\\Egyptian

When Carter woke up, the first thing he saw was a pair of deep black eyes staring at him.

He jumped, trying to reach the Egyptian sword he hid behind his coat; it wasn't there though. And if that wasn't enough, his hands were tied together behind his back. Well, someone definitely didn't want him to escape.

"Hey, hey, take it easy!" a whispering voice came from nearby. Carter assumed it was from the owner of those dark pair of eyes, who'd disappeared from his sight just as quickly as he had shown up. "Don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt you. Can't say the same about them, though…"

Carter looked around him and bitterly realized he was concealed inside a cage. Then as his eyes got used to the reddish dim light of his surroundings, he saw that there were other people there; dark skinned people who seemed as terrified as himself about what was just about to happen. They spoke at each other in whispers, as if waiting for something.

"What is this place?" Carter muttered to himself.

"No idea… My guess is that this is somewhere under the drugstore." The man near him answered. Carter looked around, seeking for the source of the voice.

What he found was an old man, with tired eyes and a wrinkled face that looked calm and wise. He was well dressed, with a dark elegant overcoat and a grey striped scarf. He was as thin as a stick – his arm looked as if it would easily break in two in an arm wrestling.

Carter decided he definitely couldn't count on him to cover his back when he escaped.

"Do you have any idea of what they want with us?"

The old man shook his head negatively, looking tired.

Carter closed his eyes, trying to think straight. He felt the ropes around his wrists, making an effort to figure out a way of getting rid of those things. Yet, even if he did untie himself, what would he do to get away from the cage?

So you fell straight into the trap, a voice inside his head echoed half disapprovingly, half sarcastic.

Shut up, Carter answered, trying his best not to say anything out loud.

You sure you don't need my help? Or perhaps the whole pharaoh thing's already got to your head?

Just shut up, Horus. I need to think, alright? And another voice inside my head is definitely not helping.

Fine, then. The god replied, his voice assuming a hurt tone. It took much of Carter not to roll his eyes in front of the old man. After all, he couldn't afford that man who could possibly help him in his way out to think he was crazy.

And yet, despite being unbelievably annoying, the short conversation with Horus had given him an idea. He analyzed the bars of his prison, and then looked for the locker. His eyes ran through the room they were being kept into, looking for the keys and his khopesh.

That was when he saw something that made him sigh in relief, feel extremely worried and, most of all, completely annoyed him. For hidden in a corner of the dark room, Sadie lurked, her wand ready in her hand.


Without warning, and before Carter could do a thing, a door he hadn't noticed before opened, and all attentions were turned toward the man who came in. He was huge – so huge he had to bend almost to the half to pass through the door. His skin was the darkest of them all; in fact, Carter didn't believe he'd ever seen a man with a skin darker than his in his whole life. It seemed to absorb all the clarity, all the light in the ambience and together with his size the impression given was that he filled the whole room, leaving Carter with a claustrophobic feeling.

Yet the most curious thing about the man was not his size, but his one eye. And it wasn't as fi he was a one-eyed man with a patch in the place where his other eye should've been. It would certainly be less disturbing if it was the case. But no, things just couldn't be so simple.

For his one eye was exactly in the middle of the man's forehead, staring straight to Carter.

He gulped as the monster approached, observing him carefully. Carter fought the urgency to run away, knowing that if he did so the old man next to him would be in trouble.

"So, Carter Kane, isn't it so?" the one-eyed man grinned at him, his eyes glittering with pleasure. "I was told I might get your visit any day. Perhaps I should invite you to banquet with us, such an important visitor." He was solemn for a moment and Carter almost believed in his words. Then the huge guy looked around to the men staring at them and burst into laugh.

People around him followed his act by giggling nervously, just like in those blockbuster movies where the villain was as stupid as a door and his minions just followed his steps for not being toasted to death – or anything like it.

"I'm sorry, man, but I didn't quite understand the joke." He spoke as naively and bluntly as he could, trying to buy some time for Sadie to create a plan.

All the laughter abruptly stopped. People around him shivered, looking terrified. The monster in front of him observed him quietly with his one eye for a moment, and then his lips curved into an evil smile.

