Scorpion drew up his reins, his horse neighing and coming to a halt in the ocean of sand. He drew up his canteen, taking a deep swig as he watched Van Helsing and Carl slowly catch up.
"Dios, what the hell am I going to do?" He looked down at his sutured wrist again before Van Helsing called out to him.
"-more you run off like that, the more likely I'll kill you on suspicion."
"I'll keep that in mind." Scorpion's voice was curt, Van Helsing taken aback before striding alongside his white haired colleague.
"What's making you so crabby; the heat too much for you?" He still hadn't forgotten the drugs Scorpion slipped in his drink.
He had forgotten what happened afterwards, though. It wasn't important to him; he'd forgotten so much, like his birthday.
"If you want to find the mummy, I suggest you shut your antics and start opening your eyes."
"Why did you drug us?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"Why did you drug us!" Van Helsing gripped the collar of Scorpion's cloak tightly, nearly pulling him off his horse.
"Please…Helsing, let go…you're choking me." He gasped, gripping at Helsing's arm.
"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't." He snarled, his upper teeth bared.
"Because –gasp-…you'll die out here…you don't even know…where…we are, do you?" Van Helsing hesitated for a moment before he roughly let go of Scorpion, allowing him air.
"We drugged you because we needed to keep our society safe. If he knew where we were…" he trailed off.
"What?" Scorpion's eyes widened.
Van Helsing turned around on his horse to see something stir in the horizon. It looked to be a swarm of some kind, before it rose in tremendous volume. A soft rumbling was heard before it grew in a howling cacophony. Winds began to pick up, the horses braying and stomping.
"What?" Carl looked at both stupefied men before he dared take a look.
He screamed, which set Scorpion and Helsing into adrenaline mode. Both dug their heels into their beasts, the horses bolting in the opposite of the approaching sandstorm. Carl was hurtling to keep up, holding close to his caol as the sand rose in blasting sheets that blotted out the sun.
"Ride, you fools! RIDE!" Scorpion rose up on his saddle like a jockey, his cloak billowing out behind him as Van Helsing pressed his hat firmly to his head.
He started to notice how this storm wasn't behaving like one. Instead of swallowing everything in its path, it started to create a circle around the three riders. Scorpion's face switched to panic as he saw the sand ring close around them, pulling on his reins as his head darted left and right.
Helsing and Carl stopped short, Carl whispering prayers as Van tried to find a way out. The horses pulled close together, the sandstorm closing in slowly. Dunes burst open, revealing what looked to be asps depicted in sand. They squalled at the three of them, Carl looking to pass out as Scorpion and Van Helsing glared at them.
"Servants."
"What?" Scorpion drew his scimitar.
"Whatever weapons you have, use them." By pure instinct, Van drew out his pistols as one of the asps decided to strike.
He fired, the bullet causing the illusion to shatter, but as soon as that one died, another formed. Van noticed how the bullet created a gap in the sand wall, and it clicked.
"Carl, Scorpion. Distract these creatures until I've made an escape!"
"What! Bait? ME?" Carl sounded more outraged than shocked.
An asp took that precise moment to bite Carl, sand solidifying like rock as it grazed his clothes. Scorpion had been quick enough to decapitate it before Carl's arm became a snack.
Helsing drew out his shotgun, cocking the gauge and firing rapidly. The lead bullets split apart and the sand recoiled. More asps popped out of the ground, larger and more life-like as they tried to snap at them. Scorpion was flailing his sword to and fro, hacking off desert snakes as Carl was frantically searching for one of the scrolls he had packed.
"Come on! Let's go!" They turned their horses to the temporary gap Helsing had created before the ground suddenly jerked and shuddered.
"What the-!" His alarm grew as the ground beneath them began to swirl, a giant whirlpool of shredded rock swallowing them.
The snakes vanished, almost cackling as the three tried to escape. Sand buried on top of them like a hideous jaw, cutting out light and air as they started to fall. Carl was shrieking, Scorpion and Van Helsing yelling as they tried to grab onto anything in the dark.
Scorpion was the first to silence. Helsing heard a sickening crack against stone before Carl was silenced soon after. Helsing gritted his teeth and felt the sharp impact of something smooth and carved. Blood poured down his forehead, his vision swirling gently as he could see flames ignite somewhere. He tried to stay conscious, but the hit on his head was too much for him.
He bent over, throwing up before he passed out.