CHAPTER 12

A man's scream pierced the air of the desert plains.

It was chilling, ripped from the throat of one man and followed by half a dozen more.

The screams were of pure fear, and emanated from Hamunaptra. Well, where else? This was the Sahara. There were no other people around for hundreds of miles.

Perry pulled her camel to a halt and glanced back at the ruins of the city.

The screams weren't faked, no part of a joke. Trouble had obviously seized the camp.

As she considered heading back, a new noise overtook the sounds of commotion. A clamourous array of clicking, screeching, buzzing noises, growing closer and closer. She couldn't fathom what would be causing such a ruckus, until she turned back to face the direction in which she had been heading.

What the—

The dark indigo sky was steadily growing darker, a massive blackness overtaking the natural blue. It was a swarm of something. Something that flew, something that such strange noises and travelled like a living storm cloud.

A swarm of... Locusts?

Locusts. Locusts that were heading straight towards Perry, and straight towards Hamunaptra.

Oh no.

She pulled on the reigns of her camels to turn it around, willing it to run as fast as possible back the way they came. The locusts were approaching, and soon she felt them, landing on her neck, her back, her arms, tickling and biting and nipping and stinging.

It was unreal, like something from a story. Like a plague.

Like one of the plagues?

Galloping as fast as possible and swatting bugs out of the way, she realised that these locusts had completely infiltrated the ruins of Hamunaptra.

The camp! Jonathan, Evie, Rick— they were all there! Consumed by locusts?

A lump formed in her throat, and her breathing became strained with emotion. What had they done?

She veered her camel away from the mass horde of insects streaming inside the city, directing it to travel around the other side. Surely there was some other place to take shelter, some place to get inside and find what remained of her friends?

The locusts, she noticed, weren't following her around the back of Hamunaptra. They had been heading only for the camp.

Why?

She had no idea— at least, no idea she wanted to come to terms with— but she didn't have much free time to ponder it, either.

A shot was fired. Her camel panicked and skidded to a halt.

She tried to steady it, but it was no use. She was flung from the creature's back, onto the sand far below.

The air was knocked out of her lungs.

The world around spun out of control, the stars in the sky swirling as if they would be sucked into the drain hole of the universe.

What just happened?

She was able to take a guess when a couple of tall, dark, robe-wearing figures loomed into her vertigo-consumed view.

"Are you alright?"

There was that voice again. That deep smooth accent which she couldn't respond to because she couldn't breathe.

She coughed and gasped for air, and nodded.

A hand appeared, closer to her face, offering help. She hesitated, and then grasped it firmly. The man to whom it belonged pulled her to her feet, steadying her once she arose.

She looked around.

Her camel had been reigned in by some more robed men, just up ahead, who were all sheltered in the shadows of the city's walls. These were the men who had been trying to kill them last night.

"Are you going to kill me?" she breathed.

"No."

"You shot my camel?"

"We shot near your camel. We had to stop you. The animal is not harmed."

She blinked to clear her blurry vision, but it was a while before she regained proper footing. Once her equilibrium balanced itself out and everything finally shifted into focus, she recognised those unmistakable eyes staring down at her.

Her opponent from yesterday— the man with the tattoos on his face— was just inches away from her. He was holding her shoulders, steadying her.

She blinked, and gasped for air again.

"What on Earth is happening?" she asked, terror resurfacing as she searched the sky for locusts.

"Your friends have unleashed the curse." he told her.

She took a step backwards, shrugging away from him.

"What? Do— do you mean the... Hom-Dai?"

He nodded, gravely.

"The curse of Imhotep."

Perry shut her eyes and shook her head. Desperately, she tried to shake herself from this dream, this nightmare. This couldn't be real. This wasn't happening.

But she could hear the clicking of the locusts, and feel the fierce ache in the back of her skull, and the chill of the desert on her face. There was no denying that this was indeed very, very real.

And if it was real for her, it was real for Jonathan and Evie and Rick.

"Are—Are they dead? We have to save my friends—"

The man placed a hand on her shoulder again, silencing her. The rest of the tribesmen were moving now, getting their guns and swords ready. What were they planning to do?

