The Rules of the Game

Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone.

-- The Dhammapada

He-llo Amazonas!

Puerto Ayacucho, the rundown capital of Amazonas, was the most boring city Bill had ever seen. Percy made his talks on Pixie Mating Rituals sound more interesting. The whole place seemed to be invaded with a plague of mosquitoes. And not just any mosquitoes; huge beasts of leggy things that looked like that had been around since the dinosaurs' age. And then there was the heat. It was like he was standing right under the sun. The sweat made his ponytail clump to the back of his neck. He had tried to rearrange it a hundred times but his luck had run short. He wondered if he could just get a machete from one of the natives and cut the bloody thing off. His mother would be happy.

Eddy, however, had been the one to complain the most. When Rani had directed them to see Plaza de los Indios, which was a square where all the Indians gathered to sell and buy, he had managed to get into a fight with one of the women. It had led to both of them yelling in their own language at each other, pointing and waving arms in a fit. José had started to apologize profoundly to the woman while Rani gave Eddy the evil look and explained to him what he was being accused off.

"I was not looking at her breasts!" Eddy said exasperatedly.

Bill patted his arm sympathetically. "It's not your fault, mate," he said. "They shouldn't have them so out in the open anyway."

The woman shot both of them an evil glare, muttering "gringo" under her breath.

While Eddy and Rani packed up all the important technological supplies onto their canoe, Bill wandered around. He was starting to get desperate for something to eat. His prayers seemed to be answered when a young boy appeared around the corner. He was mixing some red beans in a bowl and had various packets of the same beans hanging around his neck. They did look quite delicious and Bill was sure he could buy some more for the trip.

"Dame veinte," Bill asked, signalling ten fingers, closing his fist, then showing ten fingers again.

The boy nodded, seeming to understand. "Cinco mil bolívares," he said, writing five thousand in the sand and motioning to his pocket.

José grabbed Bill's hand the moment he held out his money to the Indian. "I uldn't do that if I were you," he advised.

Bill gave him a confused look. "What? Why?"

José nodded towards the bowl and Bill took a closer look. His red beans were now wriggling around the bowl, looking like a million red ants. Bill peered closer. Ok, so they were ants. Bill tried not to look too embarrassed.

Rani was snickering behind him, and even Eddy - Eddy, who was almost always on his side! - was trying to hide his laughter.

José gave him a soft smile. "Here," he said, pulling out a banana from his bag. "I think this will suit you better."

*

The trip down the river was quite soothing and the surroundings were beautiful to look at. You could spot all sorts of animals and plants. The heat had not gone down since their arrival, but with the soft sailing on the canoes it didn't seem too drastic.

"We'll travel past sunset," José was explaining. "Our destination is a bit off from the places tourists go, but I don't want us to risk staying somewhere else during nightll."

"Good idea," Rani agreed. "Bill, what do you think? If we continue on perfect track we'll make it by eleven."

Bill peered at her over his sunglasses. "And if we pick up some speed?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"This is about the fastest we can go," José said. "Maybe when we reach stronger currents, but..."

Bill was twirling his wand in the air with a grin. "Don't you think this would save us a lot of time?" he asked, although it was quite obvious he would do it anyway.

"Excellent idea!" exclaimed Eddy. "Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Because it's considered cheating," snapped Rani. "You heard Bellamont. Only if it's the most important reason."

"I'd consider it important," Bill said calmly. "You know, us getting to our destination before nightfall, before Montanez's goons catch us."

"Well, I don't agree with it," Rani said. "And I don't think you should do it."

"Do it, do it!" Eddy said. Zorro seemed to bark his agreement. "Time is essential. Go on, Billy!"

Bill gave Rani an apologetic smile which she returned with a scowl. Pointing to the back part of the canoe, he announced, "Veloxoris!"

Vroooom. The canoe sped forward. Eddy yelped and grabbed his laptop before it went overboard. José muttered something in Spanish, but looked pleased with the progress they were making. Zorro had retired to the back of the boat and was barking at the bubbles the canoe left behind. Only Rani didn't seem impressed and was trying to adjust her hair.

"Looks like we'll make it by sunset then," Bill said pleased with himself. "I think it's time someone filled me in on this tomb I'm breaking into." He patted the breast pocket where the key was hidden. "Do we know where this Sphere is?"

