Discovery (From the Archives)

 

“What is it?” Bethany said, as Trev pulled the box out of the ground. Even under the protective shade of their tent, the heat was still oppressive.

“I think,” Trev said, breathing heavily as he heaved the box onto the top of the trench, “we’ve struck gold.”

Bethany grinned. It was this. What they had come all the way out here for. What they had dug for months for.

“Can we open it?” she said, throwing her trowel to one side and falling to her knees in front of the box. Even though the sand was still covering the carvings, you could see the hints of the detail that lay beneath. A whole world of knowledge about the Old World was about to be discovered, and it was going to be her and Trev that found it.

And the magics, she thought, can’t forget about them.

“Not yet,” Trev said, chuckling as if he thought Bethany a fool. Which, if she was to admit it, she was rather. No one tried to dig up a relic and then demonstrate that the relic could wipe out thousands of cities with the plague.

But then, Bethany hadn’t really told Trev her whole plan. That would have to wait until nightfall, when the moon rose full in the sky and she could have access to her candles.

Then, she thought, the fun will begin.


This flashfiction was first posted in 2019

Featured Image by Alice Hampson on Unsplash


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