"We will save your friends if we can," he told her. "But I make no promise that they are alive."

Perry drew a deep breath.

"What is important right now is that you assist us in finding the remaining of them. A great evil now lurks within Hamunaptra."

The rest of the tribesmen darted off into the night, heading around the great walls and into the city.

Perry took this man's words into account. These men weren't her enemies, now: they were allies, pitted against something so horrific she couldn't begin to imagine its effect on them all.

She watched them move sleekly and silently, dark figures blending into the night.

"Who are you?" she asked. She was no longer breathless— her voice was firm.

"We are the Medjai." he said.

Perry looked him up and down. Yesterday, she and this stranger had been trying to slice each other's limbs off. Now, they were inches apart, neither hostile in the slightest. It was so... odd.

"And what is your name?"

He hesitated.

"I am Ardeth Bay."

Ardeth Bay. So, that was what the man was called.

Knowing somebody's name usually humanised them, gave one a sense of the other's identity. Yet, to Perry, Ardeth Bay was as mysterious now as he had been without any name at all.

"Well, Ardeth Bay..."

She reached into her satchel and pulled out Jonathan's pistol.

"... My name's Perry. And I am going to help you."

XxXxXx

The ruins were dark. They were always dark, of course, but this evening there was something dark in the nature of the air that flowed within them.

Pyrrah had never dared venture around inside the nooks and crannies of Hamunaptra without Jonathan, especially after nightfall.

But tonight there was something about the desolate tunnels and narrow corridors that just felt... wrong. Something that overwhelmed the fact it was past dark.

She shivered as the Medjai split up to search the underground rooms.

"Are you alright?"

She glanced at Ardeth Bay, who towered over her at her side.

He must have been a foot bigger than her in height. And this only made the thought of her leveling him in combat seem more absurd.

"Yes," she lied. "Just a little claustrophobic."

They were deep within the core of Hamunaptra now. Scuttling noises racked the walls and ceilings all around, and screams could frequently be heard in the distance.

Truthfully, Perry was terrified. Scared out of her wits, prepared for the worst. But she didn't dare show it.

Until, of course, she saw with her own eyes the very worst thing within Hamunaptra. The thing that the Medjai had been keeping them from uncovering.

Ardeth, she, and the group of following Medjai rounded a corner, and then stopped abruptly. Perry was held back from all angles, her shirt pulled and her arms yanked at until she was frozen on the spot and wouldn't attempt to move forward.

The fierce Medjai were all stood stock-still, eyes fixed on the end of the corridor. She followed their gazes, and spotted two figures up ahead.

Blurry shadows at the end of the darkened tunnel, Perry couldn't make out who they were.

She frowned and strained her eyes.

One figure was tall, massive and hulking and very odd. It didn't belong to anybody she had seen at the camp, and when she spotted it, that familiar feeling of dread bubbled up in her gut.

The other figure was writhing, muffled moans and groans coming from his body. Was that... Burns?

Perry blinked. What was she was watching?

Suddenly, she sucked in a breath as she realised what they were looking at.

Oh my goodness, she thought, I must be dreaming, this can't be real—

A scream travelled up from her chest, ready to burst out between her shaky breaths, but it was stopped when a hand clamped itself firmly over her mouth.

Ardeth raised a finger to his lips, motioning for her to be silent.

She nodded, but could barely contain herself. Her eyes felt like they were tricking her, her mind deceiving her, her legs wanted to buckle and her stomach wanted to turn itself inside out.

There, at the end of the tunnel, was the Mummy. Imhotep.

Living, moving, animated like a human.

The Hom-Dai was definitely, undeniably real.

Her breath hitched in her throat when the creature turned its head to the side, reacting to a noise. Luckily for she and the Medjai, it stalked off in the other direction.

It may have been distracted by another victim- God forbid it be Evie or Rick or Jonathan.

After a long, cautious wait, Ardeth whispered, "Go to him."

Perry dashed down the corridor, and knelt beside the limp body on the floor. Yes, it was Bernard Burns.

