Isis woke to a pounding head and aching back, or more specifically, shoulder. Lin was sitting cross-legged in the sand staring off into space.
"Please tell me you aren't about to resurrect anyone else." Lin jumped slightly at the sound of a voice breaking her contemplation. She turned to Isis.
"How do you feel?"
"Like 'Fat Tuesday' just sat on me." Lin grinned at the reference.
"Well no, he didn't, but a god did curse you so maybe that's worse." Isis groaned.
"I'd almost forgotten about that part," she muttered while stretching. Looking around desert stretched out before her for as far as the eye could see.
"Any idea where we're at?" Isis asked.
"No, but I don't think we should stay in one place, we'd be sitting ducks for Imhotep or anyone else." Lin pointed out.
"Right then, so which way should we go George?" Isis asked, ignoring the nagging feeling that something was not right with her friend.
"I'd say east towards the sun. What do you think?"
"North, if we're anywhere in the vicinity of Cairo we'd have to go North to find Hamunaptra." Lin blanched at her words and ran a hand up and down one jacket covered arm.
"Aren't you hot in that get up?" Isis asked her. Lin looked down at her coat sleeves.
"Yeah, kind of, I have something to show you." She slowly removed the duster from her shoulders and dropped it onto the sand. Isis stared at her friend's arms. The black tattoos ran from her wrists up to midway on her forearm. Isis didn't exactly know what the symbols meant but they made the hairs on the back of her neck stick up.
"You have your own unique artwork by Anubis on your shoulder. I think he made mine more visible merely to make me uncomfortable and paranoid."
"He cursed you too?" Isis asked astounded. Lin glanced down at the ground.
"Not exactly, I mouthed off about his artistic genius." Isis laughed.
"Only you would back talk a god Lin." Lin ignored the comment.
"Well I'm going east." She stated heading off in her chosen direction.
"What about me? I still think we should go north."
"Why not north north-east then?" Lin joked but it merely earned her a disapproving look from Isis.
"What's wrong with you Lin? You're hiding something from me. Are you scared to face Imhotep? You can't run away from this. You've started it now you have to see it through." Isis was not expecting Lin's violent reaction to her words.
"Fuck Imhotep and what I started. It wasn't just me now was it? If I was as scared as you say I am, I never would have gotten on the plane with you. And I have every intention of ending things, but on my own terms. I refuse to be a goddamn pawn. If you want to go north then go north. I'll see you in the afterlife." With that Lin stormed away in the beginnings of a sandstorm taking her duster with her. Isis could only stare in shock as her friend disappeared from sight.
Lin quickly crossed the dunes in front of her without really paying attention to where she was going. She was angry, and blind to the world around her. Isis believed this was all her fault. If anyone was to blame it was Anubis not Lin. The damned deity needed to be snipped and clipped as far as she was concerned. He was using the two girls and that didn't sit right with her. Lin still had dreams and things to accomplish and if she died doing Anubis' dirty work she would make his immortal life very unpleasant.
The green eyed girl sighed, realizing that she had yelled at Isis for no reason. Her friend hadn't heard Anubis admit to stirring up trouble. The young O'Connell must be wondering what she had said that was so offensive. Lin knew she should turn back but she had no idea exactly where Isis was. Stomping along hadn't left Lin much time to map out her steps and exact direction. Looking up Lin felt her legs go weak. She wondered if this was another of Anubis' cruel jokes. There before her stood Hamunaptra, the city of the dead.
Figuring that she had already come this far and there was no point in stopping, Lin continued on. Squaring her shoulders, she began making her way to what looked like a door near a statue of Horus. The silence unnerved Lin as she moved forward. She felt invisible eyes on her. Looking to the cliffs she saw no black clad riders like in the stories but she knew that someone was indeed following her every step. Entering the door she saw metal mirrors reflecting the sun light from outside. The hieroglyphics seemed to beg to be read but she ignored her impulse and went on, there was chanting coming from somewhere deeper in.
Imhotep stood at the ancient altar reading from the Book of Life. The inscription he was reciting now did not do as much of the books text did, kill, but instead revived those who protected life. Imhotep was calling forth dead Medjai, meddlers who became his mindless slaves once their ba and ka were separated. These modern warriors stood no chance against their well preserved ancestors who were much more agile and far stronger.
As Imhotep inspected his new minions the sound of footsteps behind him caught his ear. Turning he let out a one worded hiss, "You!"
Lin froze as Imhotep turned to glare at her. She had been trying to move as quietly as possible but her tennis shoes were rather loud on the stone floor. As the priest stalked towards her she backed away quickly. He reached out to grab her by the throat just as she screamed.
'Brother!' Imhotep seemed to stop as she spoke in ancient Egyptian. He even smirked as he noticed the ink on her exposed wrist as the sleeve of her duster fell back.
'Ah, so you have been rediscovering your past, have you Anutiri. Will you betray me in this life as well?' Imhotep asked.
'I did not betray you in the past, and in this life you are nothing to me but a problem to be dealt with.' Lin snapped. Imhotep's chuckle was humorless.
