Hey everyone! It’s been a while since the last update, hasn’t it? Sorry bout that, but my life has been pretty crazy lately and I didn’t had as much time as I wanted to read or write (and the fact so few of you actually are wiling to review doesn’t help to keep me motivated). But I do wish to thank those who do review. It truly means a lot and you guys are the main reason why I haven’t given up on this story yet. Thanks a lot.

With the holidays coming, I figured it’d be a good time for an update, so I sit down to it and managed to finish this chapter in a record time (considering I was also writing the newest “Dragon Blood” at the same time XD) and I must admit I’m quite glad with how this chapter turned out (a rarity really). It may not be action-packed and it is somewhat rushed (I just decided that after such a long wait it’d be pointless to drag the tale), but I’m still satisfied with the after-effect. Hope you’ll like it too.

As usual I’d like to ask you all to leave me a review with your opinion on the chapter. That’s the best way to make sure I’ll keep on writing really and would certainly help me finishing the next chapter faster. And now, since you already had to wait this long, here’s the newest installment of “Forgotten Sands”:

Chapter #10: Serpent Lair

Title Page: Dhalia is sitting on the street with her legs crossed, playing the flute, while from the basket in front of her a cobra is rising into the sky, dancing to the melody

Halan flipped the flask, taking a sip of water… and then another one… and then another… and…

“Conserve our water!” Zora snapped, hitting the boy hard in the back of his head, making the young thief spit out some of the redeeming liquid. “It’s still a three-day marsh to Jugot from here, we can’t have you rid us of supplies before we even get halfway through!”

“Well, I wouldn’t get so tired if I didn’t had to carry you around!” the scar-faced teen responded calmly, yet Dhalia still managed to see a vein pulsing on his forehead as he stared at her sister over the shoulder. “Serious injury my butt! When you fought that town’s guard, it didn’t bother you, but now when it’s just walking, you suddenly can’t stand? Don’t give me that shit!”

“I can’t stand on it because I fought that Sandros guy!” the girl shot back, forcing her nose against his. “You can only blame yourself for not coming to my rescue quick enough to prevent it! But no, you had better things to do! You preferred to play around with that sabers fellow…”

“Sorry to interrupt the romantic moment…” Folko’s voice suddenly came from above, making both thieves glance up to see the bounty hunter transforming back from the blue hawk into his human form and landing softly on the sandy surface near his companions. “But you can kiss all you want once we get off the desert. Jugot is still rather far over the horizon, but there seems to be some sort of a caravan just north from here” he announced, pointing in the right direction. “We could try trading some of our supplies with them, since we’re running short on water…”

“It’s worth to try” Dhalia nodded, adjusting her backpack as she headed to where the animorph was pointing. “With those two around, we’ll need extra rations, that much is certain” and as she walked on, the others soon followed, Halan and Zora still eyeing each other evilly, though as the former dully noted, the girl was now walking on her own.

After a few, more minutes, they reached the camp Folko told them about: a gathering of few tents and several camels. As they came closer, they immediately got greeted by spears that pointed at them, making them freeze on the spot. The foursome looked around a little surprised, while the boys prepared for a fight. Before they could engage the enemy however, a voice rang in their ears: “What are you doing here?”

The one to speak was a young man with a yellowish skin, whose long, black hair were made into a single braid, making the rest of his head seem bald. A long, slim mustache ran down to his neck, around which a thin, golden chain of a necklace was wrapped. He didn’t wore any shirt, exposing a rather muscular chest, while his legs were covered by a pair of baggy, black pants. Zora also noticed a weird spear-like weapon to his back, yet the long, steel stick didn’t seem to have any blade.

