Modern Mythology

I felt the blade pierce my side for the fifth time as I lay on the Cold, stone floor. The creature laughed once again as it leaned down. The smell of raw meat wafted into my lungs as I stare into its menacing green eyes, it spoke rapidly in a language I didn't understand as it stood again. Looking out to the sunlight in huffed with a smile before saying something else as it went to leave the cave.

During its attack, I didn't get a good look at it but now I had the chance to see it was tall, nearly six foot six. But it was also heavy set as it seemed to have trouble fitting into the leather armor it had hastily put on upon my arrival. Its pig face looked back with what appeared to be a smile.

My breath was slipping as I looked up at the creature leave towards the fading sun outside of the temple. The world was darkening quickly, and I could tell the blood was spreading across the floor as it slipped from the open wounds the creature left. I couldn't find the strength to even breathe at this point as I slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

*Twenty Minutes Earlier*

The gruff man, just over forty stood on the cliff's edge adjusting his goggles. At this height, him or I would have died without such modern gear. How these ruins got here, let alone people able to build them was what we were here for. "Double check your gear. Once we start the decent we aren't going to be able to head to the surface until we are done here." His strong British accent clear through the Walkie-Talkie as he dug the ax into the snow covered ground.

I gave him a thumbs up as I copied the action and dug the ax into the ground. There was a loud crunch as I did so forcing me to recheck my work to make sure I didn't fall during our decent. "I am ready if you are," I said fixing my goggles.

It had been nearly three years in the making to get up here to check out the ruins. Some said they were of that of Atlantis, but I doubted that. These were much older than the three thousand years Plato had written about the mythical continent. Personally I felt this was something older and far more unknown. Something perhaps never recorded in the history books.

"Adrian." My partner said snapping me back to reality. "Are you paying attention?" He asked with a frown. He was about six foot three as compared to my smaller six foot. He was wearing a large woolen jacket covering the various scars and marks from his past adventures out in places like this. The most prominent of which was across his cheek from when an explosive went off early and nearly tore his jaw off.

I myself was just over Twenty, Twenty-two to be exact. My jet black hair was a trait that I picked up from my father while my deep green eyes were something my mother passed down. I wasn't muscular compared to many at my college in Montana, but I was much stronger than most of the students that were part of Professor Quincy's class.

The man nodded holding out three fingers, then two. And finally one. We jumped in near unison and began the rapid descent. I felt the cold air around me as the gear rustled trying to compensate for the sudden drop. After a few seconds, I gripped my descender causing my speed to slow to the point I was barely moving down. Quincy stopped beside we with a smile.

"I thought you were afraid of heights." He said over the radio with a chuckle.

I looked down at the frozen Huascaran Mountain. He was right, I hated heights. All it took was a sharp bit of rock or a piece of gear and I would plummet to my death. But this was worth the risk. "I'm too excited to be scared." I smiled letting myself descend further down. The man smiled letting himself follow quickly.

It took about ten minutes for us to make it to solid ground. When we did it was solid ice. Something we were expecting for being nearly twenty thousand feet above sea level. But what we weren't expecting was for it to be carved to expertly. I moved to the first of several columns that held the ground up above the cavern that stood before us. They seemed to be the only reason that this temple had not collapsed after the few thousand years this had been here.

Quincy walked along the side wall looking at the various carvings etched into the ice. "These must have been carved during the Zhou Dynasty. This is written in Chinese. How did they get here?" He asked running a hand along the writing with his gloved hand. "The Chinese could never have made it all the way here."

I nodded, from what I understood there was no way for such people to make it to South America, Let alone this high up in Peru. "Are you sure it is Chinese?" I asked walking over to him.

"Positive, This is King You." He said pointing to an image carved into the ice. "There is no mistaking it."

"Well..." I began before we heard a loud roar further into the cave. It was loud and rumbling to the point you could feel the floor vibrate. "What was that?" I asked in worry.

"I don't know." Quincy said looking further in. "Grab your light. We are about to find out." He said looking further into the structure. After the first few pillars of ice, the building turned to stone. As if it began as an ice carving that outgrew its frozen borders. It wasn't right here, something was off and there was no way anything could survive up here without proper equipment.

I followed him as I clicked on my helmet light. The area grew illuminated suddenly as I looked about. The cone of light was small, but it reflected off the polished ice as if it was glass. How much further would we have to go in to find this thing? And what are we going to do if we find it? My questions were soon to be answered. In a way I never imagined.