Amal nearly fell over himself. He was as tired as he could be, his heart still racing. But he felt like keeling over with surprise more than his fading fatigue. The Arabyan man couldn't understand how she had done it, but the guardians were no more, save for a few crawling, disembodied arms. He recalled the times in his life when he had gotten out of the most insane situations. On when he had caused the most trouble. This woman had surpassed him in those endeavors in the matter of barely two weeks. 

"This is the woman I will marry," He realized, whispering to himself. 

Reality came rushing back when he saw her collapse, and he moved quickly, leaping and sliding across the grass to catch her before she planted face first into the ground. The Cobra Staff clanged hollow against the dirt next to them, and to his relief it did not transform into the serpent. Gently, he pulled her back up and set the back of her head to rest on his lap, ripping off a bit of his vest and wiping the blood from her nose. 

"Now, I've saved your life..." He looked up at the sky as he began to calculate. He remembered their meeting, the slavers, and a few other instances. He smiled and looked back down at her. "Let us say five times. You are catching up though. Not one to be outdone, yes?" There was a 'pop' as he opened his water jug, and she looked conscious enough to drink. He pressed it to her lips and she sipped gingerly, taking it away after a few moment. "At this rate I'm going to start owing you, and you don't look like one who I'd be comfortable with being in debt to."

He saw her stirring, and he finally decided to see if her head had stopped spinning. "Come on." He breathed, helping her sit up, albeit very slowly. "We cannot-" 

His words died in his throat when he looked around and realized they were no longer in an oasis. He felt the weight of his rump and feet slowly sinking into sand that was one fertile ground, and even the buildings and guardians had fled. All save the skull of the Patriarch that had chased them. It sat not two meters away, gazing at them with blue witchlight eyes, it's elaborate headdress still atop the skull.

Amal gazed at the skull, raising an eyebrow, annoyed at the turn of events and scenery. Even with him being glad he saw the Carpet sway into view as it lazily flew over from a far sand dune, Amal still didn't feel comfortable finding himself in the middle of nowhere again. As their gazes met, and Amal could tell there was the same intelligence there as earlier, the thief finally spoke up, raising a fist threateningly. 

"If you do not tell me what it is you want, I will dig until my fingers are but bone and bury you in the sand to be lost to time, you worthless skull." He warned. 

[b]HEED MY WORDS[/b]. The skull said, his voice echoing in both of their minds. The Skull's mouth opened as it mentally spoke. [b]FIVE THOUSAND YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE SETTRA THE IMPERISHABLE HAS PLACED ME HERE TO GUARD THE ENTRANCE TO BEL-ALIAD. MY TIME IS DONE, AS IT WAS FORETOLD BY ASAPH HERSELF. YOU MAY ENTER, BUT WARE THE DANGERS WITHIN. THE MAGICS BOTH WONDERFUL AND TERRIBLE WILL BE GUARDED BY MORE TERRIBLE FOES THAN I[/b]. 

As the thing spoke, Amal noticed something. He shifted his vision, looking past the skull to what he had first believed were distant dunes and mountain peaks. Swiftly, he began to understand that over the next dune, what lay before them were the ruins of a city more huge and terrible than any he had ever delved into before. 
[@Penny]