Them Duck boys were in quite the mighty pickle. Here they were lost in the Judean Desert with nothing but a penny to their names. Or in this case, a shekel. Yes, they were a foolhardy bunch. Who in their right mind thinks to themselves, “Man. I really gotta go to the desert to find a magic sword?” No matter. The chase was on, and there was treasure to be found. If they can keep it together, that is.

Carried by a whispering trail, Donald and company fought against the raging winds in chase of a flying overcoat. The chase took them to the edge of the Dead Sea, where she could faintly be seen taking refuge in a nearby cave.

Donald spotted her and directed everyone to follow behind.

“Quick!” Donald ordered, “She’s heading into that cave!”

Fueled with adrenaline, the group rushes into a dense cave. The cave was pitch black. Barely a soul lived here, and the only light was the entrance. It was strange as they saw the gypsy run inside, but now she was as lost as the treasure map.

“Aw, I can’t see a thing in here!” cried Louie.

Luckily, Scrooge remembered to pack his matchbox for such situations.

“Blast! Where the devil are we now?” grumbled Scrooge.

“Ugh… hah… hooey…” Donald wheezed, “My feet are tired.”

“Well, you'd better perk up, nephew,” Scrooge ordered, “Yer’ foolhardy actions got us here. Now ye’ better use ‘em to get us out. Or else!”

“Well, why don’t we just go back the way we came?” asked Huey.

Just then, the entrance behind him closed in on itself.

“Way to open your mouth, Huey,” Louie snapped.

While the others huddled together, Donald kept to himself. He used his time to check out the scroll found back in the “oasis.” He was flummoxed at the strange glyphs written on the scroll. The scroll appeared to be written in ancient Hebrew. He did not know how to decipher the texts, but he did have an expert linguist on board to translate the passages.

“Hey, Alumak,” Donald called, “You studied. Do you think you can read some of these?”

“Allow me. I was a top linguist back in my youth,” Alumak replied confidently.

Alumak took the scroll and squinted between the dust smears to read. The text read as follows:

“The path to enlightenment is a journey that all of God’s creations shall endure. He shall brighten the path of that which is pure—A path that carries wisdom, balance, and patience. Thus sayeth the Lord.”

“What the heck does that mean?” Dewey complained.

“Get it through your head, Dewey,” Louie remarked, “We gotta find the path of enlightenment.”

“Oh, this is meaningless,” Scrooge grumbled.

As he spoke, a light shimmered against a small crystal. The crystal’s light connected with another, revealing a trail before the explorers’ very eyes.

The crystal trail carried a beautiful, yet ominous aura. Its teal sheen created a subtle hue against the explorers. The hums of the cave’s embedded décor enamored the group.

Uncle Scrooge took a particular interest in the crystals. Scrooge gawked at the valuables, balking at the idea of such priceless jewels collecting dust in some old, dank cavern. Why, it's just unnatural, and Scrooge had to right this wrong.

“Uncle Scrooge, no!” Donald shouted, speedily grabbing his uncle’s hand. “Our only treasure is the sword. We can’t risk touching anything else.”

“Forget the sword!” Scrooge barked, “Ah’m rebuildin’ me’ fortune!”

Scrooge’s lust for riches knew no bounds. Unfortunately, his greed would get the better of him this time. Suddenly, the cave went dark. What followed was the sound of grinding rock. When the grinding stopped, the crystal trail reignited. Inexplicably, Donald made a new discovery.

“Wak!” Donald exclaimed, “We’re back at the entrance!”

The confused duck scratched his head, ignorant of his uncle’s efforts to be rich once again. In response, the cave blacked out once more. However, upon returning to the beginning, Scrooge found himself seated on the floor. He sat with arms folded, scoffing at the crystal’s stubborn refusal. But it was his stubborn acts that led the crystals to act on Scrooge McDuck.

Scrooge did a double-take when he felt a change in his hand. A further inspection revealed that his middle finger had transmogrified. What once was his middle finger now became a sparkling crystal for all to adore.

“Hmm… It’s no gold tooth, but it’ll suffice,” Scrooge smirked.

“It appears we have trials to overcome. If that is so, then we must follow the warnings as written by the scroll,” Alumak reported, “We must become untethered and avoid temptation at all costs.”

“Temptation?” Donald gasped, “Oh brother…”

Seeing how temptation favored the greedy, the others had no problem with ganging up on Uncle Scrooge. They blindsided him, tackling him before he could lift a finger. In a comical bout of body blows and smoke clouds, they gagged him and held him over their heads.

