Karma was running as fast as she could through the ruins of the temple, the beautiful ring clutched in her hand as she heard the distant screams of rage from those...things. If she had been standing still she would have shuddered, but at the moment she had no time for that - at the moment, of course.

She jumped to avoid a half-buried tiled roof that had fallen from somewhere, the sky-like gem in the ring glittering in the sunlight that filtered through the trees overhead. Light ahead drew her in that direction and she sped up as the screams sounded again.

And there, thank every single spirit, was Barry, shouting at her to hurry up. She did so - she was not named 'the fastest legs in the Far East' for nothing.

...

"What were those things?" Fox, the Irishwoman asked. Guy grinned in the easygoing way he had.

"They're guardians of the idol. Some say they're the cursed beasts who stole it from the god it represented. But I think they're just mutated monkeys, myself."

Karma stayed silent, twisting the ring between her fingers. Temple-robbers, the entire group, but they talked like kids making up games sometimes. When Karma had first run out of the temple with the ring in her grasp and gold coins besides, she'd felt two gargantuan fingers grasp at her shoulder and brush it, missing as she sped up with pure adrenalin and terror. That was not 'just' a mutated monkey, it was a demon of some kind that could have very easily killed the entire group and eaten them had it been with them in an enclosed space.

Barry cleared his throat. "They're dangerous, whatever they are."

Karma looked up, surprised that he had voiced her thoughts, but dropped her gaze. She watched from under her eyelids as the group ate, talked and one by one began to fall asleep. Barry stayed awake - he had volunteered to keep watch.

Karma looked at him critically. She had never understood why a cop would be up to robbing the temples of the old gods of these jungles, but neither had she asked, nor had he ever explained.

Slowly, she fell asleep, unaware of Barry watching her as she did so.