Dhalia was the first to react as she calmly walked forward with both hands raised to the sky and a straight face: “We didn’t mean to intrude. We’re just a group of wary travels, hoping that we could buy some water and supplies from you. We mean no harm and should the need arise, my companions will gladly leave their weapons under your care during the time of negotiations, if you’ll be kind enough to sell anything to us that is…”

The ‘baldy’ observed her closely for a moment and then, after narrowing his eyes, he spun on his foot, motioning with his hand to follow him: “There’s no point to leave your weapons, coz if you do decide to cause trouble, master Drakkan will simply kill you. He’s our leader and the decision to accept your offer is his to make…”

They followed him to a big, black tent, decorated with golden lines, guarded by another pair of spearmen, just like most wrapped in brown cloaks that hid their faces. This made Folko a bit suspicious, but he decided to shrug it of, walking into the ‘quarter’ after his companions.

Inside was a gathering of few, more people, each seeming to stand out among the spearmen they encountered so far; they were sitting with their legs crossed on a rug, in a circle, but the instant the arrivals came, all eyes switched to them, allowing Halan’s party to see who they were dealing with. The man closest to the door was a real bald Blackman with a dark-blue waistcoat decorated with gold throw on his chest. He wore long, pointy, golden earrings in his ears and his pants, which were in the same color as the vest, had a couple of strange-looking weapons strapped to them, seemingly scythes, but much smaller.

To his left sat a man with spiky, blond hair and green eyes, wearing an unbuttoned, brown jacket and black pants. Zora managed to notice several, throwing knives hidden in his clothes, along with sharp, star-like objects, a chain wrapped around his waist like a belt and a pair of medium-size, golden rings laying to his left, within his reach.

Sitting next to him, staring directly at the entrance, was a massive figure, wrapped in the same, brown robes as the spearmen they meet in the camp. The hood of his cloak hid his face entirely, while the sleeves covered his arms. His legs were tightly clad in black pants, but what surprised Halan was the fact that this ‘spearman’ did not had a weapon and what’s more, from his position, he seemed like the leader.

Left to him sat a girl with long, black hair, clipped in a ponytail, wearing a black fishnet and an unusual, red dress on top of that. Folko spotted a strange blade on her back, a mix between a typical sword and a saber, that he has not seen before.

The last of the group was a man with messy, brown hair and a pair of blue eyes. He had a white t-shirt, a green waistcoat covering that and matching, baggy pants. What drew most of Zora’s attention in him were two weapons strapped on the sides of his belt, that seemed like two sticks connected with a chain.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, master Drakkan, but these travels wish to make you an offer” the ‘bald’ spearman said, bowing slightly towards the hooded figure and even though they did not saw his eyes, Halan could tell the man in question was observing them closely. Silence filled the tent for a few, short moments, before the massive man finally spoke in a somewhat creepy voice: “Thieves, eh?”

Dhalia’s eyes widen in surprise, while Zora began claiming he was wrong. Folko merely narrowed his eyes, ready to go for his sword, but what Halan did, stop them all in their tracks: “How did you know?” and this instantly earned him another hit from the Zweihander wielder: “What the hell is your problem? You don’t go around, admitting to everyone you’re a thief, pinhead! And what’s more I object to be classified as one!”

“Same here” the bounty hunter added, lifting up his finger in a ‘wise-man’ manner.

“It’s easy to tell if you’re really looking” the hooded figure responded, getting up calmly without any trace of fear that a fight might break up. “Don’t underestimate a man with my experience, brat. And there’s no need for you to get alerted, coz we’re not gonna try to capture you. It’s not like there’s much you could steal from our camp to begin with. Not yet anyway…”

“Yet?” Folko repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“See, we’re archeologists” the man explained, his arms crossed underneath the sleeves of his cloak. “And currently we’re on the verge of great discovery. One that will not only go down in history, but could also bring some gold into everyone’s pockets. This is why there’s no point in us fighting each other. Instead, why not join forces? If you help us out, we’ll be willing to share any, possible income with you lot. The thing we’re looking for is but a fraction of treasures that should lay within our destination…”

“What do you mean?” Zora asked suspiciously. “And what would an archeologist want from thieves?”

