This story is a sequel to Ernst Graustier and the Hoofmaiden's Crypt

Fed up with academia, Doctor Ernst Graustier has decided that remaining part of the struggle to be a professor of archaeology in a university is not the life for him.  Instead, he and a friend are offered an opportunity to get into the treasure hunting business by none other than Doctor Caballeron, who has an interesting prospect for the young former students; a minotaur ship, lost in a storm years ago, has suddenly been rediscovered.  Its cargo includes a kirin relic, sure to make them a fortune.  The race is on as Graustier and Caballeron have to beat other groups to the shipwreck, retrieve the relic and escape before the sea swallows it up once more.  But they are not the only party interested in this treasure…and some of their competitors are not so mundane in their nature.

For the Sixth Annual Equestria at War Writing Contest.

The year is 1008.

The world of Faust is tense across all nations. But the odds of war don't concern him.

Doctor Ernst Graustier is a Bronze dog archaeologist venturing into one of the most hostile regions in Maregypt to find a lost relic, hidden from the world for centuries if not millennia. Determined to make his mark on history, he's more fixated on beating renowned adventurers like Daring Do and tomb raiders like Doctor Caballeron to the prize than thinking too much about who else might be after this treasure, or him. With a sharp mind, a quick trigger finger and expert knowledge of ancient myths, he's confident he can succeed against all odds. But will that confidence see him triumph, or just another lost soul in these desolate sands?