Short Stories

Round Seven - The Timeless Kingdom

A long time ago, I had found a map hidden beneath a library's piles of books. The map's hieroglyphic scrabbles and wavy lines didn't make a bit of sense. That is, until it led me here, before the gates of the forgotten vale. I tilted the map at a precarious angle, turning the wavy lines into the path before me and the hieroglyphics into the pictures I saw on the walls. Excitement fueled my veins as I photographed this archaic evidence. Curiosity itself bounded me closer to the open gateway and I slipped though the stone blocks with content at this historical find. 

For years, I'd searched for the place many called a medieval myth. Standing here, I just knew this had to be the location of the ancient legend known as the Kingdom of Prester John. I remembered the fact that in the 1400's, a Portuguese explorer had claimed that he had found the remains of this wealthy kingdom in the African country of Ethiopia. This explorer was telling a truth for certain, for that is where I stood.

What other secrets hide here? I wondered, glimpsing at the map as it had finally made sense after so long. Looking before me, there was a huge valley that stretched outward for miles. However, there were stone structures off in the distance. They seemed very old, their foundations cracking from age and the remains were littering the ground around them. I started to step away from the stone gateway, but stopped suddenly, grass being trampled behind me.

"Please, Angie..." Scott breathed heavily, leaning against the stone gateway behind me. "I know exploring is fun and all, but next time you go off on your adventure, please wake me up before you leave the car. "I thought you deserved to sleep after that long, sleepless plane ride here. You didn't have to come all the way out here after me." As soon as the explanation left my mouth, a seismic rumbling shook me to the core. "Earthquake! Get down!" I shouted to Scotty as he shifted from side to side, trying to maintain his balance. The earthquake lasted for nearly five seconds and vanished as quickly as it started. 

"We shouldn't have left without the expedition team." Scotty muttered with regret striking every inch of his tone, his limbs shaking like gelatin. "Well, we did and there's no changing that. Besides neither of us are hurt and we have a medieval kingdom to find." Pointing that out, I consulted to the map to figure our next step. "That's not the point!" Scott argued, glaring at me so angrily, you would think he had heat vision. "Coming out here was stupid without some sort of back up plan." He fumed.

Folding the map back up in a slightly aggressive way, "You think I don't know that? You know as well as I do that Professor Reins is a scam and that we can't trust him. I want to just get in and get out before he has a chance to figure out where we are and what we're doing." I turned away from Scott and headed down the path that was scrawled into the valley, wary of any potential dangers. 

I heard Scotty trail behind me, there was an ignorance in the stamping of his feet on the rocky path. "Stay close." I warned him. "They like it when their prey's alone and out in the open." He swiveled his head around a few times before he finally spotted what I was talking about. Roughly one hundred feet away sat a female lion with her cubs. 

It took half an hour before we finally started to reach the old village of what I assumed to be the kingdom of Prester John. With every chance, I photographed the scenic view of this medieval village. Passing by the first structure, I peered inside trying to find evidence of civilization. "Scotty, you gotta see this." I said in amazement, seeing a homey set-up. However, after not retrieving an answer from him, I turned around to see Scotty unconscious on the ground and a pistol pointed at my heart. "Hand over the map, Stevens." Professor Reins growled.