Kiana

Kiana

The Untamed

Episode 1

Phantom of the Forest

Chapter 8 Treasure

“Not far now,” Kiana said.

“That’s a relief,” thought Daniel. The day’s adventure was getting creepy. Kiana had led them into the ruins of the once magnificent temple. It had been relatively easy going for the early part of the trek. The interior had been surprising clear of vegetation even though most of the stone surfaces were covered with mosses. There was only the occasional tangle of vegetation where the roof had fallen in. However, as they had penetrated the inner recesses of the temple, it had become increasingly gloomy as they passed beyond the reach of sunlight. Finally they had to resort to using Hughes’ flashlight, a device that Kiana found intriguing.

“I won’t last long, Kiana,” Hughes had cautioned after the girl had taken it from him and clicked it on and off a dozen times. We have to go before the battery runs out.”

The concept of a battery was lost on Kiana until Danielle explained. “It’s like the sun, Kiana. Eventually it gets tired and has to rest. We have to use it before it wears out.”

Kiana nodded and handed the flashlight back to Hughes. “We go before light gets tired.” Quickly she turned and led them deeper into the ruin.

A short while farther on they came to a place where the roof of the temple had collapsed. Sections of the giant columns were scattered about the floor and broken pieces of the huge lintels that had been part of the ceiling made the going difficult. They had to scramble over and under broken bits of stone. Here, however, Hughes was able to save his flashlight as sunlight streamed in between the remaining columns.

It was in that section that they finally came to the place that made Danielle uneasy. It was a depression in the floor of the temple and it led underground. It was here that Danielle began to feel anxious. She did not like black holes in the ground. There was no telling what might be lurking in there, but she couldn’t refuse to enter. Not when Kiana entered without a moment’s hesitation.

“Christ,” Danielle muttered, “there could be snakes in there.”

Hughes shrugged. “Follow the leader,” he said.

Inside the underground passage it was pitch dark. Danielle wondered how Kiana had managed to make her way through without the aid of a flashlight until the girl spoke. “Meteke show me this.

Meteke. The girl had spoken of her before. It was another mystery. Danielle realized that she was going to have to sit down and have a good talk with the girl before she learned all about her.

The tunnel ran on for about a hundred or so paces, then it widened into a large vault. And there gleaming in the darkness was a treasure beyond anything Danielle and Hughes could have imagined.

“My god,” exclaimed Hughes. “This must be worth billions.”

The vaulted room they were standing in measured about forty by fifty feet and was three times the height of a man. Heaped almost to the roof gleamed a small mountain of gem-studded gold objects.

For an instant Danielle held her breath. “It’s like Aladdin’s cave,” she finally breathed.

Hughes nodded although in the dim light probably no one saw the motion of his head. Only Kiana seemed unimpressed. She climbed onto the pile of treasure and started sorting through it, picking up first one object and then another.

Hughes stooped and picked up a gold bowl. Four brilliant emeralds gleamed near its rim. “This is incredible,” he said. “Who could have put all this here?”

“I don’t know,” Danielle replied. She had picked up a small golden statue of a gazelle and was studying it. “I’m not enough of an archeologist to recognize the style.” Carefully she replaced the object on the pile.

“I think it best if we leave everything here,” she said. “This is something we should leave to the experts.”

“Perhaps we could just take a few things. Sort of for souvenirs,” Hughes suggested.

Danielle laughed. “You know we can’t do that. It doesn’t belong to us. At the very least it is the property of the people of Ethiopia.”

“But they don’t even know it’s here,” Hughes protested. “Surely we deserve some sort of reward for finding it.”

“We didn’t find it,” Danielle said. “Kiana did. “If anything it all belongs to her.”

“Alright,” said Hughes. “We’ll leave it. But I feel like an idiot.”

By this time Kiana had scrambled back to them. She was wearing a gem-studded gold torque she had found. “You like?” the girl asked standing on her tiptoes so that Danielle could see it better.

“It’s very pretty, Kiana,” Danielle replied. “Thank you for showing us the treasure. Now I think we should go before Hughes’ flashlight goes out.”

Hughes did not question the right of the forest girl to keep the torque. “At least someone should get something out of this,” he thought.

They filed out of the vault and headed above ground. Danielle gave a sigh of relief when they finally reached daylight again. She had been far from comfortable in the vault, despite the splendor of the treasure.

As before Kiana led the way. This time they went more quickly, as they were merely retracing their steps. “I’ve got to come back here with my camera equipment,” Danielle thought.

The same thought occurred to Hughes. “How about tomorrow I head back to the original camp? The rest of the crew might still be there. If they are I could be back in about three days.”

“Fantastic idea,” Danielle said. “I’ll stay here with Kiana and do a bit more scouting about.”

“Alright,” said Hughes. “It’s nice to have a plan.”

They quickened their pace. For the first time since Danielle had come to Ethiopia it seemed that things were finally working out.

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