"What took you so long? Just how incompetent can you be? I even went as far as telling you to co here, I couldn't believe my eyes when you went on the wrong direction." Flanagan exclaid as soon as the hidden door opened.
When a few seconds passed and Uriel realized that Nika wouldn't walk forward he nudged on her, but she remained still. It was as if her soul had suddenly co out of her body.
"What is it, Nika?" When a gentle push didn't make it, Uriel pushed past her violently yet she barely reacted.
The reason why Nika was frozen lied at Flanagan's feet. There were about six corpses on the floor, completely deprived of blood. The dry husks seed to be mummified, but despite that it was still possible to see the pained expressions on their disfigured faces.
"What did you do to them!?" Uriel yelled at him looking for the female engineer among the corpses, only to realize that Flanagan wasn't alone. Two hulking figures on each side of him, horrid visages filled with uncanny eyes and long thorny limbs that ended in even longer claws. Suddenly, the fate of the panther that attacked them before wasn't a mystery anymore.
"Ah! Wonderful! You're finally here Mister Sage!" Flanagan's mood shifted as soon as he saw Uriel, and now a genuine smile was drawn on the treacherous man's face. "With your help, I'm sure I'll be able to find the fountain of youth in the blink of an eye. Don't worry about these guys, I tried sacrificing them but it didn't work...
even in their deaths they were worthless." He finished this words by spitting on the ground further disrespecting the deceased.
Needless to say, it was Flanagan's plan all along to lure them to the top of the pyramid which made their detour across the underground passage completely worthless.
The thought of summoning his revolver right then and there crossed Uriel's mind, but before he could actually do it, the cryptid in front of him directed all of his eyes towards him in a nacing way giving him the idea that perhaps they were able to sense any hostility.
"What are those things?" Uriel stuttered.
"I see you've never heard of the naless, let tell you a story..." Flanagan made a quick pause to gaze towards Nika as if expecting her to protest but, when he realized she was petrified in fear, he simply snickered at her and then continued. "This is the one and only naless bracelet, it holds the key to the fountain of youth but I can't get it open.
Judging by your look It seems you're wondering how do I know about it. Well, it's because of Ponce de Leon, the spanish conquistador that ca to this lands looking for 'El dorado' only to beco obsessed with the fountain of youth. According to historians, he passed away after being wounded by an arrow."
"I know, If I rember correctly he died on his way to Cuba." Uriel replied.
"That's not what happened, I an, he did die... but it wasn't an arrow what killed him. He actually betrayed his companions and lived a long life with the indians, he only staged his own dead to investigate the fountain of youth without the spanish crown ddling in his business. It's all ntioned in his mories."
"His mories!?" Despite the ill circumstances, Uriel couldn't hide his excitent at the ntion of a historical docunt unknown to him.
"I knew you'd be interested, yes, his mories. There's a lot of ramblings about his life among the locals and also about his indian wife, but he also made sure to take note of the stories these people told. As you may know, Mayans weren't keen on writing their history like other cultures, instead, they chose to pass down stories from generation to generation.
There was this one tale about two creatures without nas, most likely to avoid turning them into objects of adoration, that were tasked with a single mission... to protect the fountain of eternal youth."
"And the naless bracelet gives you power over them?"
"That would be amazing, wouldn't it? No, it's not that easy, but they will protect whoever wears the bracelet. When this creatures woke up they wouldn't lift a finger, not even if they were attacked, but as soon as I put on the bracelet they ca to and led to the castle. That's why I know the fountain of youth must be here, they will only protect the fountain of youth."
"Why are you telling all this?"
"Because you're going to help find it."
"What if I don't cooperate? I'm your only chance to find it." Uriel asked defiantly.
"Take a look at your options. Miss Nika can't kill , just being in the presence of the naless ones froze her. I wouldn't be surprised if she dropped dead any second now, the only reason why you can still move is because you're too weak to sense the imnse pressure they emit. Besides that, I'm way stronger than you, you wouldn't be able kill even if you tried your best.
That toy rifle you're carrying could be useful against weak cryptids, but I won't go down with just a few shots."
"But you can't kill either."
"Ah! yes... but you see." Flanagan walked straight towards Nika and forcefully grabbed her face with a hand. "I could kill her. Maybe all I need is more blood... and if that doesn't work, I could still hurt you until you see things my way."
Flanagan's threat sohow managed to snap Nika out of her reverie, she softly shook her head but didn't try to release herself from Flanagan's iron grip, instinctively knowing that whatever she did against him could be her last move.
"That's it, good girl." Flanagan said, softly caressing her cheek. He then let her go only to cross her face with a slap so forceful it turned her face to the side.
"You're not getting away with this, when Walter finds out he'll have you killed." Rage was burning inside her, but she couldn't move a muscle so she settled with spitting an empty threat.
"But Walter isn't in charge of the Mapple corp. anymore, is he? I don't work for Walter, I work for the new head of the Works family. They sent here to secure anything that could be of use and that's precisely what I'm doing!" His words were accompanied by a maniacal laughter.
Uriel was thorn in between his choices, although his first intention was to help Flanagan in order to trick him and sohow activating the barrier, he now knew that whatever he did he would be dead at by the end of it. If what Flanagan was true, not even the zeppelin was a safe place from him.
Once again he felt powerless, a feeling he was accustod to after being bullied most of his life, but after experiencing being in the spotlight, after being listened to when he spoke about his passion, after being acknowledged by experts in their field, for the first ti in his life he felt he had sothing to lose.
He had been recognized as a peer by world wide experts, he had been accompanied by a beauty, airhead or not it couldn't be denied that Nika was indeed beautiful, and even more importantly, he was taking part in the adventure of a lifeti. All he needed to do in order to pass onto history as a full fledged archaeologist would be to co back alive and share his findings.
Unfortunately for Uriel, he couldn't think of any way to make it, he was cornered.
'It can't end this way. It just can't... I still have so much more to do, so much I want to know.' Tears ran down his cheeks as his thoughts derived into chaos. 'If even thinking about hurting will cause those cryptids to attack , then all I have to do is...' He clenched his fist and lowered his gaze as the slightest spark of hope still flad.
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