A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends #1)

explanations.
    Maybe he got lost. It was more likely than
him playing a prank on me. He had done many stupid things in the past, but
walking away and leaving me alone in the middle of the night wasn’t one of
them. I should never have let him drag me out here with him. I considered my
options. Either walk back to the car and wait there for him, or hike through
the woods and find him. A whimper escaped my throat as I pictured my brother crying
out my name, thick blood pouring out of grisly wounds. What if he wasn’t lost?
Maybe whoever was following us found and hurt him. Going back to the car wasn’t
an option. I wouldn’t leave my only brother dying.
    Setting my jaw, I threw the backpack over my
shoulder and hurried up the path, calling his name over and over again. Another
flash of blue threw a soft glow on a black shack hidden behind the trees less
than fifty feet away. Could this be the hut? Maybe Dallas had found it and was
inside, finishing what we came for. I changed course away from the path,
heading through the trees, grazing my hands as I pushed branches aside. And
then I found myself staring at the dilapidated hut. I rummaged through my
backpack and pulled out a flashlight, switching it on.
    From outside, the wooden hut didn’t seem
bigger than a garden shed. A door hung from old hinges that looked as though a
single kick would suffice to send the whole wall plummeting to the ground.
There was no handle, just a metal rod to pull with a missing padlock. Dallas
had said the hut was locked; maybe someone had been here already, raiding it
before us?
    “Dallas? Are you here?” I whispered even
though I knew he wasn’t nearby.
    Before I could change my mind, I yanked the
door open, cringing at the squeaking sound of rusty hinges, then shone the flashlight
inside. The room seemed quite big; the wooden floor was surprisingly clean for
a hut. Beneath the single dirty window—the one through which Dallas must’ve
seen the gemstones—stretched a wide pit filled with what looked like
thick mud. On the far left side was a high podium. I inched closer to lift a
scroll.
    The dim glow of the flashlight illuminated
the golden letters as I read:

 
    Two
plus one but less than seven chosen in scarlet for Travel.
    A
tiger’s eye for Sight, increased by ten for those reaching Beyond.
    Green
as the summer’s morning leaf crushed in the velvet-blue sky for Abundance.
    White
smoke for those who may not come back from their eternal journey.

 
    The list went on and on with one point
stranger than the other. It was all gibberish to me, so I put the scroll back
on the podium and returned to the pit. The mud shimmered black. If Dallas got
lost, he’d never forgive me for finding the shed and not taking the gemstones. In
spite of my better judgment, I kneeled down, pulled my sleeves back and dived my
arms into the mud. I was up to my elbows when I reached the bottom. It didn’t
feel much different from the mud facials I usually spread on my face, just a
little warmer and smoother to the touch. Still, who knew what was lurking down
there, waiting to bite me? So, the sooner I finished the faster I could get
away from this place. Taking a deep breath, I patted the ground, ready to pull
back should something not feel right.
    The strong gust of wind rattled the door,
startling me. I flinched, stopping for a brief moment. When nothing moved, I
continued my search. Eventually my fingers brushed against something hard and I
pulled out a milky white gemstone the size of a walnut. My heartbeat quickened
as I dropped it inside the bag and went about fishing out more gemstones.
    The wind outside blew stronger, shaking the
glass in the window. I sat up, my arms aching from the effort of delving
through the thick mud and pulling out one stone after another. I didn’t know
how many I had, probably a dozen or more, all of them as large as the first one.
Larger than any stone I’d ever seen, and worth millions if they weren’t fake.
Dallas would be so proud of me.
    A twig snapped, making me jump. Maybe my
brother had found his way to the shed, or it was an animal searching for food. I
zipped up my backpack and slung it over my shoulder, then hurried out the door.
Something rattled in the distance. Chains? But that made no sense. Why would there be chains in the woods?
    “Dallas?” I whispered.
    Feet shuffled behind the trees to my right.
I snapped my head in that direction. Something or someone was out there, and
judging from