Patience always has a limit. Andre's was not easy to break. The years gave him the wisdom to appreciate the serenity of things as bad as they were. However, Dominguez managed to stir up some of his unlimited patience. The wolf had a certain reason, but he had to be calmer.
"Boss, you call me?"
Through the tent, an all-black leopard came in. He was still young, in his thirties. But his body already showed the scars of some of his more specific works. These works that Andre had a great appreciation. Marco, that was his name. A common name but feared by many.
"I need your services."
Andre leaned over the table, supporting his elbows, and crossing his fingers on each other, thus supporting his chin.
"Something special?" Marco asked. After all, his post there on the excavations was nothing more than a simple helper.
"You could say that" on Andre's lips, a sly smile.
Then the fox uncrossed his fingers and moved a little away from the table, making room to open the drawer on his right side. From there, he took two photos and threw them on the table. Marco approached and leaned a little to observe the mammals in the pictures.
"These are..."
"Judith Hoops and Nicholas Wilde," concluded Andre.
Marco took the two photos and observed them in detail.
"Find them and bring them to me. Don't kill them yet. I need the rabbit alive".
"And the other one?" Marco turned his attention to the fox.
"He'll come with her. As soon as she speaks, you can take him. Do what you want with him later." The smile on Andre's face opened even more. "And be brief. Dominguez begins to stir with my holy patience."
"Right!"
Marco kept the photos in his pocket, bowed, and left the tent.
One less problem.
Andre sighed. Marco wouldn't let him down. He'd never done it before. And even though these two mammals were astute, surely the leopard would take the proper precautions to capture them.
"You know Kuwaq Yaku must be close!" said Judy, leaning over a small stone, shaking the dust from it.
"You've been repeating the same words for an hour." Nick rolled his eyes and took a deep breath.
Since they had left the clearing, their first "mission" would be to find the city of Kuwaq Yaku. There, they would try to find out more clues about the hidden city. That was the incentive of the two in the first moments. By the coordinates of the map that Judy had decorated, it would be enough to follow clues to eyes not visible. Such clues would be small, engraved figures. As the rabbit explained to Nick, saying that when there was no map and/or someone of the city was lost in the immense Amazon Forest, the symbols were the right way to the city. No mistakes. The problem until then were the symbols. Those, don't appear anywhere.
"Damn. Neither does this one." Judy murmured to herself.
She got up, shook the dust off her pants, and kept going.
"Carrots, the power of the dagger?" Nick questioned. He knew that "knife" had something, but not concrete.
"Huh?"
"I ask when you removed the dagger. Carrots, don't you think it's just a normal knife? Like, a defense knife?"
"If it was, why would Trinity be so interested?"
Nick scratched the back of his head. He sighed. Trinity had no reason to chase a dagger if it wasn't important.
"What will a dagger do that's so important?"
"It has something to do with the box, I'm sure of it."
Judy swiped some giant leaves in front of her. The landscape of trees, muddy earth, and leaves had given way to a dead-end trail.
Damn, now what?
Judy sighed and put her hands on her waist looking in front of her. The broad trunks on the way prevented the passage to the other side.
"Is that the key to opening the box?"
"I don't know. But we will find out soon enough." Judy took a few more steps forward and assessed the situation in front of her. "Nick, I need your help."
The fox approached. Judy explained that those trunks would give passage to the other side. But they had to do it together. Side by side, they both took the trunk from underneath and, with strength, stood up a little, Judy passed first, and on the other side, she would do the same thing to give Nick passage. But they were not expecting what would come next.
No coffee. No alcohol. No nothing. Dominguez was about to have a heart attack if the damned of his team didn't do a single job as it should be.
"But what harm have I done to God?" he murmured to himself, breathing over and over to calm his anger.
He had gone to the temple entrance to see the damage done the day before. Since in the morning, Andre interfered with his plans. And he hoped that the fox's plans would not spoil his own.
"I have the solution to your problems."
That's what he told him, but the wolf didn't expect what he would suggest.
"I'm all ears. As long as what you're about to tell me doesn't add any more unnecessary costs."
"No. I need you to focus on finding the hidden city and the box. But let me take care of the rabbit and the fox."
"What do you plan to do, then?"
"I have the right mammal to find them and bring them to us."
"I've already sent the best of in that area after them." Dominguez spat the words.
"I'm not saying they won't, but this one has other requirements for finding mammals than the experts."
"As long as they're brought in alive, do as you like." The wolf shook his paw.
"Alive they come. We need the rabbit to decipher the map, right?"
Dominguez rolled his eyes. Although Andre always got things his way, sometimes it led to unnecessary extremes.
"Pay attention to what you do."
"After deciphering the map, they will only get in the way."
"Andre, we don't need unnecessary deaths." the wolf sighed.
"I didn't say I was going to kill them. But what will happen then is no longer my responsibility."
"Isn't what you did to the poor rabbit's father enough?"
Andre smiled. Something he wasn't proud of, but Stu left no other choice. In a shrug of the shoulders, the fox answered:
"If he hadn't been stubborn, nothing would have happened. Besides, he took his own life".
"Because of you." Dominguez fought back.
"Whatever." The fox got up. "Try to find the city and I'll take care of them. The map will only tell us the direct way to the box."
Once again Dominguez sighed. Andre would kill them, that was for sure. But it was not his problem. He wanted the box and nothing else.
"If I hear one more explosion, I'll kill you myself."
The mammals on the team trembled. Removing the large stones from the entrance to the Inca temple, they prayed for things to go better this time.
It was so sudden that Judy only had time to deviate, position herself and prepare the bow to fire. Nick, on the other side, unable to get out, shouted for her to deviate from the onslaughts in her direction.
Another creature. Different from the first. Smaller, but equally powerful. Another onslaught, Judy deviated and fired a straight arrow. The creature squealed but did not give in. Another arrow target not hit. The creature swung where it was, turned, and ran towards the rabbit. Judy strayed with effort, pulled out another arrow, positioned herself, and shot. It hit the creature again. This time in the chest. But the monstrosity didn't seem to be affected by the arrows stuck to his body. Instead of slowing down, it only seemed faster. Judy ran from there when the creature invested beside her.
"Judy, the tree!" Nick screamed.
She looked at the little tree in front of her. If she climbed to its summit, she would have a better view of the creature. She didn't think twice and ran toward it. The distance wasn't great, but the creature was fast. So much so that, she caught the rabbit on her back, scratching her in the same place as the other creature had done. Judy squealed in pain, but she didn't stop. She ran and reached the tree, climbing it. The creature was not intimidated. Judy climbed the tree as fast as she could to reach the top, to position herself with her bow. From there, she really would have a more peripheral view of the whole place and the creature.
With one leg on one trunk and the other on another, she placed the arrow on the bow and positioned herself, ready to shoot. But the creature disappeared.
To be continued…