Spend a little time studying the symbol

"I think I'll figure out this last symbol here, then I'll meet you all down there." I said."I'm all up for that though. We all need a break." My colleagues nodded and began packing the gear. I turned back to the symbol. Definitely not a llama.

As I stared at the symbol, paging through my notes, I began to grow sleepy. The symbol on the wall grew fuzzier and fuzzier, and I realized just how tired I was. Yawning, I decided to finish my work on the symbol tomorrow. A day delay in deciphering it wouldn't be that bad. Thanks to my amazing symbol translating power, our team was one of the fastest in the field anyway.

As I glanced at the wall, one last time, the symbol seemed to jump out at me, changing shape into a snarling snake head hissing as the monkey arms reached out. I leapt back, mostly on reflex, and hit my head on the opposite side of the subterranean corridor. I lost consciousness immediately.

I was in a huge temple, pillars around the edges holding up a huge dome. Several people, probably of Incan descent due to their coloring, were dressed in ceremonial garb dancing around a huge bonfire in the center of the temple. It was then that I realized I was dreaming- the Incans had been gone for centuries, thanks to the "collision at Cajamarca" several hundred years before, where Francisco Pizarro and his men conquered the massive Incan army and Atahualpa, the Incan emperor at that time. I nearly leapt back again when the snake-headed monkey creature rose up from the fire, forming out of the smoke. The priests, for that is what they seemed they were, appeared not to notice. The creature fixed its gaze on me.

-I am Pocapahuatl- the apparition said.-You have been chosen-

"What for?" I asked, overcoming my fears and understanding that this encounter defied all things logical."I mean, I'm not Incan, am I?"

-No.- Pocapahuatl said in its booming voice.-Yet you have The Gift. Thus, only you among those of the Earth can find the artifact known as Moktasi's Tear. This is your task-

"What? I think you have the wrong guy," I said."I mean, I have never heard of Moktasi's Tear, let alone have any idea where it is!"

-You are the one- Pocapahuatl said. -You can read and understand the intricacies of all things written. This is The Gift. Only a possessor of The Gift may find Moktasi's Tear. I will show you the way- I suddenly felt a searing pain in my arm, and looked at it while grimacing. A large tattoo was inscribed upon it, and was already beginning to fade. Through teary eyes, I understood that this contained missing pieces to the map I had been looking at earlier. Although the ground had only jadeite on it, I now understood why. No broken tiles were there because there were none to begin with!

-John- Pocapahuatl said. -Beware of the dangers of Moktasi's Tear. Protect it with your life, and do not let it fall into the wrong hands. It is an artifact of unimaginable power which you shall come to know. You will become famous, find love, and become rich from the power bestowed upon you. But never use Moktasi's Tear for the destruction of that which is held sacred, or it shall turn into a curse that will not break until ****.-

I looked at my arm again, and saw that the tattoo was gone.

-The map will return under the light of a sacred star. You will know when this time comes. When it does, copy the map down, for the star appears only once every decade. You shall now return to the land of the breathing.- I felt the ground shift below me as Pocapahuatl dissipated, and the priests' chanting grew more and more frenzied. I suddenly fell, deep deep down, into darkness...

I woke to the corridor below the ruins, and my head hurt. Had that all been just a dream? It felt so real, and as I looked back at the wall, I could almost see the map of the arm tattoo fit in with this map. I shook off the feeling. I should catch up with my colleagues.