#anywhere

"She means well."

Zara takes the ribbon.

A pause, and then she anchors a bit of thread to some rubble, a few paces in from the passageway's entrance.

Earl looks at her with fondness...and nods as she pulls a Thesesus. "Let's hope there's no minotaurs"

"Well, those are arguably greek..."

"True, so what's associated with Incan ruins?" he asks

Zara hears a soft step, an intake of breath

Zara quiets and looks - darkness does not dim her sight...

Blowdart about to go at Earl's neck

Hisssssssssss. A warning.

Earl darts back just in time, and the dart thwacks the stone next to him "Whoa"

Zara glares.

And t he chimera of the Incan warriors begin to show themselves

"I am Death's daughter. Mind me." Defiant chin.

"Ah, Zara, I don't think this is..." Earl says ready to defend her

Zara holds her ground, gathering shadows.

And then, they stop, and then speak in a langauge that sounds nothing like Spanish.. much older

She waits.

The shadows rise and writhe in the shapes of skeletons and ghosts...

And then, they try another language... Yiddish?

"Oy!"

"So it's Death you're claiming to be there, aren't you little miss braggy there"

"Oy, the chutzpah" Another agrees

"Death's daughter, nu?"

"....are not we all?"

"Look, we already had one blue Yentia charge in here through the gauntlet. You want to go through the same thing she did, don't kvetch to us if you get a dart in your tuckus eh?"

"_Charge through? Nay, how rude. I would like passage, yes. But we can discuss this like civilized beings."

"Well, the gauntlet is kind of our Sthick" A sniff "And that Mishagas troll didn't TAKE any ancient treasure or bones or even a stone ... if you want, we line up, and you race through to the end goal, and we shoot darts at you as you run by, one at a time. Now that's a fair as a deal as you're gonna get . We stand like statues, you race by. And ptwo two.. and see how it goes."

"Nay, she left something, did she not?"

"Some Tchotchke probably, what's your point?"

Earl is eying the numbers, there are like 20 crazed chimera with blowdarts speaking Yiddish.

"And you wish some foreigner's schmata in your sacred relics?"

"what's a bit of schmutz lodged in" A shrug

"Aye, but sniff it - it has foreign magic, too."

"She's trying to get past the gauntlet.. " the other explains "Oy gevalt, no respect for tradition. You come in, we shoot you. Is this a hard thing to grasp? I ask."

"Nay, I am suggesting a peaceable treaty."

"Listen young lady," One chimera wags a finger "Tradition is every important to us. People enter the maze. We fire darts at their tuckus. I wasn't dreamed up so you could shyster an easy walk"

"We both want something, nu?"

"Yes, you want to get something. we want to shoot you in the tuckus as our fathers and our fathers before us were dreamt to do"

"Aye, but I would prefer a lack of poison darts."

Earl facepalsm

"Regular darts will have me sitting tender for days. I have, as you can see, very little padding to cushion me."

"She should eat more" One tells the other

"My mother agrees."

"Okay, you are a string of a thing, given... so here's what we're going to do. One out of five darts will be poisoned. Little roll of the dice, little take your chances, and you get better odds than anyone we've given. No more kvetching! And don't take ANYTHING but than what she left."

Zara nods. "Aye."

And they move to line up and take positions for her run.

Earl looks at Zara "Ah, baby, you know darts in the ass still HURT and possibly wound right?" Alarmed

"Well, do let Siv know this."

"Oh.." he nods "I'm talking to Siv about this later" He grumbles "You believe me... Gerd's not the only who can flash poof folks into lakes. "