In the Days of Lachoneus
The Gathering
by
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In the growing dusk of the valley, he felt to cry out again to God for the loss of so many of his people. Though the memory of the great sign of the Messiah still blazed brightly in Lachoneus’s heart, it had faded from the minds of the majority of the people. While the relatively few steadfast believers looked forward to the next sign of the Messiah – a terrible time of darkness that would signal the Messiah’s death as He worked out the Atonement – most of the population had become course, greedy, and caught up in the pride of class distinctions – each man out for himself and pitted against his neighbor. As had happened many times in the past, as the people turned away from God, a scourge crashed upon them. This time it came in the form of the Gadianton Robbers. These thoughts weighed heavily on Lachoneus’s heart as the valley became quieter. The cries, screams and moans died away, and he could hear the calming sound of the water in the Sidon River as it made its way in the growing gloom of evening towards the sea many leagues to the northwest. Shortly after the sun dipped behind a peak at the west end of the long, gentle valley, the temperature in the air began to cool. Lachoneus turned, waded across the river, and climbed wearily up the gradual rise to the north. As he approached the crest of the ridge, the eerie silence of the killing field behind him gave way to a faint, high-pitched wail ahead of him. He knew that in the city on the other side of the hill, the women had begun to mourn. Wives, mothers, sisters and daughters wailed their grief for the men who would not return to the city that night. When he had accepted the governorship those many years ago, he could not have imagined a day such as this.
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About the Book
In the Days of Lachoneus is an epic story of politics and patriotism, intrigue and murder, war and violence, love and betrayal, friendship and loyalty, believers and unbelievers, good and evil, set in the landscape of pre-Columbian Meso-America. The historical background for the story is the account in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, of the fierce struggle to the death between the murderous counter-culture of the Gadianton Robbers and the liberty-loving society of the Nephites, a people descended from the tribes of Israel. The first volume in this series is The Gathering, in which Governor Lachoneus of Zarahemla faces the challenge to surrender or be destroyed by Giddianhi and his Gadianton terrorists. The citizens of Zarahemla have beaten and driven the Gadiantons once, only to lose ground in a second battle. Emboldened by his most recent success, Giddianhi writes an arrogant letter to Lachoneus boasting that his army will wipe out the population of Zarahemla unless they turn over all of the property and possessions to the robber band and join their secret society. Woven between the scenes of war and government and politics on a grand scale are personal stories of intrigue and young love. Traitors within Governor Lachoneus’s council plot his overthrow. Giddianhi’s ruthless rule over the Gadiantons is also not without its internal enemies who design his demise. At the same time, Lachoneus’s beautiful daughter and his house servant are hopelessly in love, yet they are kept apart by class, station, and temperament. Dissension and apostasy among the Nephites of Zarahemla threaten the people with utter destruction. Lachoneus fears that the decrees of God are about to descend upon his wayward people. When the letter from Giddianhi arrives, Lachoneus seizes upon this opportunity to call the people to repentance and to unite them in a common cause that is bigger than their petty jealousies and personal greed. He warns the people of the threat from the Gadiantons and issues a proclamation throughout all the land for the people to gather together into a single body. They will build a fortress and organize an army and prepare for a fight to the death to defend their lives, their liberty, their families, and their way of life.
About the Author
David Armstrong lives with his wife in his adopted home town of Kaysville, Utah, after having grown up in Southern California. His children and grandchildren are spread around the U.S. He has degrees in Education from Brigham Young University and the University of Southern California. He served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Germany. He has had a long career in the Information Technology industry as a programmer, an analyst, and a project manager.