Death

It was scorching hot in the desert. The men had reached the mouth of the old temple.

It looked more like a palace. A palace in the nowhere of the desert. A place reeking of secrets.

I admit if I were here alone, I would have gotten lost. It was the advantage of being here with our experts to explore such ruins.

But the presence of more people meant more trouble. Because if anyone fucked up, all of us would end up dead.

I don't trust their intelligence, but I do trust their willingness to survive.

At least until they find the answers to their questions.

The palace temple was not in its prime. The walls were cracking, and a few structures had toppled, but the inner sanctum(bigger than my house) was intact.

They all had assembled here for reasons more than one, but more or less they were here just for one thing.

The answers to their questions.

At the risk of horrible, horrible death.

But that is the risk you are bound to undertake when you seek the devil's counsel.

Months of planning, years of research, and countless revisions led to this moment. Few of us had given up. Maybe their questions weren't significant enough for them to risk their lives. A few of us had given into hysteria. One of us, very sadly ended his life. He was tormented by the possibility that perhaps his question had no answer, and he just couldn't muster the courage to put his life in the hands of imperfect humans, to walk with us to seek the wisdom of the devil. He had been driven so paranoid by the terror of being cheated, he did something far worse to himself.

That is the terror that the beings within the temple inspired.

Why would someone go that far to find out the answers to their questions, pressing as they may be? How does doubt become a question of life and death?

Then I remembered.

"The question is not what is the meaning of life. It is how we fall apart when our faith in life shatters.

"When that happens, why the fuck should we care about death?" Mary had said back when we had not embarked on our journey.

"We are madmen, all of us. And the good thing about that is that we are not afraid of losing our minds."

We are madmen. That's why we are here. No sane man would ever find himself in front of this ruin that holds the curse of the earth.