expedition to ancient ruins in Mongolia where his father’s expedition had once gone missing.
He, along with his friend, another archaeologist, Carter Dalton, set off from England and
travelled to Kazakhstan in Central Asia by train, before reaching Olgiy in western Mongolia, the
former capital of the once-great tribe of the Ulhans.
Carter, who had opposed the idea of this expedition, said to David, “I have a bad feeling about
this you know, after what happened to your father.”
“Exactly. I need to know what drove him insane.” David said.
“I thought it was because his team ran out of supplies, and were driven mad by malnutrition.”
Said Carter.
“I don’t believe in that lie the government told me, there must be something that twisted his
mind, like..........ghosts.” said David.
“Are you sure about this? I mean, if we don’t leave Mongolia alive…..” Carter was already
shivering from fear.
“Look Carter, you’ve been a great friend to me and I understand if you want to leave, but
please, just do this once for me, please.” David said wistfully.
“Fine. May God be with us if things go wrong,” Carter said firmly.
“Alright, let’s move.” Said David, with much gratitude.
The duo journeyed south to the Gobi desert, at the ruins of the old Ulhan capital of Kurtz, and
began their journey, not knowing what would await them.
“OK, we’re here, now what to do.” Asked Carter.
“We go inside and search every building for clues. Be careful, this place reeks of a ghoulish
aura.” Said David, now shaken by his own words.
The pair first searched the outskirts, a place of commerce and trade. Or at least a shadow of
its former prosperity. David and Carter soon realized that what was left of this old settlement was
now merely a shadow to what it was.
“Nothing here, seems normal to me.” Said Carter.
“Agreed. Let’s move on.” Said David.
Next, they walked deeper into the large settlement.
“Hmm, a shrine worshipping a pagan god.” Said Carter curiously.
“Uh, what about we come back to that later, I mean, like you said, it looks fishy.” Said
David nervously.
“Come on, this is why we’re here.” Said Carter.
“(Sigh) Well, it’s now or never anyway.” Said David.
Together they walked into the shrine, but much to their surprise, there were no ghosts or
monsters in the shrine. In fact, there was nothing in there.
“False alarm.” Said Carter.
“Phew! I thought we’re going to die!” Said David, now relieved after having a
near-death experience.
“They’re not here, let’s go find the royal palace.” Said David.
The two went straight ahead to the largest building in the settlement, the 6-metre tall royal
palace. As majestic the palace sounded, it looked modest even at its glorious days, not to mention its
ruined state being sacked by the Mongolian empire and long centuries of ageing and deteriorating.
“There we go, they must be inside,” said Carter.
“Yeah, you ready?” said David, with tension growing inside him.
