Ruins Raiders: Book Two

Chapter Sixteen, The Darkness Beyond

By Relm

"I really don't think it was a good idea to leave Naga behind like that..." Val mumbled out loud as he and the others made their way secretively out of Bnxqo under the cover of darkness.

"Are you kidding me?! You just met the bimbo and already you're concerned about her?!" Lina exclaimed in exasperation. She couldn't stand the woman and had no idea how anyone could.

"She's not a bimbo! And maybe I'm concerned because I'm just that type of guy that worries about the well being of others!" Val shot back.

"You don't worry about people." Filia interjected. "You hate people, especially strangers. It's probably her boobs you're worried about."

"Filia! What do you think I am?! Some sort of pervert?!"

"SHHHH! Will you guys quit it?! We're trying to get out of Bnxqo without being spotted. King Po-Kota's people don't know we're no longer in custody." Zelgadis tried to shush them. He was really getting annoyed with being the rational one all the time. 'Why can't everyone else see the sensitive importance of where we are and what we need to do?!'

"It's okay they won't realize who we are." Val insisted while motioning to his threads. In order to make everyone blend in with the locals King Po-kota had provided them with clothing to wear. Which in Val's case was a small loincloth and animal hide boots. Of all of them he had been given the least to wear which suited the aqua haired man just fine. He worked hard to build up his muscular body and he liked to show it off. But to make him and the others seem more like locals King Po-kota had given them some strange almost mud like liquid to smear their body. The purpose was to make Val and the others appear more tanned than they really were. It wasn't as good as getting a spray tan at the salon but it did do the trick just fine enough.

Zelgadis just shook his head. "They saw us being dragged into town I'm pretty sure they would still be able to recognize us even with these 'disguises'." He scoffed while fidgeting with his own clothing. Zelgadis was more conservatively dressed then Val but still the professor felt very exposed.

"I don't know... with the way you look in that loincloth Zel I'm pretty sure most of the locals will have trouble keeping their eyes on your face long enough to recognize you." Lina commented with a saucy wink.

Zelgadis blushed but said nothing. He knew he couldn't trust his voice especially when he had nothing to say to use as a comeback.

"I know I'm not looking at Filia's face." Xellos piped up with his own sly smile.

Filia glared at him, pulled out a mace and gave him a good whack to the head.

"Where the hell did you get that thing?!" Lina wondered out loud.

"I've been asking her that for years." Val mused. "It's like a magic trick; she just pulls it out of thin air when stupid people are annoying her."

"Xellos is stupid." Zelgadis agreed.

"Oh Zelly you're so mean!" Xellos mock whined.

"So what exactly is the plan here?" Zelgadis asked Lina while completely ignoring Xellos.

"First off we get out of Bnxqo. Secondly we make our way to Vsvle. Once we are there we observe the city from the outside to get a feel for the place. You know to scope out any potential dangers, places the stone could be and how best to blend in with the locals. Once we have enough information we'll sneak our way into Vsvle and locate King Po-Kota's spies. And from there we will figure out the best way to retrieve the stone." Lina explained.

"Splitting up would cover more ground." Val suggested feeling proud of himself for making what he thought was a good idea.

"It would but then not everyone would be able to understand everything." Lina stated while holding out the rxna stone for Val to see. "Without being near this stone you wouldn't be able to understand anyone and they wouldn't be able to understand you either."

Val scrunched up his face into a frown. "But it's going to take too long to get the stone back!" He whined.

"Well we could just use it once we get our hands on it but then we'd be leaving Naga behind." Lina reminded him.

"And this is a bad idea... why?" Filia prompted her.

"Filia!" Val growled. "Stop talking about her like she's some sort of disease!"

"That's exactly what she is." Lina agreed with Filia.

Val glared back and forth at Lina and Filia. Though he would never lay a hand on his step-sister the thought of striking the red headed professor seemed more and more attractive by the moment.

"She would have looked the best in her tribal outfit." Xellos mused while giving Lina and Filia a once over. "Definitely would look the best by a mile."

This time it wasn't just Filia causing Xellos pain. Lina joined Filia in this go around and the purple haired teacher's assistant was on the ground crying out in pain.

"Either you need guys need to stop beating Xellos up or Xellos needs to keep quiet between beatings." Zelgadis decided.

Filia raised her hand into the air as it to cast a vote. "I say Xellos should just learn to keep quiet and take his beatings like a man."

"I second that!" Lina agreed.

