The chasm still seemed to be widening, though it was an illusion. The dust had begun settling, and Alfred’s screams had slowly subsided to a subtle echo within their minds. There wasn’t even a trace left of his sudden descent into the maw of the newly formed sand skull.

They had been promised an exciting adventure for treasure, and the trail now seemed to lead inside of this apparent death trap. John was closest to the abrupt descent, testing its edges to peer down into the infinite darkness. Out of curiosity or concern for his brother, Charles could not say; nor did he truly care, for he was busy fighting the grip of absolute terror.

Tony, standing slightly behind John’s hunched form, seemed to be in the same struggle as Charles. What now? Whatever they did, they had to choose soon. The sun was setting, and with it their only hope for survival; they weren’t equipped to stay away from the oasis overnight.

“They warned us: ‘The way forward is through death’,” whispered Tony shakily.

“What, you want to jump in? Are you mad?” Charles huffed, trying to contain his fear.

“He’s right, we have to go in,” John cut in firmly, “We can’t abandon Al.”

Charles shook his head. No way was he going to die pursuing a lost cause, especially not by running after that selfish asshole. Alfred brought them on this foolish quest, he got what was coming for him. End of story. Now, they should cut their losses and turn back. Live to find treasure another day, as they say.

Charles kept his thoughts to himself as John stood, placing his hands on his hips and facing both him and Tony.

“Their words now have sense,” John continued, “It seems to me we have to all move forward, or all die. That’s the gist of what they told us”.

Charles didn’t know what in the world a gist was, but to hell with those crazy locals and their cryptic messages and savage rituals. There was no way he would go down that sand pit into the maw of Hell itself.

He might not be the brightest mind, but he did know better than to say that aloud. Especially not in front of John.

“Ok. Ok,” he muttered, gathering his thoughts, “Alright then. Lead the way.”

John gave him a considering glance, before resting his attention on Tony. “You first.”

Tony’s eyes widened in fear, his eyes darting quickly to Charles before falling to the gaping hole before them. His gulp was audible, but he did step forward. He found no solid footing, and tumbled down silently into the darkness, seemingly resigned to his fate. John nodded at Charles before following his friend in a more graceful manner.

Charles sighed and chuckled. The fools. As he turned to leave, the sand shifted abruptly beneath his feet, engulfing him down into the skull’s maw. One final scream was muffled. Silence reigned, and the sand was smooth once more.