"Mr. Burns?" she whispered. "Mr. Burns!"

The footsteps of the Medjai followed her.

Burns was making some incomprehensible sounds, moans and gurgling noises. She lifted his head onto her lap and brushed the sweat-slicked hair off his forehead.

It was difficult to see in the dark, but as she peered closer, she realised why he wasn't speaking.

Hot liquid was streaming out of his mouth, which opened and closed like that of a dying fish. Occasionally, he choked on the thick liquid clogging up his esophagus.

Some of the liquid, which she quickly learned was blood, splattered out onto her clothes, droplets of it even spewing so far as to reach her neck.

The man's tongue had been ripped out.

And his eye sockets were no better. Bloody craters sat in his skull, raw and empty where his eyes had been torn straight out.

Perry hushed his senseless moans, stroking his forehead and attempting feebly to comfort the man. Her eyes welled up with tears.

"His eyes and his tongue have been torn out," she whispered to Ardeth, who was stood over them.

With shaky hands, she gently wiped the blood away from Burns' chin and cheeks, her fingers and palms and then wrists smearing the scarlet mess between her skin and his.

She sobbed, still trying to hush Burns. Her tears flowed freely now, falling and intermingling with the blood on her hands.

A scream echoed out up ahead.

"We must move quickly," Ardeth told her. "Your other friends must be found."

The Medjai scooped Burns out of Perry's arms and hoisted him up, dragging him into the darkness.

XxXxXx

Upon searching the front camp, they immediately found Dr. Chamberlain, clutching a large, black item to his chest and cowering in the wrecked campsite. The place was abandoned, spare the fez-wearing man.

Perry stepped up to him, followed closely by Ardeth and the other warriors.

"What happened?" she demanded, angrily.

She was trying to keep her emotions under control, but anger had long since taken over her sobbing. If Ardeth had seen her tears, however, he hadn't commented on them.

Dr. Chamberlain's breathing was shaky, he was covered in locusts, and all he could do was shake his head.

"Sh— She r-read f-from the b-book—" he stammered.

"What?" Perry snapped, unable to make out what he was trying to say. He tried again, but she silenced him.

She was about to turn to the Medjai, when she caught sight of what exactly the item in his arms was.

"What's that?" she asked.

He glanced down at the book, guiltily, and then hugged it tighter.

"A book? That's certainly not what I think it is... Is it?" she whispered, pointing to the object.

Over her shoulder, Ardeth spoke.

"That is the Book of the Dead. To read from it would awaken the creature."

Perry shook her head at Chamberlain with disgust.

"How could you all be so foolish?" she spat.

Dr. Chamberlain avoided her eyes.

She stepped closer to him, invading his personal space, and held her blood-covered hands up.

"See this?" she whispered, shoving her upturned, red-stained palms in his face. "This is the blood of your friend, Mr. Burns."

Dr. Chamberlain stared at her hands in wide-eyed horror. For all he knew, Burns was dead.

Perry spun around.

"He is fine," she told the Medjai, who surrounded the doctor, guns aimed. "We need to get to the others. Which way did they go?"

Dr. Chamberlain nodded towards Hamunaptra's main entrance.

Perry frowned, calculating the possible whereabouts of her companions in her head.

"If they took this entrance and followed the route we found Burns in..." she mused. "They would have ended up in the fourth shaft."

Ardeth nodded.

"If that is so, they would either be in the antechamber or the annex by now."

"Trap doors and hidden tunnels excluded," she added, to herself more than he.

The warrior turned to his men and gave his instructions, using Perry's consultation to draw upon a conclusion.

"We shall head to the opening behind the annex and await their arrival."

The Medjai nodded, and ushered Dr. Chamberlain along with their guns.

Ardeth lead the way, navigating them through the intricate web of halls.

Nobody spoke as they walked, which only gave Perry more time to dwell on the terrible mistakes of her friends.

I was right, she thought. I warned them. They didn't listen. And look what it has resulted in.

The lack of disturbance to her thoughts allowed her to grow angrier and angrier, and apparently the look on her face showed it.

