the machinations of Emperor Brim. During the war, Little Bird discovers a dark sorcerer and a Fallen Hiyaulgee instigated the destruction of the Adjik Hata to seize the beads, annihilate The People of One Fire, and usher in an age of darkness and corruption unseen since the Adjik Hata shut the way between the worlds. In the shattering aftermath of battle, Little Bird is directed to Ocmulgee. Meanwhile, Morning Light, troubled by dreams of tragedy for her adoptive family and destruction of the beads, is also urged back to Ocmulgee. Will they uncover the answers they desperately seek – or a destiny more wondrous and perilous than any they could envision?
Ty Bard is a graduate of the University of Georgia and a like-long resident of Georgia. 'Trekking to Ocmulgee' is the book one of the historical fantasy series, 'Spoken World.' Mr. Bard is currently at work on book two, 'Walkers between Worlds.'
Vsse is the Muskogee word for tea and is applied to the ceremonial drink of the Muskogees. It is brewed from the leaves of the Yaupon (Gulf Holly.)
The tea made from the Yaupon leaves was used as a ceremonial drink in rituals of peace, friendship, or purification. To Muskogees, white symbolized peace, friendship, and purity so the Yaupon tea was called the 'White Drink.' Another reason it was called the 'White Drink' by Muskogees involved the preparation of the tea. Once the tea was brewed, it was poured back and forth between serving pots as it cooled enough to drink without scalding. The back and forth transfer between pots produced a white frothy head of foam on the tea - thus, the name, 'White Drink.' However, because of the tea's dark appearance, traders referred to the tea as the 'Black Drink.' The aforementioned is why in 'Trekking to Ocmulgee,' Muskogee characters call the tea, the 'White Drink,' and whites call it the 'Black Drink.'
Book Excerpt
Trekking to Ocmulgee
Ah, I thought conch cup of white drink in one hand, war club in the other – friend or foe – choice is yours.
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