“Due to your… profession, I’d assume you’re skilled in getting in to well-guarded places” Drakkan replied, still as calm as ever. “Thus it’s safe to assume you’re also familiar with the ways to spot and avoid possible traps. The place we’re planning to go in is surely filled with some sort of… ‘welcoming gifts’, thanks to the master of the house. Your abilities could help us save many lives. But the entrance is difficult to find and without our help you won’t find it, that much I can assure you of. Basically it’s a ‘scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ kind of deal. And as you can see we’re well-armed ourselves, so should you decide to go against us at any time, we’ll sure to give you quite a bit of trouble, so teaming up with you doesn’t put us in that much danger. Naturally, you can decline my offer and we’ll just go our separate ways… after taking care of the deal Zonan spoke of, of course…”

“As long as it’s profit, a thief can’t really decline” Halan responded with a smirk after a moment of hesitation, extending his hand towards the massive man, but he never took it. With his arm in the air, the scar-faced teen’s eye twitched before he retreated his ‘deal sealer’ and spoke up again: “But it’d be helpful to know what is the place you’re so afraid of going into…”

The hooded man remained silent for a short while, before he replied in his usual voice: “It’s Sseth’s lost temple.”

“The Snake God?” Folko’s eyes widen at the statement. The bald Blackman merely nodded, answering for his master. In the meantime Drakkan went on, almost as if he didn’t hear the bounty hunter’s question: “The entrance is buried under these, accursed sands, but we have managed to find it and what’s more: a way to get inside. Most of us have came from far, eastern regions of Narthia to witness this discovery. Allow me to introduce: Zonan you already know and these are: Beld…” he announced, pointing at the Blackman,. “Shira…” he the girl bowed slightly. “Jin…” at this the man with two, golden rings clapped his hands together in a respectful manner. “… and Lailo” here the one with the chained sticks gave the foursome a nod.

“I’m Dhalia” the older female replied gently. “And my comrades are Zora, Folko and Halan” he added, pointing towards the right person as she introduced the group. Most of the people gathered in the tent didn’t seem to pay much attention to her words, letting their leader continue: “We still have several preparation to commence before proceeding, so our… raid will be postponed till tomorrow. You’re free to use our supplies until then. I imagine traveling through the desert gave you a hard time. Zonan shall be your guide. I’d also like to ask you not to cause unnecessary trouble. We may be archeologists, but we can take care of ourselves. Please, don’t overuse our hospitality…” and with that the spearman led the four outside.

Well, even if it’s the Snake God temple, it still seems strange for archeologists to be this well-equipped with weapons Dhalia noted in her mind, glancing to the sides suspiciously as she scanned the camp. Even more so to require a thieves’ help to raid an abandoned temple. Something’s not right here…

---The next day---

The group stood in the middle of the desert, which landscape was decorated with no more then few rocks here and there. Flat, endless sandbox, stretching far beyond the horizon with no, possible point of distinction between one spot or the other. Zora could not comprehend how anyone would be able to pin-point a specific place in this wasteland, but apparently that presented no problem for the one called Drakkan, who just stepped before the group and formed few, quick hand gestures, chanting something under his nose.

A sudden sensation hit Dhalia, weak and momentary, yet the young princess couldn’t help but widen her eyes at the feeling. She could not tell what it was and yet it seemed awfully familiar. She shook the feeling however, noticing it was gone, and diverted her attention back to the hooded man, who finished the ritual he has started. For a while nothing happened… only for the sand to blast to the sky a moment later, covering everyone’s view.

Rumble invaded their ears in a defying sound, making some to cover them in hope to block the noise. Useless.

Finally it stopped, along with the sandy rain, revealing a drastic change of the landscape: there, no more then few meters in front of Drakkan, now stood an entrance, a massive gate, seemingly leading downwards. The doors itself resembled a mouth of a viper with a pair of stone fangs hanging from the upper jaw and a mirror image of the two growing from below.

