AN: The next chapter is where Destiny happenings will start! Please don't forget to vote or comment! 

This adventure was turning into a nightmare.

The object was in the sand dunes of the Libyan Desert. The sand rose and fell at great heights, the small breeze causing some sand to stumble down the dunes. Different shades of tan and orange spread across the horizon. The sun beat down on the land, causing Tanis to sweat immensely. He fixed the hat on his head and pushed on, leading the camel to his destination. He remembered to stock up a lot of food and water for this trip, even though he had a little trouble at the shop.

Tanis got bored of looking out into the empty land and silence, so he started talking to himself, "It's great to get out of the house and all, but why couldn't it have been somewhere tropical? Noooooo, this had to be in the middle of freaking nowhere!" He pet the camel's neck and sighed, "At least I've got you. You won't ignore me, right buddy?" The camel made a noise and laid its neck back for a second to feel his touch. Tanis smiled a bit and pet the animal more.

Before he knew it, they were there.

"Too bad there isn't an X to mark the spot," Tanis said lowly as he wiped some sweat away. He put some water in a bowl for the camel to drink out of and then glanced around. Nothing but sand, sand, and more sand.

The object was buried, and he hoped it wasn't too far down. He knelt down and ran his hands through the sand to get adjusted to the heat. He cringed and retracted his hands when it got to be too much, but he continued. He needed this object more than he thought he did. Tanis began to dig down.

This was it. His new future was going to be great.

Malachi peered down from the large sand dune he was on and saw somebody at the bottom. He dropped down immediately and placed his sniper rifle on the very edge. He quickly brushed off some sweat and waited for his brown eyes to adjust to the lens. Malachi zoomed in on his sniper's scope. He watched the person carefully and saw him dig down where the item was located. "Shit," he whispered to himself. If he's here, someone else must be looking for it. This place is desolate. There's no way he'd just be wandering around. He contemplated and peeked up from his gun.

"Damn it." Malachi got up and slung the sniper rifle on his shoulder. He brushed some of the sand off of his white shirt and dark jeans, but some of it still stuck to his clothes. He stepped carefully down the sand dune, making sure the man at the bottom didn't spot him. Tanis was too busy shoveling sand with his hands to notice.

He pulled out his pistol from its holster and pointed it at the guy. "What you're digging for isn't for you," he declared and turned the safety off.

Tanis looked up and stopped his action for a moment. He didn't make a move and furrowed his eyebrows. "No one owns it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be here."

Malachi slyly grinned at his words. "I think we can both agree that the object belongs to me."

"Hey man, if you want it, you can have it. Just le-" Tanis coughed and hacked up some blood. He spit it out in the sand next to him and groaned. He hadn't taken his medicine yet and the heat didn't make his sickness any better.

Malachi's eyebrows knit together and he almost put his gun down. He didn't want to attack a sick person, but if he put the gun away, the guy might attack. Then again, he might be too weak to. "I'll let you go if you dig it out for me."

Tanis scoffed and grimaced. "Do the dirty work and get nothing? Sounds fair to me," he remarked sarcastically. He didn't spend his money to come out here for nothing. The money he could get for this was far more than he could even imagine. But, this guy held a gun to him, so there was no getting out of this. He reluctantly kept digging, the heat licking his fingertips.

After a few minutes, he pulled out an object the size of his hand. The white stained metal shined in the sunlight and reflected some of its rays into Tanis' eyes. He squinted and asked, "Is this it?"

Malachi pulled out a handheld energy reader his buyer gave him. He faced it towards the object and focused on the reader. The numbers jumped up from 0 so fast that it had to be what they were looking for. The energy made the reader spas out so much that it glitched and shut itself off. Malachi peered down at Tanis, who was sweating and weak from exhaustion. He threw the energy reader aside and put his gun in its holster. "That's it. Now give it to me."

Tanis inspected it and raised an eyebrow. It seemed to glow, but he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He might've been hallucinating. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, and I don't care. Give it to me," Malachi demanded. He stepped closer to Tanis and held his hand out. He wasn't going to leave empty handed, not when that much money was on the table.

Alaura watched the two knuckleheads through binoculars from the dune-side. After her successful mission, her superiors sent her to these coordinates looking for something that could change wars forever or create everlasting peace. Either choice was good enough for her.

There was no way she was letting this opportunity slip from her grasp. The shorter man looked pale and sickly, so there was no need to fight him. She doubted he could even fight for himself. The taller man looked experienced... Maybe even a little too experienced. He might be more of a challenge. She thought and started to make her way down there. The two men were bickering about the object, and them being distracted might be enough for her to slip in undetected.

She moved her scarf to cover the lower half of her face to protect her from the flying sand. This was going to get messy. The two men held the object and yelled louder at each other. Malachi clearly didn't want to hurt Tanis.

