Doomed Empire — Richard Dawes

Astraeus, a young prince of the royal House of Caiphul, the dominant kingdom of the Atlantean Empire, plots to usurp the throne from his father, King Darius. Seduced by his stepmother, Rhea, and a powerful magician named Gucumatz, he enters the sinister world of black magic. There he swears allegiance to the dark god of the earth, Thevatat, in return for his help in defeating his father.

Gucumatz, Rhea and Astraeus scheme to bring the pure energy held by a young, spiritually developed princess named Asparis into their possession. They also plan to coerce her father into releasing to them certain secrets for unlocking the energy held within units of matter. The plan calls for the marriage of Astraeus and Asparis, secured by threatening her father with military action if he refuses. Once they have her in their possession, they intend to demand the power secrets from her father, or her life will be forfeit. When they have the secrets, they will then sacrifice Asparis to take her energy.

But Astraeus' destiny shifts in an unexpected direction when he meets Asparis and falls in love with her. Astraeus starts to break away from the evil influence of his stepmother and Gucumatz when he encounters Kukulcan, Asparis' spiritual teacher. Kukulcan warns Astraeus that he has an arduous path ahead of him if he hopes to undo the damage already done to his inner being by following the dark path.

The story follows Astraeus through his own spiritual initiation, torture at the hands of his father's assassins, and the subsequent battles with his father and Gucumatz and Rhea. Sustained by the indomitable love of Asparis, Astraeus finally triumphs and achieves the dazzling vision of his ultimate destiny: to become a Divine King, thus carrying into the future the sacred tradition of the ancient Atlantean Priest-Kings.