The sand whispered secrets as Nora trudged up the dune, each step sinking into the shifting grains. The desert wind carried phantom voices, snippets of conversation that vanished when she tried to focus on them. Sweat trickled down her neck despite the chill in the air.
“Dr. Frost?” she called out, scanning the vast expanse of sand. No response came except the endless susurration of the dunes.
Nora checked her satellite phone again. Still no signal. She’d lost contact with base camp hours ago, shortly after Dr. Eleanor Frost had ventured out alone for what was supposed to be a quick survey of the dig site. Now the sun hung low on the horizon, painting the sand in shades of amber and gold.
“Eleanor!” Nora shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. Her voice seemed swallowed by the vastness.
She crested another dune, legs burning from the exertion. A flicker of movement caught her eye - a human figure in the distance. Nora’s heart leapt.
“Dr. Frost!” She waved her arms, breaking into an awkward run down the slope. Sand flew up around her boots.
As she drew closer, the figure shimmered like a mirage. It was a woman, but not Eleanor - this person wore flowing robes that rippled in a nonexistent breeze. She turned toward Nora with eyes that glowed like embers.
Nora skidded to a halt, throat suddenly dry. The woman’s lips moved, forming words Nora couldn’t hear. Then she simply faded away, like smoke dispersing on the wind.
Gasping, Nora spun in a circle. Nothing but sand in every direction. She pressed a hand to her forehead. The heat must be getting to her. She needed to find Eleanor and get back to camp before full dark.
As the last rays of sunlight painted the dunes blood-red, Nora spotted a dark shape half-buried in the sand. Her stomach clenched as she approached. It was Eleanor’s pack, abandoned and partially covered by the constantly shifting dunes.
Nora fell to her knees, digging frantically. She uncovered a water bottle, a notebook, Eleanor’s prized fountain pen. But no sign of the archaeologist herself.
“Eleanor!” Nora screamed into the gathering gloom. Only the whisper of sand answered.
Shivering despite the lingering heat, Nora clutched Eleanor’s pack to her chest. Night was falling fast. She needed to get back to camp, to raise the alarm. But which direction was camp? The featureless landscape offered no clues.
A gust of wind sent sand stinging against her cheeks. In it, she heard a voice - Eleanor’s voice - so clear it was as if the older woman stood right beside her.
“Nora… help me…”
Nora whirled around. Nothing. Just endless dunes fading into darkness.
“I’m coming,” Nora whispered. “Just hold on, Eleanor. I’ll find you.”
She picked a direction and started walking.
Three days earlier, Nora had arrived at the remote archaeological site bubbling with excitement. After years of begging to join one of Dr. Eleanor Frost’s expeditions, she’d finally gotten her chance. Now here she was, in the heart of the Rub’ al Khali - the fabled Empty Quarter of the Arabian desert.
Eleanor greeted her with a warm hug. “Welcome to the middle of nowhere, my dear! How was your flight?”
“Long,” Nora admitted. “But absolutely worth it. I can’t believe I’m finally here!”
Eleanor’s blue eyes twinkled. At sixty, her face was weathered from years in the field, but she moved with the energy of someone half her age. “Well, we’re delighted to have you. Come, I’ll show you around camp.”
As they walked, Eleanor pointed out the various tents - mess hall, equipment storage, team quarters. “And that,” she said, indicating a large pavilion festooned with computers and other high-tech gear, “is mission control. That’s where the magic happens.”
Inside, a lanky man with salt-and-pepper hair hunched over a bank of monitors. He looked up as they entered, pushing his glasses up his nose.
“Nora, this is Dr. James Holbrook, our resident tech wizard,” Eleanor said. “James, Nora Chen - the grad student I told you about.”
James shook Nora’s hand. “Ah yes, Eleanor’s protégé. I’ve heard good things.”
Nora flushed with pride. “I’m just excited to learn from the best.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” James said. “Eleanor’s forgotten more about Arabian archaeology than most of us will ever know.”
Eleanor waved a hand. “Oh hush. I’m just an old woman who likes digging in the sand. Now, let me show you the real reason we’re out here in this godforsaken desert.”
She led Nora to a large map spread across a table. Red pushpins marked various locations across the Empty Quarter.