Now all they had to do was follow the trail without risking temptation. Of course, how could they fall into such wasteful desires? They were just minerals at the end of the day. Minerals that must be worth a fortune on the market.

Why, even a shard of a crystal could cost hundreds of dollars… Maybe more. Just imagine the fortunes they could have—All of the food, clothes, fancy cars, and gadgets that money could buy. Why, that amount of money could make them kings of Dubai! Maybe a jewel wouldn’t hurt after all. Right, Scrooge?

“Money… Ah’ve gotta have me’ money…” babbled the affluent salesman.

The value the crystals drew dollar signs in Scrooge’s eyes. However, the crystals saw through Scrooge’s greed. They taunted Scrooge, mimicking his garbled speech and mocking his endless desires. It got so bad that they even made gossip about him.

“Ohhh, look at the little rich boy!” a crystal mocked.

“Yeah, hehe. Look at the need in his eyes,” another crystal remarked, “Ooh, he looks like he’s gonna pop!”

“I dunno, boys,” a third crystal pondered, “Does this mirror make my axis fat?”

Their taunts sank in the babbling miser, worsening his delusions. All he knew was that he was not going to let some brats get away with it on his watch.

“You rats! I’ll show ye’ what happens when naughties talk like that!” shouted the deluded miser.

Scrooge would suddenly slip from his binds. Suddenly, he swung his cane at the crystals while shouting, “Take that! And this! And absolutely that!” His actions blindsided them, severely throwing the others off balance.

“Ack! Stop it, Unca’ Scrooge!”

“Ow! Ooh! Doggone it!”

“Whoa! Hey! How much farther, guys?!”

“Between the cane—OW!—and the elbowing—Ooh!—I think we’re nearly there!”

It was a restless run, but it all paid off once they reached the end. Their first trial was complete, much to the explorers’ relief. Once they reached safer ground, the gang slowly released Scrooge from his binds. However, the second his heel touched the moistened soil, Scrooge made a beeline back to the crystal trail.

KRA-KASH! … THUD!

To Scrooge’s shock and horror, the crystal cave was nothing more than a mere illusion, a falsehood represented by a painted wall and wet pebbles.

“OH, BLAST IT! OH BLIMY! OH, I’VE JUST ABOUT HAD IT!” Scrooge shrieked.

“Don’t worry, Unca’ Scrooge. I’m sure there’s real treasure up ahead,” said one of the triplets.

“Oh, don’t get me’ hopes up, lad… I don’t know how much more I can take!”

The first trial may be complete, but their troubles were still far ahead. Once they had collected themselves, they marched onward. They march the thinning trail, squirming as the walls encroached on them. They shimmy through the crevices until they reach a certain point.

The walls expanded and road widened as well. But then, what once was a single road would expand into three. To make matters worse, each road led to its own tunnel. No one knew for certain the path to be, and any guess led to a squabble between the group. Such confusion weighed heavily on Donald as he tried his best to keep his family in line. But with his brain already loose at the seams, it was not long before his migraine returned.

Donald pulled away from the others as his migraine worsened. He clawed at his skull, waddling backwards as the bickering bounced across the cavern walls. He tried to hide it, but that only seemed to worsen the pain. The bickering eventually reached a point where it violated Donald’s temporal lobe. Donald would clench his fists as the bickering was replaced by a high-pitched whine. His senses could not take any more, and Donald lunged at the others like a raging bull. He took a deep breath and unloaded all of his rage for all to hear.

“SHUUUTT UUUUUPP!!!!”

The temperamental ox shook the cave’s foundation to its core, unilaterally shifting the Earth’s tectonic plates. His rage was like an earthquake, shaking the land to a point where half of the border of Israel and Jordan felt Donald’s seismic rage. The impact of his rage caused the rocks above to fall, creating a cave-in so severe that the others clung to each other for dear life. But thankfully, Donald’s rage had a breaking point. Soon the sailor reached the tip of his voice box, and he collapsed. Though his shriek was that of anger, it became the benefit they needed to progress.

“Unca’ Donald! Unca’ Donald, wake up! You found the right path!” Huey was the first to congratulate his uncle.

Soon, the others followed suit and applauded Donald for enlightening them once more. The breathless duck lay flattened at first. But once he got to see the fruit of his labor, the duck reinflated himself and stood up with pride… much to Scrooge’s chagrin.

But there was no time to celebrate. The gypsy, and most importantly, the sword, are not too far along. And with renewed courage, the gang was ready to take on the next challenge the scrolls laid out for them. After all, who said the path to enlightenment didn’t have its perks?