“Well, this puts the Giacon’s Festival in perspective” Folko joked, yet no-one seemed to pay any attention. Meanwhile Drakkan spun around and settling his gaze on Halan, extended his arm towards the dark entrance: “After you…”

The scar-faced teen merely glanced back at the hooded man an obliged, calmly walking into the viper’s mouth. Immediately the rest of the party followed, getting wrapped in the darkness. Zora could tell they were walking down the stairs, yet the shadows successfully covered everything from their view. Never before has she wished to be a better thief then now. Did Halan really knew what he was doing? She could hear the footsteps echo in the narrow staircase as they kept moving forward, into the black.

And then, without warning, tens of sparkles flashed around, initiating torches that hung on the walls. Only now did the female thief noticed they left the stairs behind and entered a huge hall. What was somewhat surprising however was the fact that the room was virtually empty, save from a few columns that supported the roof and marked a trail that led deeper into the temple. The weak light that opened their eyes danced gently, every now and then falling to the sides to show the ruined, stone walls and floors of this forsaken place.

They didn’t stop, yet most were too busy glancing around, almost expecting that some hordes of the Underworld would suddenly jump out of the shadows that lurked behind the columns. Halan’s voice, that without warning, filled the hall, made few nearly jump up out of fright: “Don’t step on this stone” he announced, pointing at a certain floorboard, while he himself walked around it.

Folko gazed at it, raising his eyebrow, yet saw nothing out of ordinary about it. His eyes then shifted at his temporary companion, who made nothing of the surrounding and kept moving forward with no sign that he was actually looking around at all. The bounty hunter only ‘hmphed’ and avoiding the plate, followed with some of the hooded spearmen and two of the ringleaders still behind him: They could’ve passed me when I stopped at the stone… they don’t want us to leave… he noted, narrowing his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder at Lailo and Beld, who led the group behind him.

Their journey continued, every now and then interrupted by Halan’s warnings. Be it the teen’s skills, pure luck or the actual absence of traps, the team managed to avoid any adventures as they went deeper into the empty, dark halls of Sseth’s temple. Entering a long, narrow hallway, the young thief stopped them by rising his hand and scanned the surroundings: “Don’t step on the floorboards without a crack… it seems like some weird mechanism and activating even one will most likely result in unleashing some sort of a chain reaction.”

The group obliged, although many had their doubts about the teen’s statement. Stepping carefully, they all did their best to do as they were told. Alas, to no vial, as Dhalia suddenly felt dizzy and her vision became blurry. A quiet whisper passed through her mind, although she could not determine a word she supposedly heard. And then came a headache, so powerful, that it threw her off her balance.

Folko acted instantly, but too late; the young princess already slipped, pressing down a floorboard. One of which Halan warned them about.

“Stick to the walls!” the scar-faced boy roared, pushing Zora, who stood right behind him, against the stone barricade. And not a moment too soon as a huge object suddenly ripped the air with a whistle that echoed to the furthest corner of the hallway. It took the female thief another look to realize what nearly rammed her was a huge blade, that now swung back and forth through the center of the hallway. She glanced back in fear, but released a sigh of relief seeing that Folko managed to get himself and her sister to safety as well. And then, she realized something more…

“Take your hand” she said, blocking the urge to kill Halan, who only now gazed at her, noticing that his palm was resting on the girl’s chest, still pressing her against the wall. Allowing himself to be in a bit of a shock, it took him a moment to regain his senses as he muttered a simple ‘sorry’ and shifted his eyes to the other end of the hallway.

As long as we stay near the walls, we should be fine he analyzed in his mind as the blade continued its trip. But I could sworn there was some connected mechanism… could it be that time took its tool and rust blocked the joints of that contraption? But that blade-thing… yet he never managed to finish that thought as a fist collided with his face. Hard.

