The Nightmare Beneath the Sand

The Nightmare Beneath the Sand 6

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Staring as the last of the sand was moved away from the first door, Leon frowned but adjusted his camera, starting to snap pictures. "I am hating this shit," he muttered, adjusting the stool that he was sitting on. Alaric grunted as he moved his own tripod slightly to the left. "It only took a fucking week to unbury the damn door. They threw all the money they could at this to get it done."

"I can understand that," he said, looking through the view finder and adjusting the zoom on it, pulling the wall into clarity. "Do you think he'll hold off for a day so that we can take pictures of the seal in whole?" he asked.

Leon hummed and looked up when Amir walked towards them with a frown. "Looks like Amir is upset about something," he said. "What is it?" he asked when the man came to stand next to them.

"The professor has gotten his backers to allow him a day to take the needed pictures of the seal and to make sure everything is aired out as much as possible," Amir drawled. "I am displeased that we are going forward with this dig at all," he continued. He looked to the two. "I have figured out what it is about this place that sets my teeth on edge. My family were not sent from this place but were one of many that left to help scatter things."

"Like the tablets?" Alaric asked as he adjusted his camera and took a new picture. "We spoke with someone about what we should do."

"You are going in, are you not?" Amir asked. Leon gave him a long look. "I am not stupid. I do the work I do because I enjoy it, not because I am unqualified for anything else."

"I know that," Leon said. "I'm just curious as to how much knowledge you have about what is beyond that door."

"A darkness that should not be allowed to reach the rest of the living world," Amir stated. Leon grunted and turned back to his own view finder, snapping the long-range pictures that they needed from his position. "And one that will bring the world to it's knees should it be released."

"You wouldn't be wrong about that," Leon admitted, pulling back from his camera to check the picture. "We have plans but it is best if there is some plausible deniability about what we're going to do."

"If you go in, make sure you have what you need with you. Water and the such," Amir suggested.

"We have maps and a good general plan. We spoke with the guardian over the local history and he was able to fill us in on a few things. If you can do us a favor," Alaric said. He picked up the tripod. "Make them send in a drone first before we do anything. Show them that it is a maze and that we will need quite a few lengths of rope. That is if we're able to do what needs to be done."

Amir hummed. "I have a few things that may help you. They are family heirlooms and I have not felt the need to bring them with me to such digs before," he said. He gazed at the two as they picked up things, preparing to move. "I believe that they will be needed for you though during whatever you are planning."

Alaric stared at him before nodding. "If you can, make sure everyone has their own protections up and hanging from the tents," he suggested quietly. "Tell them something is going on and make sure that the students are protected. We have one who has a luck connection, but we do not know if it will hold out against this with so many people around."

Amir nodded and turned to walk away, yelling out instructions in the native language of his people, moving to shift the sand with his many others so that they could find any little items that might have hidden in the sand while they were digging oh so carefully.

"It's amazing how easy the sand came up considering how many decades it's been packed down," Leon mused, walking to another part of the wall that was exposed. The dirt and sand held but easily gave when dug at just right. Currently most of the dirt and sand that had been moved was about a mile away, donkey carts dragging it away, being shifted through and put aside.

"It's like whatever is here has some measure of control," Alaric said, shaking his head. "It wants to be found. It wants to be free."

"It wants to be worshipped as a god once more," Leon sighed, rubbing his foot against the dirt under his feet. "I can actually feel the block now. It's subtle but there."

"It hides the many levels well enough for you to miss it and for us to ignore the levels themselves," Alaric mused. He set up the camera and started to take the shots that he had to do. Leon joined him, both males working their way from one end of the wall to the other, taking long range shots, and zoomed in shots. They then went back and carefully took shots of each carved block, Leon using a headset and his phone to make notes about the hieroglyphs that he could translate on the spot.

"The entire wall is a mix of prayers, spells, and warnings," Leon said as they stopped for the night, having finished taking the many detailed pictures. Alaric nodded as he flipped his work sketchbook closed. "It's telling us right up front that if we dare enter, it's our souls that are on the line," he sighed.

"If we're not careful this will end badly for the world," Alaric said. Leon nodded his head, packing his camera and gear away before hauling it to their jeep.

The workers had already headed back to the camp, taking the donkey carts and the open jeeps that they had been given for the job. The students were all talking happily about the great finds that they had found in the shifted sand, bits and bobs of pots from various time periods, including a few pots still in good shape.

It seemed as if some of the sand came away in chunks and they hadn't wanted to mess with the chunks just in case there were something in there that was delicate. Which was a good thing from an archeological standpoint.

Packing their things up, Alaric climbed into the driver's side while Leon pulled himself up into the passenger side, heading towards the camp with the students following them. There was a permanent guard tent set up with its own small kitchen, rest area, and solar system to allow them power to watch the dig. They passed by it, the guard waving them off before turning back to the few cameras that they were able to set up around the dig.

Once at the camp, they headed to their tent and found that Amir had been by, setting up their fire pit with a slow burn fire, and lighting up a few of their candle lanterns. Leon took a moment to light up more of their lanterns before helping his lover to haul the equipment into the tent.

It took them only a few minutes to hook the camera memory cards to their computers and set things to shifting over to the portable hard drives. Alaric disappeared into the back area, intent on washing what he could with a basin bath, finding a small bag sitting on their bed. Opening it up, he pulled out six charms, three of the charms matching the other three.

"It looks as if he delivered the charms," he told his lover when Leon walked in for his own basin bath. Leon frowned and fingered each of them, eyebrows raising.

"There's actual power in them. Ancient and protective, but also deadly to the wrong people or things," he said, shaking his head. "We start wearing them now." He took three and placed one around his ankle, the bent piece of metal with soft leather bending perfect to not get in the way of anywhere. The bracelet he placed onto his wrist, finding that he would be able to hide it under the wrist wraps he wore when working at a sight. The third was a necklace and would sit under his shirt perfectly.

Alaric did the same and they shared a look, feeling like they had been wrapped in a warm hug before the feeling left, leaving behind the lingering warmth. "Let us hope that this will be enough to protect us while we do this," he said, eyes turning to the locked footlocker that held the weapon.

Leon hummed. "For now, we need to eat, check the pictures, send them to the professor and others, and then get some much-needed rest. Tomorrow we break the seal and then start our careful 'exploration'. I feel that most of us will come back tomorrow while they send in a drone," he said.

"It would be best," Alaric said, tucking the bag that the amulets had come in into his bag. They washed, changed, went out into the main area and did what they needed to do, speaking with Amir when he stopped by with the plans from Professor Kran, before finding bed. They felt that there was a countdown in their head's and they didn't have more than seventy-two hours to do what needed to be done.

But first they had to sleep. And plan.