Page 7

Mia

I’m not a fan of heights. As a kid, I fell off a jungle gym and sprained my wrist. As an adult, I still haven’t gotten over the fear, nor the way I was suspended helplessly in the air after losing my footing while rock climbing.

Several affirming chats with myself fly completely out the window when it is actually time to leave the helicopter. Blaze is a solid, reassuring mass under my koala-like grip and I’m grateful. I wish it was Dillon, though. I’m literally squeezed around Blaze’s torso while he does the rope work of rappelling us to the ground with practiced ease.

I feel rather than see when we make it to the ground. Even against the obnoxious sound from the rotors, I can hear the hiss of the rope slide through the carabiners and then Blaze walking several steps away.

“De-rigging ropes,” I hear him say.

It’s then that I finally allow myself to crack my eyes open. We are indeed on the ground. Well, Blaze is…now would be an appropriate time to extract my claws. “Uh, thank you,” I say sheepishly.

There’s a grin playing on Blaze’s features. He taps his ear and says, “I hope that was as enjoyable for you as it was for me.” And then he quickly removes the earpieces he’s wearing, pulls it in front of his face and mock yells, “Settle down, sweetheart.”

I’m not sure I want to know what was said on the other end of the line, but I hide my giggle nonetheless. “I’m sure gaining more brothers in the Marines was fun for you, huh?” I ask, learning his prankster ways.

He winks at me. “The more to fuck with, the merrier. But,” he says grabbing his bag, “I am a sailor.”

When I give him a confused look, Legion is suddenly behind him, trapping him in a headlock. “This guy thought it would be fun to go against our family’s tradition of being a Marine…so he went and joined the Navy.”

“Getoffmeee, atthhh-hole,” Blaze slurs in his brother’s grip.

“But I suppose I can let it slide since us jarheads don’t have medics,” Legion says.

I stop listening to the bickering. For the first time, I look at my surroundings. At the site. At where the Guztá civilization lived and carved their name in history.

The awe washes over me like the gentle lap of a wave. I’m rocked backward half a step. I become mute, unable to say anything, simple or complex. I know I’m the only one who becomes speechless. The team hasn’t spent their professional careers studying the Guztá people or placing them on some high pedestal like I have. With my personal interest and years of dedication to this , it’s impossible not to be impressed by this place.

In documentaries, it fascinated me. From the air, it was beautiful. On the ground…it’s something I will never forget for the rest of my life. The greenery is lush and deep and it surrounds us wholly. To the north is nothing but the jungle that is shrouded in a thick fog and wall of rain. Below my feet are manmade terraces covered in a cushioned grass. The heavy drizzle does an amazing job of sluicing its way down the terrace’s outer edges, over stone steps and eventually down to the basins below.

The sheer engineering that has gone into this site is nothing short of rendering me speechless.

I begin walking up toward the next flat section that eventually climbs into the side of the mountain.

“Woah, hold up, Mia,” I hear Phantom call after me. I barely have half a mind to turn and listen. I want to explore. I want to soak up the culture that’s left its mark in time. I want to experience everything I can. And I want to find anything that can help us with saving my dad.

But I turn around, giving Phantom the respect he deserves.

“Okay, before we begin anything, let’s go over the safety procedures again.” He’s got a rather large machine gun with a strap around his shoulder, and he settles his hand on the butt of the weapon. “We’re most likely alone here, but assumptions can get you killed. Now that the archeological team is gone for the season, bandits and drug lords might seize the opportunity.”

Blaze takes a moment to pull his hair back in a sloppy bun. Until now, the rain has all but plastered it to his face. Then he pulls out a black headband and slips it on while saying, “Additionally, Colombia is home to nearly fifty species of venomous snakes, including the pit viper and its fun cousin, the fer-de-lance. And as much as I wish I had an unending supply of antivenom, I don’t. If you’re bitten, I might be able to buy you minutes if you’re lucky, but these fucking Nope Ropes are lethal . You’ll die before we can get you to a hospital.”

“No pressure, right?” I say, suddenly scared out of my ever-loving mind.

