Lazarus flew with Matthew to Grace who was waiting for them behind the wheel of the jeep. Something had happened when Lazarus destroyed the man-beast spider. He felt stronger and understood that the last person of their group was coming toward them. He sensed the gathering of power when just this trio were together and wondered what would happen when the last person finally met them. Matthew didn't need his help to fly. He learned by himself to levitate and soar with him.

They stopped and descended toward the jeep. The heat of the sun burnt into his back and face. He would be happier inside the car while they traveled. They had decided not to use the air-conditioner inside the jeep to conserve gas. Grace hopped out of the car and Lazarus stepped closer to her. He felt the power between all of them and wondered why he didn't feel it before. He could tell she sensed it as well as Matthew. They were stronger, just being next to each other. But they didn't want to say it here or talk about it until the last person of their party was with them.

Matthew said, "You were going to tell us where we are going?"

"We are going to New Mexico. To a place called Pyramid Peak. Something is waiting for us there."

Matthew nodded. "Yes, that feels right."

"Are we ready?" Grace said.

"Yes, I don't want to see this place again. But I have to do something."

They looked at him in an expectant, and knowing way. They seemed to know what he was going to do. They all stood in a line facing the two casinos.

Lazarus said, "I am not sure this is going to work."

Grace was on his right and Matthew on his left. They didn't touch each other. They didn't have to. The connection was already there. Lazarus fed off their magic and made each more powerful.

He held up his hands and they all followed him. The ground started to rumble and their stones glowed as bright as the hot desert sun. A tornado appeared out of the horizon and moved toward Whisky Pete's casino. Sand, wind and debris were caught up in the maelstrom of the storm. Lazarus felt the tornado in his heart and body. He recalled the dead bodies inside Whisky Pete’s casino and how the carcasses were ripped apart like broken eggshells with their guts and entrails falling on the ground. Lazarus hoped these people died before they were used as incubators for the mutant spiders, but he knew the people were still alive while their insides were being eaten.

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Lightning sprouted from his fingertips, shot into the air and flew into the storm, combining with the tornado and creating a bigger tempest. The windstorm hit Whisky Pete's marquee, destroying it into little pieces, and then it hit the buildings. The walls and glass blew apart in a scattering of debris and disappeared into the twister. The wind pummeled the ground and the road. He had never felt such power. It grew with the windstorm gathering in him so that he wanted to fly up and become one with the storm, but he lowered his arms and let the tempest cease. He had destroyed all remnants of the casino and obliterated Whisky Pete's to the four winds.

Grace said, "Did you feel that? It was amazing. What happened?"

Matthew said, "It’s the circle. I think it has something to do with the stones and us."

"Yes," Lazarus said, "I think you are right. We have to finish this quest. We have to find out the choice, or calling, that we have to make."

Grace said, "What are you talking about?"

"You can’t feel it but we are meant to do something. Matthew, explain it to her."

The big man turned to her. "I have been on a quest for years, before the catastrophe and before the breaking of the seals."

"Yes, I understand we have to do something, but we should not be hasty. We don't understand what is happening," she said.

"I know," he said, "but time in running out. I can sense it. We have to find the pyramid or we will miss the time."

Grace looked at them for a second and then said, "We have a long journey. We can talk about it while we drive."

They stepped into the car and Grace started to drive south on the 15 freeway. The street was not broken or pitted. It seemed, Lazarus thought, that this part of Nevada didn't have storms or major catastrophes affecting it. If he hadn’t come from Los Angeles and seen the craziness that transpired there, he would have thought they were traveling on vacation.

Grace was silent next to him. She didn't ask him anything. He thought she was trying to understand everything that had happened in the last few weeks. He was trying to grasp everything himself.

On the ride to the casino’s they had tried to use the radio and all they got was static. Moving closer to the radio now, he almost turned it on but he stopped himself. The old world had gone, replaced by this brutal new world where death hid in every corner. He thought that if he didn't have these magical powers he would be dead twice over, maybe more, but he didn't want to dwell on those things.

The droning of the tires against the ground created a soft, relaxing sound. The landscape of the desert started to become fuzzy. He closed his eyes, thinking they knew where they were going. It was as if they had a destination calling for them, beckoning for them to come and enter, a homing beacon of magic and light. He could see the structure and something inside it and that thing was speaking to them. He thought it had been there for years waiting for a time like this.

He slept and recalled the past.