A/N: Okay, I'm REALLY sorry about the lack of updates. I had massive writers block on this, which was fixed in about 2 seconds this afternoon. So yeah, super long chapter, but you guys deserve it, thank you for waiting. And thanks for all of your reviews!
Amun Ra, Amun Dei
"Look what Sarah and I found!" Evelyn exclaimed as we walked up to the group by the fire. "Scarab skeletons, flesh eaters." She explained for them, as they all looked confused.
"We found them inside our, friends, coffin." I said, sitting down next to my dad.
"So," Rick stared, catching on to what we were saying "someone threw these in with our guy and then they slowly ate him alive?"
"Very slowly." Evelyn and I said at the same time.
"Well, he certainly wasn't a popular fellow when they planted him, now, was he?" Jonathan said, joking.
"No, probably got a little too frisky with the Pharaoh's daughter." Rick said, and Evelyn laughed.
"Well, according to my readings, our friend was a victim of the Hom Dai, the worst of all ancient curses." She said, suddenly getting serious, "In all of my research I've never heard of this curse having actually been preformed."
"That bad, huh?" Rick asked.
I spoke up. "Well, they never used it because they feared it so."
Evelyn smiled at me, then turned back to Rick. "See, it's written that; if a victim of the Hom Dai should ever arise, he would bring with him the Ten Plagues of Egypt."
I noticed that Dad and Uncle Mark and Andrew were really quiet, usually they'd be making jokes about the mummy and talking, but I knew better than to ask. If it was really serious, I figured they would tell me later. And if they didn't, then I'd ask, and I wouldn't stop bugging them until they told me.
"Well." Jonathan said lightly, blowing off the whole 'curse' thing. "I think I'm going to go have a drink and turn in."
"Good night." The group said at the same time. I looked around, suddenly I wanted to go walking again. I knew dad would kill me if I went inside the city, but I should be fine if I just walked around outside. Besides, I hadn't gotten my chance to go exploring last night.
"I'm going for a walk." I announced, getting up. Dad looked like he was about to protest, so I said quickly. "Not inside the city, Dad, just on the outside."
"Okay." He nodded, and I walked off, putting the scarab skeletons inside my pocket. Most of the columns that still had hieroglyphics were on the other side of the city, most of the ones that were on what I'd come to think of as 'our side' of the city were worn away already. I climbed onto the 'sand wall' again, and started to walk around the city again. I didn't really know what I was looking for, but I realized soon after coming to an interesting looking column that I wouldn't be able to read anything, I hadn't brought a torch or flashlight, and there was no firelight to read by out on this side. Sighing, I climbed over a few things, just aimlessly walking now.
"Sarah!" I could hear my dad's voice alright, it was a little faint, but audible, the city wasn't that big. I'd have to be on the other wall not to hear him.
"Yeah dad?" I yelled back.
"Come on back, it's time for you to go to bed!" He yelled. That meant that he, Uncle Mark, and Uncle Andrew were going to bed, and he wanted me to come back so that I wouldn't sneak off into the inside of the City. Sighing, I scrambled back down a fallen column that I'd been in the process of getting over. This city really was interesting. Maybe I could get Evelyn to explore the outside of it with me one night, where no one was awake to bug us. It was nice on the other side of it, although there was a little less room, as a lot of columns and things had fallen over already, and so it wasn't very good for camping. But maybe that's why I thought it was so nice. Dad had always said that I was like Mom, happy to be around people, but loving the quiet places even better. I jumped over a partial wall that I had climbed around before, and found myself closer to the campsite than I would have guessed. I guess that there was something to be said for taking random shortcuts. I looked behind me, and saw that I had jumped over an entrance. I stared at the gaping black hole. I'd never been afraid of the dark, but for some reason I really wanted to get away from this entrance. The fact that I found it familiar, and that I felt like there was something evil inside of it was starting to really make me nervous.
"Sarah!" My dad's voice was a lot closer now, and I was grateful for something to snap my brain out of staring at the entrance.
"Right here dad!" I yelled back, and walked toward him, though I wanted to run. It seemed like forever before I felt like I was safe, I don't know why I felt threatened in the first place, it was just one of those feelings. I walked toward the firelight, and found Dad standing outside of the tent, his back to me, looking for me.
"Um, Dad?" I said, slightly loud to get his attention. He spun around, before realizing it was me.
