Guardian

by Jack Porter

  “If it’s any consolation,” I said, “your skills may come in handy while we’re here.”

  Piper smiled. “That’s nice of you to say, but I don’t want any more accidents during our time here.”

  “Agreed,” Layla and Hannah said in unison. Then they laughed and ‘jinxed’ one another.

  As the afternoon began to fade, the land began to slope upward, making our hike even more arduous. Mosquitos and other flying insects plagued us, and we spent more time swatting them away than talking. Once again, the jungle-like trees gave way, replaced by an even more gargantuan species that towered over everything. I wasn’t good with plants, but I was certain that normally these different species didn’t grow in the same areas of the world together, let alone on the same hillside.

  I didn’t mind the change of terrain. For me, it felt like we were getting somewhere. Finally, the trees started to thin, revealing more of the landscape. Although the pain protested as my pants rubbed up against the stings, I pushed our pace, sure that we’d find a resting spot before sundown.

  All thoughts of the beach had largely left my mind at this point.

  “I’m hot,” Megan mumbled from somewhere slightly behind the group.

  Although the vegetation changed, the heat hadn’t let up. If anything, it was getting worse as the shadows lengthened.

  “I’m feeling great,” chirped Hannah smugly. Then she swatted a gnat off her arm.

  “Dexter, maybe we should stop for food? There are enough provisions to last us a week or so in there.” Layla pointed to one of the bags I held. She plucked the thin material of her sweat-soaked shirt from her body—the lacy red bra was strikingly visible. I could see every flower pattern on it as if she wore no shirt at all.

  Or I would if I had been looking. Which I wasn’t. Eyes ahead, soldier.

  “Yeah, we should keep our eyes peeled for a good shelter. One that will protect us from any rain we might get tonight.”

  “You think we will?” Megan asked.

  “It’s possible,” Piper said. “This lush vegetation looks exactly like a rainforest. I’m surprised it didn’t rain on us already.”

  “After last night’s storm, I can do without rain for a while,” Layla muttered. “But yeah, let’s find the best shelter we can.”

  The girls didn’t complain after that. We took regular sips of water and snacked on a few of the provisions along the way. The road remained visible, and we couldn’t mistake the signs of civilization as we hiked—remains of paving stones, eroded pillars of rock that could have once been statues. All of it seemed surreal, but yet, more real than what we had left behind. Already, I was anticipating finding something astounding, even as my leg itched and my clothes became soaked with sweat.

  Finally, all our efforts were rewarded when Hannah, who was now ahead of the other girls’ rapidly slowing pace, spotted the unmistakable shape of a structure ahead—just over the hump of a steep, craggy hill. The road led straight to it.

  I took out the binoculars and set my sights on it. “Ruins of some sort, by the look of it, possibly... limestone? It looks weathered, even from here, but from what I can see, it appears sturdy enough,” I reported. Smiling, I dropped the binoculars around my neck. “Okay ladies, let’s have a look around. We may have found our camp.”

  The girls hooted and whooped, hugging one another in their excitement. All of our spirits seemed to be restored by the prospect of a dry place to sleep out of the muggy heat. With one final burst of energy, we made for the ruins.

  I had a passing thought, though, as we got closer. Why wasn’t I more concerned about what had happened so far? About the ruins, the rainforest, the road, and the suddenly appearing wall of trees? And why did the idea of ruins on an uncharted island make perfect sense, as if I was supposed to find them all along? As if I had flown here on purpose to find this place? And what was the deal with the extreme feelings of lust and happiness that overcame me at odd times?

  As we stepped over the first crumbling stones, I only had one answer that made sense.

  There was something weird about this island, something not quite logical. I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it yet but felt we were getting closer to whatever it was with every step.

  But instead of feeling trepidation or worry, as would have been fitting, I felt exhilaration.

  I only hoped it didn’t get us all killed.

