Jaguar

Prologue

Sweat and humidity clung to my skin as tightly as bricks to mortar, or so I thought as the stickiness of the Amazon Rainforest mingled with my extra strength bug spray. I drummed my fingers absentmindedly against the side of the camcorder I'd brought along at Dr. Jennifer Montgomery's request. While my major is Education with a focus on World History, I enjoyed my elective class with Dr. M. Archaeology and Anthropology 101 had its challenges, but time and time again I'd risen past my own expectations. Dr. Oliver Thornton, Dr. Montgomery's dig partner, and Brad Fairchild, my classmate and academic rival in Dr. M's class, were ahead of us, chopping through the thick barriers of leaves with their machetes.

We'd had a guide, but he had abandoned us sometime ago, muttering something about curses and ghosts further in. I didn't know what we were looking for exactly, since our textbooks barely went into any detail about the Matawan Empire, the largest indigenous civilization in America that once spanned from Canada to Argentina, Doctors Montgomery and Thornton were experts in their study, with Dr. Montgomery even able to read their pictographic or hieroglyphic (I still get them confused sometimes) language. Soon, we entered a strange clearing where stood a stone structure perfectly built in a series of tall trees. A look of surprise came across the faces of Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Thornton. The two raced forwards to a small plaque-like square on a column.

"Oh my God, Thornton this is what we've been searching for," Dr. Montgomery practically exclaimed in excitement.

"What does it say, Jen?" Dr. Thornton asked, mirroring her excitement.

"This temple, it's apparently a sacred temple dedicated to a group of female warriors."

"So the Amazons then?" My far-from-best-friend Brad asked sarcastically.

"No, idiot, they were likely priestesses trained in the art of combat in order to defend the temple," I corrected him.

"Close, Samantha. These women worshipped the Jaguar Spirit, but it says here that the women protected the secrets of the temple and the high priestess."

"So the Matawan people worshipped the Jaguar?"

"They worshipped more animals than just the Jaguar. They held all of the creatures native to the Americas in high regard. It's feasible then that some were even seen as deities who chose to live in the wilds. But this...this is the first seemingly most intact Matawani structure ever found."

"However we don't know the conditions of the interior. So let's all watch our step. No one wants to fall arse over tit." Dr. Thornton led the way inside.

The temple was beautiful. Vines were woven intricately into the stone tiles of the walls and floor, even dancing their way up the columns. Stone statues of jaguars in various positions were scattered everywhere. In the center of the room was a giant tree, stretching its branches high above us, allowing streams of bright light to swim across the floor.

"We should explore to cover more space, but everyone watch yourselves. We don't want to disturb anything and we don't know if there are any security measures deeper in. Sam, document all you can."

"Already rolling, Dr. M," I told her with a thumbs up while I scanned around the first room slowly. The four of us split up and went different ways in the temple.

"Be careful, I just found a skeleton," Brad's voice crackled out from the radio strapped to my chest.

"Yes, best not to disturb anything, hm." Dr. Thornton's reply was calm.

Light grew sparse the deeper I went in. Once it was pitch black, I shrugged off my backpack and pulled out a flare. I lit it and proceeded to use it like a torch. The floor was overgrown with vegetation. Roots and vines pushed up the tiles, a stark difference to the floor of the main atrium-like room. The ground groaned with my every step, seemingly in protest as if it were struggling to hold me. Suddenly, I stepped on a loose patch of and the floor tumbled out from under me. I screamed as I was swallowed by darkness. I hit several stones jutting out from the walls on my way down into the deepest recesses of the nearly ancient temple. Sharp pain radiated from my ankle before I finally landed on a pile of rubble.