Author's Notes: As promised here is book 2! Well the first chapter of it that is. I have no idea how long this one will end up being or if there will be the third book in the series (doubtful of that at the moment) so we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully you all will enjoy this one as much as the first book in the Ruins Raiders series. Thanks for reading!

Ruins Raiders: Book Two

Chapter One, A New Adventure

By Relm

Months ago there had been a battle of epic proportions that had occurred. The whole world could have descended into utter chaos had the outcome of the fight been different. Evil hadn't won, good had prevailed. And even though Lina Inverse famed Professor of North Rixx University had risked her life in that hectic battle not a damned person knew about the danger she faced that day.

To the rest of the world it had been a day like any other. The fools couldn't even have imagined how their lives could have changed if the outcome had been different that day. But no one did know and Lina's heroic efforts went unnoticed. There was no fancy party in her name, no key to the city no street named after her. The same went with the others who participated in that battle. There was no glory to be shared, just a lot of legal red tape.

In the aftermath of the battle there were a lot of strange things needing explaining to the authorities that wouldn't make sense unless you knew the whole story. But what police officer would believe that an ancient revived god was running amuck? No they were having enough trouble explaining how a presumed dead man was suddenly alive again after he had been dead for years.

It had been an exhausting ordeal but eventually everything got sorted out and everyone could get back to their normal lives.

Since the fight Lina hadn't seen hide or hair of her great-grandmother Nora Lockeheart. Nora was also one of the people that participated in the epic battle that saved the world. Not seeing or talking to her great-grandmother in quite some time might have worried Lina but she knew that Nora was safe. Nora was with her first love, Rezo Red the man who magically came back from the dead. Lina would get postcards and letters from the two as they traveled abroad. The most recent ones hinted at a possible wedding though Lina knew if the pair was going to get married they'd elope. So Lina wasn't expecting any wedding invitation.

And what of Rezo's great-grandson Zelgadis Greywars, Professor at East Rixx University? Well Zelgadis did as Lina did and went back to work once the dust was settled. He had promised to take her out on a date at some point after all the crazy was done but both them hadn't had the time. Being away from their respective jobs for so long after being tied up with legal issues they had mountains of work to do once they got back.

Lina was lucky she had Sylphiel, otherwise Lina's mountain of work would have been higher but it was still enough to keep her occupied. And just when she thought she was almost up to date Lina had been ordered to drop everything and get on a plane. As it turned out an old ancient tablet had been partially translated shedding new light to the whereabouts of the lost city of Velnqxbos. All across the world tablets and other ancient writings had been found about this fabled city and its people. History may have recorded the existence of these people but not where they lived. No one knew where the city had been nor what happened to its people. Until now that is.

With this partial translation it was a race to be the first ones to find the ruins of the city. Which meant Headmaster Gaberieve (Lina's boss) wanted North Rixx to be the ones to claim the honor of being the first ones to find Velnqxbos. Even though relations between East Rixx and North Rixx were better there was still a big rivalry amongst the two schools. Old habits did die hard after all. Even still East Rixx and North Rixx weren't the only ones looking for the city. Scholars all across the world were searching making this one crazy race.

Lina let out a tired sigh as she picked up her bags after she landed. She wanted nothing more than to check into a hotel and sleep for a week. The flight had been exhausting. Twelve hours on three different flights and not even first class either. Lina spent her whole time in the air trapped in a small coach seat surrounded by noisy people being rocked by the turbulence. Lina had wanted to sleep but given that she was on the plane ride from hell sleep was out of the question. And even if she could afford the luxury of a nap time after landing there was no real hotels to check into in the rural country of Jhonwxa. According to history the country had once been a lush green rainforest but was now mostly a barren desert.

To add insult to injury Lina was going to be doing this expedition all alone. So there was really no time to be wasted. Definitely no time for napping.

Usually when it came to relic hunting and raiding lost ruins Lina had the help of her assistant Gourry, middle son of Headmaster Gaberieve. It wasn't that Lina really needed Gourry the Headmaster just insisted Gourry go with her. Gourry did have his uses as he was tall, broad and good in a fight. Plus when it came to camping out in the wild it was always good to have someone else around to keep watch. But just the same Lina would rather not have him with her. Gourry did mean well but he tended to mess up more things than get them right.

The reason why Gourry couldn't accompany Lina on this recent expedition was because Gourry had broken his leg ice skating with his new girlfriend. Since the day he met her Gourry had been crushing on Lina's assistant Sylphiel. But he had never gathered up the courage to ask her out on a proper date. Any time they did go out Sylphiel didn't realize Gourry meant it to be a date. But after that battle things changed for Sylphiel a bit. Life seemed to be a shorter fleeting thing that Sylphiel didn't want to miss out on. So it was Sylphiel that broke the ice and asked Gourry to go on a date and two had been together since.

Lina had to chuckle at the turn of events. In all honestly she never thought Gourry could do it. And as it turned out she was right. Thinking about her assistants' love life made Lina think of her nonexistent one. Sure she was supposed to go out on a date with Zelgadis at some point but when would they ever find the time?

