Empires of Dust

Young Lily DuCray loses her father and moves to a rural Colorado ranch with her mother and abusive step-father and step-brother. Lily kills her step-father in self-defense and runs away, framed for other murders by her step-brother. She stumbles upon a lost scroll case and experiences a vivid historical vision of a conquistador. The conquistador is conscripted after catching the attention of a nobleman's daughter. He is sent to the New World, where he confronts both the noble and evil aspects of the Conquest and the disparate native cultures. The Spaniards capture a large amount of gold and treasure and travel north in search of Aztlan and the Cities of Gold. With the aid of her map, Lily finds the treasure and struggles to survive on the run. She travels to Los Angeles and faces the temptations of drugs and sex as she tries to sell the artifacts on the black market. Abducted by a cartel leader determined to take all the treasure, Lily must fight for her life and somehow clear her name.