Bathed Silver in Mercury

V. Elerie

"This place is really starting to creep me out,'' mumbled Vail.

Elerie gave the orders. "Notify the Colonel: I need to call in a team and extra equipment."

"Hey, whoa, whoa, he said two hours-"

"I know, but this is significant. I need a team with the proper equipment to conduct an excavation."

"El," Chris argued. "I don't think that's such a good idea. Besides, we don't have time. Do you know how long it's going to take to fly a team all the way out here?"

"I'm not leaving until I've seen what's down there-"

The two jumped and their arguing ceased then when a gunshot rang out through the chamber - Nick. The bullet had severed the chains' holding, and with a creak they began to move.

"Nick!" cried Elerie, storming towards him. "I told you not to touch anything-" She stopped and stared, they all did. The chains were drawing something large and dark out of the pool.

Everyone gasped. A sarcophagus. Black, with a screaming carved face. Mercury dribbled off its gruesome surface, like tears.

"Oh my God," she gasped as the sarcophagus fully emerged.

"Problem solved," Nick said smugly, returning his gun to his belt.

A skittering sound caught their ears then, drawing their attention to the hundreds of spiders which had begun scurrying about the tomb.

Suddenly, Chris took his gun and started firing it at the spiders. Elerie cried out and ducked down for cover.

"Whoa, whoa! Cease fire Vail! Cease fire!" ordered Nick.

"One of them bit me!" screamed Chris.

"They're not even poisonous!"

"You don't know that!"

"Come on Vail-"

"CAN WE PLEASE LEAVE!?"

But Nick wasn't paying attention anymore. He was suddenly too entranced by the sarcophagus.

"What is wrong with you two?!" Elerie was yelling. "Tell the Colonel that we need to remove this now - or you can tell him that he will have to explain why you left me behind."

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Although Nick still seemed suddenly enamored by the sarcophagus, and Chris was too preoccupied with his spider bite, they did call in a helicopter which fully freed the sarcophagus from its prison. The two soldiers and archaeologist rode in another helicopter. Elerie could feel Nick staring at her for most of the journey, but she focused on the golden landscape stretching around them.

From there the sarcophagus was carried to an airbase and loaded onto a military plane.

"Where the hell did this come from?" remarked another soldier of the heavy sandstorm moving in. The wind whipped the sand around them, making the air heavy with it.

"Oh careful! Careful please!" Elerie called to the men loading the sarcophagus onto the plane. "This is five-thousand years old!"

The sarcophagus was secured - carefully under her watchful eye - and everyone took a seat. Just as the mysterious sandstorm reached and engulfed them, they took flight. They were off.

(Maybe Chris will turn into Spider-Man now that he got bitten by a spider ;) sorry, I had to! Kind of a brief chapter, but we learn more about Elerie and Nick in the next one :) Thanks so much for reading - hope you enjoyed!)