Author's note: First off, thank you for showing interest in this story. It's been a while since I've done much writing and I'm trying to get back into it. The concept of this story was something I had been mulling over for a while, and once I began writing the outline, it just kind of exploded. I'm not sure yet how many chapters we'll be getting into, but I'm anticipating this story will be a long one. Hopefully you're all along for the ride :)

Reviews, positive and constructive are welcome.

The leaves rustled in the trees as a gust of wind blew down the street. Gray skies lingered from the morning rain, as well as a dampness in the cool air. Elena grimaced as the wind continued, blowing her auburn hair into her face. She had dared to hope the weather would turn, but the clouds seemed to be as solid as her displeasure for this day. Once the wind began to die down, she turned her gray eyes before her, staring at the source of her unease.

She stood at the head of a walkway, leading to a house. It wasn't an old house, but it appeared as though no one had lived there for years. The roof shingles were mossy, and the paint was chipping. Whether the house had been gray or blue, she couldn't tell. The beams of wood shaping the porch looked incredibly weatherworn, and looking closer, she could see spiderwebs woven between each beam under the porch rail. What was most unappealing about the rough shape of the house, was the fact that her uncle had been living there only a week before.

Elena gripped an envelope in her hand that she had received the previous day. She had barely had any time to process her uncle's death before it was given to her, and all she knew was that inside the envelope was a handwritten letter, naming some items he had wished for her to have. Taking a deep breath and brushing her windblown hair out of her face, she walked toward the front door.

She had been close with her uncle at one time, but it had been several years since she last saw him. With the lack of upkeep for the exterior, she wondered what she would find inside the house. This filled her with a sense of dread at the thought of entering.

Approaching the door, she hesitated, hand hovering over the doorknob. Memories flashed through her mind of the countless times she had excitedly run through this door as a child.

Her uncle had been an archeologist and museum curator, introducing Elena to the wonders of ancient cultures at a very young age. Visiting him had always felt like walking through history. She remembered his living room and study being adorned with all sorts of relics. Statues of ancient deities, clay pots in immaculate condition, intricately beaded jewelry, and tapestries with images telling stories long forgotten. His home could have been a museum itself.

Elena eyed the door with concern. Would walking into the house now taint all those wonderful memories? She retracted her hand slightly, pondering the possibility. What sort of disarray could she be walking into? Taking a deep breath, she shook her head as if to scatter the worry from her mind and regroup, focusing on the reason she was there. Her uncle wanted her specifically to have some of his prized possessions. She could not disrespect his final wishes. Grasping the doorknob, and some courage, she entered the house.

Standing in the living room, Elena took a visual survey of her surroundings. She was relieved to see that much of it was how she remembered. The artifacts were still in their places, accompanied by some new items that she did not recognize. While scanning the room, her eyes fell on a certain artifact that she was very familiar with. Smiling softly, she walked across the living room, to the fireplace. In the center of the mantle, was a small statue that she had loved as a child.

Standing about a foot tall, it had a vague shape of a woman, with her hands folded over her chest. Small wings spread out from her shoulders, and while the stone had eroded, Elena was convinced that the softest of smiles graced her face. She reached up, lightly touching the statue. It was one of the few pieces her uncle knew nothing about. He had found it stored in a museum he was working for, and the researchers had come to a standstill in discovering its origin, rendering it worthless. Deciding that it was too beautiful to be forgotten in a storage vault, he brought it home. The statue brought a strong sense of peace to the house, which Elena was particularly thankful for that day.

Her nerves having been eased, she turned her attention to the envelope, taking out the letter and gently unfolded it. She had only skimmed the words the previous day, being too distraught to take in their meaning. Now that she'd had a day to process everything, she read every word carefully.

Dearest Ellie,

She smiled at the name of endearment that he would call her.

My adventurous niece, I am so proud of the young woman you have become. You have been inquisitive beyond your years, for as long as I can remember. Always asking questions and showing interest in my work, which in turn, fueled my passion to find answers about forgotten worlds. There are some artifacts I ask that you take before the lawyers and curators take possession of them.

First and foremost, I'm gifting you the winged statue on the fireplace mantle. I know it was a favorite of yours. I hope it continues to bring you as much peace as it has brought me. Second, there is a box in my study labeled "Unidentified". Through the many years I have worked in excavations, museums, and research labs, I have been able to connect the dots between an item and the civilization that created it. I have not been able to do so with the items in this box, and I don't want them being stored away like what would have happened with the statue on the mantle. There is something special about these artifacts. Please treasure them.

Lastly, I ask that you never stop exploring. I know the family gets nervous when you go on your hiking explorations, but we will never expand our knowledge without taking that leap into the unknown. Keep exploring, asking questions, and seeking the forgotten worlds.

Love, Uncle Peter

Elena's eyes lingered on the letter for a long time, tears lining the brims. Her heart ached. She had not spent as much time with her uncle in recent years, and she felt the regret swell in her chest. As she had become a travel enthusiast, it had been a dream of hers to accompany him to an excavation, but time it seemed, had gotten away from them, and fate had different plans.

