Chapter 1: Opening Image
The sun blazed down on the ruins, baking the ancient stones to a warm toasty temperature. It didn’t matter that it was set to reach 100+ degrees today, Fiona’s passion for her work would still drive her to seek out those mysteries hidden beneath the earth.
“It’s so hot—even in my long sleeves and pants, I can’t get a break,” Fiona’s best friend, Elara whined, swiping her hand across her sweaty brow.
“It’ll be worth it,” Fiona reassured her friend as she stepped down into the narrow trench.
Fiona was a university student with a passion for archaeology. The thought of uncovering an overlooked treasure or a forgotten secret of the ancient civilization kept her heart pounding. Her long brown hair stuck to her neck, and sweat trickled down her back, but she was determined to keep going. The humidity of the dense jungle clung to her skin, but she barely noticed as she brushed away a layer of dirt from a newly uncovered stone. The stone were part of a larger structure - a temple or a pyramid. It was hard to tell yet, but Fiona was excited to see what lay in wait of her.
With her trowel, she carefully scraped away the centuries of earth and decay that had buried this space.
As she worked, the air thickened, and a strange sensation crept up her spine. Her senses heightened. She could hear the distant chatter of birds overhead and the hum of life around her. She could smell the earth, the damp moss, and the faintest hint of flowers in the breeze. She looked at her friend Elara, who felt like she was in a dream. “I feel like we are finally gonna find something.
I can feel it in my bones,” Fiona said in excitement. As she continued to brush off the earth covering the newly uncovered stone, the stone began to glow. The sensation in her spine surged, and she gasped, her body buzzing with an electric current. Her vision sharpened, and the world around her seemed to slow down. As her fingers traced the ancient carvings, she felt a spark, and suddenly the earth around her began to tremble. She looked at her hands as the glowing stone light began to spread up her arms and over her limbs.
The sweat on Fiona’s naked chest and face felt more intense as she took a deep breath and sweated.