“And, Mia?” Legion asks, grabbing my attention. “We’re here for you. You know what to look for and where to go, but,” he stresses, “if any of us deems it necessary, we will intervene and extract you as quickly as possible.”

I simply nod, knowing he’s leaving with or without the clue as an unspoken afterthought. There’s no room for error. No other option but to find something. Without it, well…I can’t even think about a scenario where that becomes reality.

“So, where to?” Phantom asks. He blinks the droplets of water out of his eyes and I notice just how long his eyelashes are.

Turning back toward the mountain, I say, “Up there, I believe.” It’s the most logical. Four hundred years ago, these terraces would be littered with huts. Tribesman and their families would be everywhere. Children running and playing. Metalsmiths working. Women weaving. But, up there , that’s where the chief and his wife would have spent their time.

“How,” I inhale, “are,” I exhale, “you guys,” I inhale again, “not winded?”

Blaze shrugs, Legion scrunches his mouth up in sympathy, and Phantom looks at his watch. “We’re used to it, but don’t feel bad. We’re over thirty-three hundred feet in elevation.”

Okay, so that makes me feel a tad better, but damn . If we go much further, I am certain my heart will beat its way out of my chest and land on the ground at my feet. A reminder of my own hubris for this entire search.

We make it to the last terrace where it inconspicuously gives way to the mountainside, melting out of sight. “Time for a breather!” I wheeze.

Blaze tosses me a bottle. “Electrolytes. Drink up.” Each guy follows suit while we indulge in a minute to will our heart rates down from three million beats per minute.

It’s faint, but below my boots are traces of the team that was here not long ago. The rain has washed away footprints and the like, but deeper holes in the ground indicate the placement of poles for work tents and a small clearing has been cut away into a portion of the foliage to further their camp’s footprint.

And just beyond it, is what appears to be a doorway. Carved into the face of the mountain. At first, it’s hard to discern with a goliath fig tree trunk and root system to one side and jungle brush with human-size leaves over the top. Now that I see it though, it’s unmistakable.

Mindful of my footing, I begin to make my way toward the entrance, happy to get a reprieve from the rain already. The jungle weeps and drips on us like a low-pressure shower head.

“Stop!” I shout. Each guy behind me halts as if they’ve been stunned. “You guys, look, do you see this?” I drop to my knee and gently pull a flat fragment from the soil.

“A skipping rock?” Blaze asks.

Phantom smacks the back of his head, lodging his man bun loose. “These were mountain dwelling people, dumbass.” Then he looks to me for confirmation. “A piece of pottery?”

“Yes!” I look at the piece in my hand that is no bigger than a fifty-cent coin. “Do you see the protrusion on the edge? This was part of the lip of a jar or some type of vessel.” It’s one thing to have handled the relics at the museum, and another to actually use the seal from my dad’s collection, but this? To find something in the wild…to know that this shard not only originated from this exact location and it hasn’t moved since…I can’t articulate the mesmerizing power it has over me.

“I hate to shit on your parade,” Legion says, “but we should probably keep moving.”

I know he’s right. I gently place the piece of pottery back where I found it. Taking a step forward, Phantom blocks me with a thick arm. He shifts his machine gun across his body. He pulls his pistol from his holster. With a flick of his thumb, a mounted flashlight switches on. Legion and Blaze have done the same. I’m flanked by the brothers. Together, we enter through the doorway, guided by Phantom’s hand signals alone.

Acute, succinct movements amongst them are demonstrated, and I almost miss the last step because their synchronized motions really are something to behold. They’re a unit. They act as one. And they’re shielding me.

We come to a halt. The space is dark but appears to be some sort of a corridor. Phantom moves out ahead of us, his flashlight giving me glimpses of our surroundings. I feel Legion and Blaze shift beside me, placing their backs to me. It’s only when Phantom says clear that they relax.

Six rough steps have led us not only into the mountain, but down into it. The air is cooler. The rich scent of soil and the musty odor of wet rocks could fool me into believing we’ve entered a replica root cellar in Monticello rather than a partially excavated area of an ancient civilization.

