by The Eurostar and Danny
The Amazon jungle, Peru:
Edulcore Cicciotto:
Darkness. Flat out darkness.
And smell of dirt and humidity.
Warm, short hair... like velvet... under my butt.
I am sitting... riding... what?
"M'xy! Where have you brought us?" I shout.
No answer.
The... thing... under me seems to run. I feel like a rain of pebbles and earth on my face.
A tunnel.
The thing is digging a tunnel, and I am riding it.
What had Chance said?
The map showed the underground?
M'xy has brought us right there... here, below ground level. Agh.
Light. Blinding light.
It takes seconds for my eyes to adjust.
I am on the surface, now.
I am on a mole! A giant, pink mole, who has just put sunglasses over her tiny eyes.
M'xy is standing not far, in spelunking suit. Waves his hand, like usual.
One after one, little hill of ground appears on the grassy surface, and one by one, my comrades appear, each one riding a giant mole of different color.
They all look around amazed, like me. We are in a little clearing in the forest... but there is one side where the curtain of trees seems narrower. Danny runs there, followed quickly by Velo, while the others wave off the dirt from their clothes.
I follow the two.
Behind the trees opens an incredible vision.
There is a big lake, with a very strange organically shaped fountain, springing water right in the middle of the surface.
And beyond the lake, there is a towering mountain, all carved with arches, bridges, balcony, and columns.
Right like Joaquim Cuccubao's picture.
"Bingo," whispers Danny.
Mimic looked out the window of the small charter plane they had hired upon touching down in South America. He saw beneath them a small airstrip, a patch of tarmac cut rudely into the thick Amazon forest. A wooden shack sat at one end of it, and at the other a small tower.
Behind him sat Rose, Pneuma, and the Sheik.
There was a screech as the tires of the plane's landing gear touched down on the black surface of the runway, and the vehicle slowed down. Eventually, it came to a stop a few feet away from the wooden shack.
Stepping out of the door, Mimic looked across to a small bench that sat outside the shack. On it sat Johnny Omicron and X-Acute, looking as inconspicuous as it was within their ability to look.
Mimic reflected that Johnny never was one for civilian clothing. He liked his armor too much.
X-Acute had a bored look on his face, and seemed to be willing them all on so he could hurry up and get out of here.
Mimic stepped down onto the ground and approached the shack. His companions followed.
Johnny stepped up to greet them.
"Where's...?" Mimic began. A sound from inside the shack cut him off.
"Bloody hell! That was a good shit!" Arges boomed, stepping out of the shack while doing up his pants.
"Oh, right. There," Mimic said quietly.
"Do you have anything for me?" Johnny said, his crossed arms and stern voice giving the impression that he would allow for no more time wasting and that everything must proceed at once. Mimic handed him the piece of paper -- the map that they had pulled from the remains of what they had thought to be their copy of the Liber Vitae. Johnny unfolded the map and looked intently at it. He then pulled another from his pocket and compared the two. He stared at them for a moment, and nodded.
"Right. That's where we're going. Shouldn't take too long," he finally said. All around him, his teammates began to retrieve what little luggage had been brought across from Berlin.
"X-Acute, pay the man," Johnny said, gesturing toward the waiting pilot with his outstretched thumb. X-Acute sighed, then went to settle the bill with the pilot.
"Why didn't you send this earlier? We could have been on the way before you got here," Johnny said, pulling Mimic aside.
"Tried. Couldn't get a signal. Did something happen to Xyber?" Mimic replied.
"Something," Johnny said. "And what the hell are you wearing?"
Mimic had been once again wearing the face of Danny Hearn. He grinned.
"You know, as enjoyable as it is to make fun of one's enemies, one day this habit of yours is going to get you into trouble..." Johnny said as they rounded up the rest of their team and made to leave.
Edulcore Cicciotto:
The Lost City of the Dragons.
We have found it. At last.
The book is there, somewhere. Now we have just to take it.
"Tobias. Scan the area and search for the Omicrons! M'xy. Bring back Mick and re-power yourself. Drake! Call on Drax, and everyone get ready to go there!" Danny gives orders like he's a leader born.