"How about you two stop beating him up instead?" Zelgadis suggested.

"Nah!" Filia and Lina answered in unison.

Zelgadis just shook his head. "Xellos just shut up and stop saying stupid things." He warned him.

"I don't say stupid things, I just speak the truth. Sadly not everyone can handle the truth." Xellos mused while still nursing the sore spots on his body.

Filia gave Xellos another whap for good measure and then walked forward.

Despite the pain on his face the assistant was smiling. It was clear that Xellos either enjoyed getting hurt or hurt by Filia in particular.

"You're just a sick sick man Xellos." Val mumbled in disgust. "But if you like taking Filia's beating then who am I to judge?"

"So then you approve of me dating your sister?" Xellos wondered out loud. He was an equal opportunist troll.

"Oh no, if my step-sister falls for your crap you wouldn't even get to go on a single date because your corpse will be found floating in the river." Val assured you.

"How about stop with the death threats and beatings for now and concentrate on the situation at hand here?" Zelgadis grumbled in annoyance.

"We're out of Bnxqo and already into the jungle. I doubt anyone will be looking this far out for anyone at this time. Except for guards everyone should be asleep by now." Lina rationalized.

"Yeah and we're traveling into an unknown jungle in the dark Lina. I think concentrating on where we are going and not getting separated or lost would be a good idea." Zelgadis chided right back at her.

"Oh come on I highly doubt Vsvle is that far from where we are. King Po-kota told us which direction to go as long as we don't deviate from it we should be fine." Lina brushed off his concerns with a wave of her hand. "Though I wished King Po-kota had supplied us with weapons to use. I'm sure Filia's mace would be handy but I'd like it if it wasn't our only weapon if we had to get into a fight." Lina looked down at the unlit torch she had in her hand. King Po-kota had given them the sticks but they weren't meant to be used as weapons. But in a pinch Lina had gotten by with less.

"Do you think the Vsvle people will be violent or dangerous?" Filia wondered.

"I have no idea. Look at the Bnxqosian people. They weren't particularly dangerous and they still tied us up and threw us into a pit. If we don't blend in and they realize we're not locals they could try and kill us." Lina stated matter-of-factly. Really Lina should have been a bit more concerned about the threat of death but on these sort of excursions it was old hat for Lina. It wasn't a true relic hunt unless someone was trying to kill her.

"And that doesn't bother you one bit?"

"Nope. And that's why my school gets the big bucks and the big honors." Lina smiled a prideful and toothy grin.

"Yes yes you love to live dangerously Lina. We all know that." Zelgadis rolled his eyes. "What I'm more concerned with is any unknown issues we're going to face walking through this jungle." As he said it he swatted yet another very large flying bug from landing on his face.

"Aww is pretty boy not used to roughing it out in the wild?" Val taunted him. He himself wasn't all that experienced but he wouldn't miss out the chance to rib someone else.

"I am used to traveling through jungles and other wild terrain!" Zelgadis huffed defensively. "But we're not in our time don't forget. There could be all kinds of poison things or illnesses present here that doesn't exist in our time. Just think of how many times people have gotten sick from insect bites? One bite and only one of us could be down for the count."

"But we've all be vaccinated for those kinds of things."

"As I said some of things here might not exist in our time. Meaning there is more reason to be cautious and not treat things so blasé." Zelgadis grumbled.

"Ah don't mind Zelgadis, he's just a bit OCD we'll be fine." Lina while popping a couple candies into her mouth while they walked.

"What? Where? What are you eating?!" Zelgadis exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Dessert. I snagged a few things for the road in case I got hungry. It's chocolate you want some?" Lina dangled one of them in front of his eyes.

"Miss Lina I think those might have bugs in them." Filia explained with her face scrunched up in disgust.

"Yeah I know, makes the candy delightfully crunchy. You want some?"

Filia just shuddered. "No, get those away from me!"

Lina laughed evilly to herself. "Okay so I think we're far away enough from Bnxqo that we can safely light our torches now."

Whatever extra sight they might have gained from their eyes adjusting to the darkness was lost with the presence of their torches. Now all they saw beyond the reaches of their flames was a sea of darkness ahead of them. With all the tree branches interwoven above them they didn't get the full benefit of the light of the stars or the moon. It made the jungle around them seem that much more dangerous.

Still Lina wasn't deterred. Ahead the redheaded professor went leading the charge into the unknown. Another lost city was ahead of them and with it more mysteries.