Ruins Raiders: Book Two
Chapter Five, Follow the Leader
By Relm
As Lina traveled the desert there were many times when the mysterious person driving the jeep would get close. Lina was still figured it was Zelgadis though she didn't stop to check. She had decided she would see who it was when they finally caught up to her. Strangely though never Lina got that chance. It was like fate was purposely keeping them apart as the jeep would always crap out when he or she was close.
If Lina were to guess she would say it was the car's engine was overheating. There were many times Lina had to deal with that with her old car. That particular car had been totaled during the last adventure with Zelgadis so it amused her that it was now him with the car trouble.
Days went by and Lina got nearer and nearer to where the lost city of Velnqxbos was supposed to be. It wasn't a matter of traveling a far distance anymore. Being as close as she now was the ruins of the city could be anywhere. It made the chance of over shooting the site a real possibility so Lina's pace had slowed considerably.
The area she was currently in had more to look at than just sand. This area was mostly jagged rock of varying heights. These little hills had massive cracks throughout creating cave like areas for creatures to dwell within. That and big slabs of rock had appeared to had fallen and had landed against others creating more sheltered spots. It didn't look particularly interesting as it seemed like just a rocky patch in the desert but Lina had a different idea.
Now one could make the assumption that this area of rock was special. That the rocks themselves where broken fragments of what might have been a building from the lost city. But this wasn't why Lina found this area interesting. These sort of rock patches were common in the desert. What made this one special was that it was roughly in the right area where the city could possibly be.
It did make sense that the city wouldn't have been spotted from the air with this particular spot. The rock face jutted out in spots shielding the area underneath from overhead.
Lina guessed that this area of rock was once a mountain that had had large chunks fall off. Add in the years of weather damaged and the once mighty mountain was now a group of hills. It kinda reminded Lina of a pile of building blocks that had been thrown to the ground. The rocks themselves were scattered in an odd shaped pile.
There were still other possible areas where the lost city could be but Lina decided to stop and check this area first. At the very least she knew that anyone following her trail would also stop to check even if they saw Lina's tracks leading away. When it came to archeology it was always best to leave no stone unturned. It was all too common to hear in the news of something new being discovered in areas that had already been previously investigated. If one wasn't careful and throughout then you could miss an amazing discovery. Lina wasn't about to pass any potential area until she had completely made sure there was nothing there.
Petunia made a large grunting noise as Lina pulled on the reigns. Clearly the camel hadn't wanted to stop but he did so anyway to let Lina could get off. Lina walked Petunia closer to the rock area in a shaded spot before unpacking her stuff. With no real area to tie Petunia's reigns to Lina pulled out a spike, hammer and a rope from her bag. She hammered the spike into the rock face and tied the rope to it and the reigns. It let Petunia have freedom of movement but still kept the camel near.
"You're going to be a good camel and not go wandering." Lina said to Petunia while pouring some water into a dish for him.
Petunia grunted again but happily drank the water.
"Time to get to work!" Lina exclaimed with glee as she gathered up her tools.
...
Zelgadis was annoyed. Every time he got close to that person riding the camel the jeep crapped out on him. It was extremely frustrating as he was dammed sure it was Lina ahead of him. The thought of Lina getting the best of him yet again was really getting his competitive blood running. And if it wasn't Lina ahead of him then she sure as hell was behind him.
During one of his many jeep troubles Zelgadis had decided look back from whence he came. It was more of him pondering how he'd ever make it back with his unreliable jeep than to see if there was anyone coming up behind. But it was then that he saw it. Off in the distance two people riding camels heading the same direction he was going. Immediately Zelgadis thought of Lina's assistant Gourry. It seemed more likely that Lina wouldn't be traveling alone with Gourry at her disposal. So it was logical to assume that it was Lina with her assistant riding those two camels behind him.
It was logical and Zelgadis was a logical person but he didn't believe Lina was one of the two behind. Mostly because if that was true then who the hell was ahead of him? Zelgadis couldn't think of anyone who could best him beside Lina. Lina was his greatest rival after all. There were other scholars, researchers, and doctors from across the globe to consider but Zelgadis didn't put much faith in them. The best and brightest where from Greater Rixx after all.
Still Zelgadis was curious but not so enough to stop and look. There was a distinct possibility that whomever was following him was only doing so because they saw Zelgadis go another way. Zelgadis had no interest in giving a helping hand to someone riding his coat tails. He was going to get way ahead of those following him and the person ahead of him.
Since he had decided that Greater Rixx held the best and brightest then Zelgadis could have considered West Rixx or South Rixx Universities as rivals. It wasn't as if Zelgadis didn't think highly of the other two schools he just didn't think they would sending anyone of this particular expedition.
Of the two universities West Rixx was the youngest. With the market already well covered on ancient studies West Rixx was more focused on progress and innovation. The university did have an ancient studies department but the main focus of the school was technology and biology. Robotic engineering, medicine, genetics, physics... it was a very science heavy establishment. Rather than spend money to send people to Jhonwxa West Rixx would use their resources to create better surgical equipment or find ways to better treat genetic disorders.
South Rixx on the other hand was actually a contender for Zelgadis and Lina. Being the oldest of the Greater Rixx universities they were actually the reason the best and brightest had flocked to Rixx over the years. But as new schools opened there was less and less game for South Rixx to play. The university itself was drifting off into financial troubles as of late. Zelgadis those from South Rixx were capable but did they have the resources?
Actually thinking about South Rixx gave Zelgadis reason to chuckle. South Rixx's head of ancient studies was someone he knew quite well. She was temperamental (seemed to be a requirement for the women working that field) and had many run ins with his assistant Xellos.
