Disclaimer: "I do not own any part of the Mummy franchise. Wish I did, because those first two movies were awesome. But I don't. All credit for quotes and scenes taken from the movie, go to the writers, producers, directors, etc. I own only Alexandra Taren, and any original content that I make her do or say. That is all."


Chapter 12

"You hear that?" Ardeth and Alex look up at Rick, all of them currently hiding out in this position they'd found up off the ground below. This vantage point would serve Evie and Jonathon well, who would remain behind to take out the targets from above. Alex glances to Ardeth, shrugging when he appears to be asking her if she heard anything he didn't. Finally, Ardeth asks, "What?" But Rick just shakes his head dismally, "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Sighing in understanding, Alex then adds, "Never a good sign. As if this place wasn't creepy enough already."

"I say chaps, look at this." Alex glances over at Jonathon, and then rolls her eyes when he adds excitedly, "Shrunken heads. I'd love to know how they do that!"

All heads swivel to him, and then Jonathon mutters, "Just curious."

Alex sighs and rises to go and see him as he picks up his rifle. Ardeth watches as she takes the gun from her cousin, glances down the barrel for a moment, and then hands it back. "Shoot straight, Jonathon." Smiling gently, he puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "You have my word."

She smiles back at him, and then glances back as Ardeth moves to join them. Nodding towards the gun, he asks, "You any good with that?" Jonathon smiles wide, "All thanks to Alex, but yes I am. Three times Fox and Hound's grand champion I'll have you know." Ardeth looks to Alex, who shrugs, "He might not be much for swinging punches… but he can shoot like nobody's business." To which Jonathon exclaims, "Of course I can! I learned from the best."

Ardeth grins when Alex blushes at the praise. Gently running a hand up her back, he responds, "I have no doubt." Jonathon then looks to Ardeth's sword and asks, "You any good with that?" Ardeth puts his hand on the hilt of his sword, briefly pondering if Alex would actually be offended if he showed off for a second at the expense of her cousin's question.

He finally decides she won't be, and answers, "You'll know soon enough." And with a swift pull, he brings his sword out and up so fast, that even Alex blinks in surprise. More because she hadn't been expecting it though, then from not seeing where it went. Which was to be held at the side of Jonathon's throat. His eyes widen at the proximity of the blade, but Alex isn't worried, nor does she move to make Ardeth put it down. He's no danger to Jonathon. He's no danger to any of them.

Ardeth grins a little, brushing his hand against her back again. Then he explains to Jonathon, "The only way to kill an Anubis warrior is by taking off it's head." Jonathon nods and says breathlessly, "I'll remember that."

Ardeth nods and pulls the blade away, putting it back as though nothing even remotely fantastic or impressive happened. Alex laughs a little at Jonathon, and then pats his shoulder, "Do me proud Jonathon." "Absolutely."

As Ardeth moves to load another gun, he turns when Alex takes it from him and takes over. Grinning, he says gently, "You do load faster." Alex grins back, "I know. Slow-poke." "Ouch." She laughs at his falsely offended face. Handing him another one that's already loaded, she sighs and says, "We'll be heading out soon. Jonathon knows to help give you a clear shot out so you can get to the other elders. Will you be alright after that point?"

Ardeth nods, watching her as she loads up another gun. When she hands it to him again for placement where John or Evie can easily get to it. Tilting his head at her, he asks, "Are you alright?" She nods with a sigh, "I'm fine. Just anxious." Taking a steadying breath, she ponders briefly about telling him that she'd really prefer it if he didn't have to leave them. She knows he has to… but she'd still rather he didn't.

Instead, she lets out a sigh and says, "I just… I want him back." Ardeth nods after a moment. She was easier to read that she realized. He knew what she wanted to say. And he knew why she wanted to say it. But, as he'd been discovering lately, words were not exactly her area of expertise. Not when it came to the feelings between them.

He didn't mind that though. He'd just have to make them his. Running a hand up and down her back again, he says gently, "You'll have him back soon. I promise." She nods in response, but then finally finds herself stopped in her work. Ardeth stills her hands in his, and then draws them to his chest. Placing a finger under her chin, he tilts her head up to look at him. Gently brushing his thumb against her cheek, he says, "I have to leave as soon as I know you have him." Alex nods instantly, "I know." But when she tries to look away from him, he cups her face in his hand to hold her in place. Trying to figure out how to approach this particular detail he needed to tell her, he starts with, "I don't know if I'll see you before then… after the fighting begins."

