1.Introduction

Where to begin? All right, sit down; I mean you, the person reading this! Lord have mercy. I have to say things before we go off traveling the world. Think of this as a safety briefing. You've had one of those before, right? If not, well, good luck. You'll need it and a reminder; you can't share any of this with anyone. Partly because it's all classified, and we will hunt you down if you tell a soul. That goes for your mother too!

Hello, I'm Phoenix Knight, and you are about to read some of my adventures. My life is complicated, and there are a few things to know before we begin. First, this is not my first adventure, which took place in a little college town in Mississippi. Where I live and go to school when I'm not in a secret location like now. Now you don't need to know that story to enjoy what you are about to read, but you should still read it because why not. It’s something else to entertain and fill up time. You can find it wherever books are sold titled "The Lost Son."

Have you got that? Good! Now, we are going to travel and gain a lot of airline miles. We will be shot at, possibly drown, freeze, fall from an exploding plane, get stuck in a foreign country during the middle of a pandemic, and so much more. So, if you value your life, stop now and leave. If you don't and want to continue, don't say I didn't warn you.

I work for an organization called the Council of Keepers; most of the time, we call it the Council because it's a mouthful. We protect valuable treasures around the world and try to study the history of our civilization. When something weird happens in some random place, we usually are there. Most of our members are distinguished people in their respective fields, coming from history, archaeology, biology, chemistry, math, business, and much more. So, your weird professor is most likely a member and does some incredible things when you're not looking. Don't make fun of academics!

So how I am caught up in this, well, my mother. She went missing, and I found out a lot searching for her. Even my father knew, and I was in the dark all my childhood. If you haven't guessed, they're academics and live in Memphis. You might be one of their students, if so, I'm so sorry! In good news, I don't do any of this alone. My roommate Lucas tags along and is the greatest cook and my mother's graduate assistant Evelyn. She's British, and well, very um, you know, I'll just let you figure it out.

Now, if you encounter a person called Allison, run, especially if she calls you handsome. We don't like her, mainly because she kidnapped my mother and forced all of us to venture down to a somewhat weird place and forced me to deal with issues I would have instead run from; oh, and almost got us killed multiple times. She tried to frame it as she is helping us and the world. She, of course, snuck away before she could face justice, so keep an eye out.

As we begin, I will leave you as you find that little reading spot, whether in a nice chair with a map, under a willow tree, on a beach with the ocean waves roaring in the distance, or wherever you escape. These adventures will entertain and inspire you as they have for me. Now let's not die!

Cheers.