Xellos and Filia got on like oil and water. Their fights were both explosive and legendary. Xellos would take any opportunity to get Filia's goat and Filia would give back as much as she was given. The problem was that it was very hard for anyone to get under Xellos' skin. So as such the blond South Rixx professor would get even more frustrated with Xellos when she wouldn't get the rise she wanted.
In the battle of Xellos versus Filia it seemed like Xellos was always the victor. Filia would stomp her way off like a giant movie monster might stomp through a busy city. But as it was the battles were sometimes won off the battlefield. Filia would forget about Xellos as soon as she was away but Xellos would obsess. He so consumed with ways to irritate the golden haired professor that he'd stalk her on the internet and plan 'chance' meetings with her.
Zelgadis always loved ribbing Xellos about his Filia obsession. He'd accuse his assistant of being in love with their South Rixx rival. Xellos would scoff at this but he would get clearly upset whenever he saw on Filia's facebook that she was going out with a guy. There even was a couple times where Xellos purposely sabotaged some of Filia's dates. This gave Zelgadis more ammunition to throw at Xellos. If he didn't love Filia then why ruin her dates? Xellos would counter because he wanted her to be alone and miserable.
It had occurred to Zelgadis to contact Filia to let her know of her stalker and his secret feelings for her. The results would be disastrous be very entertaining. Doing anything to get Xellos going was worth its weight in gold. Xellos did deserve it after all – he did annoy everyone. Including Filia's step-brother and assistant Val. Filia was known to resort to violence when it came to Xellos, but Val... Val would actually try and kill Xellos. The last time Zelgadis had even considered doing nothing when Val was choking Xellos to death. Not that it mattered – Filia was the one that 'saved' Xellos. Though if you asked her she did because she didn't want her step-brother to go to jail for murder not because she actually cared for Xellos' well being. Xellos had offered to kiss her to thank her. She stomped on his face for his trouble before throwing him into an open trash bin.
"To bad Xellos isn't with me. If that's Filia with her step-brother Val coming up behind then it would have been fun seeing Xellos get beaten to a pulp." Zelgadis chuckled to himself.
...
"OHOHOHOH! That dastardly handsome Zelgadis keeps getting away from us!" Naga mused as she urged her camel to go faster. Naga's camel looked back at her, sneered and kept going at the same pace.
"Well we are getting closer. We will catch up to him sooner or later." Xellos replied in a bit of a far away voice. He was looking back at the stretch of desert behind them.
"Now what is so interesting that you have to keep looking backwards?!" Naga demanded feeling put off that Xellos' attention was divided and not solely on her.
"There are at least two people going the same way as us. I saw them a little ways back. Either we're being followed or it's someone else that knows the lost city is in this direction."
Naga looked backwards as well though there was nothing to see but sand. "I do not see anyone... who do you think it is?"
"Since it's two... I'd have to say it's Miss Lina and her assistant Mister Gourry."
Naga scrunched up face in an ugly frown. "Oh how I detest that little boy girl! The nerve of her stealing my Zelgadis away for such a long time! She's not even pretty enough for my Zelgadis! If it's her then I hope she runs out of water or her camel knocks her off! OHOHOHOHOHOH!"
"That's quite evil of you Miss Naga." Xellos commented with a sly smile.
"OHOHOHOHOH! I think I'm quite justified! Oh! What if it's not the little tomboy but that girlfriend of yours?"
Xellos eyes were uncharacteristically wide as he glared at Naga. "Excuse me? I have no girlfriend." He corrected her with a huff.
"OHOHOHOHOHO! Did she dump you?"
"She did not dump me! She is not my girlfriend!" Xellos insisted almost growling.
"Oh? That's right she's never said yes to you! My poor little Xellos always being scorned by the ones he loves."
"I do not love Filia Ul Copt!" Xellos yelled.
"Sure sure. Though if it is her then who would be traveling with her?"
"It's not Filia. And if it were then she would be traveling with her temperamental step-brother Val." Xellos explained.
"Val hmmm? What does this Val look like? Is he handsome?"
"Really Miss Naga?" Xellos raised an eyebrow at his traveling companion. "So quick to move on from 'your' Zelgadis to something new?"
"That depends on how pretty the new shiny thing is."
"I supposed he would be considered pleasing to the eye. Though he is a grumpy one, more so then his step-sister. He's tried to kill me on many occasions."
"OHOHOHOHOH! Did he reject your love too?"
Xellos was so surprised by Naga's comment that he fell of his camel. "Why would you suggest such a thing?!"
"Well you are a girly man after all. Pretty men like you don't always chaise after girls."
"I chaise girls, thank you very much!" Xellos huffed while getting back on top of his camel.
"If that is the golden haired one from South Rixx then she's the one chasing you."
"It's Miss Lina." Xellos insisted.
"Oh? How can you be so sure?"
"Because, it wouldn't make sense for it to be Filia. Miss Lina would have to be on the chaise for the lost city. If anyone else were to realize the error in the translation it would most likely be Miss Lina." Xellos surmised. It did in fact make sense though Xellos was also insisting it was Lina because he would rather it be her than Filia. The golden haired South Rixx professor had a way of distracting him from his goals.
...
"I want to know what hell that noise was! It's annoying!" Val growled.
"I don't know Val... stop obsessing over it!" Filia pleaded.
"But we've hearing it for days now! It's driving me crazy!"
"You're driving me crazy! It's probably just some silly creature that isn't worth the effort Val."
"I don't care! I want to know what the hell it is! What sort of creature makes calls during the day and at night?!"
Filia just shook her head and went back to ignoring him. 'I should have gone on this trip by myself...'