Alaura jumped in and elbowed Malachi in the chest. He stumbled backwards in surprise, allowing her to snatch the object out of Tanis' grasp. She sprinted up the sand dune she came from in an effort to get back to her car. The car was pretty far, but she thought she could make it. She heard the two men running after her, which caused her to move faster. Adrenaline pumped through her system and the rush energized her.

When she got to the top, Malachi tackled her, causing both of them to roll down the other side of the sand dune. They grunted and tried to get a grip on something, but they continued to fall. Malachi twisted Alaura's wrist and reached for the object, but it ended up flying down farther down the way.

They hit soft sand at the bottom of the dune. Malachi got up and tried to go for the object. Alaura pushed herself up and sprinted towards him. She yanked him back by his short brown hair and got a better grip on his arm to throw him down on the ground. He reached for his pistol and she kicked it out of his hand before he could shoot. "Stay. Down," she spoke through gritted teeth.

Malachi yanked on Alaura's ankle and made her face plant into the ground. He got up and took his gun from the sand. He ran towards the object, only to find Tanis already picking it up and making a run for it. Malachi snatched his pistol out of its holster and aimed it at the man. He shot at the area around his feet as a warning shot to show he's not playing around. When Tanis didn't stop, Malachi cussed under his breath and went after him.

Alaura spit some dirt out and cringed as she got up and followed them. She wiped her tongue of the disgusting, tasteless sand and cursed the two out in her mind. This mission was supposed to be simple, and they had to go and screw it up.

Tanis' footing didn't have traction and he slipped midway up the sand dune. Malachi waited for him at the bottom, pistol pointed right at him as he fell. Tanis scrambled up when he realized he was at Malachi's feet and gazed at him in fear. "Well, I didn't want to do this, man, but you've given me no other choice," Malachi declared, putting his finger near the trigger.

Alaura pointed a gun at the back of Malachi's head and clicked the safety off. "You're not really going to shoot a defenseless guy. Not really fair if you ask me," she said and stepped closer. She glanced over the two men with her blue eyes and saw Tanis was the one with the object. She moved next to the two men so she could see them clearly. Nothing was getting passed her.

Malachi pointed his gun at Alaura and focused his dark brown eyes on her. His lips curled up as he scowled, "I'll shoot you instead." Alaura didn't hold back and kept her stance, glaring at him with fiery intensity.

Tanis stared at both of them with wide eyes and gulped. He took a step back and tried to slowly sneak away. Malachi took the sniper rifle off of his back and aimed it at him.

Alaura pulled out another pistol and focused it on Tanis. She narrowed her eyes, glimpsing between the two men. "Put the artifact down, and you can leave. I won't let this guy hurt you."

Tanis shook his head and held the object in his hand with a tight grip. "He won't shoot me. Just let me go," he pleaded. He didn't take another step just in case Malachi did shoot.

Malachi grunted in a semi-laugh, "You really wanna try me?"

"Put the fucking gun down, and you," she waved her second gun at Tanis, "put the object on the sand." Alaura wasn't playing around. Imagine the promotion that came with this successful mission. That would be even more benefits for her family. Might even be enough money to take Kai on a vacation while he was on leave.

The trio sat in silence and their bodies tensed up. No one here was adamant on leaving without the object. The wind swept through their hair and made sand hit their face. The sun showered them in heat and sweat drenched their clothes. Malachi put his sniper rifle on his shoulder, but kept his gun faced towards Alaura. "How about you put your gun down, and we can talk this out, sweetheart."

Alaura cringed and didn't move from her spot. She nodded, but spoke up, "You first."

Malachi's eyes narrowed slightly before twirling the gun in his hand and set it in its holster. Alaura reluctantly put her pistol away and waited. There was no way they were going to talk this out like adults. Tanis stood idle, cautious not to make a move in case Malachi whipped his gun out again. Malachi eyed Alaura and his hand twitched. She noticed his impatience and got herself ready.

Malachi launched towards Tanis, and Alaura was hot on his heels. All three of them grabbed the object at the same time. The object started to glow, the light breaking through their fingers. It released a strong, blinding light and all three of them dropped it. They stumbled backwards and fell to the ground after shielding their eyes. A loud ringing sound drowned out everything else, causing them to cry out in pain.

What the hell? All three of them thought to themselves. They rubbed their eyes and muttered to themselves under their breaths.

Tanis was the first to get his eyesight back and he snatched up the object. He stumbled up the sand dune and slid down the other side before the other two got a hold of themselves. He coughed a couple of times and hopped onto the camel. The camel groaned and started running in the other direction.

Alaura was the next one to get her sight back. She ran up the dune to see where Tanis went, but the dune wasn't tall enough to see over the others. She yelled out in frustration and ran to another dune. By the time she got to the top, it was too late. He was behind another dune in any of the directions. She glanced back to see where Malachi was, but he had disappeared too.

This defining moment in her life was a failure.