Chapter 4: Desert eyes

The trio rushed to the Jeep to check if she was fine.

"Ivana, Ivana" Eric called softly, tapping her gently on the shoulder.

"She's fine, just unconscious," Caleb replied, a wave of relief washing over him.

"But how did she get in the Jeep?" Emily asked,voicing the question that hung unanswered in everyone's mind.

"We'll have to wait till she wakes up" Caleb said, his gaze shifting to Emily."Emily" he said horrified as he took in her condition.Blood trickled from her ears and nose and rashes oozed across every inch of her skin.

"What the hell Em are you sure this is just allergies?" Eric demanded, stunned.

"Oh my God…" she whispered as realization struck "The ring—" she added and then blacked out.

"Oh great now we have to deal with two unconscious women" Eric sighed as they carefully picked and put her in the Jeep next to Ivana.

"You heard her say the ring right!?" Caleb questioned.

"Yes… don't tell me…" Eric didn't dare complete her sentence.

"If she really took anything from the God's chamber we're cooked" Caleb furiously slammed his hands on the car.

"What do we do now?" Eric asked equally annoyed.

"Let's wait for them to wake up, then we return whatever she took before we head to the hotel, you saw what happened in the morning because of her" Caleb said trying to calm himself.

"You're right, no wonder the chandelier fell immediately she got down" Eric said with realization.

The Jeep sat still in the desert evening, warm from the day's sun. Ivana lay unconscious in the back, Emily beside her, both bathed in the soft orange glow of twilight.

In her half-sleep, the temple's collapse was replayed in fragments. Then he appeared—the tall, bronze-skinned man with molten-gold eyes who had carried her to safety. "Can't you die yet," he whispered, his voice deep and resonant. Ivana reached for him, but the dream dissolved into darkness.

A sharp gasp broke from her lips as she awoke. The Jeep was dim, the desert quiet outside. Her heart pounded as she replayed the dream—the man, his eyes, the heat radiating from him. Had he been real?

Eric leaned against the Jeep, alert. "Ivana? You okay?"

"I… I think so," she murmured, glancing at Emily.

Caleb's face was tense. "Still out cold. And… she looks worse."

Ivana's stomach twisted as she took in Emily's rashes, the blood trickling from her ears and nose. Fear crept in. "What's happening to her?"

"She mentioned a ring. We're just hoping she didn't take anything from the God's chambers last night," Caleb explained, running a hand through his hair.

"You mean… she stole it?" Ivana asked, alarmed.

"Something like that. Let's set up a tent here and rest," Eric said, frustration creeping into his voice. "We can't go back to the hotel while some curse is chasing us. Whatever she took, we need to return it first."

As they pitched the tent, Ivana couldn't shake the image of the bronze-skinned man with glowing gold eyes carrying her through the collapsing temple. "Can't have you die yet." The memory burned in her mind, more real than any dream.

With the tent up, Caleb and Eric tended to Emily while Ivana kept watch.

Caleb and Eric carefully lifted Emily into the tent, laying her down gently on a sleeping bag.

"Now we need fire," Caleb said, rummaging through their supplies for kindling and a lighter. He struggled to get the fire started; the desert twigs were drier than expected and the lighter seemed reluctant to spark.

Eric chuckled. "Who would have thought that starting a fire would be difficult to a genius like you"

Caleb shot him a glare but continued, finally coaxing the flames to life. Eric shook his head, crouching beside him to help stabilize the fire.

"See? A little teamwork, and we have our fire"

Ivana used the moment to rummage through the Jeep, pulling out canned food and bottles of water. She returned to the fire, setting the supplies nearby.

They settled around the fire,the twigs crackling softly in the fire.

"So Ivana," Eric said, popping open a can of beans, "how the heck did you end up outside the temple—in the Jeep—while we were stuck dodging rocks?"

Ivana's gaze drifted into the fire's hypnotic dance. "I...I don't really know," she said slowly, her mind touching again on the golden-eyed man. "One minute the temple was collapsing...then I was outside. In the Jeep. I saw...someone." She hesitated, unsure how much to reveal about the strange rescuer.

Caleb frowned thoughtfully. "Someone got you out. That's crazy."

Eric's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Sounds like a mystery desert superhero."

Ivana smiled faintly, her thoughts still caught on the man's unnerving words: "Can't have you dying yet." What did he mean? The fire crackled on, casting uneasy shadows.

"Well… whoever he was, you owe him your life.".Eric said, whistling softly. "could it be the corpse we saw there?''.

"Don't scare her Eric" Caleb chuckled

" Dude I'm serious" Eric said, glancing at Ivana curiously.Ivana frowned. "It couldn't be the corpse—he looked nothing like it."

Eric raised a brow. "How would you know the face when it was nothing but a skeleton lying there?"

"Look," Caleb whispered, leaning closer, "for the sanity of our minds, let's just say she was rescued by an angel."

Ivana nodded, thoughts drifting to the shadow from her dreams who said she woke him up and the mysterious man who had saved her today.

"Are they the same person?" She whispered to herself.

From the edge of the mountain, a figure with golden eyes watched silently. A low, amused voice cut through the stillness.

"An angel, huh," he murmured, a smirk hidden in the shadows.