Chapter 4 – sorry for the delay, been so busy, then found this old thing and thought I'd throw it out, see what you guys think.

Ever his father's child Alex openly blurted out without thought upon entering Cassandra's large home. "Wow, this place is huge ! You must be rich!"

Evelyn quickly corrected her son's outburst with practiced skill. "Alex, be polite. You have a lovely home, Ms. He'kate"

An awkward moment of silence passed before she offered in return,"You may call me Cassandra, if you wish"

Again Alex piped up, "What about Cassy?"

"Alex!"

Frowning tightly, she replied "I'd rather you didn't…" her eyebrow twitched with slight annoyance. Clearly she wasn't too fond of children.

Rick redirected the conservation. "So where's the library anyway?"

Jonathan in turn interrupted, "Better yet, where's the bar? This place must have some sort of…entertainment area? I haven't had a drink since the museum. "

Evelyn shook her head. "Jonathan, I hardly think Cassandra is the type in indulge in that vile drink you call alcohol"

However Cassandra pointed down one hallway, as she walked towards another. "Go to the kitchen, ask the servants. They may find something to your liking. Down the hall, second door on the left"

Jonathan blinked "Oh, well…thank you" two seconds and he was already rushing down the hall.

"Rather generous of you…" Evelyn smiled, following after her with Alex and Rick.

"You have servants? You are rich!"

"I just don't want him anywhere near my books…or him for that matter" She scowled from Jonathan to Alex, to Rick

"He won't touch anything. Alex, best behaviour." Evelyn mothered, as usual. Cassandra looked like she had a lot of expensive antiques on display.

"The main library is up the stairs and through the double doors. We have 9 hours until sunrise. We had best start looking" she directed, marching ahead at a military pace. Pushing open the large double doors of the library Cassandra gestured for them to enter. It was awe inspiring, for a personal library. The hall was as big as the one in the museum, with shelves and bookcases stacked with texts and scriptures.

"Woah !" Alex gasped rushing around looking at the various displays and mounted artefacts. One looked like a mounted skeleton of a snake…with seven heads. "A hydra…" Alex gaped. "Cool…"

Even Evelyn was taken back. Her own collection wasn't nearly as impressive. Then again Cassandra didn't have two and half boisterous men in her life, them being Rick, Jonathan and Alex. Just last year Rick had taught Alex how to fire a slingshot, using her good china plates as target practice. "My goodness. This is quite a collection Cassandra. It must have taken years to collect all these. Where did you find them all?"

"Private collectors, auctions…good friends." She was deliberately vague.

Rick picked up on it right away, being the person that he was. Crossing his arms he inquired, "and how do you pay for all this exactly? Last time I checked security guards don't make this kind of money"

Cassandra glared at him, pouting her lips in the process. "You should not pry into other people's personal lives, Mr. O'Connell. Some may get easily offended…"

Evelyn quickly tried to defuse the situation, ushering Alex and Rick back towards the hallway. "Rick, why don't you take Alex to the kitchen and fix us something to eat. It's well pass supper time."

"Yes go. Now" Cassandra practically hissed, looking over her shoulder in contempt before stepping up on one the ladders level with the bookcase.

Ever the polite gentleman Rick causally remarked, "You don't like most men, do you?"

"Rick!"

"You're certainly not improving my opinion" Cassandra scoffed ready for yet another round of insults, armed with a heavy book for ammunition. Although she wasn't one for subtly, neither was O'Connell. Whilst opposite attract, positives caused friction, friction which Evelyn tried to derail by pushing him towards the door. "This is more our area of expertise dear, why don't you patrol the area, keep a look out or something manly like that. We'll be right here"

Rick grudgingly relented, glaring at Cassandra as he ushered Alex out with him.

Cassandra looked over at Evelyn with humoured disbelief once he had left the room. "Not the most charming of Western morons. He has the manners of a camel"

Rick yelled from down the hall. "I head that!"

