“Long ago! Before the creation of the seven servers a evil of terrible might ruled the land with an iron fist of might. His followers coward in his presence and his enemies vanished under his gaze. The dark one ruled the land for centuries until a brave warrior awoke the dark god’s brother, Chaos, The God of Light. The two battled a bloody war that lasted ten days and ravaged the land. In the end Chaos managed to seal his brother away, but not before he tore The God of Light’s body asunder. Before his death Chaos managed to transform what little of him that was left into a creature of water and contained his powers into a large crystal. Too this day, Chaos waits for the time of his brother’s return and we all pray that what happened long ago never comes to pass.”

---

The squirrel smiled as she shut the large leather bound book. “And that is why we are here.” She was surrounded by a small group of humans of varying age, gender, and color. They simply shrugged and filed out of the large tent.

“Brought it on a little thick. A simple, we are here to dig, would have probably motivated them just the same.”

The squirrel sighed and turned to the speaker. A green hedgehog that stood at about five foot five. He wore a simple brown vest and simple revolver hung on a holster at his hip. “I wouldn’t expect someone who is simply interested in the warrior aspect of history to care much for an old folktale.”

The hedgehog chuckled. “Swords, armor, and the like are what truly interest people, Ms Sally! Folktales are for children and dreamers.”

“I guess!” Sally walked over to a small metal table and set the book down next to a small stack of similar ones. She happen to glance by the small mirror that had been nailed to one of the support posts. He long red hair was tied back into a ponytail and she could see the signs of lack of sleep in her blue eyes. She straightened her blue vest and tried to brush some of the dirt from her brown fur with her hand. “At least our benefactor believes in old folktales or we might not have the funds to dig up your artifacts of war.”

“At least what we have found has pleased both the benefactor and the local governments. You forget we are on land that many consider sacred.” The hedgehog patted his revolver. “Never forget that we must continue to find solid, tangible things too keep us and the security teams here.”

Sally nodded her head in defeat. As much as she hated to disagree with him, she knew that he was right. They were digging in a very dangerous part of the Amazon. Attacks from tribal people and a few more well armed individuals had happen more than once. Luckily no deaths yet. “I trust you will continue to focus on what needs to be done in that department, Sperk!”

“You needn’t worry.” He made a small bow. “Now if you will excuse me. I must check the patrols.”

“Of course! I need to call our benefactor with a report soon.”

“Till tonight then!” Sperk exited the tent and already she could hear him bark orders at the security teams.

“Sharp as a knife and blunt as a hammer all in one package.” Sally sighed again and sat down in front of a small computer monitor. She instinctively touched a small blue metal amulet that was around her neck. She didn’t know what it was as and inscriptions on the amulet had been worn away, but the nun at the orphanage had said it had been given to her when Sally had been dropped of at the place. She grasped it tightly in her hand as she slowly turned on the computer with the other. “To bad nothing about my past resides here.” She pushed a tear out of her eyes as a face appeared on the screen.

“Doctor Julian’s office!” It was a blond human woman.

“This is Sally at The Amazon Excavation Site. Code Number one, one, six, three!”

The woman typed in the information at a keyboard off screen. “Code verified, but the doctor isn’t here right now. Please transmit your report and I will set it on his desk.”

“Understood!” The upload took less than a minute. “When will he be in?”

“Not sure! Information has been received. Is there anything else?”

“No! Thank you!” Sally cut the connection. The good doctor was never in. In fact Sally had never actually met the man nor had a clear reason why she a nineteen year old collage student had been selected to head a dig in The Amazon. Was it the fact she wasn’t human, or were her grades better than she thought. There were many students here older and with more field experience, but she had been chosen. Even the few professors in the camp had to answer to her. She shrugged it off and resolved to find out soon. She stood up and retrieved her small tool kit. “Better get back to the dig!”

---

Unknown to Sally a hidden camera watched her as she exited the tent. The camera fed its information through a series of hidden satellites orbiting the Earth and into the monitor that currently displayed the images. The monitor was attached to a large dark metal desk in a very dark room. The screen showed an empty tent for several moments before a large hand reached out and pushed a small button in front of the monitor. The screen shut off and it sank into the desk. “Anything of use in the report?” A dark almost metallic voice called out.

“No sir!” A small almost bald man stood in front of the desk with a small laptop computer. “Just a bunch of artifacts and other useless items. I fail to see why you bother secretly funding this expedition. It is just an old folktale.”

“But Chaos is very real, Snively!” A pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness behind the desk. “I have all the confidence in the world that the girl will find the secret to unlocking the dark god’s power. And when I harness that power for my self.” He laughed his normal deep dark laugh. “All these pathetic creatures will all bow down to the name of Robotnik!”