"Slow down! Stop the skiff! Go back, for the love of God!"
On the third protest Domingo's voice contained a veiled threat, and Lawrence thought it best not to toy with his easily-baited comrade at the moment. Something in the treasure hunter's voice told the mercenary that something important had just happened; quickly he put the engines into full reverse, then set the Seeker at a midair hover before striding out onto the deck. For all his obvious irritation Domingo said nothing, until the helmsman stopped near his shoulder and huffed his impatience; Domingo fixed Lawrence with a disdainful glare and lowered his spyglass to his side.
"Oh bloody hell, Lawrence, could you show a bit of personality so I could escalate your demeanor above that of a tsirat? Your constant ire is most off-putting, especially since you've slept in the past week. While you snore in that cabin, I stand out here and search for our lost temple. Now are you quite done?"
Momentarily cowed, Lawrence rolled his eyes and crossed his stocky arms defiantly. "Oh, fine, come off it. Now what was so important that you paused our western course? We haven't reached the southern tip of the canyon yet, and at this rate it will take us another day or two just to get there."
Domingo glanced back the way he had been pointing excitedly, but his hand fell to his side in surprise. There was a V-shaped valley surrounded by canyons, within which he had definitely seen something of historic value, but now there was only sand and wind. Unable to explain what he had just seen, the treasure hunter merely shook his head, crestfallen. "Impossible . . . I would swear I just saw . . . ."
"It's the heat getting to you, Big-shot. Drink some water and shut up for awhile." With that snide remark, Lawrence headed back to the helm. Still in a state of complete disbelief, Domingo blinked and raised his spyglass again.
There, nestled in the safety of the adjacent canyons, was a pyramid in the sand! With a gasp of surprise Domingo dropped his prized monocular, and the sound of it striking the deck and rolling away captured Lawrence's attention. The helmsman turned from the wheel, doing his best to keep an exasperated sigh from his voice, and asked, "What's the matter now?"
"There's a temple out there! I've seen it again!" Yet even as he said this Domingo realized he could see nothing in the distance, just the intersection of canyons. He squinted his eyes against the sand in the air, searching for a sign of anything out of the ordinary, but there was nothing. Lawrence, standing at his shoulder again, did sigh this time.
"It's a mirage, Domingo. You've completely lost your wits." Bending at the knees, Lawrence recovered the rolling spyglass and handed it back to the puzzled treasure hunter. "Let's get out of here."
"No! Wait!" Domingo was staring through the magnifying device, transfixed, his mouth slightly agape. "There it is again! I can prove it!" And he thrust the instrument into the mercenary's hands, demanding he look. Now more than slightly annoyed, Lawrence raised the spyglass to his left eye and peered through it, quite expecting to see swirling sand and eroded rock.
Instead he saw a grand temple, with an insurmountable stairway that disappeared into an unknown blackness.
"But . . . ." Words failed Lawrence; he lowered the spyglass, and the temple disappeared. Domingo was smiling now, and he wrenched the device from the helmsman's grip.
"It's my spyglass . . . it's fitted with a rare Silver Moon Stone, one that shows objects that most people can't see without vision-correcting materials. This pyramid . . . ancient Nasrean mages must have used some sort of cloaking magic on it, to keep it hidden from their enemies. Only certain objects can penetrate such enchantments."
"So that's . . . ?" Lawrence let his words fade away, scarcely daring to believe what he was seeing.
"That's it!" Domingo finished for him, and he sprinted into the cabin to take the wheel, striking a new course for Seeker. "That's the Temple of Pyrynn!"
It took Lawrence a moment to figure out that Domingo was steering them in the direction of the distant pyramid, and when he realized it he became suddenly opposed. "What are you doing, you imbecile? Why are you moving us closer?"
"Oh, come on, Lawrence! It's only taken us a week to find it, and you want to go back now? We've only just arrived! No one has seen the Temple of Pyrynn in thousands of years, not since the Rains of Destruction fell and the sand swallowed the entire structure. Think of the things we could find in there!" Domingo's eyes were gleaming strangely, and the light seemed almost suicidal.
"Absolutely not!" Lawrence protested vehemently, entering the cabin in a few quick strides. "We've risked our necks enough in the past seven days! You're not dragging me on another ridiculous crusade!"
"Who's dragging who? You came along yourself! I didn't force you to do anything, Scarface!" Domingo shot back, and quick as lightning he changed tack, voice filled with temptation. "There could be mounds of gold in there, and jewels . . . we could be richer than the Nasultan himself, and the entire line of Valuan monarchs combined!"
The treasure hunter had played his cards just right; the promise of further wealth appealed greatly to Lawrence, who continued to gaze at the nearing temple with longing. At length he replied, "Alright, fine, we'll go in. But if there's nothing worth going after, I'm leaving you in this damned desert."
"You can't leave me! This is my ship!"
"It's not even a ship, you bloody moron!"
Author's Note: Tee hee! Are these two fun to mess with, or what? Whew . . . four updates in one day? I've completely lost my mind. It's heartening to know that this is actually taking some sort of direction--quite obviously Ilchymis will bump into our other two unlikely heroes, and mass chaos will ensue as monsters start chasing them everywhere. I can see all three of them sprinting down the halls, screaming like little girls . . .