The 4 in the shadows: The Legacy of the Ancient Guardians E-Book

Leonie Breitner

• Herausgeber: epubli
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

"The 4 in the shadows: The Legacy of the Ancient Guardians" An ancient treasure from Roman times, hidden in the deepest forest - and a map that contains the key to it. When archaeologists at their school report on an exciting excavation project, Max, Lukas, Emma and Sophie are in the middle of an adventure that they never expected. But when the map that shows the way to the treasure is stolen by mysterious thieves, the four friends do everything they can to solve the secret. On their hunt for the treasure, they must not only fight against the thieves, but also unravel the dark legacy of the "ancient guardians" - a legacy that lies deep in the shadows of history. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous it becomes. Will the "4 in the Shadows" manage to find the treasure and catch the thieves before it's too late? A thrilling adventure full of puzzles, secrets and unexpected twists!

Leseprobe

Title: The 4 in the shadows:

The Legacy of the Ancient Guardians

Author: Leonie Breitner

Biography:

Leonie Breitner, born in 1991 and raised in Germany, discovered her passion for stories and characters at an early age. As an enthusiastic storyteller, she combines exciting plots with the challenges of everyday life in her books. Her stories are about friendship, secrets and the adventures that life has in store.

With her flair for lively dialogues and authentic emotions, Leonie Breitner particularly appeals to young readers.

When she is not writing, she enjoys spending time in nature or looking for inspiration in her new surroundings.

Chapter 1: The Lecture

The air in the sticky classroom of class 8b was buzzing with excitement. It was a welcome change from the otherwise rather dreary school day that there was a lecture today. Mrs. Krüger, the history teacher, had announced the event in a big way: two real archaeologists would be speaking about a planned excavation near the city. The friends Lukas, Sophie, Emma and Max sat next to each other in the third row and whispered quietly to each other.

"I bet this will be really boring?" whispered Max and leaned over to Lukas. "They're probably just talking about how they sweep away dust with little brushes."

“Maybe they’ll dig up a dinosaur,” Lukas explained with a grin.

"Archaeologists don't care about dinosaurs," Sophie, who was sitting right next to Lukas, interjected. "That's paleontology. They're probably digging up something old, like... I don't know, shards of glass."

Emma raised her head and looked at Sophie. "I think that's exciting. Imagine if she found something really important!"

At that moment the door opened and Mrs. Krüger entered the room, followed by two strangers. One was a tall, lanky man with thick glasses and messy hair, the woman next to him was small and energetic, with short blonde curls and a friendly smile.

“So, dear class,” began Ms. Krüger in her usual, slightly too cheerful voice. “Today we are being visited by two renowned archaeologists who will tell us about their work and a very special excavation here in our region.” A warm welcome, Dr. Wagner and Dr. Lehmann!”

Hesitant applause broke out and the two archaeologists lined up in front of the board. Dr. Lehmann immediately said: "Hello everyone! We are very happy to be here. As Ms. Krüger said, we are archaeologists and employees who are familiar with the past - more specifically, with the Romans who lived in this region around 2,000 years ago."

A few heads raised curiously, including those of Lukas and Emma. Dr. Wagner continued: "Very close by, in a wooded area on the edge of the city, there are the remains of a Roman villa rustica - it was something like a farm. And there are indications that a treasure could be hidden there."

The word “darling” caused a murmur. Max straightened"A treasure? Really?"

Dr. Wagner laughed. "Yes, really. Of course we don't know exactly what we'll find, but there are old documents that indicate that something valuable was hidden there. Maybe gold, coins or jewelry. But it could also be a storehouse of everyday objects that the Romans used."

"Or both," added Dr. Lehmann. "There are even reports of a mysterious code that supposedly describes the way to the treasure chamber."

“A code?” Sophie asked curiously. “Like in an adventure film?”

"Something like that," said Dr. Wagner with a grin. "But don't worry, we have the latest technology and old maps to help us. We'll start excavating next week."

Dr. Lehmann threw a picture on the board that showed a rough sketch of the forest area. "Here," she explained, pointing to a marked spot. "This is the area we will be investigating. But before we bring the excavators, we must carefully look for hidden entrances or foundations."

“That sounds really exciting,” Emma murmured to the others. Lukas nodded thoughtfully. “I bet there’smore to it than they say.”

