“Come on, Amelia.”  He signaled her with an opening and closing of his hand.  She glanced down at his hand, biting her lips, she looked up quickly at him.  His eye brows shot up suddenly.  He stepped forward.

 

“Amelia……don’t!  Don’t you do it?”  He hissed.  She took a few steps back, she glanced at the tiny rope that ran the perimeter of the temple.  Nothing more than maybe a yard between her and the untouched ancient world.  She bit her lip harder and dashed for the barrier.

 

“Damn it, Amelia!”  Max cursed, he lunged for her, but she got the jump on him.

 

Amelia cleared the knee high rope that kept her from the ancient world, effortlessly.  She landed softly on a giant slab of stone.  She looked down at the stone, she knew that she was one of few people that were brave enough to make that leap.  She also knew that she was one of few people who could touch this piece of the ancient world like she did. 

 

“Amelia, damn it!  Get your ass over here now.”  Max gritted through his teeth, he looked about waiting for someone, anyone to come out of the wood work.  Someone who would arrest their asses in a hurry.  He watched as Amelia cocked her hip, balled her fist against her hips.  The look was seriously sexy on her, but he didn’t have time for un-pure thoughts.  He stretched his hand across the rope barrier.  “Just take my hand.  Come on.”  She took another step back. 

 

“Max, just chill, give me just a sec.  God, I’m not going to touch anything, that much.”  She said as she looked about and then made a mad dash for the still standing columns on the far side of the temple ruins. 

 

“Son of bitch.”  Max raced along the same barrier, trying to keep track of his pain in the ass princess.  He growled as he raced along the boundaries.

 

Amelia weaved in and out of the few standing columns.  She danced and swirled about, mindful not to disturb or touch anything.  She raced to each column, studying them in detail.  Max now stood behind the temple itself.  He half whispered, half yelled at her.  “Amelia, I will come in there and get you myself, if you don’t get your ass over here, NOW!”  Hissing through his teeth.  She stopped studying the ruins, she stood tall and turned very slowly to face Max.  A devil of a smirk charming her face.

 

“Do it!  I dare you.”  Narrowing her eyes at him, but keeping the smirk.  Max pushed his hands through his honey blonde hair before he threw them down and walked closer to the rope barrier.  She watched him closely, she knew she was pushing her luck with Max, but she was so good at pushing his buttons.  He stopped just short of the rope, he studied the barrier, looking one way and then the other.  He slowly raised his leg, preparing to take that plunge over the rope barrier.  Amelia stumbled back as she watched Max prepare to step over the barrier, in an attempt to retrieve her, in doing so she accidentally stumbled into one of the stone columns.  She placed her hands behind herself, bracing herself against the column, as a few small pebbled rained down on her.  She cowered and flinched as the pebbles bounced off her head.  She looked up at Max who was stood still in mid step. 

 

He looked on in shock as he followed the path of falling pebbles, raining down on Amelia.  His face went from shock to a scowl, he watched as Amelia mouthed the silent words, ‘Sorry.’ to him.  His scowl went deeper, his wrinkles on his forehead become more pronounced.  Amelia stood up, preparing to make her way to Max, when she felt a slight tremble under her feet.  She cocked her head, looking to Max with a questioning look on her face.  Max looked from her feet to her face.  He motioned for her to come to him.  She took another step and the tremble was stronger this time.  She watched as a few pebbles shook in place. 

“Ummmmm, Max?”  She crouched with her hands out at her side, her voice unsure.

 

“Amelia stay calm, it’s probably just a tremor.  Don’t panic, just get over here.”  His voice calm and soothing.

 

Amelia nodded, she swallowed the nervous lump in her throat.  She slowly lifted her foot trying to make some forward progress towards Max, but the whole ground jerked and she was sent flying forward onto the stone slabs in front of her.  She stretched her arms out in front of her, trying to brace her fall, but the jerk was so unexpected she barely had time to get her hands up to protect her face.  The skin on her hands, broken and bleeding as they scrapped across the stone slabs.  She groaned against the pain that was burning across her fingers and knuckles.  She tried to focus enough to get her baring’s, but the ground beneath her trembled and shook that much louder, that much harder.  She looked up and saw Max had made his way over the rope barrier, attempting to make his way to her, when he stopped, looking beyond her with a look of utter horror.

 

Amelia flipped over onto her back and gasped as the column behind her started to sway and crumble apart.  Sending rocks the size of softballs and bigger, in her direction. It was in that moment that she realized it was an earthquake.  She threw her arm up shielding her face against the onslaught of rocks that were bouncing towards her.  She yelped out when a rock the size of a watermelon bounced into her the bare skin of her thigh.  She gripped her thigh as the pain radiated out, filling her upper leg with a sharp pain that had her grinding her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears that threatened to consume her.  She open her eyes to see a column on her far left sway and crash to the ground, she rolled away from the debris, rocks and dirt digging into her back and legs.  She heard a loud cracking sound, she looked to her right and saw the column behind her start to sway and crumble before her eyes.  She somehow got to her feet, a tremendous effort considering the ground that was shaking violently beneath her.  She dodge the crashing column by mere feet.  In the midst of the chaos she found her voice and screamed out for Max, she knew he was nearby, he wouldn’t leave her.