Tommy, Maggie, and Antonio stepped out of the portal and noticed that they were still inside the pylon. So, the three of them walked out to see if anything had changed.

Outside, led a big hill covered in yellow sand. Everything else had sand aside from the entrance.

The trio reluctantly walked toward the mountain and continued exploring, but it seemed like they were going nowhere. The hill appeared to get smaller the further they pressed on.

“Why does it feel like it’s taking forever to get here?” Maggie complained, trying to shield herself from the blinding red, scorching sun in the sky with no clouds.

“Maybe it’s because of the sudden terrain?” Antonio guessed, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Tommy didn’t have as much trouble with the heat like the other two and kept moving at a consistent pace. “How are we supposed to find the gem in this void?” He asked.

“Well, if the tan crystal finds gems, it could help us out with this one too?” Maggie suggested with a shrug. “I mean, that’s how we found that white gem, remember?”

“Oh yeah, you’re right.”

Antonio scratched his chin while eyeing his laptop. “I wonder, may I borrow your crystal for a second?”

“Oh, sure thing?” Maggie replied, taking the jewel out of her pocket. “What do you plan on doing with it?”

“You’ll see; watch this.”

Antonio took the crystal and put it on the laptop in the small hole that he created to activate the tracker mode from his computer, acting as a crystal radar of sorts. The shard moved and pointed straight ahead as it continued to blink and beep.

“I think we’re getting closer to where we need to go.” He told the others.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Tommy questioned.

The three walked up to the top of the hill. Something huge appeared in front of them that resembled an Egyptian pyramid. The crystal radar blinked faster as it pointed at it, leaving Antonio to sigh.

Tommy led the group as they slid down the hill, making sure not to get sand or dust in their eyes, and stepped closer to the pyramid face. As they walked towards it, the entrance appeared from the ground. The group wasn’t sure if they had a better option, but walked inside regardless.

.-.-.-.

Tommy, Antonio, and Maggie saw the pyramid was a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside and decided it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to explore the place.

Fortunately, there were well-placed fire torches on each side of the wall to make it easier to explore without bumping into things.

Antonio noticed some weird writings on the wall and asked Tommy to reach into his backpack for him and pull out a small camera to take pictures. Since his friends’ hands were full at the moment with the laptop and crystal radar attachment in his hands, Tommy shrugged and did as told.

The patterns on the wall looked like symbols, but none of them knew what they could mean or represent. It wasn’t the best lighting either, which made it even more difficult to tell what shape they were. Perhaps examining and analyzing them with Mandy’s equipment would help? Antonio figured.

He was about to ask when they reached a resting point when they came across a fork in the road. Antonio quickly took notice of the crystal pointing in one particular direction and figured that must be where the gem is located.

Thinking the other way had to be a dead-end, the three followed the crystal and headed up the long arch of stairs. A large rectangle door opened up for them at the top.