She put the letter back in the envelope and placed it in her coat pocket. Taking one last glance at the statue, she turned toward a hall that led to the study. The floor in the hall creaked with each step that Elena took, making her all the more aware of how silent the house was and how empty it suddenly felt. Approaching the study door, her footsteps faltered a moment as she subconsciously hesitated, before continuing through the doorway. She wasn't sure if it was curiosity or the desire to leave, but she felt an increased need to find the box mentioned in her uncle's letter.

Turning on the light, she was met with a fortunately less severe sight of what she was expecting. There were boxes stacked in towers around the room, and papers spread across his desk. While it was undoubtedly cluttered, the boxes at least had some organization with their labels. She lifted the lid off of a random box, and peeked inside. As she looked over the contents, she had another wave of memories with her uncle, showing her artifacts and their correlating point of origin on a map. Smiling, Elena closed the box and set it aside, moving on to another one.

A couple hours later, she looked around the room from where she sat on the floor, beginning to feel overwhelmed. How many boxes had she sifted through? Even with so many boxes, finding one with a single word on it should have been easier than this. She was debating on wrapping it up for the day, when she spotted the letters U-N-I-D-E-N in bold print, peeking out from behind a chair. She let out a heavy sigh. "There you are." she said, exasperated.

Standing up, she walked across the room to retrieve the box and sat it on the desk. While the rest of the boxes were labeled with names of civilizations and estimated years which the contents were from, this label simply said UNIDENTIFIED, with a question mark where the years would have been written. Placing a hand on each side of the box, she gently lifted the lid and set it aside. Remaining steady through the anticipation, she peered in curiously.

Inside was what appeared to be a stack of very old papers, each one protected between two sheets of conservation glass, which was sealed at the edges with a hard, waxy substance. The papers had a yellow tint, some brown and splotchy, showing evidence to their age. The top sheet had a hieroglyphic style text written on it. She analyzed it for a moment, realizing she could not even attempt to interpret the symbols. Its odd mixture of angled and curved strokes was unlike any alphabet she had seen, though something about it felt… familiar.

Setting the sheet aside, she picked up the next one. Words of the same alphabet were written in the center of this paper. What caught her eye was the artwork along the border. Three serpent-like creatures framed the text. They were all a dulled shade of gold, though each one had their own unique traits. One of them had two red horns on its head, which curved in and out, symmetrical to each other. The second had a crown of numerous blue spikes. And the third one had a single vibrant green horn protruding from its forehead. All three had spikes running down the length of their back, each in their respective colors.

Elena studied the picture thoroughly. The longer she looked at what little detail she could make out, she began to question what these creatures really were. They were beautiful. Magnificent, even. Then it dawned on her as if a wordless whisper had entered her ear. They were dragons. Continuing to study the picture, she could feel her heartbeat quicken. She was suddenly overcome with a feeling of recognition; a feeling of being familiar with the knowledge of three dragons coexisting. She racked her mind for the many stories her uncle had told her, but she couldn't pinpoint one that aligned with the picture before her.

Giving the paper one last thoughtful glance, she sat it down on the desk and grabbed the next item from the box. Setting her eyes on it, she gasped softly, and nearly dropped the sheet of protective glass. She held in her hands, the very thing she had hoped to find regarding these unknown artifacts. It was a map. It was faded slightly, and only contained the foreign writing as the other two sheets, but there were several symbols and small illustrations marking large settlements throughout the land. This civilization had certainly been rich with life.

She looked over the map for a long time, staring at the letters, wishing so badly that she could read them. It felt as though they were screaming at her, trying to communicate. Setting the sheet down on the desk, she ran her hands over her face, releasing a large exasperated sigh. If her uncle had found these items in an excavation, surely there had to be information on this map's location… unless he had found it in another museum storage vault.

She picked up the sheet once more, feeling an irrational hope that maybe something would click this time. Thoughtfully tapping her fingers on the back of the glass, she was suddenly aware of a different texture on her finger tips. Turning it over, there was a small piece of paper taped to the glass. Curious, she took a closer look, to see that there were numbers written in her uncle's handwriting. After a long moment, her eyes widened with the shocking realization that they were coordinates.

Elena urgently walked to the book shelf where she had known that her uncle kept a world map. She skimmed over some of the larger text books until she found the one she needed. Once setting it on the desk, she glanced at the coordinates, noting they were in the northern hemisphere and opened the book to find the proper map. Her heart raced with anticipation as she closed in on the coordinates' location. Taking one more look at the numbers, to double check her accuracy, a beaming smile grew upon her face. The landscape in the textbook map was identical to the artifact.

"You brilliant, brilliant man." she said, a smile still tugging at her lips.

The textbook lacked any landmark names however, which seemed impossible, given the size of the land, which was that of a small country. There were many rivers and lakes, even some mountains, but they were all blank. Elena found this odd, but paid little mind to it. There was another oddity to this landscape that caught her attention. It was almost entirely encircled by a large canyon, save for the coast on the east, and more barren land to the south.