With luggage in hand Lina went about trying to rent a vehicle to use for her time in Jhonwxa. And by rent she meant buy and use till she went home. Lina didn't have her doubts she would find a person will to sell her a car or jeep or something but it would be a matter of whether or not it would break down on her.

Since it was just her Lina's options were a little wider. Usually she'd be stuck driving a car since Gourry was always with her. But since it was just herself that meant that Lina could get a motorcycle and Lina loved to ride them. It was never the practical choice back home so Lina always drove a car but out in a place like Jhonwxa which was mostly desert it was perfect choice. Well maybe not but Lina didn't care she wanted a motorcycle and that's what she was going to get. Or a jeep, because she liked jeeps too.

Outside what Jhonwxa's capital Uouoong was calling an airport Lina's senses were assaulted by blistering dry heat, exotic smells and sounds of local chatter. Shops and stands lined the street as people tried to peddle their wares. Though Lina was determined to get a vehicle her nose teamed up with her stomach and Lina found herself buying just about every type of food she could get her hands on. Everything was just so delicious that Lina just couldn't stop. One of the perks of traveling abroad. She did need to shop for supplies anyway so why not feed her gut at the same time?

Once her stomach was filled and supplies bought Lina found a man who told her of person selling vehicles. Of course Lina couldn't understand the man completely nor could he her so the person doing the selling was actually selling camels. Lina didn't have anything against camels but they weren't her favourite mode of transport. She put that idea in the back of her mind as she went from place to place trying to find an alternative. Ten different vendors later and Lina ended up in the shop right next to the camel guy. (The camel guy purposely didn't tell Lina about his neighbor because he wanted her to get a camel instead.)

A lot of the cars were clunkers and the few motorcycles there were rusted beyond repair. (The vehicles in proper working order had already been sold to other relic hunters searching for Velnqxbos.) In the end Lina still ended up with a camel.

After leading her new 'ride' out past the main city streets Lina readjusted her robe and head scarf. The sun was high and hot in the sky making her normal clothing a poor choice of wardrobe. Lina didn't like wearing the scarf but she knew it was necessary. Complete with a dark pair of sunglasses felt ready to face the challenges ahead. As Lina strapped her bags to the sides of the camel's saddle she looked over her fuzzy mode of transportation.

"I think I'm going to call you Petunia." Lina said to the camel as she climbed on top.

Petunia made a disgruntled noise as Lina did so probably because Petunia was actually a male camel and not female.

Lina made a clicking noise as she urged Petunia onwards with a nudge from the heels of her feet. The two of them had a long way to go and it would be longer still if Lina just hung around. While riding Lina took the time to go over her notes and GPS equipment. Lina herself had been studying the very same translated tablet that talked of Velnqxbos for fun on the side. If Lina had devoted all of her efforts into translating she knew she would have transcribed the whole thing. Even still looking over what was already translated Lina knew there were a few things wrong.

Yes there was no doubt in her mind that Velnqxbos was in Jhonwxa that much she confirm but the other details weren't so correct. If everyone read the translation and followed it without question then they would be searching for Velnqxbos in the northwest. Since Lina knew better and still questioned what she read she realized a very important word that was mistranslated. Though the symbols for sun and moon were different they almost looked exactly the same. The translator thought the tablet was talking about the sun but in reality it was moon. So while everyone would be looking to the northwest Lina knew to look in the northeast. But to start Lina was heading north first as there was road in that direction that wouldn't have her cross miles of desert. Along the way Lina had to laugh as she passed broken down cars on the side of the road with frustrated scholarly looking people trying to fix them. Yes maybe a camel was a better choice in the long run.

"So Petunia what do people do for fun around here?" Lina asked jokingly as she pulled her scarf more tightly around her head.

Petunia grunted in response.

...

Zelgadis cursed to himself as he tried to fix the piece of junk jeep he bought from that street vendor. It had looked okay when he got it but now Zelgadis was paying the price. Everything seemed to be broken or ready to fall apart. If where he was intending to go had been closer Zelgadis might have just said forget the jeep and walked to his destination. But it was far to go and even if he was close it would still be a very long walk back. He needed the jeep.

While Zelgadis worked on the jeep he saw many people pass him by. Some he figured to be locals but others were far too white to be from the country of Jhonwxa. He assumed those were others looking for the lost city though they were all heading towards the northwest. The sight made Zelgadis shake his head. Clearly they hadn't bothered to check over the translation of that tablet.

Taking a quick break to fan his face Zelgadis wiped the sweat from his brow before pulling his hood back over his head. As he did so he heard the sounds of a galloping camel coming from the road behind him. Zelgadis noticed right away that the figure riding the camel was a woman and what little he could see of her face told him that she was not a local. Even still she kept going riding her camel heading to the northeast as she passed him. Whoever the woman was not only was she smart but she was heading the right way.

Zelgadis was envious of the woman; he really should have gotten a camel instead. But that wasn't what Zelgadis was focused on. Who was this woman? And was she looking for the lost city of Velnqxbos too? If she was then Zelgadis had a real rival and really needed to get that jeep of his back in running order.

Still Zelgadis gave one last lingering glance at the woman riding the camel off into the desert. If it weren't for the near blinding sun Zelgadis might have seen the slight red glint of the few stray locks of hair shimmering in the light.