After the lecture, there was a question and answer session, with Emma and Sophie in particular asking questions. Max, on the other hand, was skeptical: "What if there's nothing there?" he asked loudly. "Then will you just keep digging?"

Dr. Lehmann smiled patiently. "There is always a risk, but that is part of our work. Even if we don't find any treasure, we can learn a lot about the life of the Romans."

"But what if the treasure is not found?" Sophie seemed surprised by her own question, but Dr. Wagner answered seriously: "Of course there are legends about curses or guardian spirits, but that is mostly just fantasy."

After class, the friends stormed into the schoolyard. “That was cool!” Emma exclaimed enthusiastically. “I didn’t know that Romans lived nearby.”

"I'm not sure if they told us everything," said Lukas. "Did you know how vague they were about this map?were?" As if they were hiding something."

“Maybe they’re afraid of grave robbers,” Sophie thought.

Max grinned broadly. "Or before us. What do you think about getting there first? Imagine if we found the treasure before them!"

"Max, you're crazy," Emma said, but couldn't suppress a smile. Lukas, however, looked at him seriously. "Maybe that's not such a bad idea. Let's just keep our eyes open."

The four of them decided to meet in the park that afternoon to think things over. Nobody suspected that she would soon be much more deeply involved in the story than she could have imagined.

Chapter 2: The Stolen Map

The next morning, there is an unusual excitement at school. Already on the way to the first lesson, Lukas noticed the excited conversations of his classmates. Usually, this is about homework, exams or embarrassing posts on social networks. Today, however, he kept hearing words like "theft", "archaeologists" and "police".

When he entered the classroom, Sophie, Emma and Max were already waiting for him.

“Lukas, have you heard?” Emma rushed towards him as soon as he put down his backpack.

“What?” Lukas was still too sleepy to understand the urgency.

"The map," Sophie hissed with a serious expression on her face. "The archaeologists' map - it was stolen!"

Lukas blinked. "The map? You mean the one with the treasure marker?"

“Exactly, die!” said Max and dramatically dropped into his chair. “And now comes the best part: Not onlyNot only the card, but also all copies, photos and files from it were deleted. Everything is gone!

"That's impossible," said Lukas and stood up. "How could that happen?"

During the break, the group went to the cafeteria, where the rumor mill was in full swing. Lukas heard a few ninth-graders speculating that it could be professional. One girl claimed that there was even a surveillance video showing masked figures, but the police confiscated the video.

“So what do we really know?” Lukas asked the others as she sat down at a table.

"Not much," Sophie admitted. "But it's weird, isn't it? The archaeologists tell us about this amazing map, and less than 24 hours later it's gone."

"This can't be a coincidence," Emma said quietly. "Perhaps someone is afraid that the treasure will be discovered."

Max leaned back and grinned broadly. "Or someone will find him first. Maybe it's those grave robbers Sophie was talking about yesterday."

"If that's the case, they could already be looking for the treasure," said Lukas, looking around. "And if all the clues have really been erased from the map, the archaeologists have no chance of stopping them."

In the afternoon, the friends gathered in the city park as agreed. They had decided to investigate the subject more closely before making a plan. Emma had printed out a list of articles about the treasure and the excavation that she had found on the Internet.

"It says here that the map was kept in a secure room," she explained, holding up the printout. "Only the archaeologists had access - and a few construction workers who are supposed to help with the excavation."

“So either it was an insider…” Sophie began.

“...or someone was really well prepared,” Lukas finished the sentence.

Max leaned over the printouts. "And it says here that the map comes from an old monastery script. It was only deciphered a few years ago. That means the thieves must know how to read it."

"That explains why they deleted the copies too," Sophie said. "They wanted to make sure that no one else could find the treasure."

Suddenly the group was interrupted by an excited voice. It was Leonie, a classmate who was also in the park. "Hey, have you heard?" Dr. Lehmann and Dr. Wagner are totally desperate! The police were at the excavation site today and found nothing. No traces, nothing at all!"

“Not even fingerprints?” Max asked incredulously.

Leonie shook her head. "Nothing. They say the thieves were professionals."

"That sounds like a real conspiracy," said Lukas thoughtfully. "But what do we do now? Wait until the police solve the case?"

Max stood up and clenched his fists. "Forget it. They'll take forever. We should look around ourselves."

