A New Life
General's minions and the Egyptian Priests formed a ring around Taimat and her opponent. The two fighters circled the battlefield, never looking away from each other. General casually sauntered with the semblance of a smirk on his face. Taimat padded on all fours, wildly lashing her tail and snarling ferociously. There was a loud gunshot and the two lunged at each other.
They met with a roar and grappled, trying to throw the other to the ground. Taimat's powerful leg muscles allowed her to move forward, causing General to slide back. However, his sharp claws easily pierced through Taimat's scales. The two were evenly matched. Taimat hissed.
"You are weaker than I remember," the dragon taunted. "Then again, I was dying anyway, so I did not stand much of a chance against you at the time. But now I am in my prime, ready to repay you for helping ruin my life!" She roared and flung General to the ground. She went to bite his throat. General held Taimat's mouth open with his hands. The dragon's teeth cut into his tough hide and venom seeped into the wounds.
"This pain is nothing," General grunted. He slowly pushed himself to his feet and tossed Taimat to the ground. The dragon hissed and rolled back onto her paws. The opponents locked again. A massive cloud of dust rose into the air and blocked the audience's view of the fight. Grunting, roaring, hissing, and other battle sounds rang out, overshadowed by Taimat's curses.
"Worthless bastard with a molecular heart! Damned coward! Ass-kissing son of a bitch! I'd love to see the pitiful whore who brought you into this world and give her a fist in the face! If you thought I could bitch before, then you have never seen me really bitch! I'll run your ass across the desert until it is nothing but a grain of what it used to be!"
The rest was cut off when General drove a fist into Taimat's jaw. The dragon threw her head back and the two separated. Their sides were heaving and blood mixed with sweat. They glared at each other for a moment before General rushed at Taimat, ready to slash her with a blade-like arm. Taimat grinned darkly and tilted her head pack. Light glowed between her slightly opened jaws. General saw this and tried to turn back but it was too late. Taimat jerked her head forward and hurled a ball of burning venom at her opponent. The attack hit head-on. General recoiled with a yell as the toxic flames consumed his body.
He was reduced to ashes. Taimat laughed. "I told hi-…" She lurched forward. Blood gushed from a new tear in her chest and belly. "Nh, how? Khah!" The dragon's eyes rolled back and she fell with a loud grunt. There was a snap and her right horn was shattered from the fall.
Atem gasped. "Taimat!" The Pharaoh pushed through the ring of onlookers and rushed to Taimat's side. "No. Taimat. Get up. Get up! Taimat!" Tears streamed down his cheeks and he cried into the fallen dragon's side.
The Priests talked worriedly amongst themselves. General's minions, without a leader, remained silent, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, there was a loud roar and the sound of beating wings. Peingk, the white drake, landed beside her friend and nuzzled Taimat's cheek with a whimper.
"Taimat, it is time to go home now. Wake up. You must get up and move onward. Please Taimat, wake up. Please."
Everyone was silent. The air was still and not a sound was heard for miles. The scene was deathly quiet. Atem had stopped crying. Not a soul dared to move.
"Mnfh…"
Everyone stiffened.
"Mnh… Hmn… Rrgh…" Taimat stirred and slowly blinked her right eye open. She blinked and took in the scene as best she could. "Mng, hruh!" She hauled herself to her paws and shook her head. The dragon rested her wing claws on the ground to support herself. She licked her lips and reached a shredded forepaw up to the stump of her horn. With a quick movement she yanked the stump out of her skull. Blood spattered the ground as Taimat dropped the stump in the sand.
"I win."
The Priests cheered at Taimat's plain statement. The dragon winced. Peingk helped her injured friend. The Priests raised their voices in a song of victory as Peingk led Taimat away from the battlefield. General's minions slowly followed the procession of celebration back to the palace.
…
"General was not the one behind this?!" Atem leaned back in his throne with a heavy sigh. "I do not believe this. Thank you for your help."