'You could not best me then and you will not do so now. Tell me sister, do you know what it's like to be slowly eaten by scarabs? Shall I show you?' Before Lin could even process what he had said, Imhotep was once again incanting and imaginary beetles began to crawl all over Lin. She screamed in agony trying to shake free of the bugs that caused her so much pain but she was trapped by Imhotep's grip on her throat.
'Stop Imhotep. Please stop this.' Then Lin was seeing the past before her eyes. The pain caused by Imhotep's magic subsided noticeably as the vision took up much of her conscious mind.
Anutiri stood in front of her brother glaring up at him defiantly.
"This conversation is many summers old now. I am not his plaything Imhotep. Anubis will not rule me as you allow Osiris to rule you."
"You are a fool Anutiri. Do you wish to disgrace me as well?"
"Is that all you care about brother, your own reputation and name? If that were true you would not be pining for pharaoh's pet." The sound of Imhotep's hand striking Anutiri's face resounded in the hall of the palace.
"Enough of your insolence! Pray to whatever gods will accept you, because you are no longer a sister of mine. Go to your little soldier and see if he will house you."
Anutiri had quickly exited the room.
The image shifted as if some time had elapsed.
Anutiri stared out from her balcony to the distant sand dunes which led to Hamunaptra. She knew that her brother was there and that the Medjai were on their way to punish him for murdering the pharaoh. She could warn him. Anutiri walked back inside. She had forgotten for a second, she no longer had a brother to warn.
Lin realized that Imhotep was staring at her and that the feeling of being eaten had ceased.
'Even if I had warned you, you would never have left her.'
'Save me your excuses Anutiri. I've finally learned that all women are deceivers who will suck the life out of a man and then leave him to rot.'
'Anck-su-namun did abandon you last time you were revived? I did not know if that part of the story was true.'
'How do you know it at all?'
'This is a fascinating age brother.' Imhotep glared at her.
'One that you will not know for much longer.' Lin wondered as she faded from consciousness why she couldn't have an over protective older brother like any other teenage girl.
Isis was pissed. That just might be the understatement of the century actually. Lin had abandoned her out in the middle of nowhere and there was a sandstorm to boot. No, things just didn't seem to be going her way today. She protected her eyes from the grains of sand by throwing an arm over her face as she trudged on. Sandstorms were not her area of expertise but this one had come up rather oddly. There hadn't been any strong winds, it was just suddenly there. She'd have to worry about that later, for now survival was her main focus.
Finally she made it to the far side of a large dune and sat behind a boulder which seemed out of place in the shifting sands. Confident that she would be fairly safe for the present, Isis began to try and sort out just what had happened when Lin left. She sighed, the only thing worse than the apocalypse was a PMSing Lin.
Isis' irritation was causing the tattoo on her shoulder to burn fiercely. She reached a hand back to touch the tender spot but it felt no different than it always had. A small voice inside wondered what it looked like and Isis snorted. This was not a time to worry about whether the tattoo detracted from her physical appearance. It's not like anyone would see it anyway. Still, the hot pain seemed almost foreboding. That was when the consciousness of another presence entered her mind. She knew that something lay beneath the sand at her feet. It was far more than one something, maybe thousands. Isis shivered, below her the soldiers of Anubis waited impatiently to be summoned. The sand shifted at her feet and something dark took form. There in the sand sat the Book of the Dead. Apparently Anubis was a speed reader, or the words were just too big for him to sound out.
Lin woke moments after her fainting spell. Imhotep had laid her on the altar but had not chained her down. The risen guards stood silently staring at her without eyes. Lin tried to rise but something caught her eye. Imhotep was once again chanting, and some part of Lin's mind registered that he now held a dagger in his hand. Behind him, hidden in the shadows, Lin's sharp eyes could just make out a figure dressed in black. Ever so slowly Lin eased her self off the far side of the altar away from the priest but she couldn't get far. His soldiers came closer to push her back onto the altar. Lin needed a moment to think.
The mummies all had weapons but none were drawn. If she could get close enough to one and take the sword before it was drawn against her, she might have a chance of getting to whoever seemed to be trying to rescue her. Now she noticed other living shadows scattered around the dimly lit room. When had they gotten here? Staring into a dark corner, she hoped whoever was there understood that she would try and make this whole hero bit easier for them.
Lin sat with her legs dangling off the altar. Imhotep seemed to like the dramatic, incanting with his eyes closed and numerous dead men at his beck and call. Lin counted in her head to three and pushed off the altar strongly with her arms. She pounced on a nearby mummy and reached for the sword on his belt. The blade slid from its sheath with a whine and Lin turned back to see Imhotep's eyes pop open. Knowing that there was no need for pleasant goodbyes, the young woman ducked her undead attackers and headed for a cobweb covered entrance in the back of the room. Then all Hell broke loose.
I want to thank my only reviewer Sarmatianknightwannabe, and clear up any misunderstanding.
When Isis says that she felt like Fat Tuesday sat on her, she is referring to a larger than life comedian who works out of New Orleans. Fat Tuesday is also a translation for the words Mardi Gras. In the Next chapter I will tell you how not to pronounce New Orleans.