Emma was skeptical. "And where do we start? We don't even know where the thieves went."

“But we know where they were,” Sophie said suddenlyand pointed in the direction of the forest. "The map was stolen when the archaeologists were at the dig site, right? Maybe we'll find something there that the police missed."

After a brief hesitation, the others agreed and set off into the forest. The excavation site was cordoned off, but that didn't stop the four from sneaking through the undergrowth and searching the area.

"Here, look," Emma whispered, pointing to a secluded corner behind a large tree. "There's something in the ground."

Lukas knelt down and picked something up. It was a piece of paper, half buried in the mud. When he turned it over, she saw a drawing with Roman characters.

“That looks like part of the map!” Sophie exclaimed.

“Shh, not so loud,” hissed Max.

Lukas examined the paper more closely. "It's just a fragment. But it could help us."

“Or it could be a trap,” Emma warned.

Lukas pocketed the paper anyway. "Whatever, we have more than the police right now. And if we want to find out more, we have to be brave."

"Or crazy," Sophie muttered, but she followed the others as they quietly crept back out of the forest. They had no idea that they were already being watched.

Chapter 3: The Mysterious Clue

The four friends ran back to town, the found fragment of the map safely tucked away in Lukas' jacket pocket. Their footsteps continued to echo along the cobbled path, and although the discovery was exciting, they all felt a slight sense of unease. Emma was the first to break the silence.

“What if someone saw us there?” She turned around nervously, as if a pursuer could be lurking around every corner.

"Then they would have caught us by now, right?" Max shrugged, but tried to appear casual. "Besides, we're not doing anything illegal. We're just helping to find the treasure."

"It's still trespassing, Max," Sophie interjected, raising her eyebrows. "If the archaeologists find out we were there, we'll have a problem."

"Maybe we should concentrate on what we found," Lukas said firmly. "Let's meet at my place. My parents aren't here, we can think things over in peace."

A short time later, they were sitting in Lukas' room. On the desk was the half-crumpled piece of paper that she had found in the forest. Lukas smoothed it out with his hands while Emma turned on the flashlight on her cell phone to illuminate it better.

“And what do we see here?” asked Sophie, leaning forward.

The fragment showed a small part of a map with Roman characters and a series of symbols. An arrow pointed to a point in the middle of the paper, next to it were the wordsFluvius Silentius.

"It means 'river of silence' in Latin," explained Emma, who had immediately done some research. "It sounds poetic, but where could it be?"

"Fluvius? "It could be a stream or a small river nearby," Sophie thought out loud.

“And what is this?” Max pointed to a symbol that looked like a sun, half of it disappearing behind a horizon.

"Perhaps a clue to the direction?" Lukas frowned. "Sunrise in the east, sunset in the west. Maybe we need to go west."

Emma shook her head. “That would be too easy. Itcould also be a code. This card seems more complicated than I thought."

After an hour of intense discussion, Lukas came up with an idea. "You know what? We should find someone who knows about this kind of thing. Maybe a teacher?"

“You want to go to Mrs. Krüger?” Max asked skeptically. “She would betray us immediately.”

"Not necessarily Mrs. Krüger," said Lukas. "But Mr. Berndt, our physics teacher, once told us that he is an amateur archaeologist. "He certainly knows about old maps."

Sophie thought for a moment. "He also has a metal detector, which he sometimes mentions. Maybe he could help us, but what if he reports this to the police?"

"Then let's just say we found the paper while we were out walking," Emma suggests. "We just have to pretend we came across it by chance."

Max grinned. "Good idea. Then we just have to act a little dumber than usual."

The next day, the friends visit Mr. Berndt at school. The physics teacher was known for his enthusiasm for everything to do with history and science. When they spoke to him in the teachers' room, his eyes immediately sparkled with curiosity when Lukas showed him the paper.

"Interesting, very interesting," murmured Mr. Berndt as he looked at the fragment. "It really does look like an antique map." Where did you find it?"

"I'm forest," Emma said quickly. "We were walking and it was just lying there. We thought it might be important."

Mr. Berndt nodded slowly. "It could actually be that. These characters here are Roman, and the symbols... hmm, it's hard to say. But this here..." He pointed to the sun. "It's probably an astronomical symbol. It could indicate a certain season or a date."

"A date?" Sophie frowned. "What do you mean?"