Ardeth, she eventually noticed, was repeatedly throwing puzzled glances in her direction. He seemed cross, but then he hadn't looked particularly happy at any point since their meeting.

"Can I help you with something, Mr. Bay?" she asked. Accidentally, her tone came across more heated than she expected.

He looked away and ignored her.

They were at their destination relatively quickly, and there the Medjai formed a barrier, blocking this entrance from the outside world with pointed guns; Dr. Chamberlain was shoved to his knees, and there they awaited the arrival of their guests.

Perry stood beside Ardeth, arms crossed, mentally preparing her lecture with which to scold her idiotic friends. Jonathan, specifically.

Daniels was the first to run out of the ruins, arms flailing, obviously panicked. Henderson was the last.

And between them, Rick, Evie and Jonathan darted out.

Surprise, surprise, they're holding hands, Perry thought, as Rick and Evie bolted out towards them.

Jonathan just looked like a madman.

As their faces depicted, they were all completely traumatised by whatever they had just encountered.

They skidded to a screeching halt when they realised that they had run straight into the barricade of Medjai, whose guns clicked in unison.

Hands above their heads, the five of them froze.

The baffled expressions on their faces were priceless when they realised Perry was standing with the tribesmen who had attacked them the night before.

"Perry?" Jonathan shrieked.

Pyrrah's stony expression didn't soften. She gave no response.

Ardeth, however, lowered his scarf and stepped forward.

"I told you to leave or die." he said. "You refused. Now you may have killed us all. For you have unleashed a creature that we have feared for more than three thousand years."

"Relax. I got him." Rick said.

Perry laughed.

"Are you that shallow, Mr. O'Connell?"

The man was oblivious to the fact that he was wrong, in denial of the idea that the gunpowder and shell of a bullet cartridge couldn't kill what he had seen.

"No mortal weapon can kill this creature. He is not of this world." Ardeth said.

Alongside the Medjai chief, Perry stepped out of the way so as to allow two other men to carry the limp body of Burns into view. The Carnahans lowered their hands in stunned silence, turning to watch the man be dragged to his friends.

The Medjai dropped Burns into Henderson and Daniels' arms. Daniels looked repulsed.

"You bastards." he hissed, southern drawl laden with hate.

"What did you do to him?!" spat Henderson.

Perry stepped forward, angrily.

"What did they do to him?" she repeated. "They didn't do this to him! How dare you accuse them of this?"

Daniels pulled an outraged face at her and tried to justify the conclusion he'd jumped to.

"They attacked us and now—"

"I was with them when they saved him!" she screeched, furiously gesturing to the blood drying on her sleeves and shirt and lap.

"Saved him before the creature could finish his work!" Ardeth added.

Burns' head, devoid of eyeballs and tongue, lolled around in Henderson's lap.

"Leave, all of you, quickly. Before he finishes you all." Ardeth instructed. He then called out to his men. "Yalla! Imshi."

The Medjai disbanded, lowering their guns and heading towards the entrance of the inner ruins.

Ardeth turned slightly and gave her a nod.

"Your assistance was appreciated." he said.

She gave him a nod in return, and then watched sullenly as he walked away. He still seemed so familiar.

"We must now go on the hunt, and try and find a way to kill him." Ardeth said to Rick as they passed.

"I already told you, I got him." Rick stated, rather defensively.

What a thickheaded man, Perry thought. Does he really believe that?

Ardeth stopped in his tracks. He paused, and then turned to O'Connell.

"Know this." he said. "This creature is the bringer of death. He will never eat. He will never sleep. And he will never stop."

Once the Medjai left, Jonathan stepped over to Perry's side.

"Perry, wh—"

She held a hand in his face.

"Save it, Mr. Carnahan."

It didn't take long after the Medjai disappeared inside the ruins for the Americans, Dr. Chamberlain, O'Connell, the Carnahans and Perry to mount their horses and camels and head back to Cairo.

Perry didn't speak to anyone on the trip home. Rather, she was preoccupied with thoughts of the creature, the Medjai who were hell-bent on stopping it, the mysterious Ardeth Bay, and what was to await them all in the future.