The humanoid minion bowed and quickly scurried away to join his kinsmen. The disoriented beasts had gathered in a dark corner of the main hall. The Priests were in their normal places flanking Atem's throne.
Pawsteps approached the entrance to the hall and Mountain bounded up to Atem. The tiger beast was panting heavily and her mouth was dry. "My Pharaoh, forgive me for interrupting, but it is urgent. There has been a disturbance in the north." The tiger paused and took a deep breath before she blurted out, "The dead return!" Mountain quickly turned around and bolted out of the main hall.
Atem stared after the white tiger and tried to make sense of the message. The humanoids chattered nervously and occasionally glanced at the Pharaoh. Fear was evident in their eyes and gibbering voices. An ominous aura filled the room. Mana shifted nervously.
A few minutes passed like this until Midnight Flight broke the silence by falling through the ceiling and crashing to the floor. She turned her head to look at Atem. Her red eyes were wide. "They are coming!" she rasped. The black dragon tried to roll onto her side but was too weak to do so. She went limp and looked ahead in fear.
The humanoids quickly gathered around the frightened beast and helped her to roll onto her side. Then they returned to their dark corner. By now the Priests were huddled together, nervously talking to one another. Midnight Flight whimpered and squeaked in fear and pain. A deathly chill swept through the hall, the stench of death and decay filling the room.
…
Taimat's eyes snapped open and she sat up with a gasp. Sweat drenched her upper body. She panted and shuddered with the sudden cold. She wrinkled her nose at a familiar stench. She looked around her chamber carefully.
It is as if a rotting carcass is decaying in here.
Taimat hung her tongue out of her mouth so she wouldn't have an obstruction while she breathed. She avoided breathing through her nose so she wouldn't have to smell the awful stench of rotting flesh. The dragon slowly turned and put her hind paws on the floor. She stood up and limped out of her room. She was barely in the hallway when the floor gave way beneath her. Taimat fell through and handed on her belly on the rubble below.
She spat out a mouthful of blood before scrambling to her paws. She ignored the pain running through her body and slowly padded out of the wrecked room. She carefully looked around and found her bearings. Taimat stood in the dungeon.
Great! Just great! Of all the places I could have fallen into, it had to be here! She shuddered. "I hate the dungeon." She followed the steps up and left the dungeon. A cold chill surrounded her. "Man, and I thought the dungeon was cold! It is a volcano compared to this!"
Something icy touched Taimat's shoulder. She slowly turned around and was face-to-face with a hideous rotting zombie. Taimat screamed. The high-pitched sound echoed throughout the palace. Taimat burst into the main hall only to be met by another horde of zombies. She screamed again. The zombies covered their ears and screeched in pain. A few seconds after that they all fell to dust. The scene shocked Taimat.
The Priests lay torn and bloodied on the floor. All but three were dead. They groaned in pain. Isis, Mana, and Seto struggled to their feet.
"Taimat," Isis huffed. "They… They came in and… took… the Pharaoh."
The frightened dragon rushed to support her injured friends. "Do you know where they took him? Where did they take Atem?"
"To…" Seto tried to speak but blood pooled in his throat and spilled out his mouth. Taimat sighed and settled down to let the others rest.
"Mana, is Imhotep safe?"
"Y-yes…" Mana sighed and hung her head.
Taimat left the three Priests where they were and continued out of the palace. She followed the stench of death to the Valley of the Kings. The zombies were leading a procession with Atem forced in the lead. Taimat watched in silent horror as her leader was thrown against a large stone altar. The zombies danced around in a frenzy.
Oh no! What am I going to do? What are they going to do? How could I have let this happen? No! This is- This is a nightmare! Just- Just a bad dream! This cannot be happening. It isn't real! Come on! Wake up Taimat wake up! I- I have to stop this! Somehow!
What can Taimat do? What are the zombies planning to do with Atem? Is this reality? Or is it just a horrific figment of Taimat's imagination? Can Atem be saved? Find out!