Evelyn remembered having this argument with many of her friends and family after announcing their engagement and later marriage. Rick wasn't one to make a very good first impression. But he did have redeeming qualities. "He's a good man. Loyal, heroic, and a good father. He can surprise you."

"Defend him all you wish, Mrs. O'Connell. But to me, every man is no better than a snake. Waiting to bite the hand that feeds" Again Cassandra scowled, as if remembering something displeasing. She threw a book aside for later reading. She was so focused on searching through the texts she almost missed Evelyn speak.

"What about Ardeth?" Evelyn suggested.

Cassandra paused. "What about him?" She showed no open interest in the subject. She seemed more focused on the row of books she was searching through.

"You two seem to know eachother well. There's nothing more bonding than protecting the modern world from ancient Egyptian evils you know". Evelyn reminisced back to her own adventures with her husband. Exploring Egypt, fighting villains and saving the day. Despite the danger she looked blissfully content.

Emotion flickered across Cassandra's expression, all but briefly. Quickly she turned away, once more scoffing in her usual dismissive tone. "I find your point fair, but argument invalid. Let's focus on the task at hand. Stopping Amon".

All but briefly did the thought play on Cassandra's mind. Ardeth wasn't an unattractive man. He was masculine, a warrior, but also a scholar, a man of duty. Admirable traits. And yet it was duty that separated them. They would constantly have to look over their shoulders for any signs of trouble, run off to fight at the first hints of evil and battle it back from whence it came. Such a life would only go so far. Plus, there were other obstacles. Gazing down at her youthful, unblemished hand Cassandra was again reminded of the cold reality. Ardeth would eventually grow old and withered. And Cassandra, again looking at her hand, sighed.

"Sunrise waits for naught" She muttered, unheard by Evelyn. They continued long into the night, piously searching through every piece of texts they could find within the library.

Hours had passed. Cassandra wasn't sure how long she been asleep on the reception couch. She had directed Evelyn and Alex upstairs earlier to one of the spare rooms to sleep, everyone being physically exhausted from the trials of the previous night. Their hours of searching hadn't pulled up anything incredibly helpful. Their only hope was that Ardeth's endeavour had been more fruitful. It must have been the early hours of the morning when Cassandra was jolted awake by an uncomfortable heat and an unmistakable scent. She sniffed the air, startled when realization hit her. "Smoke !" She shot up from the couch, rushing the source of the blaze. The library. Smoke was quickly engulfing the corridors making is impossible to see. "O'Connells! Evelyn ! Alex!...Rick!"

No one replied. Through the darkening grey smoke she distinguished a humanoid shake ahead of her. She recognised it was one of her uniformed staff. "What happened?!" She approached the guard, slumped against one of the doorways. She had assumed he had fallen unconscious from smoke inhalation. But upon closer inspection did she find that the guard however was already dead, his windpipe visibly crushed with tremendous force. Without a second thought she charged into the library, taken back by the inferno that greeted her. In the middle of her library was a raging pyre. Flames reached as high as the ceiling, charring the once beautiful handcrafted mosaics. Ancient texts, rare books and works of great art were used to kindle the blaze. Priceless knowledge… consumed in a matter of moments.

From the darkened shadows, over the roar of the flames, the perpetrator revealed him-self with a guttural hiss "Cassandra…"

"Amon…" Turning to face him, she was visibly shocked. When did he become so… human?

