There was quite a few things to look forward to. There was the start of SAMAS as well as the next part of the Mister/Miss Farmhand competition. Sarah and Malice were talking about that while Sarah was browsing on her computer.
"This ought to be easy," said Malice, "Keeping a bunch of dumb sheep in line shouldn't be that hard."
"I don't know," said Sarah, "Sheep are denser than they look."
"Yeah, probably would walk right off a cliff," said Malice.
"Physically denser," said Sarah, "As fluffy as they look, they're pretty heavy. And huskies aren't bred for shepherding."
"If German Shepherds can do it, so can we," said Malice.
Sarah changed the subject, "I wonder how long before Nessa goes swimming in Loch Ness? It'd be interesting if she actually found the Loch Ness Monster."
"It would have been interesting for a Gigantopithicus Animalian to find Bigfoot, but that's not gonna happen now. For two reasons," said Malice.
"Because people don't want anyone to become a giant super-strong ape and what else?" asked Sarah.
"Because there's no such thing as Bigfoot," said Malice, "Probably no Loch Ness Monster either."
"You don't believe?" asked Sarah.
"We've seen our fair share of paranormal things and debunked them all," said Malice, "There's the Wiki Tiki at Mieni, the Spiky Tyrannosaur in Costa Rica..."
"Don't forget the Cobra Voadora in Vilcabamba," said Sarah.
"Oh please," said Malice, "That one barely counted as paranormal. It was only a misunderstanding."
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There were not any modern structures at the dig site in Vilcabamba, at least not permanent ones. There were temporary structures that could be removed without damaging the ground. This mainly consisted of tents, with one particularly big tent that served as an official diner for the area. It was a pretty nice tend, with screened windows and AC units to keep the air flowing and cool. Plenty of people stopped her for breakfast, lunch, or dinner while checking out the dig site. Sarah and Malice were having dinner. They were planning on checking out the ruins at a suitable spooky time. There were also some indigenous people from the tribes who still lived in the Amazon. They were more modern, but they still kept in touch with their ancestors' traditions.
Just as Sarah and Malice were finishing up with their meal, something landed on one of the screened windows. The lady closest to it, who just happened to be one of the tribesmen, screamed, "Cobra Voadora!" Immediately, the other tribesmen and most of the staff got as far away from the window as they could.
"What? What's going on?" asked Sarah.
"What's that thing on the window?" asked Malice as she started towards it.
"Don't get near it!" yelled Ricky Java the bartender, "Don't even go outside!"
"Why? What is it?" asked Malice.
"It is Cobra Voadora, the Snake with Wings," said Ricky Java.
"A winged snake?" asked Malice incredulously, looking at the window. Whatever it was had crawled off to the side.
One of the tribe elders spoke up at that, though in Brazilian which Sarah and Malice couldn't follow. Ricky Java was able to translate for him. "It is a legendary creature here," translated Ricky Java, "A serpent so full of poison that if it lands on a twig and stings it, the branch dies. If it stings a person they die instantly."
"Really?" asked Sarah disbelievingly.
"Really. Faster than a sting from a cone snail," said Ricky Java.
"A winged snake that causes instant death," said Malice flatly, "That just sounds made up."
"No, it's true," said Ricky Java, "Violetta knew someone who was killed by Cobra Voadora."
"Well, I knew someone whose cousin was killed by Cobra Voadora," said one of the cooks.
"Right..." said Sarah not believing, "This is sounds less like a legendary creature and more like an urban legend."
"Indeed," said an archeologist who was dining at the tent, "A proper scientific investigation will determine if this deadly serpent exists." With that, he walked outside. The locals held their breaths with anticipating, expecting to hear his dying scream or the thud of his lifeless body. But before long, he came back inside holding something gently with a cloth. "Here is your Cobra Voadora," he said, putting it on a table.
Sarah and Malice approached the table. On the cloth, they could see some kind of greenish insect with a large snakelike head. "What is that? A leaf insect?" asked Sarah.
"A moth?" asked Malice.
"This is a lantern fly," said the archeologist, "It's known in the Spanish community as Tiranaboia. You see this head? It's not actually the head, just a hollow protuberance."
"What's the point of having a hollow fake head?" asked Malice.
"Protective mimicry," said the archeologist, "There are many ways for an animal to defend itself from potential predators. In some cases, it pretends to be a more dangerous species. This species of lantern fly resembles a snake's head, which is effective at scaring plenty of threats."
"You mean the legend of the Cobra Voadora is nothing more than an oversized cicada?" asked Ricky Java.
"It's no shame to be fooled by a disguise honed by natural selection," said the archeologist.
"Then what about the people who have died?" asked Violetta.
"Details get distorted in the retelling," said the archeologist, "There are probably other explanations for why those people died, if they even died at all."
"Well, I'm glad it turned out to be an insect," said Malice.
"Why's that?" asked Sarah.
"Because we can't uplift a bug," said Malice.
"That's certainly something to be grateful about," agreed Sarah.