PROLOGUE

"Damn! We're never going to get past this"

"This is all your fault Mustapha, we shouldn't have taken this quest In the first place'' Germaine yelled.

As a wave of uneasiness rests in the air, tension seems to pervade the restless hearts of all of us present.

Everyone knows that Germaine nags every time he gets the opportunity to, so we all ignored his annoying banter, unfortunately, he's right this time.

This is my fault and I have to come up with a solution

"Everyone calm down, I'll think of a way forward." I tried assuring everyone, but I know deep within myself that those words are nothing but false hopes.

No bright ideas or brilliant strategies seem to be forthcoming. Looking back as to how this all started, everything that has ensued could have all been avoided.

We received a job request two days ago concerning the retrieval of some potential dinosaur bones said to be in a remote village near Ethiopia's north border.

What we didn't know was that the villagers were hostile and they did not tolerate strangers invading their territory.

I felt like this was mentioned in the info we got about the place, unfortunately, I had not paid any heed to it.

What a great time to fuck up!

I am usually a great leader, charismatic, poised, and always geared for combat. Everyone on my team, even the grumpy Germaine wasn't able to deny this. However, it seems like I've been out of luck lately. My bad calls nearly jeopardized the lives of my teammates, making me question myself, among other things.

Had it not been for Germaine's quick thinking in our last raid, a lot of casualties would have occurred. I'm sure everyone else is aware of this too.

Perhaps I'll consider leaving this post for someone better suited if we manage to escape this. Sigh!

Currently, we're in some form of a traditional old jail. The villagers saw us as a threat and captured us before we could do anything.

They took away all our equipment and bonded us. We could have taken them on and prevailed, but I didn't want things to get complicated.

Another reason why Germaine won't stop running his mouth.

Two male villagers equipped with spears approached us, interrupting my thoughts, making a gesture that suggested they wanted us to follow them.

Our small group of seven people trailed the two scary-looking villagers, curious, yet anxious about what seems to be a dreary fate ahead of us.

Our team, consisting of five men, including me, and two women, walked slowly, pacing our steps as they echoed through the silent hallways.

I wonder where they are taking us

Germaine shot me a questioning look, and I was well aware of what he intended, but I shook my head regardless. Every member of our group is skilled in some form of defense and we could easily take down two men, even if we are restrained.

Germaine knows this very well, which is why he keeps giving me that hideous glare.

Still, I refused to budge. Despite what we had faced this far, and the uncertainty which lay ahead of us, I was curious about what lay ahead of us.

Hopefully, this doesn't turn out to be another bad call.