Without so much as a warning, Legion extracts a tactical flashlight and turns it on. He tosses a second ahead to Phantom. It’s not as bright as the intricate mirror system the Egyptians used, but it’s enough to make my breath catch.

Just beyond Phantom, two benches are revealed in the artificial light. Side by side, there is no mistaking their significance. They’re unequivocally thrones . Belonging to the chief and his wife. They’re humble in structure, no more than a flat surface to sit. There are no arms, no back, nothing. But what it lacks in shape, it makes up for in design. The twin seats are gilded and intricately covered in Guztá symbology. Transfiguration. Hybrid figures. Fearsome creatures.

A spark of hope lights deep inside me. Could these reveal a clue? Is there something hidden in the symbolism that is crafted so remarkably?

Phantom interrupts my thoughts. “Didn’t you say that these folks were buried together with the cuff?”

“That’s right,” I say. I haven’t taken my eyes off the golden engravings.

“So wouldn’t we want to be looking for a grave or some old coffin?” he asks.

“Sarcophagus,” I correct. “Or rather, some sort of vault.” I stand. “These chambers over here,” I point, “would most likely have been reserved for the chief’s right hand man and his family.”

“But they’re empty,” Blaze says with an air of disappointment.

Gingerly, I walk into one, motioning to Phantom for his flashlight. The room resembles something more on par with an empty antechamber, but Blaze is correct. It’s barren. Disregarding the notion that the archeological team may have taken anything (if anything had been here to begin with), I’m inclined to think that they experienced the same letdown that I am at this moment.

There are a total of three identical rooms, all with the same conclusion: empty.

“So, if these are where the higher-ups would have been buried—” Phantom says before being cut off.

“How do you even know that they were?” Blaze asks skeptically.

I take a step back into one of the spaces. “See the grooves in the floor here?” I ask him, pointing the light downward. “Each room has them; they’re the shape and size of a sarcophagus.”

“I knew that, I was just testing you…”

“You most certainly did not,” Legion says matter-of-factly.

Phantom clears his throat. “Back to my question,” he says rather bristly to the brothers, “if this is where the higher-ups were buried, then where exactly were the chief and the Mrs. laid to rest?”

Good question. So far, the entire space consisted of a series of steps that led to a corridor with three rooms off to the right, and two thrones at the opposite end of the stairs.

“Isn’t it kind of weird that there’s nothing else down here?” Phantom asks.

“I was thinking the same thing,” I say. “But there has to be something more. There always is, isn’t there?” I ask rhetorically.

Legion’s hand goes to his ear. “What’s that, Arch?” I’d forgotten that they can communicate with him and Midas. “False wall…? I’ll tell her…”

Two words. They’re enough to kick my butt in gear. “That’s gotta be it, you guys. The Guztá believed in symmetry. Everything had its counterpart…” I start prattling. “The sun and moon. Gold and silver. Man and beast…”

Until then, my eyes were roaming the otherwise ignored parts of the area. Now, as I look at the men, I’m pinned with three equally intense gazes.

“Explain, please,” Legion says neutrally.

The adrenaline rush is slow, but I can feel it coursing through me like a wine buzz. “Don’t you see? Over here, we have the thrones which are a direct counterpart to what?” I ask.

Blaze scratches his forehead with the butt of his pistol. “The steps?”

“Yes!”

“Which means,” Legion surmises, “something has to symmetrically balance these rooms over here…”

“A false wall, like Arch said,” Phantom says.

The four of us pour our attention to the nondescript stone wall. “Look for anything,” I instruct. “Carvings, inscriptions, loose stones, whatever.”

My fingers glide across the surface, becoming familiar with the texture. It’s cool to the touch, rough, and uneven in parts. But after what feels like an eternity, I come up empty. I find nothing that would indicate that my hypothesis has any truth to it. That’s why it’s an educated guess I remind myself.

But it doesn’t erase the sobering feeling from my high I was experiencing moments ago.

