Lost Idol

Sarah had been an anthropologist icon for her whole career. For 15 years she has been building up her catalog of reports, surveys, even dig findings. Other cultures fascinated her. The idea that in another part of the world they see planes as great birds instead of a casual different way to travel. Historically it was amusing her career began in modern cultures but began to go deeper and deeper back through time the longer her career went. All of this culminating in a PhD in History and Ancient Cultures specifically. She began to be know for getting down in the mud when it came to archeological digs. All the while keeping a very quiet and reserved personal life. Sure she had a a few friends who she'd keep up with. But no one ever really got let in. She was pretty well and average overall. Slight bubble butt, modest B cups. Her dark hair was always long enough to pass her shoulders. Short enough to not be a real problem. Her slim figure was accented with a few tattoos of ravens here and there. Some distance pieces others close ups. Her eyes a faded green to give flair against her tan skin.

She woke up finding herself in her bedroom that she had barely personalized. After all she was halfway around the world. But that was life on the dig. They had been out in the middle of nowhere for the past two weeks. She could not wait for a proper and good shower. After cleaning herself if you could call it that she put her hair up. Put on her last pair of comfortable close and set out for her last day on site.

After a long 3 hour drive they checked into the camp and began making their way down. From the surface their excavation seemed wide spread and highly encompassing. Nearly half a mile in perimeter it gave off the appearance of a simple cultural dig. But that couldn't be further from the truth. In reality this was a temple site to an old Cyclandic tribe. Predating the Greeks you had to guess that these guys had to have some influence on their religion. Of course all of this had been subject to weather damage, thousands of years of other cultures stomping across this temple that had seemed to be intentionally built underground. To Sarah this indicated that either they wanted to practice their religion in secret, or that they wanted it to be preserved for when their time had passed. It took her a while now to get though the different areas that you all had previously been through. Today her team was wrapping up the main chamber. The majority of the team had been packing up their gear. After she went through the chamber one last time she began to follow the hauling team looking for anything they missed. Today was the hardest day for Sarah. The constant nagging feeling that something pivotal was missed. That the breakthrough piece of knowledge got overlooked. Earlier in her career her Sarah would have been a major stickler for going over everything on the last day 3 times over. Over her time though her trust of her team out grew that need. She knew she had a top notch team. That they wouldn't miss anything. Now whether that was because they didn't want to deal with that or because they were just that good was up to them.

The rolling case was packed and they were moving it over to the lift to get it out of there and finally go home. Sarah was getting ready to head out as well when she turned around to take her traditional leaving the cave picture. She always took a photo to keep the memory of whatever excavation she did. As she got the angle she needed and the flash rang out through the room she heard something crack. Next thing she knew she was in the floor. Reaction time and hand eye coordination were not Sarah's forte. She tried to reach for ledges but completely slipped. She must have only fallen 15, 20 feet but when she landed she didn't feel like she broke any bones. She got up to shouts from her team. The last of her team had gone up with the road case.

"I'm okay! I'll try and find a way out!" She shouts. Getting up she looks around and finds herself in a deeper chamber. The architecture and design were completely different. Barren and unadorned the walls were flat slabs of stone. Up above all the walls were intricately decorated and carved to tell stories. Each wall featuring a patterned border. This room featured nothing but a pedestal in the center of the room. From there she found a large totem. It must have been eight or so inches around by a foot an a half tall. It was unlike any other artistic or religious piece in that had been featured by the Cyclandic culture. It's fascinating to her the way it looks. A kin almost to a miniature totem pole from old native American cultures Where those had rigidity and each symbol had intent. This had more curves, it didn't mind having marks and indents that may have been meaningless. It had a dome like top with arms coming down the side. The "chest" if you could call it that was almost armored in the way it was plated. It didn't look to be attached to the pedestal so Sarah walked up to it. She rested her hands on it, feeling to see if she could lift it. Pulling it she felt it was a little lighter than she expected. What shocked her is that it didn't have any dust on it, nor did it have any cracks or any parts that crumbled when she moved it around in her hands to examine it. She knew she would need both hands to climb out so she put it in her bag. Protected by her notebooks, a spare change of clothes from last week she felt it would be okay.

Her team came down and lowered a rope and harness for her. Strapped her in and got her back to the surface. After a short medical check all she had was a few bruises. She was lucky. After double check and taking care of some last paperwork and packing everyone went back to the nearby town they were staying in. While her team was all going to get drinks she wanted to go back to her room. This idol. It. Intrigued her.