Henry always felt out of time as if he had been born in the wrong era. Dreaming and wishing he was born to a much earlier time, when explorers roamed the earth and its mysteries had yet to be discovered. Since young, Henry knew his soul was that of an adventurer but having been born in the age of information, where knowledge could be find with a quick google search, every nook and cranny of the earth was explored, and it filled him with sadness. Still, he decided to see the world for himself. Preparing for this, he learned every kind of survival skill known to man, from how to start a fire to even parkour for traversing difficult terrain. In the end he set out on a journey to see for himself that which had been a great hurdle to previous explorers. Antarctica, Australia, Mount Everest you name it, by the time he was 25 he'd been everywhere he could find an adventure in, not knowing he was on the verge of having his yearning granted.
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Linen fabric ran across Henry's temples as sweat trickled down his short but disheveled blonde hair and into his mesmerizing grey eyes. Although Henry never paid any attention to his appearance, more than one woman had fallen prey to his handsome visage and slightly tanned skin.
"Damn it" Henry couldn't stop himself from cursing.
Although he loved adventure more than anything else Henry had the habit of complaining when on an adventure. Not because he hated it, just the opposite in fact, he believed grumbling and cursing his current predicament brought a sense of satisfaction and created a "pioneer atmosphere" to the whole thing.
As the thick muddy water of the Amazon's rainy season puddles was being split by Henry's knees, he became fairly certain a Haementeria ghilianii or commonly known as an Amazon giant leech was going to jump out of the water and feast upon his blood. His current destination was a unique rock formation Zack, his "go to guy" and friend, had told him about. Even though Zack hated the whole walking and getting dirty part didn't mean he was less of an explorer veteran. He was the information guy who you go to when there is something you need to find or know. This rock formation was no exception, Henry had asked him to find it a while back. Zack had spent the whole summer looking for something Henry would find fascinating, and this was exactly what he found. An enormous rock formation of unknown origin in the middle of nowhere, Henry's favorite.
"Ahh! I knew it!" Exclaimed Henry as he looked at Ronaldo, his guide in the Amazon, while exposing a 46 cm bloodsucker on his leg. A small grin plastered on his lips.
Ronaldo was an explorer like himself who Henry had met in other various expeditions. When he set his destination, the first person he could think of for a guide was him. Ronaldo, born in Brazil, was more than familiar with the amalgamation of flora and fauna that was the Amazon.
"Pfft!" Ronaldo who already knew all of Henry's quirks let out a small laugh.
"Let me guess, you were waiting to see if a leech would bite you?"
He was a tall man with pretzel colored skin and long dark wavy hair. The big white pearls that poked from his smile took more space than normal giving his smile a crooked appearance. All in all, his name made him justice as he looked exactly like Ronaldinho, the famous soccer player, just slightly taller.
"How did you know?" Henry replied in response. Shock written in his face.
"Well, long ago I found a magic lamp that would grant me one wish, so I asked to be given the ability of mind reading"
"One wish? Isn't it three?"
Ronaldo's smile froze "That's what your concern is?" Rolando asked in shock.
Henry shrugged and proceeded to grab the leech on both sides while pushing the its oral sucker away from his skin and removing the bloodsucker.
"Anyway, we are almost there keeping an eye out for the owl shaped rock." said Ronaldo
As they ventured deeper in the forest Henry caught a glimpse of a tall fat bird looking stone. He grimaced as he stared at it for a second thinking in what way that was an "owl shaped rock", well at least until realization came, he had recognized it on a glance accepting people might mistake it for an owl.
"Over there" Henry called.
They turned and walked past the stone for about ten minutes until they arrived in a rocky area. Its surface was full of deep cracks and 22 enormous rock pillars protruded from the ground in every direction as if screaming - look at me! -
*ffwoooh* Henry whistled in admiration while turning to Ronaldo.
"Really some big ass rocks, makes you wonder" says Henry. As obvious as the statement sounded, the rocks were truly ginormous, bigger than whatever a group of people with pulleys or other primitive devices where capable of moving.
As both men climbed on top of the area where the pillars lay upon, mind was filled with excitement and intrigue.