Frustrated, I take a step back, watching the flashlights bob to and fro while the guys continue their search. “Wait, stop,” I say. “Move the light back this way,” I tell Phantom. He does as I ask, and in a split second, I see what caught my eye. “The wall isn’t uniform here,” I say. “It’s like it’s been patched or something.” I take Phantom’s place, encouraging the guys to stand where I just was. “See?” I run my hand over it again, and am astounded at how different it feels. And how it crumbles slightly under my fingertips.

Blaze hands his light to Legion and begins to go through the contents of his duffle once more. Like he’s got Mary Poppins’s bag, he pulls out a short-handled sledge hammer. “This ought to do the trick,” he says like a mad scientist.

“Wait, we can’t just be destructive,” I protest. “Do you have a rock hammer or small chisel perhaps?” I ask in way of compromise. Destroying this burial chamber goes against everything in me.

Blaze plants his feet shoulder width apart. “Mia. We’re on a time crunch here.”

“He’s right,” Phantom says.

“And no offense,” Blaze says, “if it’ll make you feel better, just send a fatty donation to the dig team as an apology.”

I still must have a look of indecision on my face, because Legion takes a step toward me. “Mia. It’s risking the site or your dad’s safety.”

How many times do I have to hear this reminder or a variation of it before I let go?

I take a deep breath and nod. “Do it.”

I pray that the unrelenting rain outside is enough to muffle or conceal our efforts down here. Three strikes later, a hole the size of a pizza pan becomes visible.

“Mia, you might want to look at this.” Phantom has the light shining in the hole and I crouch down to see what has erased the disbelief from this otherwise stoic man.

As I get closer, stagnant, musty air caresses my face. I blink away tiny particles that have made their way into my eyes. The position on my knees is awkward. The room is dark save for the beam coming from the flashlight, but in that shaft of light I see a formidable rectangle. A sarcophagus .

“Quick,” I say breathlessly. “Make the opening bigger. I need to get in there.” Could it be…the burial site of the chief and his wife? After obsessing over this since I was a child, am I about to witness where they perished together? And furthermore, will the cuff be there?

It’s foolish to place my hope on its presence, especially with the area of wall that is seemingly repaired. That could only mean one thing: grave robbers.

With every fiber of my being, I know we’ll find something in there, though. Whether that is the cuff or not, remains to be seen.

With what appears to be little effort on their part, the guys have expanded the hole to something more akin for a human to fit through. A small human, but I fear we’ve already used so many precious minutes to make it any bigger.

“That’s good, guys.” I’m on my knees once more, ready to dive headfirst into the dark, cavernous space.

Phantom stops me. “We need to make it a little bigger so one of us can fit as well. You’re not going in alone.”

“The hell I’m not,” I say quickly. “We don’t have time.” To show them how serious I am, I raise my eyebrows, challenging them to disagree with me.

“Okay…in ya go then,” Phantom says unhappily. “Hopefully the walls don’t cave in on you or anything else serious.”

I’ve already positioned both my arms through, much like I’m diving off a board. “And what exactly could you do to protect me in that situation?” I say, wiggling further into the space.

Vaguely, I hear him answer. “Try and block it…”

Then, just as I’m almost halfway through, I distinctly hear Blaze say, “As much as it was fun having you cling to me, Mia, I’ll have to say the view is much nicer in this situation.”

I can’t help but laugh at him. “You’re lucky I’m halfway between a wall right now, but remind me to give you a love tap when I get out.”

“I’m here all week, darlin’.”

Yes, yes he is.

My knees finally hit the damp ground. After banging my shin on the edge of the makeshift hole, I’m in. I grab the flashlight that Phantom placed on the ground. I take inventory of the space.

There are clear signs that this is absolutely a burial chamber. Gold glints off the beam of light. Against the walls are artifacts. A lot of artifacts. Pectoral bibs, ear ornaments, nose rings and other various pieces of jewelry litter the perimeter, winking periodically from my movements with the flashlight. To the right are the remnants of a heavy stone lid, broken in three pieces; something deemed insignificant in the search for treasure. And to its left: a rudimentary sarcophagus.

Blood rushes in my ears. I peer over the edge. With the lid misplaced, I expect to see nothing. A vacant vessel. But to my surprise, I don’t.