  Five

  What we assumed to be one coherent structure turned out to be the fragmented ruins of a once gargantuan and ancient building. It reminded me of a temple I’d once visited while traveling Greece—the Parthenon, a place of worship dedicated to the goddess Athena. And yet, it didn’t. The columns weren’t quite right, but that could have had something to do with the prevalent erosion.

  Most of the ceilings had caved in, although some still remained so high above our heads that it made the giant sequoia trees look average by comparison. As if the inhabitants had been giants themselves.

  Pillars of limestone that once held the massive roof were broken and covered in crawling vines. Large stretches of foliage jutted up along the cracks of the dusty, sun-worn tile that made up the floors and even some of the walls.

  I made the girls stay back while I tested the outer foundation. A few good kicks and echoing shouts proved we could walk around without anything collapsing. “I’m going to have a look around for a protected section of the ruins to set up camp, though,” I said. “Just to be safe.”

  With the exception of Layla, who wanted to explore the ruins with me, the girls chose to occupy a still-sunny spot near a small lake on the outer edge of the temple. Piper and Megan were content to lay a blanket on the grass and chat, each trying to one-up the other on their different experience with the crash.

  Apparently, both seemed to believe they had been the closest to death than anyone else on board.

  It didn’t escape my notice that the girls seemed unaffected by the crash. The terror had passed, and it seemed that they were relaxing as if nothing more had happened than a stroll through the woods.

  Hannah set her sights on climbing a decent-sized boulder nearby. She said she still had some energy left to burn and was always up for a good challenge. So, after a warning from me to be careful, she rolled up her yoga pants to reveal shapely tan legs and searched out nooks in the rock to shove her hands and feet in.

  As we explored the ruins, Layla was positively fangirling over every speck of dust and polished stone in the place.

  “From the layout, this was probably only the entry room. A place for offerings,” she said enthusiastically. “Whichever god this temple was dedicated to must have been very popular. You can see it in the quality of the building.” She squeaked in surprise. I spun around, ready to fight off whatever the threat was, but she carefully held up a sliver of rubble. “Here’s a fragment of bronze, maybe from an armchair? Oh and Dexter look, a full piece of bone with holes drilled in it. Look at the size of it. Bigger than an elephant tusk!”

  I smirked and shook my head. Layla told me once that she was a major ancient history buff and only narrowly chose aviation over archaeology because the pay was better. But history was still a passion.

  Satisfied that everyone was safe for the moment, I wound my way far back into the temple’s center. The internal damage was more visible here, with torn tapestries and crushed statues scattered around.

  However, a few stone slabs of wall and roof in this area still blocked light overhead. This seemed to be as good as we were likely to get, as far as shelter was concerned. At least if it rained, we’d stay dry.

  Then I spotted something promising half-buried under layers of rubble in the far-right corner of the room. With a few heaves, I tore away massive sections of limestone wreckage until sweat began to pepper my brow.

  It was a thick hatch door. It was unlocked, and surprisingly, made of wood. For all its creaking when I applied any pressure, the hatch remained solid. It had been remarkably undamaged by the passage of time.
/>   I called the girls over to take a look.

  “Assuming whatever is underneath this door hasn’t caved in,” I said, “we could shelter underground for a few nights, to avoid those flying, bloodsucking bugs. It’ll give us a chance to venture out and get the lay of the land.” The idea of getting help had once again slipped to the back of my mind.

  Hannah’s perky face, flushed from her activity, waned pale. “Dexter, I’m not too good with dark places.”

  “Don’t worry, Hannah, I’ll go in first and check it out. We can always light a fire, so it won’t stay dark for long,” I told her. “Being below will keep any predators from disturbing us at night or pests from rummaging our camp for trash. The most we’ll have to avoid is spiders or rats.”

  I didn’t miss Piper’s frown at the word rat.

  “Do you think there are predators?” Megan asked. “We didn’t see any on our way here.”

