A New Life

Taimat grunted and slid into the murky waters of the Nile. The dragon slithered through the current until she was pulled under by a massive female crocodile. Taimat grabbed the beast in her front paws and pulled her to the surface. "Monitor," Taimat shouted, "is this her?"

Monitor looked closely at the struggling beast and nodded. "That's Crocodile!"

"All right! I'm bringing her to you!" Taimat pulled Crocodile through the water and dragged her, still struggling, onto the muddy bank to rest in front of Monitor. "She is scared and mad. Otherwise she never would have attacked me. She recognizes you though."

Sure enough the scaled beast was looking at Monitor like one looks at an old friend. Monitor gently patted Crocodile's brow with a smile. "Don't worry my friend. We will get you back to normal soon."

Crocodile rumbled quietly and closed her pale blue eyes. Taimat looked over the beast with knowing eyes. "She cannot walk back, the palace is too far and her legs are not suited for such travel. I will have to carry her and fly back. This will be rather difficult if she doesn't trust me. Monitor, she needs to know that I am a friend."

The girl leaned close to Crocodile and whispered something to the reptile. Crocodile opened her eyes and turned her gaze to Taimat. The dragon gently picked up the now-calm animal in her forepaws and waited for Monitor to climb onto her back before flapping her wings and taking to the air.

…

Seto looked at Crocodile, shock evident on his face. "I cannot see how a human can be turned into such a beast. This would frighten even the bravest of warriors."

"She is frightened Seto," Taimat sighed. "She attacked me. No crocodile or human would strike at me unless they were frightened or foolish." She lazily scratched her belly and curled up right where she was. "I want to rest a bit before we start to look for the next changed villager. I will not leave here until I have slept a while. Perhaps tomorrow we can resume the search." The dragon yawned and rested her chin on her forepaws.

Atem just stood quietly next to Apis and sweat-dropped. "I will never understand that dragon in a million years." He shook his head and looked at the bull beside him. "You, my friend, are lucky. You don't have to deal with such a fickle beast. She can be talking one moment, trying to kill someone the next, and start crying right after that."

Mana laughed. She was cradling the baby Imhotep in her arms. "Atem, she is a woman like Isis and myself. It is in her nature to have sudden mood changes. And a dragon must have drastic changes in order to protect herself and others. That is how the gods made us women. Although, I will admit that even Taimat's mood changes are a bit drastic, even for a dragon."

Monitor looked up from Crocodile and giggled. "I wouldn't know. I have never been around dragons in my life. This is my first experience with dragons. She doesn't seem that fickle to me but then again I am a young woman myself."

Atem sighed and whispered to Apis, "I feel sorry for you. Being surrounded by so many women and their fickle personalities makes a man lose his sanity. The last thing I ever wanted was to be around people so fickle."

"Atem! Watch your language!" Taimat laughed at the Pharaoh's expression. "Are we going to stand around and talk about how fickle women are or are you going to let me sleep?" The dragon lowered her head again and chuckled one last time. "Wake me at sunrise."

…

Atem gently shook Taimat's shoulders. "Taimat, the sun is rising now. It is time to learn where other villagers are. Come on, wake up." He continued to shake the dragon until her eyelids fluttered and she raised her head. "Come on. Monitor is waiting and Crocodile seems to have something to tell you."

Taimat yawned and stretched. "Alright, alright, I'm up, I'm up…" She looked at Crocodile and was silent for a long while. "She says Gazelle and Lioness might be heading to the palace right now. Apparently they had come several times prior to the disaster at the village. We will not have to go out to search for them."

A few minutes later a palace guard rushed in and whispered something to Atem. The Pharaoh listened and dismissed the guard before speaking. "There is a gazelle and a lioness standing just outside the palace. The guards are allowing them in so Monitor can identify them."

Just as the Pharaoh stopped speaking, the two animals bounded in and quickly nuzzled Monitor. "It's them," the girl said. "They look like they are doing well. I'm glad they came here. They lived in the house next to mine in the village and are like a brother and sister to me."

Mana smiled. "There are two less villagers to find. This is going very nicely if I do say so myself. We are making quick progress so far." She leaned over and kissed Atem's cheek. "I am sure we will find the others soon if we just keep looking. They were a small village where everyone knew each other and were all like family. They all share a bond that keeps them together and provides recognition between each other. If we keep looking they will come. Then we can try to work on turning them back."

Atem shook his head. "But we do not even know how many there are left to find. And we also do not know what forms they have taken. This will not be our easiest task but then again nothing has been easy for us since we were very young. But like you said Mana, if we keep looking they will come."

Taimat yawned and looked at Lioness for several minutes. "She says the last survivor by the name of Mamba has stayed in the village. He has been there since they fled and probably has not left yet. This should be our last trip. I just hope Mamba is really still there. I also hope we can turn everyone back. I will go find Mamba and bring him back. Monitor, come with me. If there are other mamba snakes there I want you to pick him out."

Monitor nodded. "Okay." She climbed onto Taimat's back and held tight as the dragon jumped into the air and flew off.

Okay, so the villagers are all back together, so it's almost over right? Guess again! As the plot unfurls it will send Egypt into another scheme to kill the Pharaoh. Keep reading!