by Jack Parker
As they walked on in silence, the sun filtered through the thick canopy trees, making golden light beams. The light may have been little but it enabled them to keep moving through the jungle.
"I demand a five minute break," Dara said after only thirty minutes of travel and came to a stop, dropping to her knees beside a tree.
"And I second that." Lari followed suit, resting her throbbing head against a green-tinted trunk of a tree and closing her eyes.
Ash sad directly across from her while Dom sat beside Dara, who started into her complaints once more; Dom being the only one who seemed to actually listen to them.
"Lari!" Ash's harshly whispered voice startled her and her eyes snapped open.
"What?" she asked quizzically.
"Do NOT move!" he warned, which sent her heart pounding with fear.
Dom and Dara's attention was now on the scene before them. Dara shrieked and grabbed a fistful of Dom's clothing when she spotted the thing Ash was trying to warn Lari about.
Lari was now in a panic and made a move to stand but was only scolded for her attempt by Ash.
"Lari! No moving!" he repeated.
She felt a small weight on her shoulder and caught a glimpse of something gray and hairy out of the corner of her widened eye. Her body immediately tensed and she found herself unable to move.
"Ash, get this thing off of me!" Lari demanded threw clenched teeth in a partially calm voice.
Ash searched the area for something to use against the tarantula that was currently occupying Lari's quivering shoulder.
Dom tore off a low tree branch and hung above him and threw it to Ash who caught it with one hand. He then turned his attention back to the oversized spider.
Lari gave him pleading eyes which made Ash act quickly. He used the branch to quickly knock the tarantula off of her.
Lari sprang to her feet and shook herself as if there were more spiders crawling about her as Ash ended the tarantula's life with a single blow of from the branch.
He then turned his awareness back to Lari who was still running about, arms flailing and legs kicking.
"Lari." She still moved uncontrollably around the trees, just out of Ash's reach. "Lari, calm down!"
He grabbed for her arm and spun her to him. He could feel her shaking in his grasp and reverted to calm and soothing words.
"Lari, it's gone. Dead. I made sure of it." The shaking subsided only slightly so Ash held her close while they continued on; Lari no longer wanting to stay in one place for too long and Dara wasn't about to blame her.
* * *
Dark clouds covered the burning sun, turning the light to darkness in a matter of minutes. Very few things were visible to the four as they continued traveling to the south, rarely taking breaks after Lari's close encounter.
Once all the light blue sky in view was turned gray by the fast-moving clouds, rain began to pour down to earth, turning the once solid and dry ground of the island to mud.
"Where did all this rain come from?" Dara asked loudly so her voice could be heard above the pounding rain. "It was bright only a few minutes ago!"
"This is a jungle. It rains spontaneously here!" Lari replied, trying to keep under the thick canopies where the rain was blocked; dragging Ash behind her.
Dara ran to catch up with them under the gathering of trees but slipped in the mud, tumbling to the ground while trying to avoid falling off of the cliff beside her.
"Are you alright?" Dom inquired while helping her to her feet.
Ash and Lari left their shelter of trees to help usher the two under the cover.
"Do you two want to catch pneumonia?" Lari asked them with little patience. "Get under the trees!"
They all moved in one step that was soon regretted when mud that was located near the edge of the cliff gave way, sending all four of them sliding down to the bottom, each tumbling over each other, small shrubs and occasional rocks.
Lari had been stopped from sliding all the way down by a large shrub that caught her shoelaces by its many thorny branches.
Ash landed nearly ten feet past her, face in a pool of murky rain water and mud.
"Déjà vu," Ash murmured as he lifted his head, now covered in mud. He searched for his friends only to find Dom right next to him, lying on his back breathing hard while Dara lay on her side before them, seemingly sinking into the mud.
Lari limped down the remainder of the hill to sit beside Ash as he struggled to wipe the mud off of his face with his dirty sleeves.
Dom lay still, his breathing becoming more and more normal after having the breath knocked out of him.
"Wasn't that fun?" he said while moving into a sitting position.
He looked around for Dara only to find her directly behind him, feet no longer visible as they sunk into the mud; her face held fear and she was unable to scream for help.
"Dara?" Dom called her name with uncertainty as he watched her sink even more into the mud. "Dara, try not to panic! It's quicksand! The more you struggle the faster you will sink!"
Ash and Lari exchanged a concerned glance before rushing to her, only to be stopped by Dom.
"Unless you want to join her in the quicksand I recommend two stay away," Dom warned calmly, even if calmness was the last thing on his mind as he saw her slowly sinking before his very eyes; feeling helpless not being able to reach in and grab her.
