I entered the lost city of Critivo and saw the lush vegetation covering every surface like a virus eating everything in its path. The city was now a dense forest, the tree tops creating the largest canopy I had ever seen. It was like walking through a moss covered cave, barely any light was getting through.
The forest suddenly went dead silent. Every creature for miles around froze and waited for what was about to come next. Then the birds fled the tree tops and the monkeys screamed, running in every direction. Shattering the sound of the forest chaos was the low thumping sound getting louder and louder.
The forest again went silent. Then a deafening roar set every creature in miles into panic mode. I turned and bolted, not wanting to know what had caused those gut clenching sounds. I turned a corner and the thumps got louder and faster. I spotted a cave and, within seconds, I was cramped up against the wall with my eyes screwed shut. I opened them just in time to see two giant feet stomp past the cave, almost causing a cave-in.
The next time I opened my eyes I was in the back of a truck in complete darkness. A small shimmering light cut through the darkness, revealing a strange face staring straight at me. I jolted back and scrambled up against the wall. “W-what are you?” I stammered.
The strange human-like creature replied in a foreign language. They then cleared their throat and replayed in perfectly fluent English, “I am of the Coulipari tribe. An elite society’s bird warriors.”
“W-why am I in a truck in the dark?”
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience but we could not risk leaving you to be eaten alive. If you would prefer, we could drop you off?”
“N-no,” I stammered.
“Very well then, it will be another hour until we arrive back at our camp.”
“Camp?” I said finally collecting myself. “There are more people that look like you?”
“Yes.” They replied rather sarcastically. “Now sit back and enjoy the ride.”