"Do you see that oven on the corner, over there?" He pointed with his head, still with his eye on Carter. His tone of voice was deep and slow, almost lecturing. "That's where you'll spend the rest of the evening, boy. And then, here." And he massaged his protruding belly, smiling delightedly.

There was a moment of deep silence. Then, unexpectedly a loud noise of metal hitting the ground echoed in the room. Carter felt all human breaths being held all at the same time, as the tyrant turned to see what had caused the noise.

Sadie was crouching on the floor, her hand extended to take a frying pan the size of her torso, her face comically frozen in an expression of "I-just-screwed-it".

"Oops", she said.

The giant man didn't think twice and charged toward her. Carter took the moment to change; he felt his body shrink and his desire for eating rats increase. His vision became sharper and the ropes around his wrists got loosened and then fell.

The old man next to him gaped in silence, his eyes wide open in utter surprise.

Carter took an impulse and threw himself in the gap between two metal bars of his cage. He opened then his wings to float and passed quickly by the one-eyed guy's side, being careful not to get hit by his huge clumsy arms.

The frying pan flew to the guy's torso, which only made him hesitate and smile.

"So you must be Sadie Kane. I was wondering if you'd never show up." His voice had changed disturbingly, turning identical to Carter's. "Don't worry, kiddo, I ain't gonna hurt you."

Sadie observed him as if a strange paradox had just shown up in front of her and she just couldn't decide what to do. Carter took the opportunity to attack, grabbing the face of his captor with both his sharp claws.

The man screamed, furiously. Suddenly, there were brown feathers everywhere, spreading as they struggled, one to free himself, the other not to get thrown away. Carter felt his blood speed up inside his body and his head get dizzy as the "man" shook himself desperately. He knew he had few time, and he wouldn't get a better chance any time soon. He felt a huge hand grab him by the tail, yet he still didn't let go. He was almost in the perfect position…

Then there was it. Carter saw the moment of comprehension in the single eye and a glimpse of fear come out of this. Yet he didn't have time for mercy; not when he was going to be cooked for dinner. He aimed his beak straight to the big, round eyeball. He hit it.

The roar that came next was certainly the most painful Carter had ever listened to. For it wasn't only of physical pain – there was frustration, deep hatred, excruciating agony. Carter's claws lost the grip just then and he was thrown away, hitting the wall and falling unconsciously to the floor.

An explosion of curses, roars followed and the huge fists that broke just about anything in front of it. Sadie went toward his brother, collecting him from the ground. She thanked mutely for the fact he was still in his falcon form. Then, remembering the old man in carter's cell, she ran toward it.

She was surprised to find the door open and even smiled for a moment as she found a picklock near the door.

Then she silently climbed the stairs she'd come from, hoping none of the minions would follow her. The monster inside cried furiously, but she could only hear fragments which sounded as "I'm going to kill you" and "Eat you alive". Some really happy stuff.

She was back in the store grounds when she saw a muscular dark-skinned man standing by the glass door along with the old man. The latter smiled, looking impressively in a good mood.

"So you kids are alright, after all."

Sadie hesitated, observing the other man carefully. She knew him to be one of the minions of the crazed guy underground – she'd seen him before. Yet he didn't look mean at all; instead, a guilty expression filled his face.

"I'm sorry for all this." He said as she passed by him with suspicion on her face.

"So am I", she replied, angrily.

"We'll try to deal with him now. But there's no guarantee we'll manage to do so." He shrugged.

Then a desperate voice downstairs called desperately: "Jack! Where are you?"

"Well, I gotta go." He hurried down there, where the smashing and screaming sounds only got louder. Sadie stood there, observing the dark hole that was the door which led to the monster and for a moment she wondered if they hadn't made the lives of those people even worse.

Then she shook her head and carried her falcon-brother back to their home.


A/N:

Again, what do you think? :) Good, bad, needs improvement? I know it's confusing by now, but hopefully things will get cleared up soon.

So please review! I'll try updating as soon as I can.

Also, thanks for those who have reviewed so far :D I really appreciate that!