The Nightmare Beneath the Sand

The Nightmare Beneath the Sand 12

Total Word Count as of Chapter 12: 17,653

Pushing himself up with a groan as his body protested, now that they weren't fighting for their lives, Alaric brushed off his pants and limped over to his lover. Leon blinked up at him before smiling and holding out his hand. "Can you help me up?" he asked.

Alaric huffed out a soft laugh, rolling his eyes and reached down, hauling him up onto his feet, both men groaning as once more their bodies complained. "We're going to have a lot of bodies to retrieve and lay to rest," Alaric noted, looking to the young man who had given his own life. "He'll be returned to his brother."

"You're going to have to talk to Dakarai again aren't you?" he asked, Alaric nodding. "I'll come with you. Tomorrow. Maybe the day after. After some aspirin and taking some time to see to the bruises."

"We got away with very little injuries all things considered," Alaric mused as Leon lead the way out of the fourth floor and to where he had hidden his things.

"I think something may have been bruised internally but I think I got away with nothing truly busted up," Leon groaned as he lifted his hands over his head, stretching slowly. He winced at the pull of his muscles, rubbing at one side as he relaxed the muscles. Alaric looked at him with a knowing look. "Yes, I'll go in and get checked out at the hospital. I'll give them a call and ask if they have a doctor open to see me without having to go through emergency services."

"Most likely they will," Alaric said. While his lover looked at the spot that the creature disappeared into, he found a small nook, following the mental urge he was getting, and put the book away. He paused next to his lover when he was by his side, turning to look down the hall that they were walking down into room they had just left. "Did the sword go with it?" he wondered.

Leon hummed before nodding. "Yeah. It did. It wasn't meant for this world, but to bind the creature to his own without the ability to return ever again," he admitted. "I don't know how I know that, but I do."

Alaric smirked. "Don't worry. You're not the only one with new knowledge. Understanding how to read and translate the hieroglyphs a bit easier is not something that I want to explain to anyone," he drawled. They turned away and started back down the path, walking up to the third floor. They stopped long enough there to eat a quick granola bar, and remove their earbuds, and their scarves, before heading to where Alaric had placed his things.

Leon sighed and said a soft prayer for the young idiot who had been manipulated into doing something dangerous for the group before they left once more, her ID and diary firmly in hand. He was not going to let either item out of his sight: just in case they came in handy. They took their time heading back up to the main floor, using their flashlights to get through the darkness of the maze.

"Was it so dark while we were heading down there?" Leon asked, pulling off his headlamp to check it.

"I think we were being helped along during that whole thing," Alaric drawled, shaking his head as he checked his own headlamp. He turned the brightness up on his headlamp, finding it much easier to see. "We're going to have to have some very long trailing lights and a lot of lanterns for everything."

"So many lanterns," Leon said before he stopped, noticing an alcove. "Hey, look at this. I bet you that we missed dozens of these," he mused, moving over to it. In front of it was carefully carved crystal that he knew could reflect and intensify light. Looking around the side of it, he found a deep stone well that was blackened from years of use. "It looks like a light nook. I think if we use this with rechargeable lanterns, we'll have plenty of light to work with," he said, already thinking about what they could do.

Alaric, knowing his partner after so many years of working with the man, simply rolled his eyes and guided his lover away from the alcove. "Later. For now, I wish to breath fresh air, take some aspirin, and relax," he drawled. Leon hummed, before wincing as his own body protested again.