3 years ago - Izzy
When the crew made their way down the coast to the ruins early that morning, the excitement in the air was palpable. Rowdy groups split up and placed wagers against each other. By the time they reached the ruins, the anticipation lay thick in the air. They fervently prepared and unpacked their kits with great expectation of this being the day they finally found Rhapta.
"The tide is coming in so, if all goes well, we should be set up and ready when the water is high. Are you sure you got the message to the divers?"
"A hundred percent, Mum. They sent word back to meet them here at the site. The divers are coming fully kitted and prepared for the worst. I'm sure they should be here any moment."
"That's great, sweets, let's just hope the cave is accessible. The samples I took and tested last night came up positive for sulfur which means it's highly likely we have a cave down there."
"So, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Sulfur in the cave that is."
"Well, I know from my research that when sulfur is present, it is most likely an indication of there being blind shafts and higher maze passages. If this is the case, then the chances are there would be large chambers too, and that means it is without a doubt a sunken city. Given all these assumptions are, in fact, confirmed, then it further proves that there was quite possibly a collapse of some kind of structure. Whether it was indeed Rhapta remains to be seen, but this is a great day in history one way or another."
"This is super exciting, Mum! I just wish Dad were here to experience this with us."
"Knowing your dad, he has already felt it in his bones."
It was a good thing the divers arrived or they would still be doubled over with laughter by sunset. Izzy did miss Charles, but somehow, after a lifetime of depending on him, her newfound independence had brought about some liberation of sorts. She was doing this on her own. How many female archaeologists could say that?
"Ma'am, we're going to need you to stand back, please, for our safety and yours. We will be fastening our guide ropes, and our ground crew will be watching everything on the monitors from up here. You're welcome to join them but, in the event of an explosion or a collapse, it is best to keep a safe distance."
Izzy was a get-in-and-get-dirty kind of woman. She detested standing back, but she respected the divers' skill and complied.
"Sure thing. I'll have my crew explore a bit farther inland, if that's okay? How long will the dive take though?" She tried not to tap her foot impatiently.
"It's hard to tell, ma'am. It all depends on what we find down there. If all goes well, our initial exploration will be about two hours. Our tanks don't allow for more. Once the first dive team is up, I'll send down the second for another two-hour session. Anything beyond that, we would have to wait until tomorrow before we dive again."
There was a deadline and impending greed hot on her heels, not to mention they had been at it for decades and the excitement was too much for them all to bear. She was certain that by now the word of having found a possible underground cave and ruins was all over the country. It wouldn't take long for the treasure hunters to show up and stake their claims.
"I understand. The divers run the risk of getting the bends."
"What's that?" Alex asked.
"It's decompression illness from being under the water too long with the oxygen tanks," the diver replied.
Conceding she didn't have any other choice but to practice patience, Izzy turned to look for Eric who again, was nowhere in sight. It was now a regular occurrence and shouldn't seem strange, but it was.
"How is it that guy is always missing? Just what in heaven's name is that boy up to? When he surfaces, I'm not taking my eyes off that redhead, IF he surfaces."
It was no secret that she was annoyed. She tried her best to push the nagging feeling in her gut away by busying herself with pitching the tents. Alexandra was behind her laptop doing more research as usual. She had a mind like a sponge and questioned everything; took after her dad, that was certain.
"Can you tear yourself away for a little walk? I want to see what's behind those trees over there."
"Sure, Mum, I'll bring our kit just in case. There's not much we can do here except wait. We'll have to let the divers do their thing and come back later."
"You're a chip off the old block, my girl."
They zigzagged through the rows of palm trees in search of any possible clues or evidence pointing to the existence of a lost civilization. A couple of hours inland and the tropical paradise coast disappeared into a yellow Savannah with acacia trees and ferocious predators. One would never guess the ocean surrounded all of that wildlife.
Fallen coconuts and rotten mangos lay scattered on the ground everywhere. It was an island paradise. Large boulders and palm leaves were scattered throughout the tree-covered ground. It was a perpetual tourist hotspot for sunseekers. Nearby Zanzibar Island was one of the most sought-after holiday destinations in Africa. Izzy took it all in. What's not to like? It looked like a postcard.
"Did you bring the puzzle box and the scroll, sweetheart? Can we sit down here for two minutes and have another look? I think we're missing something."
It was a silly question. Alexandra slept with it every night. Of course she would have it with her. She hadn't parted with it since they found it.
"Okay, let's go through all this again, shall we? We have a wooden puzzle box that delivered a secret scroll with a seal. The seal has the numbers eleven, five, twenty-five which spell the word KEY in English. The scroll has a clue written in black cursive to which the answer is simply, a river, and all this was safely locked away in a clever combination box. What am I missing?"
"Nothing, Mum. That's pretty much it."
"And you're certain the cipher is translating to English, and the word KEY is the only possible answer?"
"Yip. Pretty sure. I tried many other options, but none worked. Dad agreed."
