Chapter 13: The Lost City of Z

Fawcett nodded to the others and Rose could see them nod back. Two of the spear- holding guards immediately started towards her and the unconscious Sam but before Rose could insisted, one of them raised their spears high and hit her in the head with such force, she immediately fainted.

At first what she felt - and it surprised her the most - was nothing. Her mind was calm, her leg felt healthy and no pain in her head - or in any part of her body - at all. She didn't know where she was, but she definitely wanted to stay there, in the soothing darkness and peace that was hugging her whole shape tightly, making her wanting to collapse back into the nothing.

But then a voice drifted into her mind. Hearing it was like even better than the nothing before.

"Hey, we'll find it, I'm sure..." but the voice was fading, getting distant, no matter how hard Rose's mind was trying to hold onto it. She heard other sentences echoed through her mind but all being weaker and weaker.

"In this case, welcome to the team, partner..." she heard it again, this time so weak and so distant it scared her.

Sam!

Her eyes popped open immediately. A dimly lighted, strange little room greeted her, a small and very old- looking oil lamp's light slightly twinkling on a wooden side table by her head. On the grey and stone - or maybe clay? - walls, handmade rugs were hanging, their patterns showing different scenes, the center always being the same. A golden orb...

She sat up right away, placing her feet on the dusty, ground floor, also covered with fancy-woven rugs as well. She now clearly remembered Sam being unconscious by her side, fallen on the ground, herself asking for help none other than Percy Harrison Fawcett...

Even though she knew it was impossible, she was very sure she saw him. She saw his face at least a hundred times already, on the old photos and paintings while studying, and knew his features like the back of her own two hands.

When she stood up, she tried her knee a few times and it did really felt healthy again. How long has she been there? And where's Sam? She looked around but she was lonely in the dark little room. She immediately jumped to the wooden door and teared it open, fearing the worst - only to be greeted by the bare back of a huge man, standing steadily in the doorway. He turned to face her right away, holding up his spear, not letting her go anywhere. He was wearing a fancy feathered headpiece, his body and face both covered in tribal tattoos and the only clothing he wore was enough to cover his private parts and nothing more.

He was so huge; he completely covered the outer world from Rose as he looked at the girl from his own height. Though his face was emotionless, his deep brown eyes showed his curiousness.

"Where's Sam?" She asked, but the he didn't answer. Didn't even show any signs of understanding what Rose had just asked. "I want to see him!" She tried to push the guard to the side, but he was like a rock wall. Didn't move the slightest under Rose's mightiest efforts to free herself.

She felt both fear and annoyance clenching into her chest as she begged the guard, her voice getting louder and higher with each second.

"Please, is he all right?" She asked. "I need to see him!"

And then she finally heard another voice, it was calm and soothing. Though she didn't really understand the language, it sounded ancient. And most importantly, it made her guard finally step aside.

It was him again, Fawcett, who was standing behind the guard. His face looked just like on the old photos, as if 100 years hasn't just passed since they were being taken. His clothes were also almost the same, some tribal accessories hanging here and there as an addition, but even his moustache and beard were mirroring the fashion of his own times. It felt so unreal for Rose to be facing him...

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, miss." he said, bowing slightly to greet her, and then pointing to her forehead. "These people are quite protective over the city, as it is all they have, you must understand this."

"Where's Sam?" asked Rose again, fighting the urge to ask all the other questions she'd been having ever since her childhood, from the man she admired since she could remember. She looked stubbornly between the eyes of the man, but there seemed to be no need to show how determined she was.

"Oh, you must be talking about the partner of yours!" he seemed to be so graceful, every move he made and every expression of his face were showing how much he is from a different era. "Come, miss. I'll take you to him." he stepped aside, reaching out his left arm for Rose to hang onto. And, even though it felt strange for her, she accepted the hand. "I must ask you to not take the stares and whispers of the people here upon yourself." he said with a light tone in his voice. "They've never seen anyone like you or your man. And I must admit, I have never seen anyone like you either."

They started walking in a comfortable pace and Rose finally had the chance to look around and what she saw was completely breathtaking. Every house here was made out of stone, built in a traditional - or rather ancient fashion, but each of them had a roof made out of nothing but pure gold. Even the bricks of the roads webbing the ancient city under their feet were sparkling, clean golden. On the outer perimeters, small streams were splashing happily, all coming from a waterfall from the back of the city.

Many trees and bushes mixed into the mass of the houses, the green and golden colors harmonizing each other so perfectly, Rose felt like she's never seen anything that's beauty could be compared to this. She felt like she was walking through paradise, just like as it was carved into the wall, back in that underground cave...

