Join Iah, Lei, Nyima, Adela and their friends as they embark on a treasure hunt to uncover the secrets of the map found in the ancient ruins of Rios. But what they discover in Mina may lead them to regret ever finding the ancient tablet in the first...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I winced as soon as I opened my eyes. Maybe I should've kept them closed.
Opening them again, I saw we were inside of a cavern with natural light pouring in from some cracks above.
"About time that you wake up," Vermeil said with a slight smile. She had changed into a light blue tank top and short shorts.
"Uh, don't you think that's bad attire for war?" I asked, smirking.
She crossed her arms. "My clothes were muddy, so I had to change. Fai is caring for her brother, but once she can, she'll try to clean our clothes."
I looked at my own clothing and saw that someone had changed me again. I now had on the pants from before and a yellow t-shirt.
I turned to my left and saw my father laying on a blue mat next to me. Mother paid no mind to us as she changed Dad's towel.
"Dad!" I yelled.
Mom shot me daggers with her eyes.
I set my head back down.
"Your father has a small fever, but nothing too bad," she whispered. "Well, it shouldn't be if he rests."
"You sure? If it's tropical fever, it could get worse," I said.
She sighed. "I gave him something to lower the fever."
"Wait, so he does have tropical fever?"
She nodded. "But your father will get past it. Not his first time getting it. Was a lot worse last time."
When was that? Was it during one of their missions when they were gone longer than expected?
I smiled slightly. "Alright, I'll trust in your skills."
She put her hands on her hips. "You don't sound so sure, even though I'm the one who taught you all you know about them. Anyway, we have to plan our next move. I would've liked to consult with your father, but knowing him, he probably would agree with whatever you come up with."
I tapped my chin. "Hitting the capital will be harder now than before. Security is bound to be tight as they'll expect us to return."
Mother crossed her arms. "We could go for a frontal assault, but that would be excessive."
"By the looks of things when we were passing through the sky, H.E.H. has a good deal of troops in the capital," Isabel said.
She sighed. "Figured."
"We could try taking the underground path, assuming that it isn't buried," I said.
Mother raised an eyebrow at me. "Underground path?"
"Yeah, we took one to sneak out. It's near the orphanage. It leads to the swamp."
She rubbed her forehead. "Then it's likely in bad shape."