"Could it be that the box has another puzzle in it, maybe? Perhaps something else is hidden in it?"
"I don't think so. I mean, I was at it for hours. Unless it has two hidden drawers."
She started fiddling with it again. Turning this way and that, slipping latches in and out, and still nothing.
"And the knife? Did we inspect that thoroughly?"
"I believe so yes, Dad did."
"Let's have another look there too. We found both in practically the same quadrant, so perhaps they're linked somehow."
Izzy turned the knife over and inspected it from all angles. She followed suit with the box and the scroll. Both looked very straightforward. Nothing different from what they had already found and decrypted.
"Fancy a coconut while we work, Mum? Might as well make a decent picnic of it." She laughed at herself for being so goofy. Alex picked up a coconut and walked to a nearby rock to crack it open but suddenly stopped.
"Mum, I think you'd better come and look at this."
Izzy turned to look where her daughter stood bent over an oblong rock-like object.
"What? It's a rock. Bigger than normal but still, just a rock."
"Um, no, I don't think so."
Alex had her mother's curiosity piqued, and she strolled over, still enamored with the knife.
"I've never seen anything like it. It looks like a… NO! It simply isn't possible! There is just no way this is a—"
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Mum?" Alex interrupted.
"I never thought I would see the day, Alexandra, but yes. It looks a lot like a prehistoric egg!"
"Yip! That's what I was thinking exactly. It's enormous. What type of bird lays a gray egg this size?" She paused and added.
"I'm going to touch it."
"NO! Don't, Alexandra! If it belongs to the bird I'm thinking of then this might not have good consequences at all! Let's just leave it here, for now, mark the location and come back later with the crew. We would need to take all precautions. It could be alive, so we will need to run some tests first."
"What? Are we just going to leave it here? That's crazy, Mum."
But before the two could enter into a disagreement, they heard a shrill shrieking sound followed by a thunderous bellow that shook the trees around them.
"That's not a hadedah nor thunder, Mum! Look up!"
Izzy's heart stopped, and in no time the hair on her neck stood up.
"Run, Alexandra! Run!"
Fear gripped her every cell as she grabbed a still-gawking Alexandra by the hand and ran as fast as her two legs could carry her. The thick sand made it hard to run and her leg muscles burned under the strain. She secretly longed for Charles to come to their rescue.
So much for her independence, she thought. Alexandra swooshed past her. She was as swift as a gazelle. Izzy looked up to see the massive bird swooping in over them, just missing Izzy's shoulder by a fraction. The force of its wings knocked her off balance, and she tripped and fell flat on her face in the sand.
Surrounded by abundant vegetation and mango trees, she jumped to her feet and sidestepped behind the closest tree to find her bearings. She looked across to Alexandra where she too had found cover behind a tree. Izzy's eyes were franticly searching for a way out. As her eyes skimmed over her surroundings, she realized the vegetation was entirely flattened.
"Alexandra, look around us! We're in the middle of her nest!"
Human remains lay scattered all around them. Skeletons, skulls, and several half-eaten animal carcasses were strewn across the sandy floor. Izzy was right. They were smack-bang in the middle of her lair and they were trapped.
"We need to get out of here, Mum, or we will be this creature's next snack!"
The bird turned and came back around, taking another dive straight toward them. Its pelican-like beak was monstrous. Its bright volcanic red body was as swift as a Navy airplane. Her razor-sharp claws were the size of six sickles bundled together. It was unlike anything Izzy or Alex had ever seen and resembled something from the Jurassic Age. Or perhaps it was from the pits of hell.
"We need to run back to the beach, Alexandra. There's nowhere else to run to. If we run from tree to tree, skipping about three at a time, we could make our way out bit by bit. You can get a head start, and I'll cover you with the rifle. I am not taking any chances here today. Curse or no curse."
"Okay, load it up. I'm ready, Mum."
The giant bird sensed their plan and swooped low to scoop Izzy up with its claws. She missed her by a fraction as Izzy twirled her body around the back of the tree trunk.
"NOW!" she shouted to Alexandra as the bird gained height to turn and come back for another dive.
The crushing sound of carcasses under their feet was revolting, but the pair made it unscathed to the next tree. Just in time too as the bird came in for another dive, this time aiming for Alexandra. Izzy cocked her rifle, grateful for having the foresight to bring it. Aiming, she shot one bullet at it. But she missed and cursed the creature. It looked straight at her. The shot made her angry and it sent off another shrill sound in warning before ascending for another dive.
"NOW!" Izzy shouted at Alex again.
They ran and cleared another four trees. The bird was relentless and dove down again. Izzy aimed the rifle at it once more and pulled the trigger. Somehow the bullet clipped its wing and tipped it off balance, but the bird quickly recovered and swooped past her again for another ascent.
"NOW!" This time it was Alexandra shouting.
They ran again having now completed most of the tree-to-tree relay around its lair. They were almost in the clear. Perhaps, with any luck, the bird would give up once they were out of the den and no longer a threat to her. Izzy looked back, preparing herself for the bird to dive at them again but it was gone.