"Can't we just use a vine as a makeshift rope?" Lari suggested, thinking of any possible way to get her friend out of harms' way.
Dom's head shot up to the trees that contained hanging vines and started to pull one down. It was thick and hard to break off until both Lari and Ash joined in the game of tug-a-war.
Once the vine unhooked from the tree, Dom threw an end to Dara, who eagerly grabbed a hold.
All three on the opposite end of the quicksand stood, pulling her to safety with every tug of the thick 'rope'.
Dara couldn't even use her legs to push herself out, so the three where doing all work.
"Why…do they…call it…quicksand…if you sink…really…slow?" Dara inquired between breaths once out of the quicksand.
"Well I thought it was pretty fast," Dom said while pulling her to her feet. "And where would the fun be if it really was fast?"
Dara rolled her eyes at his question and smirked before eyeing Ash and Lari to her right; both had their backs to her and seemed to be staring at something that she did not see.
"What is it?"
Lari turned to acknowledge her then faced forward again. "A cave,"
Dom and Dara pushed by Ash and Lari to get a look for themselves; shock and excitement written across their faces.
"Looks like we found shelter for the night," Dom said while heading to the entrance.
"Let's just hope that it's not home to a bear," Lari added, running past him, starting a race to the cave.
"Bears?" Dara paused, uncertain whether or not to enter.
Ash seemed hesitant as well. Everything about the cave seemed familiar yet he had never been here before.
"Ash?" Lari called from the cave, a large smile on her face, happy to be out of the still pouring rain. "You coming?"
He slowly nodded in response, dragging a reluctant Dara behind him.
* * *
Little light filtered into the cave but it was enough to see the five unlit torches hanging on the walls on either side of the cave.
"It looks like three torches are missing," Lari pointed out, motioning to the three empty torch holders.
"And now there will be four more missing." Dom pulled out four torches, handing one to each friend and keeping the last for himself.
"A lot of good unlit torches will do us," Dara said while waving hers about.
Dom dug through his pants pocket and lifted out a bright yellow lighter. "That is what this is for."
Dom flicked the striker with his thumb which rolled against the flint, it then made a spark that ignited the fuel it contained, creating a small flame.
Within two minutes, all four torches were lit and burning bright in the gloomy cave. Ash remained silent and began taking the lead, following faded footprints already present on the sandy cave floor.
"Looks like we weren't the first ones here," Dom declared, worry of the soldiers arising deep in his mind.
"Well someone had to be on this island to plant the treasure," Dara explained, easing his mind.
All fell silent, unable to think of anything to say as they ventured deeper into the cave, being lead by the most silent of them all.
After nearly ten minutes, Ash stopped, causing his three friends to stop as well; eyeing him curiously.
"Light the torches," he demanded; knowing full well they were there.
Everything looked the same as it had in his dream and Ash felt as if the worst was yet to come and there would be nothing he could do to stop it from happening.
Dom raised his flaming torch to the closest unlit one on the wall. It flared to life and in the hall began to light in chain reaction.
With only one lighted by Dom, all they others lit in a chain reaction; all being connected to the other with a rope of some kind.
Now standing before them, the remaining soldiers, Salacia and John stared at the newcomers.
"Welcome," Salacia said in a menacing tone; arms outstretched, motioning to the decrepit temple they were standing in. "Your four left without saying goodbye, so we came to check up on you."
"Like hell!" Dara yelled, and then suddenly resented her statement.
Salacia ignored the outburst and cast her attention on Lari, who currently stood between Ash and Dom.
"How's the cheek?" Salacia asked with little concern while motioning to the cut she had put there the night before.
"How's the jaw?" Lari said with the same amount of concern.
Salacia rubbed a hand over her jaw and winced slightly before focusing on Ash.
"You have my keys and we are running out of time to retrieve the treasure," she said while pushing John up in front. "Perhaps your father could persuade you into giving them up."
John reluctantly looked into the betrayed eyes of his son as he began his explanation. The gun to his back made sure that he spoke to them.
"Centuries ago, around the time when the seven wonders were first being built, keys, you know, were hidden in each one." He took a shaky breath before continuing. "Little did the ones who hid the keys know what they would unlock if ever brought together in this very temple."
"What do they unlock?" Dara questioned, interrupting his speech.
Salacia gave her a look of warning and motioned for John to continue, which he did.
"Little is known about what sort of treasure the keys will unlock; that secret became lost through the generations, but what is known is that the Neves could no longer protect it," John watched as his words seemed to faze his son. "But by someone worthy."
