Daughter of the Naga

ook all our belongings and went all the way from America to an

er vacation in a remote area digging dirt. It

the perfect blue sky. A few cottony clouds drifted over our heads. My dad and I gathered our luggage and loaded it onto

e up as we walked down the aisle together. My mom was born a native of South East Asia while my father was an American-born Russian desc

him a bored look. "I think my

we were in a blender for hours. I had

e goose! Hurry up, th

ging up dirt is an a

. You may see the great monument from a long distance blocking your vision. You may chance upon a lost sunken city in the ocean. We shall dig into the past to find how it all began

as one of the head archaeologists sp

I'm not in the mood to learn

I started kicking way too early. They thought I would grow up to be a kickboxer. Then my dad named me Nikita, which was supposed to be a boy name. It means 'unconquerable'. You couldn't find any girl named Nikit

of single ladies had expressed their willingness to be his life partner. He was handsome even in his early forties, always clean-shaven. He loved wearing his old fedora hat and knee-high boots l

ettled into a dull existence in America. Dad worked at a small museum. He didn't mind

m some documents on a rare find from a medieval city — famously known as Angkor City.

crops with my sweat. As I stumbled along with my

me!" I huffed, trying t

nded me, jerking the brown satchel on his shoulder, and let

oks, and you're still not helping me," I

shoulder. "It's about half an hour drive from here. We're going to

aid, pushing my blonde hair out of my face an

, Nikita, come on!" he s

rking lot. The taxi driver drove his beat-up Toyota towards us.

r it for what seemed like forever. He was an archaeologist who could read ancient maps like the back of his hand, but h

im. I found the location in a blink of an eye then showed th

d nice view! I can show you around the cit

d said. "We're not here

hen?" the driver asked again while he wa

an archaeological r

ry after the latest discovery at Angkor last month," the man said. "They did

t moving, sir," my dad s

river hurried to o

en we left the airport. But along the way, I couldn

per. He looked at me. "What

ncient spiral near the old city, Nikita," he t

cient

on't know what that spiral is exactly. That's why I'm here. But don't worry; I'm sure it does

the main reason I came here was buried deep under a pile of unsaid things, I want

that this adventure was going to