“For centuries, there have been legends of a lost city out here in the deepest part of the desert,” Eleanor explained. “Most dismissed it as a myth. But I’ve spent decades piecing together clues from ancient texts, geological surveys, even old Bedouin folktales.”
She tapped a spot on the map. “And I believe it’s here. We’ve already found some promising signs - pottery shards, foundations buried in the sand. But the big prize still eludes us.”
Nora leaned in, captivated. “What big prize?”
Eleanor’s eyes gleamed. “The tomb of Queen Adira. If the legends are true, she was a sorceress-queen who ruled this region thousands of years ago. Her tomb is said to contain unimaginable treasures - and dark magic.”
“Magic?” Nora raised an eyebrow. “Surely that’s just embellishment added over time.”
“Perhaps.” Eleanor shrugged. “But I’ve seen some strange things out here in the Empty Quarter. There’s a… presence in these sands. You’ll feel it soon enough.”
A chill ran down Nora’s spine despite the stifling heat of the tent.
Eleanor clapped her on the shoulder. “But that’s a concern for another day. For now, let’s get you settled in. We start bright and early tomorrow!”
The next morning, Nora joined the rest of the team for breakfast in the mess tent. About a dozen other researchers and grad students were already there, hunched over plates of eggs and strong coffee.
Eleanor waved Nora over to her table. “Sleep well?” she asked as Nora sat down.
“Like a rock,” Nora said. “Though I had some weird dreams. Something about voices in the sand.”
Eleanor’s fork paused halfway to her mouth. “Oh? What sort of voices?”
Nora shrugged. “I don’t really remember. Just whispers, mostly. Probably just my brain processing all the new stimuli.”
“Mm.” Eleanor resumed eating. “Well, let me know if you have any more dreams like that. Could be interesting.”
Before Nora could ask what she meant, James burst into the tent, face flushed with excitement.
“Eleanor! You need to see this!”
Eleanor was on her feet in an instant. “What is it?”
“The ground-penetrating radar picked up something. I think… I think we found it.”
A hush fell over the mess tent. Eleanor’s eyes widened. “Show me.”
They hurried to the command center, the rest of the team trailing behind. James pulled up a 3D rendering on the main screen.
“There,” he said, pointing. “About 50 meters below the surface. A large chamber, at least 30 meters across.”
Eleanor leaned in, studying the image intently. “My God,” she breathed. “It’s real. We’ve actually found it.”
Nora peered at the screen. The chamber was roughly circular, with what looked like pillars arranged around the edges. In the center was a raised rectangular shape - an altar, perhaps? Or a sarcophagus?
“Is it… is it the tomb?” she asked.
Eleanor nodded slowly. “I believe so. Queen Adira’s final resting place.” She straightened up, eyes blazing with triumph. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have work to do!”
The camp exploded into a flurry of activity. Equipment was prepped, plans were made. By mid-morning, the first excavation team was headed out to the site.
Nora found herself assigned to help catalog artifacts as they were brought in. It was tedious work, but she threw herself into it with gusto. Every pottery shard, every scrap of fabric could be a vital clue.
As the day wore on, more and more items trickled in. Ornate jewelry, fragments of carved stone, even a few scraps of papyrus. Nora’s head spun trying to keep up with it all.
“Quite the haul, eh?”
She looked up to see James grinning at her from the tent entrance.
“It’s incredible,” Nora said. “I can’t believe how much they’ve found already.”
James nodded. “Eleanor’s instincts were spot on, as usual. Though I have to say, some of this stuff is… odd.”
“How so?”
He held up a small figurine. It depicted a woman with the head of a jackal, arms outstretched. “This style of artwork. It doesn’t match anything else we’ve found in the region. And some of the inscriptions we’re seeing - the language is completely unknown.”
Nora frowned. “That is strange. Maybe it’s evidence of trade with other cultures?”
“Maybe.” James didn’t sound convinced. “Anyway, Eleanor wants to see you. Says she has a special task.”
Nora’s heart leapt. A special task from Dr. Frost herself? This was her chance to prove herself.
She found Eleanor poring over a map in her tent. The older woman looked up as Nora entered, a gleam in her eye.
“Ah, there you are my dear. How would you like to do some real fieldwork?”
“I’d love to!” Nora said eagerly.
Eleanor smiled. “Excellent. I need you to accompany me on a little expedition. There’s an outcropping about two kilometers from here that I want to examine. Could be an important clue to the layout of the city.”