An indefinite amount of dust and cobwebs cover the contents, but the skeletal remains are plain as day.

“Is it there?” Legion calls.

“Did you find the cuff?” Blaze asks.

I shine the light over the entire contents, straining to see if anything will shine back at me. When nothing does, I delicately begin to pull back the thick webs, hoping that if its maker is still here, she’d spare me a bite.

“No,” I say. “There’s no cuff.”

“You sure?” Phantom asks.

Peering down at the remains, they are remarkably intact. Except for what leads me to the disappointing truth: the bones of one arm stop abruptly where the wrist would be attached. I’m able to make out scattered metacarpal fragments, but it’s obvious the cuff that was once around this wrist, has been removed.

I can’t help but feel the weight of the hope I placed on this. Anger consumes me swiftly, and as quick as it comes, it’s replaced with a spell of despondency.

It was here. Right here. How many years too late am I?

“Mia?” Phantom gently asks.

I wipe at my eye, not realizing a tear fell until I see it soak into the brittleness of the bones below. “Sorry. I’m sure,” I tell him. “But it was.” I step back and look at the remains as a whole now. I had been hyper focused on looking for just the cuff. I hadn’t taken a moment to appreciate that this is a grave. A grave of two lovers. Ones who chose to enter into immortality together rather than die at the hands of their enemies.

I imagine them in their final moments, side by side. Were they afraid? Had they embraced as the poison consumed their lives? What were their last words to one another? Was it…painful?

“You can tell it was there?” Blaze calls through the opening.

I nod, though he can’t see me. “Yeah. There are four femurs…” I trail off.

“There’s nothing else, then?” he asks.

My eyes scan over the small room, returning to what’s left of the couple. I’m about to tell him no when I notice something that I had mistaken for a piece of bone seconds ago. This is much brighter than the dust-tinged skeletons. And bones don’t come with engravings on them like this one does.

“I might have found something,” I tell them. Turning it over in my hands, I’m shocked to see what is almost identical to the cylindrical seal of my dad’s. The engravings differ, but the coincidence is too great to ignore.

I shut my eyes, welcoming the dark. Conjuring the image of the first seal, I remember the strange amount of negative space. The figure of the Bat Man on either end… Quickly, I look at this new seal and see a carving that is central only. Could this be…its twin ? Are they connected somehow?

Phantom asks again if I’m sure.

My voice is stronger, no longer strangled with defeat. “Yes. Yes!” I go to the opening and hand it over to Phantom. With one last glance around, I’m torn to leave the relics. I don’t want looters to get their hands on this, but as the guys keep reminding me, it’s that or my dad. “Help me out,” I say, already getting my arms back through.

The reverse order always seems faster than the original journey. What took me several minutes to enter, has taken me half a minute to reemerge into the corridor.

Like me, Phantom and the brothers are looking at the seal with curiosity and wonder.

I voice my inclinations about it, reiterate the fact that there were two bodies buried together, and the gold artifacts that lined the room as well.

Legion speaks up. “Wait. If grave robbers found that room, why would they leave all the gold stuff and only grab the cuff?”

“The artifacts are gilded—they’re not solid gold, just plated.”

“But the cuff is a hundred percent gold, like you told us earlier,” Blaze says, looking for confirmation.

“Yup,” I tell him. “Worth way more. Well, worth more money as opposed to items that are priceless and rich in history.”

“I’ve notified Archer.” Phantom and the brothers look to me. “The helo will be here in thirty.”

Blaze walks to the steps. “Plenty of time to take a piss. Watch my bag, will ya?”

I take a minute to dust myself off, but I grab the bag and sling it over my shoulder. It’s the least I can do.

Then I ask Legion and Phantom if we can go look around outside. “I know it’s pouring, but it’s the only chance I’ll get…”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Phantom tells me.

But I barely hear it over the scream that echoes off the stone walls. The sound carries deftly, reverberating around us.

Phantom uses an arm to push me behind him.

“Bandits?” I whisper into his back.

“No. It’s Blaze.”

Legion takes off at an impressive speed, running to his brother’s aid.