*Rumbling* *Rumbling*
Suddenly the earth moved under Henry's and Ronaldo's feet.
"Earthquake!" Screamed Ronaldo as he held onto the rocky wall on a side of the pillars. A minute or so after the initial quakes, the movement ceased. Sighing in relief Ronaldo turned to look at Henry only to find he had somehow disappeared.
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*Drip*
*Drip*
*Drip*
"Mmh" Henry grunted. His forehead wet from the cold liquid dripping from the dark. He couldn't help but grasp his head with both hands after his consciousness returned in the form of a colossal headache.
Sitting upright the, now bleeding Henry, tried to assess the situation. He couldn't see, as his eyes hadn't yet adapted to the dark underground cavern, he found himself in. At least that was the conclusion he came to after, first checking himself for any injury and then feeling around with his hands. His head bled profoundly wetting his hair in a sticky substance that impaired his left eye. He didn't worry too much about the amount of red liquid cascading down his shirt, Henry knew the head liked to exaggerate the amount of blood it expelled. His ringing ears and massive headache presumed the possibility of a concussion. Aside from that, the rest of his body was in good condition except for some bruises and sore limbs.
He remained in the obscure surroundings for an uncertain amount of time. Eventually the gloom became more apparent until ultimately the cavern materialized. Thousands of stalactites adorned the now clear ceiling, sometimes conducing water to its edge and letting it fall into small puddles which presumably, where created in the same way. The terrain was as you'd expect from a cave, rocky and uneven with stalagmites protruding from the ground in efforts to reach above. The limited light made it impossible to see the boundary on any side, on the other hand the spiked ceiling wasn't far and about three or four meters tall. The only illumination came from the occasional gap connecting to the exterior.
After making sure it was safe to move, Henry stood up with the help of his hands and began to explore the cave. Each footstep echoed and overlapped with the next creating a ghostly atmosphere. A few of minutes later he caught something in the corner of his eye and stopped. Looking down he discovered what appeared to be a metal tablet inscribed with unfamiliar letters. Henry squinted both eyes trying to recognize the engraving but, it didn't look like anything else he'd ever seen.
With a hint of excitement Henry turned looking for other similar artifacts, ruins or any clue pointing to the identity of whatever culture it belonged to. He came to a stop when in the distance he discovered the presence of an unnatural flickering light. Stopping himself from dancing in joy, Henry approached said light but, the closer he got, the faster his heart started beating.
"..."
His mind became blank as the absurdity of the scene cemented in his mind. What appeared to be a colossal metal construct laid in front of him. Grey metal panels took the form of an enormous arched gateway approximately 7 meters wide and 21 meters tall while the rest looked to be buried in the rock. Dark runic engravings adorned the sides of two beautifully crafted doors. Each door had intricate symmetrical designs. Half an elliptical pattern stood in its middle creating a full oval when closed, the top morphed into a leaf like arrangement comprised of curved lines at various depths, while in the bottom was a simple curved line creating a pattern similar to that of a leaf. There were no handles however making one wonder how it opened .
Henry marveled as he approached and stood still. After some consideration he extended both hands and pushed.
*Ratatata*
Henry barely touched the doors when a mechanical rattling came from within as the giant metal walls opened, the insides were finally reveled after who know how many centuries or millennia.
*click*
*click*
A sound similar to when a lamp turns on in an abandoned facility you usually see in movies came with, to Henrys astonishment light. The inside appeared to be some sort of vault with numerous metal lockers arranged to the sides forming a circle. He looked up trying to find the source of light but without luck. The ceiling was, in all sense of the word, plain, a simple metallic dome separated the vault and the outside. While still trying to process everything, his eyes darted to the center of the room were an amorphous cloud of dust like particles rested in its place. With a closer look Henry discovered that, what appeared to be dust, was in fact a swarm of metal insects. After examining said cloud, it also appeared to sense him back and launched towards Henry in the blink of an eye, living no time for him to dodge all he could do was raise his hands defensibly. The last thing he saw was a flash of white blinding light before falling unconscious for the second time that day.