He resembled more of the man he was once now, though his lower extremities were still fused in the single reptilian form of a serpent tail. Healthy bronze skin had replaced the hard greenish scales that once littered his entire body. The fearsome cobra hood no longer framed his sharp angular features. Instead straight glossy black hair hung passed his shoulders, featuring an odd braid or two, tied with golden trinkets and coins, matching the ornaments much like the ones that he wore around his arms and strappingly broad chest. Amongst Ancient Egypt's elite society, one often shaved their head completely, or kept very little of their real hair at all, often favouring wigs or other sorts of styles. Amon's hair showed his status, a bastard son. Elite by his father's blood, but not by pedigree of birth. Amon's presence in the palace was at first a juicy but minor scandal. As he grew older though, heads began to turn. He had the physique of a warrior, spending many hours channelling his frustration into productive sparring with the Pharaoh's Madjei protectors. Lean but well-toned muscular arms now replaced the hideously disfigured claws he previously sported in his last form. Cassandra could see it; in the few hours that passed he was already regaining both his strength, and his physical form. The heat radiating off the fire only helped to speed the process along. He absorbed the heat from flames, transforming it into kinetic energy within him.

Cassandra would be lying if she said she didn't find him at all attractive. Handsome, dare she say. Just like his father. The strong jaw, straight aristocrat nose, and high cheeks blended well together. He stared with eyes as dark as a starless night, looking at her in a mixture of longing and hunger. Like a predator hungrily eyeing its prey. Without breaking eye contact he threw another handful of books into the flames, revelling in the satisfying crackle of the ancient parchments.

Cassandra calmly cleared her throat, the heat and smoke of the fire slowly increasing. "I was reading those…" She didn't hide her annoyance.

He chuckled, nodding knowingly.

"You always liked books." He said almost reminiscently. Slithering on the belly of his tail, he roamed the length of the library, hand caressing over the shelves of archives. "Remember the nights we would sneak into the pharaoh's person library...The hours we spent reading what was forbidden." He toppled another bookcase, flinging it into the roaring bonfire with a flick of his tail. "You were my beautiful desert flower. Would you have asked for the world I would have given it to you"

"And you were a spoilt palace brat. The world was not yours to give" As he advanced on her, she withdrew. Like a slow paced tango, they circled the fire.

Finally Amon lost his patience. Like the honed cobra he was, he struck, circling around, cutting off any escape with his long tail acting like a barrier. He then advanced again, cornering her against one of the few standing bookcases stood against the wall. "You know why I am here, Cassandra. Return what you have stolen from me"

"I stole nothing" she said, sniffing dismissively.

"Years, you stole from me woman! Centuries spent in that accursed crypt."

"I would have visited, but who has time these days?" She stood her ground, refusing to show any sort of intimidation. "Your powers were scattered to the four corners of Egypt. Why come here, if that is what you seek?" The fire was still burning, heat and smoke making the room almost unbearable to withstand. Amon however, seemed unfazed.

"I seek and desire many things, sweet Cassandra…I seek power. I desire the world, in the palm of my hand, so that I may crush it if I so wished it. And you…" He placed his hands on either side of her head, forcing her back against the wall, trapped. He smiled down at her, the tail adding more height, even in the crouched position he was in. "I know you too well, Cassandra, more than you know your-self…you kept one, didn't you? One of my powers, bottled away, hidden somewhere in this very dwelling…you can't be any more parted from me than I can from you…" he seemed pleased with the thought. He inched forward, lips parting to meet hers, revealing the small set of fangs he still had.

She saw through his tactics however. Amon could charm any woman or snake into to do his bidding. Cassandra stopped him, resting her hand on his lips sternly. "Not a day has passed I haven't been reminded of your treachery" She fought to keep her expression as cold and immune as possible.

It caused Amon to grin. "And not a day has passed I haven't longed to feel the sweet touch of living flesh again…" his full lips brushed over her dainty digits as he spoke. His forked tongue snaked out to graze against them before she swatted him away.

He playfully shrugged off her rebuttal. "Where have you hidden my powers? I sense it is near…perhaps hidden amongst these very selves." He continued to press, tail lashing out again, shattering two bookcases in the process. The scrolls, papers and books scattered across the floor.