People here looked just like on the illustrations about the old Mayan civilizations without exception; tattoos covering their creole skins, their clothes all hand woven. Blue, green and black threads tangled up in beautiful patterns on them. Their accessories all being gold as well. And Fawcett were right, they were coming out of their homes just to stare at Rose, feverishly whispering about her to each other. She felt her cheeks going slightly red under the sudden amount of attention, but tried not to pay much attention to it.

She let her eyes drift into the distance and paid attention to her surroundings again, continuing the discovery of the city.

What was the most interesting out of all the gold and houses and people that it all seemed to be underground, Rose could see the walls of an enormous cave, hugging them from every side and direction. Still, there were almost as much light as on a sunny day, back in Rio de Janeiro.

When she looked up, searching for the source of the light, she felt her jaw drop open - above them, the inside of the cave was made out of pure gold as well, such a huge amount that Rose wasn't sure how many thousands of trucks would be needed to take it out of there, emitting such a beautiful, unearthly light, that Rose felt like she needed to stay there for the rest of her days... That she needed nothing else, just a tiny piece of that wonder.

But then Sam's face drifted into her mind, and she shook her head right away. No, she needed to find him and then get out of there together.

"What is this place?" she asked, gasping over every wonder her eyes could take in at once.

"Oh, " chuckled Fawcett. "I'm sure you've already guessed it. This is the city of Z!" he said, his eyes twinkling in joy and admiration.

"But how's this... How are you... How is everything possible?" Rose asked, pointing towards the sky, and the huge golden light source.

"Wonderful isn't it?" he nodded slightly. "Though this wonder has rather a sad cause behind..." he acted as he was sad, but his eyes were still happily twinkling. "Z is only possible thanks to a curse." he said and gestured his head towards the huge amount of gold above them. "We are all trapped in this other... how to say it... dimension? Yes, maybe that's the right word to use here.

"What do you mean, trapped?"

"Oh, no, miss, I don't think you should worry much." Fawcett raised his eyebrows slightly, smiling mysteriously as he said: "Your heart seems to be occupied already..."

"No, you're wrong... My heart is not..." she started insisting, but then heard the familiar voice and when she turned towards the direction, she saw him.

It was Sam, standing in the middle of a small square, lots of local people standing around him - mostly women - curiously touching his face, his clothes, raising his arms to look under it, while the man was politely trying to stop them.

"No, lady, please!" he chuckled. "Stop, it tickles..." he pushed away a hand from his armpit, and immediately after that, he jumped and said: "Now that is definitely not for touching!"

He seemed healthy, no signs of the wound on his shoulder and this made Rose so happy, she felt her heartbeat fastening joyously.

"Sam!" she yelled up happily, getting the man's attention on herself immediately as she started running towards his direction. When she reached him, it was too late to stop, she jumped into his neck, hugging him with both of her arms and the man needed to catch her mid air, spinning around themselves once to slow down the momentum.

"Rosie..." he said on a low and deep voice, calling her on her nickname for the first time, making the girl's stomach tingle wildly. She buried her face into his neck, taking in the smell of his skin - green leaves, tobacco and remains of cologne all mixed together - and she was so happy to see him again, with straightened back and calm smile, without any signs of pain.

She felt her feet meet with the ground again, but she didn't want to let go of him... And she felt his hug remain tight as well.

"I'm so glad you're all right..." she whispered and his hug tightened. She felt his face being buried into her hair as she talked.

"Thanks to you, milady." he answered, his breath tickling the skin on Rose's neck, making her finally pull away. She saw the people around them still staring curiously, and even though Sam's gaze was asking her to stay, she let go of the man and stepped away a step, feeling embarrassed under all the staring.

"Let me look at your shoulder!" She ordered the man. She wanted to see it with her own two eyes.

"There's literally nothing to worry about anymore." He said, pulling the fabric of his light blue shirt out of the way. "But it's good to hear you still bossin' around." he added, his smile was soft and warm, and Rose felt he was joking again.

"Well, Sully told me I'm your guardian so..." Rose shrugged chuckling.

"He did?"

"Sort of." she smiled at the man and then looked at his bare shoulder. And he was right, only a thin, slightly visible, white scar was left behind. No black veins, no opened gash...

"How is this possible..."

"Oh, we have excellent healers." Rose heard Fawcett's voice coming from behind. She looked at him, his face still smiling peacefully. "They know very well how to exploit the true powers of the gold." His head gestured towards the sky.

"You must be having all the questions. Come take a walk with me and I'm sure I will be able to answer most, if not all of them." He gestured the duo to follow him.

And they did.

/ Thank you so much for reading! /