Page 96 of Defying the Relic Hunter

Ethan growled in my head,“You hope so?”

“If it’s a ghoul, it’s dead but if it’s not, you might want to have another grenade ready.”

“Seriously?”

“Ghosts can be tricky buggers. It always pays to be prepared,”I replied.

Raj and Adan quickly snagged grenades off Uncle Saul’s weapons belt.

I stepped cautiously into the pitch-black cavern and everyone filed in behind me.

Granny Annabel chanted,“Carutius fornicem ripam.”

A torch flared in the darkness, then another and another and another until I could make out a vast cavern.

“Thanks Granny.”I looked around in awe.

A huge drawing of Montezuma battling a Conquistador glowed eerily on one massive wall. On the other side of the cavern was an immense sandstone cliff dwelling.

“Those pueblos resemble the early Nabateans’ habitats,”Xenia declared.

“Your parents are going to have a field day with this find.”Quinn gaze fell on the dozens of mummified warriors crumpled around an arched doorway.“What killed them, Kizzy?”

The echoes of a long-ago battle swirled through my mind and I caught a few fleeting images of the warriors’ desperate fight to save their families.“Demons. It was that idiot high priest aka the Thunder God who accidently opened the doorway to hell.”I cocked my head as another image flashed into my head.“The bad news is the demons are still here.”

“Fuck,”Quinn spat.

Ethan glanced around warily.“With any luck they’ll eat Ceti.”

“We can only hope.”I approached the warriors cautiously. You never knew when they’d jump up and take a swing at you.

Some of the fighters petrified features peeked out from Jaguar skulls and their mummified bodies were covered in rotted panther pelts. If they weren’t already dead, it kinda made you want to sic PETA on their asses.

The others wore feathered helmets with beaks opened in a defiant scream. Each warrior had a death grip on a round wooden shield with a few tattered feathers still attached and a carved sword.

“The armor is made from animal hide,”Xenia commented.

Ethan bent down to examine the bodies.“The Eagles and Jaguars were the elite warrior knights of the Aztec.

Quinn picked up a sword and fingered the still sharp obsidian blade embedded in the sides.“These weapons wouldn’t stop a Tai-Kok, let alone a demon.”

“No, but they were fierce warriors who never backed down in battle. No matter what the odds were,”Ethan added with touch of respect.

I aimed my flashlight through a doorway. The beam reflected off of thousands of bones.“They weren’t able to save their families.”

“If we can defeat the Tai-Kok, we can defeat a few demons too,”Uncle Saul stated firmly.

“You betcha.” I kicked a rotted basket out of the way and stepped inside the room. Piles of jewels, gold and silver were strewn everywhere. It was almost as if a child had thrown a fit. The crystalline death mask had been shattered into tiny pieces.

“Ceti has been here,”Raj announced as he picked up the shards.

Adan morphed into his true form.“Now we hunt.”

I watched them disappear into the darkness and called,“Be careful.”

Quinn snorted.

“Kizzy, I want you to watch for ghosts while we catalog the treasure,” Uncle Saul instructed.

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