Just seconds, and Tobias returns. "NoOmicronsinsight,Danny. Justtwoguardsfunnydressedinfrontofthemaingateofthemountain."
Danny looks at Chance and Velo; they nod, and he orders: "To the mountain. The non-flying ones on the back of Drax, the others stay close. Stay high. I want to be sure of any threat before landing in front of the gate."
We take flight. But it takes just a few minutes before out of the mountains a crowd appears, singing and dancing.
And, then, a big white furry dragon, similar even if not really identical to our Drax appears, and flies directly toward us. On the back of the dragon rides a tall, slim man, pallid and blonde, dressed with what resembles the dress of a medieval Christian priest, but with a feathered tiara on the head, like an Inca king.
When the dragons arrive close, Drax begins to talk with it with an arcane voice, musical and roaring at the same time.
Then, to Danny: "It's okay. They are friendly." And then, with a wink, he adds, "It's a female. Things are getting interesting!"
We fly down, landing just in front of the main gate. If it was a trap, the hurry of the dragon would have taken us right in, but I believe those incredible beasts -- or maybe I should just say beings -- communicate not only by words, but also with scents or some other animal sense. And they detect when someone is lying or not.
And in fact, the people are really friendly, and sing and dance in front of Drax, surrounding us. For a moment, I have lost contact with the others, but when the one that was riding the local dragons get down, the people make room around him, and I see my comrades and we can get together again.
He begins to talk. And much to the surprise of everyone, he speaks English. A very ancient form of English, that I am not able to understand. Just a word every now and then. But it's English.
The others seems to understand him better. Chance translates in modern American for me.
"He welcoming us. He's saying... that this is a great day... The waiting has ended... and the prophecy about the coming of the dragon has become true. His name is... Pacha-Gillion... and he is the high priest of the city.
"Nearly... one thousand years ago... they arrived here sailing from... Wales! They were... the people of the dragons. They were breeding dragons on the mountains... Ed, I am not sure if I understand correctly. Anyway, he is saying that they were followers of... magic. They had... they have the book of magic. And they used magic to... live with dragons, I think."
Maybe someone other than the Swede should be the translator for me. But the others seem to have their difficulties understanding the man, maybe more for what he says than for the ancient language.
Chance continues, following closely what the high priest says, "They had to flee from Britain because of the invasion. They were persecuted... for their magic... They sailed, looking to find Avalon. They crossed the ocean over their dragons... and after many perils, arrived here.
Here... oh, I can't believe it... he's talking about himself, not his ancestors!"
"What?" I ask.
"He's saying that they found the lake... this lake near the city. They found people... locals... that revealed that the water has the power of giving eternal youth. They had lost nearly all the dragons... minus one... during the crossing. They died for exhaustion just after the arrival. So they stopped here... because the water was needed to preserve the existence of the dragon... of the last dragon. Because they believe that, when the last of the dragons die, the Earth will be destroyed.
"They carved a whole city in this mountain, to live hiding from the rest of the world. Ah, he says that through the centuries some people had managed to arrive here... Incas at the beginning... then Spanish... and a German, fifty years ago. But no one has ever left the city. But now there is just... happiness... because the dragon now is not alone... and the heritage of the dragons will be preserved."
It's your lucky day, Drax.
Chance frowns, deciphering the words of the priest. "He's inviting us to enter the city... there will be a feast in our honor."
"Ask about the book!" I shout to Danny.
"Ed, it's not the moment! He will suspect..." begins Chance.
But Danny smiles and goes closer to the man, asking, "You said you have a book about magic? Where do you keep it? It should be a special place, if it's still preserved after a thousand years!"
The priest seems surprised by the request. But he must be really trusting, because he goes even closer to the Australian, and whispers something into his ear.
Then, as we all look at him in shock, Danny takes out a gun and shoots the priest right in his heart.
The man falls on the ground, while Danny runs away in the crowd. I see him disappearing near another one, that I clearly recognize as Johnny Omicron, smiling. But the crowd is over us all, swearing and spitting at us, while dozens of guards surrounds us.
The Omicrons have gambled us even this time.