“I said take your hand!” Zora snapped and only now did Halan realized he was still grabbing her breast. Finally, with a note of terror in his eye, he obliged. A bad judgment as less then an instant later the floor opened beneath the girl, swallowing her before the scar-faced teen could catch her. The young thief hesitated for a split second, managing to call out to the rest of the group: “Get to a higher ground!”

Too late. Zonan, Beld, Lailo, even Drakkan already disappeared under the cold stones of the temple. As the ground escaped from his feet, Halan could only see Folko throwing Dhalia, who still seemed dizzy, higher, thus not giving himself enough time to avoid the trap. And then darkness came. Darkness through which the teen could only understand one thing: he wasn’t falling, he was sliding. Down, to the Abyss, for all he could tell…

---That time, elsewhere---

Zora landed on a sandy ground with a loud ‘kyah’ escaping her mouth. She rubbed her bottom, glancing over her shoulder at the tunnel she just slid through to get here. There was no way she could climb up. With a frown she tried to pull herself up, yet failed to do so as the pain in her leg reminded her it was still there, bringing her back to a sit: Shit, I must’ve hit it as I slide here or something. Well, regardless, it seems that unless someone’s gonna show up here, I’ll be staying here for a while.

And with that thought she gazed over her surroundings, realizing she landed in some sort of a dungeon; dark stones embracing the room had remains of steel chains hanging from them, while a little further to her right was the only entrance, decorated with a rusty and heavily bended portcullis, now presenting no, real barrier from getting to its other side. But that didn’t give Zora much, since she was unable to walk.

But just then, as on cue, another noise came from the tunnel she came in and in a flash the Blackman with weird scythes, Beld, came dropping into the cellar: Well, he’s not Dhalia, Folko or that asshole, but it’s better to have anyone in case of an emergency…

The archeologist didn’t say anything, even as he spotted the girl. He just glanced around and then turned towards the tunnel, like he was listening: “You can’t climb up, the walls are too smooth” the female thief informed him calmly.

“I know” was the man’s response, still not looking at her. “I just wanted to make sure if no-one was… following us. It’d be a bad idea to move forward, when we could have some sort of backup. But, apparently, we’re the only ones that got caught in the tunnels leading here. The others must’ve be taken elsewhere… assuming all the trap doors led to different places.”

“Others? You mean there were more trap doors?”

“Yeah… before I got swallowed, I saw master Drakkan and Lailo disappearing… it’s a safe bet at least a few more people got caught” Beld replied simply without any trace of emotion and still not bothering to gaze at her. “Well, doesn’t matter. Above all we should concentrate on the task at hand. Can you walk?”

“I doubt that…”

“That’ll only make things easier” the Blackman announced, reaching for his scythes. This worried Zora a bit, but worry quickly turned into fear as the archeologist finally settled his eyes on her, narrowed and beaming with murderous intent.

“Wha… what the hell are you doing?”

“It’s quite simple, really” Beld replied, reading his weapons. “I have no desire of sharing my treasure with you guys. And neither does master Drakkan. Our instructions were to get rid of you once you’re usefulness runs out. And I’d say it pretty much came down to that…” and with these words he charged forward, rising his scythes.

Time seemed to slow down for Zora as her eyes glanced at the blades dropping down on her head. There was not a doubt in her mind: there was no way she could dodge that attack…

---to be continued---

And that’s it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and that you’ll leave a review before leaving. It won’t take long out of your life and it’d mean a lot to me (not to mention it’d be a good drive for me to take the time out of my busy schedule to write the next installment quicker then this one).

This new arc is one of my personal favorites really. From all the ones I thought up till now for this story, it seems the deepest and I grew to like the plot… frankly I couldn’t wait to finally get down to writing it. Hope you’ll enjoy it as well.

And using this occasion, I’d like to wish you all HAPPY EASTER! Hope that the Easter Bunny will bring you a rainbow of eggs XD. Until next time, hopefully.