The Book of Time

Chapter 7

A/N: Italics are for non-English words and sentences.

Machu Picchu.

Thomas had been there once before. The site itself hadn't been disturbed but the railway and the road leading to it were completely destroyed. He pulled Shay behind a wall as a dinosaur walked past. It was the size of a dog but he knew this one was an herbivore. There should be more of those around. They liked to travel in large groups.

"What are we looking for?" he asked. They were at the edge of the city.

She pointed. "There should be a portal, up there."

He followed her finger with his eyes and groaned. "Huayna Picchu? We have to climb that?" They couldn't teleport. The bracelet could put them anywhere in a 100m radius of the coordinates entered. They could end up on the top or fall off a cliff. They would have to climb.

She nodded. He stood and stretched his arms. "Well, we might as well get started. It will take us a while to reach up there."

"I estimate thirty minutes, forty-five if you can't keep up."

"Are you challenging me?" he asked.

"Of course not." She walked ahead of him. "I'm simply questioning your ability to keep up with me. You've been saying that I need you and I'm telling you to prove it or at least keep up."

Was she daring him? It didn't matter. He'd planned to prove that to her anyway.

She stopped and tilted her head to the side. "There are people to our left and in front of us. Whoever had the map and the notebook must have come to the same conclusion as me."

"What do we do?" he asked.

"My first assumption when reading the notes and looking at the map was that the logical place to put the Book would be in one of the temples or in the Sacred Plaza, but the notes mentions roofs and that's why I looked higher." Shay looked up at Huayna Picchu. "We need to get up there before they realize their mistake and before Samuel's men reach." She started walking again. "We'll have to risk it but try to stay out of sight."

That order was one he was used to.

Thomas and Shay kept close to the walls, ducking behind them at any and every sound. It took more time than he would have liked to reach the bottom of the stairs to climb to the top of Huanya Picchu. A few times someone had passed right by them and he recognized one. Kit. The Jaguars were there.

Shay picked up some of the dirt and rubbed it between her palms. There were stairs but they would have to use their hands in some places.

"Are we going straight to the top or in one of those hut things?" he asked.

"The top."

The stairs got steeper and steeper and then they had to use their hands. So far, so good. All they had to do was reach the top before—

There was a bright flash of light, then more and more. They turned around. Soldiers. And they'd caught the attention of the Jaguars.

"We need to go faster," Shay said. She jumped up and grabbed the next stair.

"They should keep each other busy for a while," Thomas said. He pulled himself up effortlessly with his right hand. Shouts came from below them. They were coming up.

Thomas gripped a large rock and pulled it free, sending it tumbling down the stairs. The Jaguar easily dodged it.

They climbed straight past the huts. Soldiers had reached the bottom but the Jaguars were ahead.