Nora’s excitement dimmed slightly. “Just the two of us? Shouldn’t we bring a full team?”
“No need,” Eleanor said breezily. “It’s a quick trip, in and out. We’ll be back before sundown.”
Something about her tone made Nora uneasy, but she pushed the feeling aside. This was her big chance. She wasn’t about to let nerves ruin it.
“When do we leave?” she asked.
Eleanor’s smile widened. “Right now.”
The sun beat down mercilessly as they trudged across the dunes. Nora was already regretting her enthusiasm. Her clothes were soaked with sweat, and sand had worked its way into every crevice.
Eleanor, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease. She marched along without any sign of fatigue, occasionally pausing to consult her compass or jot something in her notebook.
“How much further?” Nora panted.
“Not far now,” Eleanor said. “Just over that next rise, I think.”
As they crested the dune, Nora gasped. Before them stood a collection of stone pillars, each easily four meters tall. They formed a rough circle, with elaborate carvings spiraling up their length.
“Incredible,” Eleanor breathed. She hurried forward, running her hands over the nearest pillar. “Look at the craftsmanship. These must be thousands of years old.”
Nora approached more cautiously. There was something unsettling about the place. The air felt thick, charged with static electricity. And she could have sworn she heard faint whispers on the wind.
“What is this place?” she asked.
Eleanor was already scribbling furiously in her notebook. “I’m not sure. Some kind of ritual site, perhaps? The carvings seem to depict various deities - some I recognize, others completely new to me.”
She moved to the center of the circle, where a flat stone altar stood. Strange symbols were etched into its surface.
“Fascinating,” Eleanor murmured. “This writing… it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. Yet somehow familiar…”
As Eleanor bent to examine the altar more closely, a gust of wind kicked up. Sand swirled around them, stinging Nora’s eyes.
“Dr. Frost!” she called out. “Maybe we should head back. It looks like a storm might be coming.”
But Eleanor didn’t seem to hear her. The older woman’s lips moved silently as she traced the symbols with her finger.
Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. A low rumble filled the air.
“Eleanor!” Nora shouted. “We need to go!”
Eleanor’s head snapped up. For a moment, Nora could have sworn her eyes glowed with an inner fire. Then she blinked, and Eleanor looked normal again - if a bit dazed.
“Yes… yes, of course,” she said. “Let’s head back.”
They hurried away from the stone circle. As they left, Nora glanced back. For just an instant, she thought she saw ghostly figures moving among the pillars. Then a cloud of sand obscured her view.
The walk back to camp was tense and silent. Eleanor seemed lost in thought, while Nora’s mind raced with questions. What had happened back there? What were those symbols Eleanor had been so fascinated by?
As the camp came into view, Eleanor finally spoke. “Nora, my dear. I need you to do something for me.”
“Of course,” Nora said. “What is it?”
Eleanor fixed her with an intense stare. “Don’t mention what we saw to anyone. Not yet. I need time to process it first.”
Nora hesitated. Keeping secrets went against everything she’d been taught about proper archaeological procedure. But this was Dr. Eleanor Frost asking. Her mentor, her idol.
“Alright,” she said at last. “I won’t say anything.”
Eleanor’s shoulders relaxed. “Thank you. I promise, all will be revealed in time. Now, let’s get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”
If only Nora had known just how big - and how terrifying - that day would turn out to be.
Nora tossed and turned that night, her sleep plagued by vivid dreams. She saw the stone pillars again, but this time they pulsed with an eerie light. Shadowy figures danced between them, chanting in an unknown language. At the center stood a woman in elaborate robes, her eyes blazing like twin suns.
She woke with a gasp, heart pounding. The first rays of dawn were just starting to lighten the sky. Giving up on more sleep, Nora dressed and made her way to the mess tent.
To her surprise, Eleanor was already there, nursing a cup of coffee. The older woman looked haggard, with dark circles under her eyes.
“Couldn’t sleep either?” Nora asked, pouring herself some coffee.
Eleanor gave a wan smile. “Too much excitement, I suppose. Big day ahead.”
They sat in companionable silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, the rest of the team began to trickle in.
James arrived last, looking harried. He made a beeline for Eleanor. “We have a problem,” he said in a low voice.