"Sorry." He apologized when I stared at him. "This place just gives me the creeps, that's all."
"It's fine." I smiled, walking into the tent. I sat down, then decided now was the perfect time to ask questions.
"Okay." I started. "What's going on?" Dad stared at me as he sat down, and Uncle Mark and Uncle Andrew looked up from whatever they'd been doing.
"What do you mean 'what's going on?'" Uncle Mark asked.
"You guys are really jumpy, and you have been ever since Evelyn and I told you about the Hom Dai curse and the mummy we found." I said. "Why?"
"Um." Dad started, then he turned to Uncle Andrew, who was better than him and Uncle Mark at explaining things. "Do you want to tell her?"
"Sure." Uncle Andrew said, then turned to me. "See, when we found those jars earlier today, we had to open this chest."
"So there was a chest in the secret compartment?" I interrupted excitedly.
Fortunatly, Uncle Andrew is also okay with interruptions, he's a lot more patient. "Yes, and we opened it. But there was this curse on the chest, and it said that if someone was brought back to life, he would kill the people who opened the chest and regenerate, kind of, rebuild himself, with their organs and fluids."
I knew where he was going. "So, when Evelyn told you that there was a mummy with a curse on it in the city, you guys got nervous."
"Yes, but, that's not the reason. I mean, a mummy with a curse on it, that's pretty scary already, but the Doctor found this book. And he said it was the book of the dead."
I felt my eyes widening. "So, basically, if someone reads the book, and brings my little friend in there back to life, then he'll kill you, along with bringing back the Ten Plagues." This was bad, this was really bad. "Oh dear." Was all I could say. This was beyond bad, what if the doctor got the book opened, and was curious and read it, or what if Evelyn stole it, she could do it, I knew that, and read it? I knew that the book would have to be read out loud, but I didn't know how good Jonathan was with hieroglyphs, what if he couldn't read it, but wanted Evelyn to read it out loud to him?
"I need to go." I said, standing up suddenly. "I need to go warn Evelyn not to-" But I cut myself off as we heard the Doctor screaming
"NO! You must not read from the book!"
My eyes opened wider. She'd done it. She'd read it. My family was, basically, dead. We stumbled out of the tent, and stopped.
"What's that buzzing noise?" Uncle Andrew asked.
"Um, maybe" I wracked my brain for what I could remember the Bible saying about the Plagues "Um- locusts?"
"RUN!" Rick yelled, and before I could blink, Dad had grabbed me, and was running toward the inside of the city. Once we were inside, my brain started to panic. The threat wasn't outside, it was in here. I was safe, so I didn't really care where I was, but I didn't want Dad, Uncle Mark, and Uncle Andrew to be in here any longer than we absolutely had to. They, however, must've thought that they could out run and out hide a cursed creature, as they kept running through the hallways. Finally, they slowed down.
"Dad, I can run!" I said "Besides, we're safe now, if the locusts were any threat before."
Dad nodded, and let me down. No sooner had he done that, that we felt the ground give a violent shake. Were there earthquakes out here? I didn't think there were.
Suddenly we heard the sound of little beetles on the path ahead of us, getting closer. I panicked, realizing what was the only beetle that would probably be down here, the living version of the skeletons in my pocket.
"RUN!" I screamed turning around immediately, running past Beni and the diggers. "THOSE ARE SCARABS!"
Now they got the message. Moving immediately, they were soon right behind me. I ran right, along the path that we'd taken coming down here, thinking that they were following me. I stopped when I realized that they weren't behind me. I was just glad that I'd been holding Dad's torch, and that Uncle Mark had one with him.
Suddenly I heard moaning. Who was that? I ran along the path toward the sound. I turned the corner and-
"Uncle Andrew!" I yelled, recognizing him. What was wrong? Why was he on the ground in the first place? He turned his head toward me, and I screamed. He had no eyes!
"H-he did it." He gurgled. I realized that he had no tongue either. "He t-took my eyes, and my t-tongue."
I didn't know what else to do, and I dropped down next to him. I didn't know how to get us out of here, I wasn't strong enough to carry him on my back. But if the thing came back, I wasn't too much use against him either. All I had were a few scarab skeletons, a brilliant weapon that would be.
