Nigkala Tales Pt. 26: A Magical Vacation

He walked over, and stopped when he realized he was climbing even though he knew the ground was level. "Impossible. Not even a hologram is solid."

"As I said, magic is real. And this is another secret for you to keep. Any later exposition made, will be larger, and will use mundane means for protection. Now, follow me, and let's see what I sensed." Peter followed in silence, and I stopped every once in a while to locate it precisely.

Finally, we came to where it was. There was little here, just a marker of some kind. Peter was in shock that I went right to it, but also excited at finding it.

"Peter, why don't you show me your site skills, and clean off this stone, so we can examine it."

"Yes, boss." He took off his backpack, and brought out tools and began to carefully uncover it.

I don't think he realized he called me boss. Smiling at that thought, I brought out my phone and recorded a video of him cleaning off part of it. I later took pictures of the cleaned stone. We discussed it, and what it said. Between us, we were able to get a sense of it. Our conclusion was that it was a boundary marker to a city named Ile-Ife.

While Peter was ecstatic at learning this, I was intrigued. My own research into Aja indicated she was an Orisha of the Yoruba, and they are from West Africa. Their origin city is Ile-Ife. Could there be two such ancient cities? What was going on?

Peter wanted to explore more here, but I said there was no worked stone in the area. We recorded the location for reference and headed back. I canceled my illusion over the vehicles, and we continued on our way.

Two days later, we checked out another lead. This turned out to be some kind of simple structure. Peter told me this signified we were near to some important place. So I decided to meditate right then and there. I indicated I sensed something further north. Returning to our vehicles and consulting the maps, I decided it was too far for today, so I called for camp right here.

Due to the nature of the terrain, it actually took two days to get to the area. Towards the end, I was navigating by my rock sense, rather than the map, since it was not detailed enough to show any route. We were eventually able to pull up to some structures. Peter was in awe.

I suggested we camp outside until we found a place solidly built that could protect us from the wildlife. Peter wanted to report it immediately, but I told him we didn't want this place swarmed with amateurs. When we returned we would publish our results before telling others where it was. I mentioned what happened when someone claimed to have found Thinis, the ancient capital of Egypt, a few years ago. He agreed the only good thing about it was the person was arrested for publishing falsified data. Dozens of amateurs died before he was exposed.

In the morning, I sent Peter to do a survey of the area, and get lots of pictures, but I also cautioned him to remain outdoors. I also summoned the predator to scout the area. After he left, I meditated to examine the entire town with my rock sense. I also summoned rock and built up a model of the town, showing both the native land, and all the buildings. I used my phone to photograph the model. I uploaded that to my tablet and converted it to a line drawing, so I could make notes with it. I then dismissed the model. No need to make Peter keep even more secrets.

When the predator came back, it informed me of the significant local threats. I asked it to show me, and it asked me to hold my arm up. I did, and it jumped up, changing as it came into a bird of prey. It landed on my arm, and its claws penetrated my arm and drew blood. I asked why, and it told me that the blood linked us. It then went it aloft, and I saw what it saw. Shortly, I saw where each threat was, and what they were.

After it indicated it was done, I asked if it had found a source of fresh water. It then flew to another location. There was a small stream, a waterfall, and a pool at its base. I used my other senses and found it and noted it on my map. I had it return, and noted the local threats in the map as well. I was not surprised the fresh water was close to several of the threats.

I spent the rest of the time, until Peter came back, monitoring the surrounding life. I was trying to learn where food could be found by studying their movements and their emotional state. I planned on exploring the area to verify and collect fresh food.

When I told Peter of the map, he asked, "How did you make that?"

"What you don't know, you can't lie about. But you can rely on its accuracy. We can use it to note where we find everything. Tonight you can assign each building a tag, so you can annotate picture files, and also make notes of what we found. Please read all I have already added. There are dangerous animals in the area, but also fresh water. I plan of enjoying a swim. I am also working on finding fresh food, so we can save the preserved stuff."

"Let's see what's here... yeah, those are dangerous. You're right, fresh food and water will extend our supplies."

"Can you show me what you found?"

"Sure." He then uploaded the files to his tablet, and gave me a brief description as he showed them. He also suggested where to start. I let him lead, as it was his field of expertise. I did ask him to have a few pictures of each place before we actually went into anything.

Peter went off in the morning to get more pictures. I went out, first to collect fresh water, and later to get fresh food. We had expandable containers for the water, and a pair of backpacks designed to carry them. I took several trips, but filled them all. Fresh food was not as easy, as only some places were actually places of good food. I marked those that I did find, and brought back a fair amount of food.

My next item on today's list was firewood. I had brought some, but I wanted to get enough for several days. Lastly, I thought about meat. I pulled out my hunting bow and arrows, and went hunting. I looked for a prey species, as I expected they would be least affected by a little hunting. Peter returned to a fresh hot meal of local fruits and meat. That night he had a smile on his face from the fresh food.

In the morning, I suggested we go for a swim, and wash up. We got to the pool, and while he was deciding how to proceed, I just undressed and jumped in. I said, "Come on in and play first. We can wash up next to the outflow, so we don't get the pool full of soap. Don't worry, this soap is okay for washing outdoors. It won't hurt the environment."

"I'll keep watch."

