Disclaimer: I do not own The Mummy, The Mummy Returns or even The Curse of the Dragon Emperor. If I did, Ardeth Bay would have a bigger part and Curse of the Dragon Emperor would have never been shown in cinemas without Ardeth Bay. Thank you.

7 Flight Through The Sand

"May the Goddess protect us."

As the words left the woman's lips, the rest of the group turned to look too. What Ardeth saw filled him with dread. A huge, swirling sand storm was heading right towards them.

"Rick!" Evelyn cried out in alarm.

Rick hushed her but his eyes showed despair. Ardeth was worried too; the sand storm looked big enough to bury the temple … and the people inside it.

The strange warriors hurriedly spoke among themselves; Ardeth strained to hear their whispered conversation.

"Keaira! What do we do?" Khepri asked urgently.

"We still have time to make it to the Home Temple." Keaira said.

"What about them?" Khepri jerked her head at the O'Connells and Ardeth.

"I don't know! We can't bring them to the Home Temple!"

"They'll die!"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Make a decision!"

"But…!"

"No! Keaira, this is not the time! Do we leave them or not?"

Ardeth watched the woman who now held their lives in her hands. She turned to study Ardeth and the O'Connells…her eyes lingering on Alex. Then she glanced back at the storm and back at the child. It was easy to see her mind was in turmoil.

"Keaira!"

Her face screwed up then …

"We bring them! I won't have their lives on my conscience!"

Ardeth let out the breath he had been holding. Thank the Lord.

Keaira whistled shrilly, she began to whistle a second time and Ardeth wondered what sort of signal it was. Then he heard the rumble of horse hooves. His horse and the O'Connells' horses appeared, galloping. This surprised him until Ardeth saw four more horses appear, right at the tails of their horses. To his bewilderment, it almost seemed like the new horses were…herding…the other horses.

"How did our horses get loose?" Jonathan asked.

"They probably pulled their picket lines when they sensed the storm coming." Ardeth said, wrapping his head scarf more securely around his face.

"Enough talk!" Keaira shouted, "Khepri, can Tahirah ride?"

"I can, Keaira." Said the other warrior, mounting …her? horse without help.

Keaira nodded then rapidly gave directions. Unlike before when she spoke mostly English, her speech changed now, becoming older and different. Ardeth didn't understand a word yet it sounded strangely familiar.

Ardeth felt Evelyn grasp his arm tightly. When he turned to look at her she had an awed expression on her face.

"She's speaking ancient Egyptian!" she hissed at Ardeth.

What? Impossible!

The green-eyed woman finished giving her instructions and turned to them. She began to explain:

"The four of us will form a box around you." She said, "Keep the woman and child in the middle. I'll be in front so follow me. The other three will make sure you won't stray."

In other words, they were virtually prisoners and had no escape. Ardeth really didn't like this. But what else could he do? This strange woman warrior was their only hope of surviving the storm. If Ardeth was alone he was sure he could survive but with Evelyn and Alex with us, Ardeth was not as optimistic.

"Why should we trust you?" O'Connell asked.

Keaira gave him a cold look, "Because the alternative is death. Now, get on your horses!"

Ardeth saw the look on O'Connell's face and cut him off by mounting his own black horse. When he saw Ardeth ready to follow, O'Connell had no choice except to follow. The others also got on their horses. Ardeth watched the woman…Keaira…mount a pure white mare. She took up point position with me directly behind her. The other warriors boxed them in. Truth be told, Ardeth felt like a sheep being herded along.

"Quickly now, before the storm hits us!" Keaira ordered.

Ardeth's mind was still reeling from all that he'd seen. But he had no time to dwell long on his pondering. Ardeth pushed his colliding thoughts aside. His mind needed to be on what he was doing now. This could be true and if so Ardeth needed to protect his land. If this was a huge trap…then…heads would roll.

In front of Ardeth, Keaira spurred her horse into a fast gallop. Ardeth and the others quickly followed. Still in tight formation, they raced away from the rapidly approaching sandstorm. It was worse than the storm Imotep had sent. It seemed almost…alive. Ardeth swear he could hear it screaming and wailing.