Eleanor frowned. “What kind of problem?”
“The excavation team. They’re refusing to go back to the dig site.”
“What?” Eleanor stood up. “Why?”
James shifted uncomfortably. “They’re saying… well, they’re saying it’s cursed. Strange things happened during the night shift. Equipment malfunctioning, weird noises. One guy swears he saw a ghost.”
Eleanor’s eyes flashed. “Superstitious nonsense. I’ll talk to them.”
She stormed out of the tent, James trailing behind. Nora hesitated, then followed. She found the excavation team gathered near the equipment shed, looking nervous.
“What’s all this about curses?” Eleanor demanded.
A burly man with a thick beard stepped forward. “Dr. Frost, with all due respect, something ain’t right down there. We’ve all felt it.”
Murmurs of agreement rose from the group.
“Felt what, exactly?” Eleanor’s tone was scathing.
“A… presence,” the man said. “Like we’re being watched. And the whispers-”
“Whispers?” Nora interrupted. “You heard them too?”
Eleanor shot her a warning look, but the man nodded eagerly.
“Aye, whispers in the wind. Speaking some language I’ve never heard before. And last night, I swear I saw a woman standing at the edge of the dig. But when I blinked, she was gone.”
More voices chimed in, each with their own strange tale. Equipment that turned on by itself. Ghostly figures glimpsed in the darkness. An oppressive feeling of dread that grew stronger the deeper they dug.
Eleanor listened with growing impatience. When the last person finished speaking, she clapped her hands sharply.
“Enough! I won’t have this expedition derailed by ghost stories and superstition. We are on the verge of the greatest archaeological discovery of the century. I won’t let fear stop us now.”
She fixed each person with a steely glare. “Now, who’s with me?”
A few people shuffled their feet. Others looked away. But no one stepped forward.
Eleanor’s face hardened. “Fine. If you’re all too cowardly, I’ll go myself.”
“Eleanor, be reasonable,” James protested. “You can’t go alone. It’s not safe.”
“I’ll go.”
The words were out of Nora’s mouth before she could think better of them. Eleanor beamed at her.
“There, you see? Ms. Chen understands the importance of our work. The two of us will handle today’s excavation. The rest of you can stay here and twiddle your thumbs.”
With that, she marched off toward the equipment shed. Nora hurried after her, trying to ignore the pitying looks from the rest of the team.
An hour later, they were at the dig site. A large pit had been excavated, revealing the top of a stone structure. A narrow passage led down into darkness.
Eleanor wasted no time. She clipped a lamp to her hat and started down the passage. Nora followed more slowly, heart pounding.
The air grew cooler as they descended. The beam of Eleanor’s headlamp swept across walls covered in elaborate carvings. Nora recognized some of the figures from the pillars they’d seen yesterday.
“Magnificent,” Eleanor breathed. “We’re the first people to see these in thousands of years.”
They emerged into a large chamber. Nora gasped. The walls were covered in gold leaf, glittering in the light of their lamps. Statues of strange beast-headed gods stood in alcoves around the perimeter. And in the center…
“The sarcophagus,” Eleanor said reverently.
It was a massive thing of black stone, covered in the same unknown writing they’d seen on the altar. Eleanor approached it slowly, as if in a trance.
“Eleanor?” Nora said nervously. “Maybe we should wait for the others before we open it.”
But Eleanor wasn’t listening. She ran her hands over the sarcophagus, murmuring to herself. Then she began to push at the lid.
“Eleanor, stop!” Nora cried.
Too late. With a grinding sound, the lid began to move. As it slid aside, a cold wind howled through the chamber. The lamps flickered and went out, plunging them into total darkness.
Nora fumbled for her flashlight with shaking hands. When she finally got it on, she nearly screamed.
Eleanor stood over the open sarcophagus, eyes glowing with an unearthly light. Her lips moved, forming words in that strange language. The air around her shimmered.
“Eleanor?” Nora’s voice quavered.
Slowly, Eleanor turned to face her. But the thing looking out of Eleanor’s eyes wasn’t Eleanor anymore.
“Your friend is gone,” said a voice that echoed with otherworldly power. “I am Queen Adira. And I have awakened.”
Nora ran.
She pelted up the passage, heart threatening to burst from her chest. Behind her, she heard that terrible voice call out. The walls shook. Debris rained down around her.
