Crown of Serpents Read Online Free

Point legacy, he thought — to never be forgotten in history. That was his ultimate goal.
    And his path was almost complete. In the most recent Confederacy election, he had finally won the coveted title of Tadodaho or Head Chief of the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. It was a spiritual position he had sought for years. Granted he had to put some key people on his payroll, but he gained his desire. Always had.
    The Tadodaho was a figurehead position held only by an Onondaga. It was a rubber stamp position to the chiefs of the other tribes and their outdated traditionalist beliefs. But Nero had grander plans. He aimed to change the position into the true dictatorship it once was. He sought complete control — authority over all the separate Iroquois nation-tribes, in and out of the state.
    His ancient bloodline demanded it.
    Securing his place as the rightful ruler, he would set in motion his ultimate objective of retaking all Iroquois lands stolen by the U.S. and New York State governments. He would centralize the pathetically weak and splintered tribal nations back into the powerful empire they once were and deserved to be again. He would wreak cultural and civil havoc, and claim a true sovereign confederacy right in the heart of the Empire State.
    Yet he frowned. Because there was one elusive item that would help him gain the unstoppable power to defeat his foes and he still had no solid clues as to where it resided.
    The item was called the Crown of Serpents. It was once owned by the most powerful ruler of his tribe, Nero’s ancient Onondaga forefather named Atotarho. This shaman had perfected the crown’s abilities to suppress his enemies and heal his friends many centuries ago. Supposedly, the relic held legendary powers, not only medicinal, but also more importantly, of complete mind control. And then it disappeared. It had actually been stolen from Atotarho then hidden away and never seen again.
    Generations of Nero’s clan members had sought to find the crown ever since, but they were poor, scattered, and did not have the means to conduct serious searches or excavations. The ignorant uneducated tribal members even questioned the legend to begin with. But ten years ago, Nero’s late mother had made a breakthrough discovery.
    During one of her magical black arts sessions, the old medicine woman unveiled a prophecy that centered on Alex Nero himself finding and using the artifact. She had said a sign would reveal itself to him, that he was the rightful bloodline recipient, that the spirits beyond the sunset had predicted it, but that he should respect and use the crown with great care, never to abuse it. The most important clue his mother had gleaned from the paranormal world of spirits she communicated with, was the symbol of the guardian cult that supposedly had kept the crown hidden for so long. The symbol she had envisioned was that of a silhouetted white buck, and inside of the buck’s belly was a snake.
    Until her death two years ago, she had headed up his Haudenosaunee Collection, and with him had spent countless hours pursuing leads to find remnants of the lost cult and its symbol. They had focused their efforts in the area between the two largest Finger Lakes of Seneca and Cayuga — because of the link with the famous white deer herd there and the location of the lost Seneca village of Kendaia, once a spiritual Mecca of the Iroquois. But they had come up empty. The main obstacles to their search were the U.S. properties of Sampson State Park and the abandoned 10,000-acre Seneca Army Depot.
    Up until now.
    The Depot had been put up for sale by Seneca County, a real estate transaction Nero jumped all over. Money was not an issue. Local politics were. And keeping the sale anonymous until the last moment was paramount to his transaction. Unfortunately, word had leaked out that an Indian was interested in the sale. Now the local waters were rippling with fear, anger, and resentment.
    Everything,