Having slain the monstrous humanoid fly, Finlay and Lylou went up some side stairs to the room behind the altar. There were a number of insectoid statues there. Lylou cast Detect Magic, and none was detected. Finlay saw no riches to be acquired. They elected to bypass that room.
Magda went up the stairs on the opposite side of the altar and opened a door there. Beyond an empty antechamber was a room dominated by a sand pit. In the center of it, Finlay saw the tip of a large red gem sticking out. Using the abilities granted by consuming some of the fly butter, he stepped onto the sand and did not sink. However, he was immediately attacked by a giant ant lion.
The disturbed sand exposed the rest of the ruby object, which was a four foot statue of an ant. Lylou cast Magic Missile and wounded the creature, but it reposted and bit her, and Lylou was pulled in and sank below the surface of the sand. While Finlay went in after Lylou, Gideon hit the creature with his spear. The ant lion bit him, and he too was pulled in and sank below the sand.
Lylou cast Levitate and flew out of the sand. She cast Magic Missile and gain while Magda shot her crossbow, causing serious damage. Chesley cast Bless on Finlay, which enabled him to locate the tip of Gideon’s spear sticking out of the sand.
While Finlay rescued Gideon, Lylou grabbed statue, and Magda continued shooting the ant lion. Lylou flew the statue into the antechamber, but it broke into three segments in the process before Finlay stabbed the monster for the kill.