"No need. I can do that while swimming. Also, I can handle any trouble. So take off your clothes and join me." I noted him staring at my breasts. "Oh yeah, I have four, enjoy lots of sex, and don't mind being seen. Now, come join me and have some fun." I dived, and swam to the far side before popping up. Then I did the backstroke across to where he was. I signalled with a finger for him to follow, and swam away. Eventually, he undressed and entered. We relaxed for nearly an hour before washing up.

With food and water supplies available, the next thing I searched for was shelter. Peter and I sought out a place we could use as shelter. Finding a place, we set it up as our base. From here we began a search of every place on our map. I insisted we look quickly at each room, so we could prioritize things. Additionally, I searched for magical or divine traces, and found three.

The first one looked to be some kind of work-room. The second one seemed to be a worship place. The last one I found seemed to be a library. Peter wanted to explore this immediately, but I insisted we complete the site survey first. We found four other libraries, and seven other worship places.

At last, the survey was finished. I went with Peter to examine one of the other libraries. I suggested selecting something that was likely to be unimportant, in case something went wrong. He had me working the camera while he pulled out a scroll. I was making a video in case something happened. The scroll came out of the shelf okay, but when he tried to open it, it was stubborn. Finally, it opened.

I suggested not opening it flat, but instead work from the video. Peter decided to see if he could open it a bit more. As I feared, the scroll got damaged. Worse, when he tried to restore it to its closed position, more damage happened.

"Oh, shit. What do I do now?"

"You put it down where it won't be disturbed, and we leave the room. We don't have the tools or the expertise to handle ancient documents."

"There is so much here to learn. We can't leave it undiscovered."

"Nor shall we, but this room is beyond us. What can we learn from other kinds of rooms? Their artwork, their furnishings, and so on?"

He sighed, then said, "Yeah, you're right. We'll go to one of the worship places."

We did this, but not to the one I was interested in. I encouraged Peter to do that one last. I helped him to understand the language, and have informed speculation on other things based on my knowledge of the Yoruba. We took pictures, and I noted the name of the Orisha this place was dedicated to. Later, we learned the art corresponded to the domain of the Orisha.

We completed examinations of all eight worship areas, and then we examined a few work-rooms and other rooms. Eventually, his enthusiasm flagged. I suggested he take a break, and let me examine the places I was interested in.

First, I went to the worship area. One thing that piqued my interest was that this one was dedicated to Aja. I meditated in the room, and also drew on her talisman to understand all the imagery. I was surprised it provided information on things other than animals or plants. There was one curious portion low down that said certain followers gained power in the dreamworld. This sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it.

Not getting much here, I went to the library with the magic. I did not touch any of the scrolls, but focused on the magic. It took a while, but I pinpointed it to a barren stretch of wall. With my rock sense, I discovered a secret storage area. I called Peter to video this. When he came, I worked at the wall, until the secret cache opened. Within were two pieces of amber, and both seemed to be magical, just like mine. I carefully removed them, and placed them in a secure box. I would study these later.

When I examined the workshop, I found a secret door. The revealed room looked to be empty, save for artwork on the walls. It was far better preserved than the art found in other places. Investigating the magic here, I could tell it was some kind of preservation magic, but very weak. Peter had finished taking the video when I said I wanted to try something.

When I saw he was ready, I pushed out some of my chi into the magic, with the intent of refreshing it. It did that, and more. Apparently I had missed the illumination magic, as it had been even weaker. It only lasted a few minutes, but Peter got the images on camera, and I got it on my phone as well.

"What happened?"

I looked at his camera, and he indicated it was off. "I pushed some power into it, but I don't know what in means." At this point, I was at a loss as to what it all meant.

Speaking with Peter, we decided that we had done what we could, and it was time to publish. We collected our stuff, and cleaned up leaving almost no trace. We also had sample artifacts, for study. Leaving in the morning, we got nearly halfway to Ufeyn before stopping to camp. We camped once more rather than arrive late in the evening. In the morning, I reminded him about keeping my secrets, and whammied him to enforce it.

I got us hotel rooms, so we could freshen up. We also sorted everything, and I arranged to ship the expedition equipment to my apartment in Mogadishu. The artifacts remained in my room. The next day we drove back there, taking several days. Peter stayed at my place while we wrote up what we found. I did have him exclude the magic glow from the secret room, and the pieces of amber along with their hiding place.

Aside from that, we put everything in, including the marker and simple structure. We held back the locations, as that would be his ticket to the expedition that would be sent soon. When it was ready, I sent a copy to John to look over before we submitted it for publication. The document went back and forth a few times, until all were satisfied. Peter came with me to a branch of an international bank, and we created an account that I filled with his pay, and bonus.

He submitted the article, and the next day we presented his mentor with a print, along with all the artifacts we had gathered. "You found the lost city? How?"

I said, "That is my secret, and not too germane to the discovery. There will no doubt be an expedition sent to further explore and learn about it. There is much we could not handle, as we had neither the training nor the equipment. Peter can tell you about what all is there, and show you pictures not in the article. Also, we brought you the artifacts to begin your expert work."

"Peter, is this true?"

"Yes, doc. She has her secrets, but they are about her, not the city. And we have the artifacts to prove things."

"Did you learn the name of the city?"

I said, "Show him." Peter then pointed him the article.

He read the summary. "You think it is the same city?"

Peter replied, "It is a possibility. The similarities are there, but more study is needed."

I interrupted. "This is your field of expertise. I will be leaving town, but I will stay in touch."

I expected the expedition would be big news.

But that is another story...