"There!... Do you... do you see it?" Layla whispered, in a frantic, hushed tone.
"I do see... something..." Ruiz held out his own lantern in front of him, as Layla braced for the certain attack to come, unable to string together any further words of warning, aside from a petrified gaze, and a single raised hand pointing helplessly into the darkness.
As Ruiz neared closer, the yellow eyes shone brighter than before, though even Layla had to admit, something did seem... a bit off, now. After all, the beast hadn't tried to advance on its prey. Hadn't even seemed to blink or move in any noticeable way whatsoever. And as Dr. Ruiz raised up his LED lantern, allowing the full extent of the horrific figure to come into view, they both immediately knew the reason why.
Before them, still wreathed in the unnerving darkness, was no monster, but rather an enormous limestone statue. It stood resolute, almost pillar-like, coiled to the point of nearly being consumed by vines, vegetation, and the jungle itself. Desperately trying to reclaim its property.
In the now dim light of their combined lanterns, the two intruders could better make out the details of the massive monolith. It appeared to Layla to have been carved in the image of an imposing Mayan rendering of a giant serpent, with fanning feathers on either side of its head, down to the tip of its winding tail, and a ferociously gaping maw of sharp teeth. He was reared up, poised and ready to strike.
Ruiz shot Layla a look, as if to say, Oh, come now, Miss Marin... really? before his attention was instead immediately brought back to the hulking statue. He anxiously pushed aside some of the vines and overgrowth and took a step back to let the wide-eyed realization of the discovery fully sink in. "My God! It's..." his eyes sparkled, as he stammered out the words, "it's Kukulkan!"
"Look, Dr. Ruiz... see, it was dark, and it probably sounds really, really dumb, but it looked like some... I dunno... monster or something, and... I know I shouldn't have even been out here alone and all, but I..." Layla, having clearly expected to be subjected to further interrogation, finally let explode out the words she'd been holding onto, and then some, only to be silenced again by Dr. Ruiz's sudden shift in mood. "Wait, it's what?"
"Kukulkan! Or, Q'uq'umatz, as he was known among the postclassic K'iche' Maya. Quetzalcoatl, to the Aztec. He was a god, a deity of sorts, believed to be responsible for aiding in the creation of humanity, along with the god, Tepeu. He's usually depicted as a massive, ferocious feathered serpent-like he is here, and one of the revered guardians of Xibalba," he clearly saw Layla's blank expression, and sighed loudly, adding, "the Mayan underworld? Honestly, Miss Marin, didn't you even pay attention during my classes on pre-Colombian era religion and spirituality? I did an entire lecture on the contributions of the Popol Vuh!" But his berating condescension was cut short, as he found himself once again entranced by their discovery. "My God, this truly is amazing!" He seemed to barely even remember that Layla was there as well, save for still having someone to reflect his excitement.
Layla, on the other hand, kept her distance, and her fearful gaze on the statue's face, with its angry, monstrous mouth full of imposing fangs, and those glowing yellow eyes. Eyes, which Layla could now see were specially inlaid with large gold disks, allowing them to catch the light off their lanterns, and produce the ominous glowing effect. Still, there was something about it that still just made her feel uneasy. Not only that, she had only just at that moment realize another disturbing fact. Something she couldn't figure out, no matter how hard she tried. Because despite her focused concentration to detect it, the feeling--the warmth--it was just... gone.
The strange force that had beckoned her through the jungle, to this clearing. No, to something buried beneath this clearing. It was just gone. That never just happened. Layla was sure she'd felt it when she came out of the trees. When the stars and the cliff had opened up before her. But after everything that had happened, the incident with the statue and the cliff and Ruiz had wholly dominated her mental faculties. In truth, Layla couldn't say for sure when the feeling left her. It had certainly never done that before. Dead things, buried beneath the ground didn't move! The didn't disappear. Something like this wasn't supposed to happen. Layla shook her head, and chalked it up to exhaustion, deciding it was probably not best to bring attention to all that, especially after everything else that had already happened. Still, she couldn't quite seem to shake that feeling of fear and uncertainty.
Dr. Ruiz, on the other hand, was filled with excitement and a kind of childlike wonder Layla didn't know the man was even capable of! Holding close the lantern, and pushing aside the constricting tendrils of vines, he poured over ever etched line, every hieroglyph, mumbling to himself in exciting tones every so often. Layla tuned most of it out. She just wanted to go back to the tents.
"Miss Marin! I said you wouldn't happen to have a notebook in that filthy pack of yours, would you?"
In all the chaos, Layla had actually forgotten she even had her pack on. "Umm... maybe?" She said, with uncertainty, as she slung it off one shoulder and unzipped it. Rummaging through the contents, she fished out her red notebook and placed it and a pencil into Ruiz's waiting hand. "So, what's the notebook for?"
"I want to take some notes
