"The Samurai Templar Knight"

Jerusalem - 1871

The sandstorm had finally ended and the English exploration party pushed off the blankets they had used as protection from the relentless sandstorm, if they had not protected themselves the sand could have flayed the skin from their bodies, but their local guide had not wanted to lose his source of income and was prepared when the storm had come upon them so quickly.

Gathering the small party together they continued the short journey to the place the locals called "The Dome of the Rock" within the location was purported to be another sacred place known as the "Foundation Stone". Stories from the local Shaykhs(holy men) say that the Souls of the Dead can be heard wailing under the stone awaiting Judgment Day.

Leading the party was Sir Richard Francis Burton and his wife Lady Burton, along with them were the men and women that had decided to come along earlier in the morning. The interest and excitement had been created after being regaled with stories by Captain Burton from the dinner party the night before. Along with the party was Captain Burton's new assistant, a recent graduate from the University of London, he had arrived only 3 days earlier and was to help Captain Burton in his cataloging and packaging of any historical finds, or interesting antiquities they may come across( for eventual sale to the Auctions houses in London).

When they reached the Dome they entered and were led to a small Cave entrance. The party saw that there were 16 steps carved with marble leading down ward and deeper into the cavern. At the bottom they saw a large stone approximately 6 meters per side. As the Captain began his speaking tour of the location telling the Lords and Ladies who had come along, how Solomon and even King David had prayed where they were standing. Within one section of the stone looked to be a hole drilled through the stone.

"It is said if you are very still and listen closely you can hear the Souls crying to be let into heaven as they wait for Judgment Day" Captain Burton said in a quiet voice. After a minute of complete silence the Captain smiled and with a wink said "However as you can see there is nothing but solid stone surrounding us and most likely it is only a shallow hole that this great stone has covered."

After the short tour the group climbed back up the stairs being led by the Burtons towards other historically religious finds in the area. The last person in the group was Captain Burton's young assistant; he wanted to take a closer look and decided to stay behind, as the others left he lit his lantern so as to get a better look. He slowly walked around the stone and even climbed onto the "Stone" to peer down the hole and even placing his ear trying to listen, but to no effect.

He pulled out from his belt a small tool he carried with him, it looked like a tiny hammer with only one prong, and in fact it was a small archeologist pick. He walked, gently tapping against the great "Stone" listening to the echo made below the rock. After tapping around the entire Stone, he lifted his lantern and looked around at the walls of the cavern. Sensing something different in a portion of the Cavern wall, he walked over to the section of the cavern wall that was closest to the great stone.

CHAPTER II

Ever so gently he began tapping on the wall, first up and then down the wall every few feet. After he had walked the entire circuit of the cavern tapping away he stopped where he had started. After looking and thinking for a moment, he took the pick and kneeling down began crawling and every 2 feet and about 3 feet above the floor he began a circuit of the cavern tapping at each interval. After reaching about halfway around the cavern, at the widest point between stone and wall, he tapped and received a hollow "thunk" sound with his pick. Sitting back he took his lantern and peering at the base of the wall he began to brush away the dirt of the floor and then to dig.

At a depth of only 9 inches he looked closely at the wall and saw what appeareed to be a groove in the cavern wall, taking the lantern and pick he gently tapped at the groove and suddenly a small 2 inch piece of stone detached from where he had tapped, revealing the groove in greater detail. After digging another 6 inches and clearing all the debris away from the wall He continued his tapping moving ever so slowly upwards.