"Don't listen."

Ardeth looked away from the storm and stared at the white-robed warrior beside me…Khepri, he remembered, was he a she too?

"What?" Ardeth asked.

"Don't listen to the voices; they seek to draw you into the storm. They are Sethikhopshijef's minions. They can't hurt you…as long as you pay them no heed."

Ardeth nodded tersely and focused his gaze on the desert before them. He was about to wonder where exactly 'Home Temple' was when he heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Keaira!" Khepri sounded distressed; when she spoke again Ardeth couldn't understand.

Ardeth felt Evelyn's horse move closer to mine. He unobtrusively leaned closer to her so he could hear.

"He said something like…He released the dust daemons…Ardeth, what are 'dust daemons'?"

Ardeth shook his head. He didn't know. Whatever it was it made Keaira and the rest of the warriors anxious.

"We must go faster!" Keaira shouted over her shoulder.

Ardeth urged his horse after Keaira's. They hadn't gone a hundred yards when a large beast appeared out of the sand. Ardeth heard Keaira stifle a gasp and Evelyn, Jonathan and Alex scream. Before the medjai could really see the beast, Keaira had raised her strange weapon and stabbed at it. It let loose a terrible scream before turning to dust…

Dust…it was made of sand…could this be a 'dust daemon'?

Ardeth had no time for more wondering because just as suddenly as the first appeared, more sprung up and before he knew it they were surrounded.

"Khepri, get Tahirah and the outsiders to the Home Temple!" Keaira shouted, gripping her weapon tightly.

"Keaira!" the wounded warrior interrupted, "Keep Khepri with you. I can bring the others to safety."

Ardeth watched them lock eyes for a second before Keaira curtly nodded and turned away.

"We'll charge them at that point." Keaira said, jerking her head to one side, "We can break their circle then Tahirah, you take the outsiders with you. Khepri, Aziza and I will do what needs to be done."

"I'll send Bahiti to you with reinforcements if I see her." Tahirah said.

"Let's do it then."

Ardeth made a decision then. These strange warriors had protected him before, he who should be protecting others. He would allow this no more. His duty as Med-jai made his path clear. Ardeth would not leave these strangers to fend for themselves.

"NOW!" Keaira yelled.

They galloped as fast as their horses could to the line of beasts that had been slowly moving forward. As they neared Ardeth saw that they were made from sand. They looked vaguely human. It was as if someone had made a doll and left it half-finished. Ardeth's heart grew cold when he saw them changing, lines becoming straighter—more detailed…worse where the weapons that grew from their hands.

The riders hit them before they were fully formed and broke their circle easily. The…dust daemons…chased them, rapidly taking shape.

In one smooth movement, Keaira and two of the warriors spun their mounts around to face the approaching monsters.

"Tahirah, take them and go!"

Ardeth motioned Evelyn, Alex and Jonathan to follow. Tahirah didn't notice that two of those she was supposed to be leading weren't following.

"Are you mad?" Keaira demanded when she noticed them.

"No." Ardeth said calmly.

"Go! Leave now!"

"No."

"Keaira!"

The daemons were a minute away…

"Aurgh! I don't care anymore!" the woman yelled, "Die for all I care!"

Ardeth wasn't able to answer because then those strange beasts reached them.

To Be Continued

Update: 5/4/12

Hi, someone mentioned that the priestesses don't have Egyptian names. To my chagrin, I realized my mistake. I didn't change anything from the plot. I simply changed the names.

Previous name – Present name

Adara – Aziza

Fareeda – Khepri

Glabsil – Bahiti

Keaira is actually a Celtic name but I'm keeping it for story purposes. Keaira has an Egyptian name, just think of 'Keaira' as a nickname.

Chapter 11 is almost done, I swear.

Thanks,

Sparkalie

Update: 7/14/13

Switching all chapters to 3rd Person but still in Ardeth's POV. Sorry guys, I got dizzy staring at all those I's.

Also, sorry for not updating for ages. I'm posting Chapter 12 together with these edited previous chapters.

Struggling Student,

Sparkalie