prologue

Garga town is one of the most lively parts of the country. Dark clouds covered the night sky of this lively town and the wind was howling as if it would uproot the whole earth with its inhabitants. Small Droplets of water were being dispersed by the wind, it was as if the heavens were spitting in contempt at the mortal men.

 

The merchants trading at the roadsides were running Helter skelter while packing their goods into their various shops, stores, or stalls. People were running for cover as the power of the raging wind grows stronger.

 

Suddenly, lightning flashed in the sky and the heavens finally unleashed their fury. The rain was hitting the ground and roofing of houses and shops… with great force that it canceled out all other sounds.

 

A lone man was seen walking down the nowempty road. After the long Israelite walk, Charlie got home after 40 minutes, to meet his paternal uncle, uncle Ben waiting at his doorstep.

 

“ Charlie!! “

 

 It was the shout from uncle Ben that woke him up from his reveries.

 

“What a great surprise uncle! What wind brought you here!” Charlie exclaimed when he saw his favorite uncle, Ben.

 

“ Quick! Open the door and let me in, we have a lot to talk about. “ uncle ben said while looking at him strangely. Charlie’s slightly red eyes, sad face, and ruffled hair were evident enough to show that something is wrong with him.

 

…

 

 

Charlie narrated how his six years relationship crashed in one night. He described everything vividly, creating a clear image in uncle ben's head

 

“ life goes on, my brother. You just have to be thankful that it was not after you got married to her that you caught her cheating… “

 

“ But it shouldn’t be that lowlife, uncle! It shouldn’t be him. I caught her department manager pounding her from behind!! Why wouldn’t I be sad??! “ Charlie shouted with a quavering voice.

 

…

 

“ I  came to ask if you’ll be interested in going to the sambisa forest with me, but now I don’t need to ask, you need the trip so could get your mind off her. “ uncle ben sipped on his tea before stating his purpose of visit.

 

“ what should we be doing in that dangerous place? “ Charlie asked.

 

“ oh! Nothing much, we’re going there for sightseeing, or what do you think? “ uncle ben questioned.

 

“ hahaha!! I’m very sorry professor ben, what else should we be doing if not digging for the truth?”  Charlie laughed for the first time in five hours, albeit it being a peal of awkward laughter.

 

“Recently, one of our archeology research team at the University of Ibadan found a cave with strange murals drawn on the inside, on mount sambisa. The most amazing thing about this discovery is that a huge skeleton which seems to be the remains of some ancient giant was found in the cave. It was sitting in a lotus position as if it was an ancient Chinese monk meditating.

 

The main reason why I was invited to join the team is that there was a secret room behind the cave that uses some strange mechanism that’ll require the expertise of an experienced archeologist to unlock. “ Uncle Ben showed Charlie the picture of the giant skeleton sent to his phone by the team.

 

“ I guess I’ll go then “

 

“ go have some rest first, there’s a long journey ahead of us. “ uncle ben patted him on the back before going to the guest room prepared for him.

 

….

 

6 a.m the next morning, Charlie just finished packing his bag while his uncle continued to nag from outside the house. They both got inside the car after some minutes and zoomed off to meet up with other members of the archeology team. When they got to their meeting point, the whole team was already seated on the bus, waiting for their arrival, as they were the only ones who are yet to arrive. They had no choice but to enter the bus and began the trip.

 

Halfway through the journey, uncle ben noticed that Charlie had begun to get moody all over again, so he fumble through his pocket to bring out an amber fossil.

 

“This is one of the many things that were dug out of the ground near the mountain. There are lots of other things that we’re found in the ground, like skeletons of the colossal beasts, and large footprints were found on the mountains… you can keep it if you like it. Uncle Ben handed the amber fossil over to Charlie and he noticed the curiosity in his eyes as he showed him the gem.

 

“After many researches and observation, some experts conceded that it’s the remains of an unknown civilization… “

 

With the way uncle ben was talking nonstop, it was as if he swallowed a transistor radio. Charlie had no choice but to listen throughout the whole trip. Though there are many times he blanked out but his talkative uncle was there to wake him up and feed him some facts about the site.

 

“We’re here!!” Uncle been was still ‘lecturing’ Charlie when the man sitting behind him tapped him on the shoulder to inform him.

 

When they got to the site, uncle ben took Charlie around the place to satiate his curiosity. After some minutes, the whole team gathered again and ten men were chosen to go up the mountain. The entrance of the cave was high up in the middle of the mountain so each member of the team had to climb up the mountain with ropes attached to their waist.

 

When they entered the cave, they saw different types of drawing on the wall; murals of some strange beasts and animals. Immediately he saw those paintings he told his uncle that this place looked like some totem gallery to which his uncle agreed.

 

After observing the mechanism of the secret room door for some minutes, uncle ben noticed some ancient writings on the walls.

 

“ what language is it professor ben?” one of the men asked. That’s the main reason why they invited him here.

 

“ It’s the ancient galturi language, it is the key to opening this place.” Uncle ben answered then he bent down and used his hand to search for something on the ground. After some seconds he pressed on something and the stone door came crashing down on him.

 

Charlie quickly used both hands to support the stone door to prevent it from falling on his precious uncle.

 

“ Charlie, why don’t you carry this stone door outside to make it more convenient for us to explore the cave.” Said uncle ben.

 

Charlie carried the heavy stone while walking backward but his mind was not there entirely, he was still thinking about how his six years relationship crashed yesterday night and he forgot that he was already outside the cave. He kept walking backward until his left leg was touching the air did he realize that he was about to fall off the Cliff.

 

He tried every means to balance himself, but the weight of the large stone crushed him, and he fell. The fossil his uncle gave him slipped out of his pocket, and he saw a faint shadow of a tree inside the gemstone.

 

He stretched out his hand to take back the gem to observe more clearly, but his index finger could only graze passed the sharp edges of the gem, staining the amber fossil with his blood. After his blood touched the stone, the image inside the gem became clearer, it was a golden tree.

 

The golden tree flashed for some minutes before the whole gem dissolved into golden particles that were absorbed unconsciously by him through the wound on his finger.