  I turned to the redhead. “At this point, I’m not too sure what to expect from this island. At any rate, I’m going to go down and have a look, whether we stay there or not.”

  Layla, of course, beamed. She clapped her hands together, brought them to her lips, and danced from toe to toe in delight. “It’s rather exciting, isn’t it? We are probably the first people to step foot here in a few hundred years. Maybe thousands of years, by the look of everything. Even by our oldest known structures, this temple is considerably ancient. I got to visit the Great Pyramids of Egypt while in college, and this feels older, somehow. Or maybe that’s just the erosion...”

  I nodded, smiling at her enthusiasm, and feeling my own sense of adventure take hold. “And it looks mostly untouched, except by nature,” I said. “There could be a chance of treasure of a world long past under here. By the time we get rescued, we might be considerably wealthier than when we left.” I snickered at the daydream. “Now wouldn’t that make this whole crash worth the trouble?”

  This seemed to pique everyone’s interest.

  “Just finding this place is a discovery unlike any other,” Layla said. “We’ll be famous...”

  She continued talking as I opened the hatch, which creaked and groaned as it swung forward. A deep void stared back at me, but there was a ladder still intact, surprisingly. I tested it, and it held as if it had just been built. This place was getting weirder and weirder. After rummaging through our supply sack, I struck a match and lit one of our three emergency candles before turning to Layla.

  “Number Two, keep on alert while I’m gone and holler down if you see anything larger than a bunny within fifty feet.”

  “You got it, Captain.”

  One rung after another, I descended into the black tunnel. It took about ten minutes to reach the bottom.

  The first thing I noticed was the smell. Beyond the waft of centuries-old dust and stale air came the unmistakable stench of sulfur.

  Not too bad. Maybe the girls won’t mind a little funk if it means a dry place to sleep.

  The chamber wasn’t uncomfortably far down, just enough to hit hard earth, which was less likely to collapse. And, I noted, there seemed to be support structures in place for an added layer of protection. Although it was hard to tell how large the chamber was with only the emergency candle for light.

  Something scuttled in the dark at my feet, but rats didn’t bother me a bit. They would scamper out of the way with all of us down here. Now, let's get a look at what we’re dealing with.

  Holding my candle out, I found a row of torches, and my emergency candle was adequate in lighting one. I blew the candle out to save the wick and used the torch instead before continuing down the lengthy tunnel, making sure to mark my way. It was a maze down here, with branch after branch of intersecting halls going left, right, and everything in between. It would have been a true labyrinth, except my hallway didn’t end or change course.

  I kept straight and true. There would be time for more exploring later.

  After a while, I noticed that the hall I walked along was brighter than it should be. Blue light spilled ahead of me, and I picked up my pace towards it.

  Finally, the narrow passage opened, and I stifled a gasp.

  The support structures in the tunnels had been columns made of limestone, like the temple itself, but the supports in this expansive room were fully formed walls—made of solid gold. Naked statues of women lined the spherical room. They had all manner of animalistic features—wolf tails, large angelic wings, paws with sharp claws attached, and so on. And they were all enormous, as if they could be giants. And at the base of each statue was a plinth with a bowl, perhaps for offerings.

  Maybe these were the goddesses of the temple, but why were they underground?

  Unbroken black and white marble tiles led to the source of the glow and the heavy scent of sulfur. Seven pools of natural hot springs dotted the room. I walked to the largest one, and found that a bright blue power source lit the water from deep below. It shone through the deep pool, which was steaming in the cool air. A brilliant spot of blue that was brighter than any underwater lights I had ever seen.

  Confused, I stroked my chin. “That’s not possible though. Whoever lived here wouldn’t have anything remotely close to electricity, would they?” I asked the empty chamber.

  I checked one of the smaller pools. It was remarkably shallow and had no power source at its bottom, but it was lit from beneath as well, albeit with a fainter, diffuse light. The same with the other pools I checked.

