I smiled, crossing my arms. "If they are looking, they won't attack." I said with confidence. This wasn't my first encounter, and I placed my hand on my cut arm. The bleeding had stopped and Callabel had wrapped some cloth around it. It occurred to me I had never been in a situation that had involved the beasts that hadn't let to a wound of some kind, and that was still counted as lucky. "They don't do well around fire, and they'll smell their own dead." 

"Well that's good," She said, knowingly making an understatement. I laughed, glad I hadn't embarrassed myself the way I had feared. Attraction or not, we still had a few days travel left if we were going on the right path. I felt confident we were heading in the correct direction, but I had never been here before. The old tales from Owyn the huntsman were what I was navigating by, and my general knowledge of the direction of the outpost. 

I had very good discipline. One of the tenets of my faith was the forging of an impassable will, which the dwarves could appreciate highly. I was just about to summon that, because I figured she would have wanted to change the subject. But she caught my eyes with hers and subtly moved her body in a way I didn't really perceive, but it caught my attention and more. I know what you're thinking, and no, this wasn't my first time dealing with a pretty woman. But I had only been with one, and it had been awhile ago. Other than travelers, you don't see many people in these lands, especially not in the village I lived. It didn't boast even a thousand people, and almost none of them were around my age. I couldn't read her mind or intentions, but I still had an inkling of what she was doing, and I definitely obliged. The impenetrable walls I had been building crumbled biblically, and I let my eyes slid over her hips and chest. 

"Social acquaintances... that what they're calling it across the pond?" I joked, though my brevity came out breathlessly. I placed my hands behind back to lean on the ground, letting my corded arms grow pronounced like my chest did, showing definition through my top.

I had been told I was handsome before, but it never really was something that stuck with me. It was like pointing out that a lizard could regrow its tail or that the sun brought heat. The significance didn't really hit me mattered very little to my day to day life, but for the first time for as long as I can remember, I was glad I had it. The lady Emmaline scooted a bit closer to me, letting me get a marvelous view of her chest that did unrelenting things to me, until a glance at the side showed me the mercs had stopped their talk and eyed us. 

"So uh," I cleared my throat and gestured to the mercenaries with a small nudge of my head. "Care to tell me about your estates back north? I don't think I've met many noblewomen heading south." I said, taking a deep breath. Gods I was hot and bothered, but I shoved that aside. We couldn't get familiar on the trail. It complicated things and would give credence or at least fervour to whatever the conquistadors would accuse us of. Plus, I thought, once we reached the outpost, the contract was done. I wasn't a one-night-stand kind of guy. She likely had other obligations and people to marry. 

After some time talking and some brief flirting, we and the other groups drifted off to sleep. 

The next day, we awoke to a light rain that turned into a downpour accompanied by roaring thunder. Luckily for us we had the stone walls above to shield us, but it kept us immobile for a good few hours before the skies cleared and we could start to move again. We went slow going over the slick rocks and the muddied ground until the earth went even again, and we could begin moving at a better pace. The rest of the day was spent marching, and other than a few smiles I shared with Emmaline, we didn't really converse beyond a few words. Luckily we saw no dangerous predators either, though we did bump into a water buffalo and its calf amongst some tall reeds that we gave a wide berth to. 

It was mid afternoon when everything changed. 

I had taken my axe out, and despite our differences, the conquistadors and I had begun working in unison, hacking through the leaves, ferns, and brush to cut our way through the dense jungle before we suddenly hit nothing but air. I heard one of the Dre Costan's gasp when he stepped forward past the last tree, and I quickly followed and felt my brows raise as I bore witness to a spectacle I had never seen before. 

Walls thrice as tall as a man stood like a cliffside before us, bricked from some unknown material, with sinuous patterns carved into it that harmed the retina to follow and made one dizzy in the attempt.The rest of the group followed in our wake as we approached the wall, and a call of "Senor!" to my right drew my attention. Past another vast tree, we saw the opening in the barrier that was even more impressive and yet wholly terrifying. 

The gateway was a massive serpent's maw, opened wide enough for an army to march through. Its teeth were the teeth of a rusted portcullis, opened wide for anyone to pass through freely. I saw its eyes twinkle in the bright sunlight, glimmering as if they were made of precious stones. I let out a whistle as the others joined me, and there were gasps all around.

"Esto es lo que hemos buscado para estos meses, Ricardo." One of the mercs said to the other. As the others whispered amongst themselves, I noticed a flak of something along the wall next to the serpent gate. I walked up and brushed it, and my eyes widened as my hands wiped what I had thought was stone off the rich hue of the material the wall was made of. On it were ancient pictograms I couldn't decipher, but once my shock was gone I realized just what I was looking at. 

The walls were made of solid gold. 

"What is this place?" Callibel asked, poking her head past the great fanged mouth to peer into the settlement. Spires and ziggurats of stone, gold, and brass towered into the sky, and through nature had reconquered much of the inner city, the roads were still well paved and framed by waterways. 

"I don't know..." I admitted, perplexed. 

"You don't?" Fletcher asked, astounded at how such a place could go under the radar of any local. 

"Tzecholitchi" a voice said from behind, and all eyes turned to Emmaline. The mercs looked at her as if they were about to run her through then and there. 

"I've heard of that," I said, memories flooding back to me. 

"Really? I was just sneezing." Emmaline lied, blowing her nose.