The earth changed from hard surface coated with sand to sand alone. With each step Demo sank ever deeper into the entrapping grains. As he struggled to keep up with Ezah the sweat dripped in a steady stream from his brow, into his eyes, at times blinding him. He could taste the salt, mingled with the desert dust. Each breath drew in dry dust, clogging his nostrils, coating his throat.
Suddenly Ezah raised his spear high, stopped short of a ridge.
"I have gone far beyond the borders, far beyond my realm. But I can go no farther. Yonder ridge marks the bounds of his lair. I know not how he looks, nor how he attacks his prey. I am told on the far side of the ridge lies but a graveyard, dotted with the remains of those who dared approach Regulus. I have but one weapon, this spear. Take it, and may it render you good service. Before you go pray to Amun, or to your Zeus. Now I must leave you."
Demo accepted the long spear and watched in dismal mood as Ezah turned and quickly disappeared in the direction from which they had come. Reluctantly Demo move toward the ridge, using the spear as a cane to aid his passage.
As he reached the peak his foot slipped. He fell forward in the sand. He rolled headlong over the ridge, and downward. Rolled into the lair of Regulus. Stopped finally. Buried in a dune of sand. Sand clogged his nostrils, forced its way between his lips, packed even his ears.
He tried to stand, to break out from the smothering blanket. He moved his arms and legs as though swimming. He was blind, knew neither up nor down. His heart pounded as he held his breath, for fear of breathing in only the deadly grains.
He felt the spear's shaft, held it tight, moved it from side to side. And suddenly through slitted eyes he noted light.
For a moment he lay still, then gradually worked his way upward, upward to the light.
Hours passed. Or days. He had no sense of time, only of desperation. And finally he emerged from the imprisoning grains.
He forced the grit from his mouth, his nostrils. Rubbing carefully he cleared his eyelids, blinked slowly to regain once more his sight. His heard a continuous roar and he looked around to find the source. Then he realized it came from within him. He could hear no external sound! Both ears were plugged with grit, with desert silt and sand!