Rani nodded at Eddy, who started up his laptop. Soon there was what looked to be like the blue prints of the tomb itself. From what Bill could see, the place was formed by three floors. Only two were above ground and the third seemed to run extensively underground.

"The Vetula Tomb," said Rani. "At least that is what the archaeologists call it. They've only been able to search a portion of the first floor, but never beyond. They just don't make it out alive."

Eddy pointed to the middle floor. "That is what we call the first floor, right? According to the limited research done on it, we can tell it's mainly composed of broken down walls. Paintings and pottery adorn the place as well as jewellery and gold pieces. The place is rather easy to find, but getting in is the hard part. It's been booby-trapped worse than any Gringotts."

"Even the one in Russia?" Bill interrupted.

"Even the one in Russia," Eddy confirmed. "The floor above the first - we simply call it the second floor - has never been accessed before. We believe it carries important treasures to the people buried there."

"Such as the Sphere," José said.

"What about the floor under the first?" Bill asked, going into his work mode. "Do we have an idea of what's there?"

"Rumour has it that's where the actual graves are," Rani explained. "And from the little we know it's possible true. If you look at the plans, you can see it's the biggest chamber, running possibly until the point ofthe river."

"I think that's where the Sphere is," Bill said.

"What?" Eddy asked, looking hard at the blue prints as if he had missed something.

"Well, if the second floor is known to be filled with treasures, why would they hide something that valuable as the Sphere there?" Bill said, looking thoughtful. "Harder it would be to find underground, in an extensive area, where the traps are stronger."

Rani and Eddy exchanged looks. "I suppose," said Rani slowly, "but don't you think prized possessions carry better traps?"

Bill smiled. They had reached his level of expertise. "In my experience," he began sounding a lot like Percy, "people - any kind of people - want death to be about them. The big bam, the top of the pops, the sun to be shinning right above their heads."

"That would make some sense," Rani said, nodding.

"Exactly! They want everything to be revolved around them. Don't you see? It's their art, their pottery, or at least the sort they appreciated when they were alive. Those treasures up in the attic? Theirs. And, of course, we'll be facing worse things than on the first floor, but it's the basement we're looking for!"

"I don't think they'd appreciate it if you call their eternal resting place a basement," Eddy interrupted. "But Billy's point does see reason."

"So you think we should move to the, er, basement first?" Rani asked Bill.

Bill smirked and nodded. "It's all about the ego," he said.

Eddy looked at the blue prints carefully. "Let me see if I can give you an idea of what to expect in there. The records only say so much."

"Do we have them here?" Bill asked. "The records I mean."

"No," Rani said grouchily. "They're locked up with the League. But basically they're pretty vague. A trap at the very entrance, nothing specific. The first hallway seems to be pretty safe, but the last report said there were holes in the ground and the floor was starting to give away."

Bill took in the information, trying to analyze every aspect. "How many ways do we know that lead into the Vetula?"

Eddy looked confused and said, "There are no other ways in. Just one. You know, the one everyone has used to get inside."

Bill waggled his eyebrows and José grinned.

"Obvious openings are better laced with traps," José said, looking at Bill for confirmation. "If we can find another one..."

"Exactly!" Bill said. He liked this. He was finally feeling like the boss. "There has to be another opening, somewhere. Most tombs carry them."

"Eddy, can you make that happen?" Rani asked.

Eddy scowled. "It'd be easier if we just broke open a hole, but I'll see what I can do." He started typing furiously on his laptop. Bill could catch glimpses of various photographs and statistic bars.

José cough quietly, grabbing Bill's attention. "Señor," he said, his voice barelabove a whisper, "I thought it'd be wise to inform you on some of the myths of this country. Of course, to mere people they are just myths, but to you and I..."

"Everything is possible," agreed Bill. "What Muggles cannot see, we might be able to. What's up, José?"

"There's this story of this monster that goes around sucking the blood out of animals. We thought it might be vampires - the bat kind - but it's too much blood for them to be drinking. And, tu sabes, that the undead don't really eat animals," José said. "We call it the Chupa Cabra."

"Goat sucker," said Bill. "I've heard of it." The canoe made a nasty bump and Eddy swore loudly.