C10 THE MAGUS’ QUEST

Magus Cartelle assembled a team for his magical quest and besides me and Kay, he hired ten security escorts to accompany him on the trip.

Before we journeyed out, we signed standard Hunter’s Guild contracts which was a standard written agreement that provided the scope, and terms and conditions of the mission, including terms on remuneration and compensation in the event of death or injury.

Everything seemed fair so we signed the contract and we each kept a copy of it.

Our convoy went through the desert and along the way, there were some scorpions and other predators who often preyed on merchants who traveled here.

However, we were armed with Thunderbolts so all the beasts we encountered were quickly taken care of.

After a week of running around the desert, Cartelle brought us to a place in the desert as he looked at a magical map to locate our position while I curiously glimpsed at the map.

I found out that the map was magical and there was a silver cross on the map which moved as we traveled.

Just like a navigation system, which correctly pointed out our location on the map with a marked “X” and when it overlapped with another trinket on the map shaped as a circled “O”, it would indicate that we have reached our destination.

While our navigation systems were usually projected through a visual device or electronic, the navigation system here was projected from a piece of paper but the result was comparable.

As I explored this magical world, I realized that even if I lost access to the technologies in my world, perhaps I could regain some of our conveniences by employing the technology in Ouamua, called magic to replace the convenience of our equipment.

The magical map brought us to a ruined pyramid which was mostly buried in the sand.

Only the pyramid’s apex barely protruded from the desert.

We searched around the pyramid for a very long time, to look for an entrance but we still couldn’t find any which was probably because the pyramid was buried deep under the desert sand.

The entrance to the pyramid if there was one would be at least 100-meters under the ground which was impossible for us to reach or dig into.

As we dug around the ruined building, I noticed a fine groove or crack across the top of the pyramid and Sara noticed there was trace Neutronium energy that flowed from the base of the pyramid to the top but oddly the energy radiation ceased as it reached the crack at the pyramid’s apex.

Sara speculated that there was an energy link on the pyramid which was similar to electricity flowing through a circuit board.

The pyramids apex was a switch or knob of some kind that might turn on the circuitry on the building and it was possible that was the key to gain access to the building.

So, I asked the guys to push and twist the pyramid’s apex and surprisingly the apex wasn’t fixed into the building but was a turnable knob or switch as I predicted.

After a few attempts the apex gave way and turned and as the apex turned, energy from the base was reconnected to its apex which created a circuit of some sort. Energy was suddenly projected from the pyramid which spun around it as it dragged away from the surrounding sand which buried it, to reveal an entrance below as we immediately climbed toward the entrance.

However, before we could reach the opening to the pyramid the sands which were blown away by the cyclone returned in the form of a large humanoid made from sand which charged at us, as if to prevent us from entering the pyramid.

We quickly ran as the sandman transformed into a tidal wave of sand that splashed onto some of us.

Suddenly the ground under us hollowed out as many escorts and I fell into a quagmire.

Kay was lucky to have escaped the magical quicksand, so he was ready to help as he quickly threw rolls of climbing ropes at us.

Although we managed to grab onto the ropes, the suction and pull from the sand were too great for them to extract us, so in no time all of us were swallowed into the desert and buried alive.

The Magus’ quest was apparently much less benign than I originally thought as I struggled to free me from the quicksand which encased me deep under the desert ground.