"Let me get this straight they ripped out your guts and they stuffed them in jars." Rick said trying to comprehend what Evelyn had just told him. She continued to explain I ignored them and went over to a wall to decipher the hieroglyphics before Evelyn spoke up.
"Do you need any help Nyx?" She asked I heavily sighed.
"I can understand Ancient Egyptian on my own thanks." I said making her stare at me while Rick growled.
"She's just trying to be helpful." he said I ignored him. They went back to mummification.
"Oh that's got to hurt." he said making Evelyn respond rather rapidly.
"Well it's called mummification you'll be dead when they do this." She said I muffled a laugh at his choice of actions.
"If I don't make it out of here don't put me down for mummification." Rick said looking at Jonathan.
"Likewise." he said before a large object landed in front of Evelyn and Rick the dust was so thick that you could hardly breathe.
"Oh my god it's a sarcophagus buried at the base of Anubis." I said looking at the sarcophagus in awe.
"He must have been someone of great importance or he did something very naughty." Evelyn said while I wiped off the dust to see who it was.
"Well who is it?" Jonathan asked I scanned the hieroglyphics my eyes widened.
"He That Shall Not Be Named." I whispered making Rick look at me before blowing dust off an indented area.
"This looks like some sort of a lock," he commented.
"Well, whoever was in here sure wasn't getting out," Jonathan said holding the torch closer to the hieroglyphics.
"Yeah, no kidding," Rick agreed, and then added, "It'd take us a month to crack this thing without a key."
"A key? A key! A key! Now that's what he was talking about!" Evelyn said realizing something was familiar. She started rummaging through the bag Jonathan had brought along.
"Who-who was talking about what?" Rick asked with a puzzled look, staring at Jonathan. He shrugged.
"The man, the man on the barge," Evelyn answered, "The one with the hook. He was...he was looking for a key." She took out the puzzle box and fiddled around with it for a moment. I watched curiously as she pressed a button somewhere and it opened, to find it was a matching star shape.
"Hey, that's mine!" Jonathan added. We ignored him. She placed it on the sarcophagus, and it fitted perfectly. Evelyn looked up at us and smiled triumphantly. A scream echoed through the halls as the warden, who had been missing at the time, appeared yelling about something as he ran past us. Rick and I followed Rick had his guns out and ready but the warden ran headfirst into a wall falling to the ground dead.
"What do you suppose killed him?" Evelyn asked later that night I turned when I heard footsteps it was just Rick.
"Did you ever see him eat?" Jonathan replied readily.
"Seems our American friends had a little misfortune of their own today," Rick said, joining us, "Three of their diggers were, uh...melted."
"What?" Evelyn whispered my eyes went wide for all of them were good people.
"How?" Jonathan added.
"Salt acid. Pressurized salt acid. It's some kind of ancient booby trap." Rick said as he checked his weapons.
"Maybe this place really is cursed," Jonathan commented. The wind howled.
"Oh, for goodness' sake, you two!" Evelyn said to them.
"You don't believe in curses, huh?" I asked her as I stoked the fire.
"No, I don't. I believe if I can see it and I can touch it then it's real. That's what I believe." she said certainly.
"I definitely don't agree with you there," I commented sharpening my daggers and swords making her move away from me a bit.
"I believe in being prepared," Rick added, picking up a rifle.
"Let's see what our friend the Warden believed in," Jonathan said, picking up the Warden's bag. He dug through it. Suddenly he screamed. Evelyn screamed and Rick pointed his rifle at it.
"My God, what is it?" she demanded.
"What?" Rick asked.
"A broken bottle." They sighed with relief. "Glenlivet. Twelve years old! He may have been a stinky fellow, but he had good taste." Jonathan opened up the bottle and drank a mouthful, the other two sighed again. I walked back to my camp…or at least tried to before I saw men in black robes racing through the camp burning tents and slaughtering several people. I rushed into the fight cutting down several men before I saw Jonathan being chased by one of them. I leapt from the pillar I had been standing on and tackled him to the ground he pushed me off him and brought out a sword the same time I did. We circled each other before he tried to hit me I blocked his blow before delivering one hitting his arm making him stumble backwards and drop his sword I put my own away as he tried to punch me. I smirked and kicked his arm before my fist connected with his chest Rick then stood between us holding a lit explosive. The man eyed it warily before looking at me again making me stare at him.
"Enough, Yallah!" The man said the rest stopped their assault. "We will shed no more blood tonight but you must leave. Leave this place or die. You have one day." His eyes, I noticed, had never left my face and they were glittering with some type of emotion that I couldn't place. Another man brought him a horse which he heroically climbed onto.
"Yallah! Nimshi!" he nodded in my direction before leaving. Rick had pulled the fuse from the dynamite and left me to help Evelyn up. My mind went back to the man's face he was handsome, strong and determined with a protective side that people rarely see and the identical tattoos on his cheeks did give him an air of mystery but his eyes were what fascinated me they looked almost as though he had not wanted to leave me here but I had the strangest feeling as though I had seen him somewhere before.
"See that proves that old Seti's fortune's got to be under this sand." Daniels said excitedly.
"For them to protect it like this you know there's got to be treasure down there."Hendersonsaid agreeing with his friend.
"No these men are desert people they value water not gold." Rick said as he held Evelyn against him.
"You know maybe just at night we could uh combine forces." Burns said with shaving cream still on his face. I shook my head and walked back to my camp to sleep but Rick had decided to visit making me stay awake.
"Nyx are you alright?" Rick asked as he stepped from the shadows I nodded.
"Just fine, Rick what do you have?" I asked when I noticed he was hiding something. He sheepishly grinned as he brought out several swords.
"Figured you could use them just in case those men came back." he said I accepted them and laid them gently inside the tent.
"Thanks Rick now what are you doing up at this hour?" I asked before I smelled it and glared at him. He winced and immediately tried to rush off but I grabbed the back of his shirt and jerked him back.
"How much did you drink?" I hissed out.
"Nothing. Evelyn was the one drinking she passed out and spilled some of the drink on my shirt that's all I swear." he said as quickly as he could. I sighed and let him go he nodded and walked off. I got in my tent and let sleep drag me away. The sun blinded me but I did open my eyes to see and hear the Americans and what diggers were left enter the chamber again.