She sat back in the chair, steeping in disbelief. So many questions ran through her mind. How did her uncle come to own these artifacts? Had he been to the location of this map? Were there more, larger remains of this civilization? How had so much life been erased from history, considering how isolated it was?

She thought back to the final words in her uncle's letter. Keep seeking the forgotten worlds. As though flipping a switch, she saw his implication. He wanted her to explore this forgotten world. He had said so himself, that there was something special about these items. He would have wanted answers. Looking over the map in the textbook again, she realized the location was within travel distance, solidifying her decision.

With an air of determination, she reached for the phone at the top corner of the desk. She dialed a number and held the receiver to her ear, spending the next few seconds steadying her breath. Stepping into unknown territory was her favorite part of her hiking trips, but this seemed different. Daunting, yet exhilarating.

"Hello?" said a man's voice on the phone.

"Matt!" Elena almost shouted at her brother in excitement.

"Ellie? Are you alright?" he asked.

"Amazing, actually. I have a favor to ask. Do you still have access to satellite images?"

There was a pause on the line. Elena waited anxiously for a response.

"Where are you going this time?" Matt asked, not sounding too thrilled.

Elena grinned. "I have coordinates…"

An hour later, Elena was pacing the living room. She couldn't sit still. The anticipation of seeing what this ancient land looked like today was crawling in her skin. Her brother promised a print out of the land, with every detail a satellite image could provide. It was privileges like this that she was grateful for his military background.

Just when she didn't think she could stand waiting any longer, there was a knock at the door. She rushed to the door, opening it with a big smile. Matt stood on the porch, looking at her, bewildered.

"You look a little too happy for someone grieving a relative." he said.

"I found something incredible. Did you bring the picture?" Elena stepped aside to let her brother in, closing the door behind them.

Once inside, Matt turned to Elena and handed her a large folder. Biting her lip anxiously, she opened the folder to find six sheets of paper, each containing a section of the image.

"Oh, wow…" she said, eyes widening in surprise.

"I had to segment the image to get all the details. They're numbered on the back, to line them up right."

Elena placed the papers together on the dining table, just off the living room. She leaned over the table, studying the images. As mostly expected, there were no signs of civilization. Almost all of the structures illustrated in the ancient map were gone. In the south central part of the land, there was what appeared to be a bridge stretching across a large lake. A couple portions were missing, but it looked mostly intact. Further north, in the center of the image, it looked like a large mass of rock. A mountain, or crater perhaps. It was difficult to tell the elevation level. Within the vicinity of whatever it was, there was what could have possibly been structural remains.

Elena met her brother's eyes, "This is perfect. Thank you."

As she was putting the papers back in the folder, Matt looked at her curiously.

"So, can I ask what sparked this interest?"

"I found a map in a box of artifacts that Uncle Peter left me. He didn't know anything about the civilization it came from, and according to this," Elena held up the folder triumphantly, "There may be some significant remains. So, I'm going to check it out."

She walked back to the study to retrieve the box. When she returned to the living room, Matt had an unsettled look on his face.

"Can I see the map?" he asked.

"Of course." Elena willingly obliged. She was used to his concern surrounding her hiking trips. Always needing every little detail.

Taking out the glass sheets with the map, she handed it over. With a gentle grip on the edges, Matt looked down at the map, thoughtfully. Elena noticed his mouth tighten slightly. She watched him closely for his response. With a heavy breath, Matt handed the sheet back to her.

"I don't think you should go." he said.

"Why?" Elena was genuinely surprised by this. He was usually more encouraging.

"It's… It's a lot of uncharted land."

"I've hiked uncharted land before…"

"Not like this. We're talking hundreds of miles in every direction."

Elena looked at the map, considering Matt's argument. He was right. It was an immense amount of land. She knew she wouldn't be able to cover a significant amount in a single trip, but even a fraction of what she could possibly discover felt worth it. She remembered the way her heart raced while examining the picture of the dragons. The familiar feeling the ancient lettering had, as though she should know how to read it. Though the sensation was startling, she couldn't shake the need to know more about this civilization. She couldn't ignore the curiosity that had begun continuously nagging at her. She looked up at Matt, her expression fixed.

"I'm going. I'm not ignoring your concern. I appreciate and respect it, but I have to do this… for our uncle. She said, slightly bending the truth.

Matt held her gaze for a long moment, looking as if he had something else to say, but only nodded.

"Alright." he said, reluctantly. "But you're taking a satellite phone, just in case."

Elena laughed lightly. "Fair enough…"

As she gathered her inherited possessions, Matt studied the map once more.

"I do have one question. How are you planning to get in this place with the size of that canyon? As far as I know, you don't drive boats…"

Elena paused in her steps, and looked at her brother with a hopeful smile.

"Umm… about that… Are you still friends with that pilot?"