  I figured that all the pools were joined beneath the surface, and that the one big pool must feed light to all the others.

  Glancing around, the room seemed eerily clean, like a janitor came in daily to dust and remove cobwebs out of the corners. Even the rats stayed clear of this place—there were no droppings.

  Shrugging it off, I returned to the ladder, making quick work of climbing up and out. Every girl but Piper flinched when I poked my head through the hatch and exclaimed, “You’re not going to believe this!”

  Hannah made a shrill noise as if she had been about to yell, but then cut herself short. I smirked. Whoops. I guess they couldn’t hear me coming.

  When I told them what I’d found, the girls eagerly followed me down the ladder.

  With the torchlight now shining from below, I received an alluring view of Piper’s curvaceous ass directly above me. This time it was impossible not to look. One naturally glanced up while climbing down. It was instinct. But I did my due diligence to keep my thoughts clean.

  Even if I could make out that she preferred to go commando under her clothes.

  Once we stepped off the last rung, Piper began squeaking and dancing on her toes before jumping back onto the ladder. “Rats! Oh god, they are everywhere!”

  The other girls had their noses wrinkled but otherwise didn’t seem disturbed.

  I figured something like this might happen. Pushing the bags far over one shoulder, I turned my back to Piper. “Hop on, Pipes,” I said, using a cute nickname I’d heard Hannah call her once. “I’ll carry you.”

  She didn’t hesitate. Her warm body molded perfectly to mine with her hips settled at my lower back. Her long, sculpted legs wrapped around my waist in a crisscross style, like she was afraid to let her legs dangle in the rats’ direction. Her arms squeezed my neck in something akin to a choke hold.

  Chuckling to myself, I called, “Alright girls, this way. Follow me and stay close.”

  When we made it back to the pools, the girls gushed. Without a moment’s hesitation, Megan pulled her shirt over her head and unhooked her satin purple bra to reveal small but firm breasts. Pale pink nipples pointed directly out in triangular perfection. There were more freckles flecked across her shoulders and down her back.

  She was stunning.

  Turning with her back on me to face the pool, she slid out of her jeans and pushed her boy cut panties down, giving me an eyeful of her wide square hips and lily-white ass. Then she slid in as smoothly as if she were a creature born of water instead of land, like she’d
said during our hike.

  Megan let out a long low moan. “Guys, you have to get in here. The water is perfect. Like a steamy bath. It’s perfect for those awful ant stings.”

  The girls exchanged glances for only a fraction of a second before clothes and underthings went flying left and right. Layla glanced back at me as she was taking off her underwear.

  I cleared my throat and politely looked away. Let them have their fun. It’s been a trying and tiring day. They deserve it.

  I reached for the supply sack, thinking to pull out some food, but Piper’s low strong voice called, “Aren’t you getting in, big boy?”

  My attention drifted back to the pool.

  It was any hot-blooded man’s heaven. They were all uniquely beautiful.

  Piper’s exquisite dark skin caught my eye, offset by Megan’s pale beauty as she glided in the water toward the gold medalist.

  For the world they looked like the moon and midnight next to each other. Yin and yang, mysterious and exotic in their voices and personalities.

  “You ladies don’t mind?” I asked. After all, I supposed I could get in one of the other pools, although from the girls’ looks, that’s not what they had in mind.

  Piper and Megan’s heads shook enthusiastically, accompanied by positively predatory grins.

  What am I getting myself into?

  I glanced at the other two for approval.

  “Not at all,” Hannah purred, eyes dipping low to my hips. Her voice was syrupy with longing. There was no mistaking what she wanted out of this.

  My gaze traveled lower on her body of its own accord. You couldn’t not notice a full figure like Hannah’s. She lay back in the water, allowing me a full view. And I couldn’t imagine how such an impressive chest on such a small frame didn’t cause her back problems, but she was likely too young to deal with anything like that.

  I could get lost in a large pair of breasts like those.