"How dare you…" she hissed, gritting her teeth in fury "I put you in the ground once, Amon. And I'll do it again"

He seemed amused by her threat, teasing cupping her cheek to prove his point. "You can try, my sweet. You can try…I won't underestimate you this time. It shall be a game, yes? And to the victor will go the spoils" There was only bookcase left standing, adorned with priceless statue busts and artefacts. With a devilish grin Amon destroyed it within seconds. The antiquities smashed into pieces on impact. The stone bust of the Goddess Bastet which Cassandra prized so greatly, shattered across the floor, relieving a hidden corked bottle inside it. Amon's fangs lengthen with anticipation. "Ah…there it is. The power over the seven desert winds"

"No!" Cassandra made a dash to grab it. Amon swung his tail back, slamming her back against the wall, with his hand coiled around her neck. He hissed warningly before extending his free hand, calling the bottle forth into his grasp with a satisfied sigh of relief. "One down, three to go". Just as he was about to uncork the bottle with his mouth the doors of the library swung open. Rick entered, pistols drawn.

"Cassandra!"

"How dare you interrupt us!" Amon hissed, baring his fangs hostility. His tail started to thrash, throwing rumble and debris at Rick as a deterrent. His hands were full at the moment, so he couldn't personally strangle the meddlesome human him-self.

"O'Connell! Get the bottle!" Cassandra shouted as she booted Amon in his gut with her heavy military issue boots. When Amon hunched over, winded, Rick started firing, aiming for the immortal's arm. He dropped the glass bottle when a bullet grazed his hand. The bottle clanked across the stone floor, and Rick made a dive for it.

Amon bellowed with rage, his jaw dislocating as his forked tongue shot out, ensnaring Rick's ankle and dragging him back from the bottle. His tail then swept the mortal back across the floor and into the doorway, stunning him briefly as Amon turned back to Cassandra.

"I will not be denied" he backhanded her with the cuff of his fist. Her head collided with surface of the wall, the force of the blow knocking her unconscious.

Clutching her limp form to his chest Amon made another attempt for the bottle, confident O'Connell would not fire upon him with Cassandra in such close proximity. Slithering across the hot marble floor Amon snatched the bottle, gnashing hi fangs as O'Connell aimed his pistols once again.

"Crap" Rick muttered, still slumped against the doorway, his vision blurred by the hard impact. He didn't have a clear shot, and the stream of blood running back from the back of his head wasn't helping.

"Defeat is bitter, mortal. Resign your-self and despair. You are not long for this world". Holding the bottle up for inspection one could see a visible gust of wind, circling within the small confinements of the bottle. Within his grasp the small bottle began to crack.

"Return to me power of the desert winds. Return to your master" The bottle shattered, releasing a barrage of howling winds. A whirlwind flooded the whole of the library, scattered rumble and feeding the still burning flames. Rick gasps for air, the sheer force of growing tornado, embed with the black smoke, caused a suffocating effect. He could physically feel the air sucked out from his lungs. Between the lack of oxygen, sheering heat and bleeding head wound, Rick's options looked bleak. The serpent man left him for dead, no longer interested in the mortal. He slithered aside, mustering the whirlwinds to him-self and Cassandra to form one great spiralling vortex. Like a desert mirage they were gone, the glass windows shattering in the process of their escape. The noise was rallying outside; the presence of the flames had drawn people's attention. People were shouting, nearby sirens were soon heard.

"Rick? Rick! Where are you?" Evelyn's cried over the thundering of the blaze. She held Alex tightly as they searched for her husband. Staff had ushered them out of the building, alerting them to fire. But once they were outside did they see the destructive blaze, erupting from the broken windows. Firefighters were on their way, many fearing the whole building would be engulfed, and take many of the other homes with it.

"Jonathan, I can't find Rick"

"I'm sure he's fine, he's been in worse situation, I'm sure-" They all stopped, watching in horror as the roof of library began to cave in. A black cloud of smoke bellowing out from the cracks.

"Rick?"

"Rick!"

A/N - To be continued…in the next chapter…maybe…if I get reiviews ! what do you guys think ?