She burst out of the pit and kept running. Sand flew up around her feet as she sprinted across the dunes. She didn’t stop until the dig site was far behind her.
Finally, gasping for breath, she slowed to a walk. She had to get back to camp, to raise the alarm. But which way was camp?
All around her, the dunes looked the same. The sun was high overhead, offering no clue to direction. Panic clawed at her throat.
That’s when she heard it. A whisper in the wind, speaking her name.
“Nora… help me…”
It was Eleanor’s voice. The real Eleanor.
Nora spun in a circle. “Eleanor? Where are you?”
But there was only sand as far as the eye could see.
Clutching Eleanor’s abandoned pack to her chest, Nora picked a direction and started walking. Somewhere out in this vast desert, Eleanor needed her. And Nora would find her, no matter what it took.
The sun sank lower as she trudged on. The wind picked up, carrying more whispers. Sometimes it was Eleanor’s voice. Other times, the deep tones of Queen Adira. Occasionally, voices she didn’t recognize at all.
As darkness fell, the dunes came alive with eerie lights. Ghostly figures danced on the horizon. More than once, Nora thought she saw Eleanor beckoning to her, only to have the image dissolve when she got closer.
She walked through the night in a daze. Exhaustion and thirst made her thoughts sluggish. Was she going in circles? How long had she been out here?
Just when she thought she couldn’t take another step, Nora spotted a light in the distance. Real light, not another mirage.
Hope surged through her. She stumbled forward with renewed energy. As she got closer, she made out the shapes of tents. The camp!
“Help!” she croaked, her voice raw. “Somebody help!”
Figures came running. Nora felt hands grasping her, voices asking questions. Then blessed darkness took her.
She woke to the steady beep of a heart monitor. Blinking against harsh fluorescent light, Nora realized she was in a hospital room.
“Welcome back.”
James sat in a chair by her bed, looking haggard.
“What happened?” Nora’s voice was a dry whisper. “How long was I out there?”
James handed her a cup of water. “Three days. We’d almost given up hope of finding you alive.”
As Nora sipped the water gratefully, memories came flooding back. The tomb. Eleanor’s glowing eyes. That voice…
“Eleanor,” she gasped. “Where is she? Did you find her?”
James’s face fell. “I’m sorry, Nora. There’s been no sign of her. The rest of the team is still searching, but…”
He trailed off, but Nora understood the implication. After three days in the desert, the chances of finding Eleanor alive were slim.
“What about the tomb?” Nora asked. “Did you see… did you see what happened?”
James shook his head. “By the time we got there, it had collapsed. The whole chamber is buried under tons of sand.”
Nora closed her eyes, fighting back tears. “It’s my fault. I should have stopped her from opening the sarcophagus.”
“Hey.” James took her hand. “None of this is your fault. Eleanor knew the risks. She was always pushing boundaries, always chasing the next big discovery.”
He squeezed her hand gently. “The important thing is that you’re safe. When you’re feeling up to it, the authorities will want to talk to you. See if you can help fill in some of the blanks.”
Nora nodded numbly. James stood to leave, then paused at the door.
“Oh, I almost forgot. We found this clutched in your hand when we rescued you. Thought you might want it back.”
He placed something on the bedside table. Nora’s breath caught.
It was Eleanor’s prized fountain pen.
After James left, Nora reached for the pen with trembling fingers. As she picked it up, a slip of paper fell out.
Heart pounding, she unfolded it. There, in Eleanor’s familiar handwriting, was a message:
“My dearest Nora, If you’re reading this, something has gone terribly wrong. I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess. There are forces at work here beyond anything I imagined. But all is not lost. The key to stopping Adira lies in the pillars we found. The symbols are a code - one I’ve almost cracked. Find the pillars, Nora. Finish what I started. And whatever you do, don’t let her win.
All my love, Eleanor”
Nora clutched the note to her chest, tears streaming down her face. Eleanor was alive - or had been when she wrote this. There was still hope.
She looked out the window at the distant dunes. Out there, somewhere, Eleanor was waiting. And Queen Adira was growing stronger.
Nora’s jaw set with determination. She would rest, recover her strength. And then she would return to the Empty Quarter.
To save her mentor. To stop an ancient evil.
And to uncover the truth hidden in the whispering dunes.