Suddenly I heard running footsteps. I picked up the torch, ready to set something on fire. A group of men turned the corner. The one that appeared to be their leader looked at us in surprise. He walked toward me, bending down next to me.
"What happened to him?" He asked urgently.
"There's this- thing walking around in here." I said, realizing this wasn't a good explanation. "It's a mummy. My best friend accidentally brought it back to life. But she didn't know what she was doing. And my dad and Uncles opened up a cursed chest. And-"
"Say no more." The man obviously understood my horrible explanation. He motioned to two of the people with him, and they walked over and picked up Uncle Andrew, who, when I didn't protest, assumed that it was alright.
"Are you in any danger?" The man asked me.
"No." I said. "But my dad is, and so is my other uncle, and I don't know where they are."
"How much do you know about this Creature?" He asked.
"Only a little." I said. "That he was cursed by the Hom Dai. And that he's evil."
"I will tell you this." He said. "The Creature is afraid of cats. Because they're-"
"The Guardians of the Underworld." I interrupted. He looked at me. "Sorry." I apologized. I really need to work on not interrupting.
"Don't be." He said. "I did not expect you to know that."
"My mother told me." I said. "She was an Egyptologist."
"Where is your mother?" He asked, I supposed that he wanted to inform her about this Creature.
"She died when I was three." I said.
"I am sorry." He said, standing up, then helped me up.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Ardeth Bay." He said. "What is your's?"
"Sarah. Sarah Daniels." I said, holding out my hand. He took it.
"Don't worry, Sarah, I will lead you out of here, and I assure you that we'll try and destroy this creature as soon as possible." He said.
We got out of the city, and I sat down in the sand. The locusts were gone. I guessed that these plagues didn't last as long as the one's in the Bible did.
"Sarah!" Dad screamed as he ran out of the City. He picked me up, hugging me. "I thought that you'd gotten lost."
"Um, Dad?" The men with Ardeth were pointing guns at us. He looked over my shoulder, and put me down slowly. I looked at them, where was Uncle Andrew?
"I told you to leave or die." Ardeth said. "You refused. And now you may have killed us all. For you have unleashed the creature that we have feared for more than 3,000 years."
"Relax." Rick said. "I got him."
"No moral weapon can kill this creature." Ardeth said. "He is not of this world."
Then two of the men that had taken Uncle Andrew brought him forward again. I guessed that Ardeth had wanted to get what he was saying in first.
"What did you do to him?" Uncle Mark's voice carried a dangerous undertone.
"We saved him." Ardeth said. Which, really, they had. I had just found him. And I wouldn't have been able to do anything to the Creature if he'd come back. "We saved him before he finishes you all. Yellah, Nemshi." He motioned to the men with him, and they walked away.
"We must now go on the hunt, and try to find a way to kill him." He said, walking in the direction that his men had. Rick said something to him, but I didn't care. I turned to Uncle Andrew, who's head was in my lap. I dug through my pockets, hoping to find some cloth to cover his eyes. Normally I would have ripped cloth off my dress, but it was so dirty that it would infect them the same as if we left his eyes uncovered. I pulled out a bandana that I hadn't worn yet, and it was still clean.
"Sarah, what are you-" Dad started, then realized what I was doing.
"His sockets will get infected if we leave them uncovered." I explained anyway. "We can get something cleaner when we get back to the Fort."
I sat with Uncle Andrew as everyone scrambled to pack up necessary belongings, leaving the tents and extra animals. They were already unbridled, and the horses had already run off. The warden's camel was still here, but on the other side, and we didn't bother about it.
"How are we going to make sure he doesn't fall off?" Dad asked Uncle Mark.
"Tie him to the saddle and to me." I spoke up, and they turned toward me. "I'll control his horse."
"Okay." Uncle Mark said, bringing the horse over. I got on, and they lifted Uncle Andrew on behind me. They tied his feet to the stirrups, I was too short to use them anyway, and tied a rope connecting his belt to the back of the saddle, then made one giant loop around both his and my waists.
"Something tells me that you'll need extra help." Uncle Mark said, and I realized that I was still too short to have my feet in the stirrups properly. He tied a rope to the horses bridle, getting on his, Dad's horse was right behind us.
"Is he going to be alright?" Rick asked from on top of his camel.
"Yes." Uncle Mark replied, kicking his horse forward, Uncle Andrew's horse walked forward too.
"Let's go then."