"Can you see it?" she shouted across to Alexandra.
"No, I think she's gone, Mum."
"I doubt that. It is lurking about here somewhere. If we run now we are an open target."
"You clipped it with that last shot. Perhaps it's dead."
They listened for any sound of its wings—nothing. Dead silence. It was too big for it not to be seen. They were so close to the beach.
"Let's make a run for three more trees, Mum! I don't see how we have any other options here. We can hardly hang about here all day. Sooner or later it will win if we stick around."
"Okay, on three again… ONE… TWO… THREE!"
Again they sprinted to their next beacon, now out of its lair, and Izzy looked back to Alexandra as she passed her second tree. Behind her, coming from her right, the bird was in full flight and came straight for her.
"INCOMING THREE O'CLOCK!"
Izzy cocked her rifle, aimed, and shot.
"Not on my watch, you demon!"
Seconds later the bird hit the tree behind Alexandra and fell to the ground.
"RUN, ALEX, RUN!"
Too afraid to look back to see if it was dead they made a beeline through the trees in the direction of the beach. Through the first clearing, they heard men's voices and looked up to find Eric with some of the crew, guns loaded, heading straight toward them.
"What's happening? What are you running from?" Eric questioned.
"RUN!" Alex shouted as she and Izzy rushed past him, stopping for the first time when they finally got to the beach safely.
"What the hell was that all about?" Eric, who never saw the bird, asked.
"That was the raptor bird, Eric. We accidentally landed in its lair when we went for a walk, and the thing came at us, an enormous beast with fireball eyes and claws and everything!" Alex said trying to catch her breath.
"Nah, that's impossible. Everyone knows that's just a story the elders made up to entertain the young ones," Eric said in disbelief.
"Well, we saw it with our very own eyes. It was very real, I assure you. Godzilla would have nothing on this thing. Rotten animal carcasses and human skeletons lay everywhere in its lair. I don't think those who came before us were as lucky as us and escaped. There were hundreds of bones."
"We have to go back and take some photos. To send to Charles, of course. He's going to want to see this, I'm sure." All of a sudden Eric's curiosity was aroused.
Izzy finally spoke. "Be my guest, Eric. Just don't expect us to go back there with you. You'll be dead in seconds."
"But Charles has to see for himself," he continued, planting suspicion in Izzy's mind over why he wanted to go back there so badly.
"Do you have a death wish or something? Trust me, Eric, it doesn't matter. I can put together a couple of rough sketches for him. That thing is etched in my mind forever, believe me," Alex warned.
"I'd listen to her if I were you, Eric. That demonic creature is nothing but trouble. It will rip you to shreds," Izzy added.
Not wanting to argue with him any further she pushed him aside and walked over to the scuba divers who came out from their first dive already. If he was going to be stupid enough to walk straight into a death trap, then so be it. He was warned.
"And? What does it look like down there? Anything we can work with?" Izzy turned her attention to the divers.
"Ma'am, it was amazing. There are a series of underwater chambers and tunnels of which we haven't seen half. It is simply spectacular. The second crew is down there now, collecting more samples and taking photos. We rigged it up with the surveillance cameras already. Come see."
The monitors displayed perfect underwater images of the crew collecting samples. The crew leader fiddled with a couple of buttons and zoomed several cameras in on the maze of tunnels spread out beneath the surface.
"These edges here are what protrude above the water at low tide. They are the outer edges of the tunnels, not structures. There is some sulfur but not too much to jeopardize the dive. We should know more once the second team is up."
"Have you found any objects of any kind? Any relics whatsoever?"
"We did lift a couple of wine goblets and some porcelain plates, yes, ma'am. I suspect the glasses quite possibly have copper or brass stems. It's not gold but, to be sure, we're soaking them in the tank over there. And then one or two objects that we aren't quite sure what they are yet. They could be knives or swords, so we put them in the electrolysis tank. There is quite a bit of erosion and oxidization."
"So then, that's proof that they came into contact with dry air at some stage. Perhaps someone found them and threw them back," Izzy interjected.
"No, ma'am, not likely. I think it's more probable that they dislodged at some stage in one of the currents perhaps and floated to the surface during a low tide."
"Sure, that could explain it too, yes. Alexandra, get your father on your computer please, sweets. We need to let him know what we have all discovered. To gain further clarity it's going to require his expertise for sure."
Izzy dared not mention their narrow escape from the raptor bird in front of the men at this stage. The entire country was aware of the legendary bird of prey that would release the curse of Kifa and devour anything in its path if anyone came near Rhapta. If they heard it actually existed, they would stop the dive, and then they could forget about finding anyone brave enough to go down there again. If she was lucky, she killed it and there was nothing to worry about anyway.
Alex relentlessly tried getting a connection to Charles, but there was interference with the service.
"Leave it, sweetheart. We'll try again later. Eric has gone missing again. You're going to need to use your camera to shoot some images of the artifacts."