"Those keys," Salacia began, hand outstretched toward the bag Dom carried. "They will unlock the secret hiding place of the treasure; the treasure that is in this very room."
"Where do the keys go?" Ash asked her, no longer silent as he once was.
"Ash, please don't tell me you are going to agree to help them," Lari could barley fathom what she was hearing from him.
Salacia pushed her soldiers aside to reveal a wall filled with locks that mirrored the images of the keys.
Ash then nodded to Dom who handed the bag to the waiting arms of Salacia who then handed it to one of her soldiers.
It took them all of five minutes to place all seven keys in their proper places; the circular mirror, the triangle, the square that looked like a checkered board, the miniature column, the lightning bolt, the torch, and the sun.
With each in place, the wall shook and Salacia fidgeted while waiting for the treasure to appear.
Small holes appeared at the top of the cave, arrows shooting through and hitting their marks in three of the soldiers.
Ash, Lari, Dom and Dara had thrown themselves to the floor, out of range of the arrows.
When the folly of arrows ended, Salacia screamed in frustration. "That was supposed to work!"
Lari attempted to stand but fell back down when her shoe slipped on something smooth. Brushing off the sand that covered the smooth stone, an exact copy of the locks was revealed; which didn't go unnoticed by Salacia's eyes.
"The first set was false. Those are the true locks!" Salacia declared, and didn't waste time ordering her soldiers to replace the keys.
The four friends were moved out of the way of the site, nearing the area of the fallen soldiers.
When the keys were in place, the wall that was believed to be false fell apart behind the four, revealing a secret tunnel followed only by darkness.
"You!" Salacia yelled while pointing to Lari. "You can go retrieve the treasure."
A one of the soldiers handed her a torch and nudged her into the new tunnel. She didn't even give a final glance back at her friends before taking the road.
She could hear Ash fighting verbally with Salacia about making him go instead of her but the voices dimmed the further she traveled.
When all was eerily silent, she felt a soft breeze hit her.
She looked around for some sort of hole in the walls and ceiling for where the breeze came from but her search turned up more than just a hole in the wall.
* * *
"If anything happens to her I will kill you!" Ash threatened Salacia while pacing before the entrance to the newly discovered tunnel.
"Don't make promises that you can't keep, Zaztep," she replied to his threat.
John was moving slowly among the dead bodies, unseen as he lifted a fully loaded gun off one of the soldiers.
Lari soon came running out of the tunnel, in the direction of Ash who suddenly realized the familiarity of the scene.
"Lari, get down!" he yelled to her as John fired his new gun.
Lari seemed frozen and Dom jumped out in front of her, taking the bullet in the arm before both he and Lari fell to the ground.
Another gunshot went off and as Ash turned to face the direction it came from, he saw his father sink to his knees, a hand covering a wound that was by his heart.
"Dad!" He rushed to his father's side and caught him before he fell to the ground completely.
"I'm so sorry, Ash." John's lips were tainted with blood as he spoke.
Ash only shook his head, tears stinging his blue eyes.
John took a deep and final breath as he whispered to his son the dooming words he had read on the back of the map just days ago.
"It cannot be destroyed, but it can destroy the world."
Chapter Twenty
Dead End
Wisdom begins in wonder.
-Socrates
The deafening sound of the gunshot still reverberated off the pure rock walls; while everyone stared in quiet shock and remorse at the scene before them as John took his final breath.
Ash seemed frozen in time. He could have saved his father if only he tried. He warned Lari, but how could he forget about his own father? The man solely raised him from the age of five when his mother passed away.
Royal blue eyes filled with a fiery rage and shot up to glare at Salacia, who seemed to be smiling. She still held the gun that had held the tiny bullet that stole John's life.
"You can't seriously be heartbroken over the death of your father," she started. "He did double-cross you."
"He was still my father," Ash defended, standing up and letting his father's body rest on the floor; his handswere tainted a deep shade of red.
"Yes…he was."
Ash cast a glance to the box that Lari had brought back with her. It was lying in the center of the room after it had been knocked out of her hands. Lari herself seemed grieved into silence.
Salacia noticed the box and made a sudden dash for it; Ash did the same.
By the time Salacia had reached it, Ash dove and grabbed it as he slid past her to the corner where his three friends
stood.
"No!"
Lari helped him up as Ash brushed the dirt and sand off of himself; his once black shirt a now faded gray.
"Give it to me!" Salacia cried; hands outstretched for it.
"Why should I?" Ash inquired; holding the box protectively to his chest.
"They will hunt you down," she warned. "The Neves will never stop until they find you. The treasure you now hold in your hands is what they protect. They would kill you for it."