Alex nods again, and then can't stop her shoulders from slumping as she says, "So… should we say goodbye?" "No." Alex tilts her head at that, confused by the firmness with which he made that statement. He simply takes her hand in his and leads her over to the rock wall nearby them. With her back against it, Alex watches Ardeth glance over his shoulder at Rick and Evie. Then he looks back at her. The seriousness of his tone has her on alert immediately when he says, "There is something you need to know, before we go down there and before anything else is said." "Okay. What?"

He takes a breath, still not sure how she'll respond to him keeping this to himself for so long. "You must get the boy to the pyramid by sunrise, before the light of the sun touches the pyramid." Confusion wracks her features before she shakes her head, "I… we need to get him the fuck out of here. Why would we?" "Alexandra, you must get him to the pyramid. Before the light hits it." "Why?!" Ardeth glances back to Rick and Evie again, and then looks into Alex's eyes. Softly, ensuring the others don't hear him, he answers her bluntly, "Because if he does not get there by then, the bracelet will suck the life out of him."

Alex is frozen for a moment, because what the actual hell. Then she ponders screaming at him for not mentioning that a little bloody sooner. But she can't scream. She realizes that as Ardeth glances to Rick and Evie again. He hadn't kept it from 'her', per say. He'd kept it from all of them. Mostly, he'd kept it from Rick and Evie. And as she thinks about it… well, it was smart. He didn't want to make them panic, obviously. He wanted them level-headed. Needed them level-headed, or else their chances of finding Jason would've dropped drastically. And that was the goal. That was Alex's primary goal.

A goal he was trying desperately to help her accomplish.

He'd only kept it from her, because he hadn't found the proper moment, far enough away from Rick and Evelyn. They weren't really far enough away now… but he knew she had to know.

He also knew that of all of them, she was the one who could handle it; knew that she could carry that information, and still fight with grace and save Jason. All without making needless mistakes because she was worried.

So finally, after a moment more, she nods to him and simply says quietly, "Thank you." He nods back, and then reaches up to cup her face in his hands. Getting back to the topic of 'goodbye' she'd brought up before, he shakes his head, "This is not goodbye, Alexandra." She stares up at him, the torch light from nearby shining in his eyes. Then she reaches out and puts a hand on his chest, over his heart.

Clutching at the fabric on his shirt, she asks softly, "You're good with a sword, yes?" He nods, and then even smiles a little when she adds, "And you can handle this until we stop it? You're not going to die on me while battling Anubis' army, right?" He shakes his head firmly, "I would never dream of disappointing you so."

She smiles a little at that, and then takes a breath to steady herself even as a tear falls down her cheek. God, she hates crying. But Ardeth seems rather touched by it. Catching that stray tear with his thumb on her cheek, and then says, "Save the boy. Kill the creature. And when all this is over, I will see you again." Alex nods, and then reaches up to hold the back of his neck in her hand. Gently running her fingers through some of his hair, she smiles a bit when he closes his eyes in peace. Turning his head closer to her hand, kissing the inside of her wrist, "I will find my way back to you, Atheer. You have my word on that." Alex sighs, but then forces him to look at her again. Firmly, almost glaring at him, she says, "Do not die on me. I forbid it. Do you understand?" Smiling gently, he answers, "Yes, Atheer."

Shaking her head with a grin, she asks in fake exasperation, "What are you saying when you call me that?" Ardeth closes his eyes and leans in closer, pressing his forehead gently against hers. Alex closes her eyes too, and then can't help but smile wider when he says, "It means beloved. For that is what you are to me."

She touches her nose to his, and he chuckles when she says, "Sneaky Medjai. It's not nice to say such sweet things in a language I don't understand." Grinning, he says gently, "Forgive me." "One condition." He opens his eyes to look at her, at the longing resting there in her eyes. Nodding, he says honestly, "Anything." And she asks for the only thing she wants in this particular moment, "Kiss me."

His hand slides to cup her neck as his lips meet hers. Alex trembles against him as his lips part and move against hers, and when he tilts his head to deepen the kiss, she almost forgets she's still holding a gun in one hand. Well… until she nearly drops it.

She feels it get lifted from her hand though, someone picking it up from her. She doesn't care who it was. She just reaches up to wrap her now free arm around Ardeth as well, pulling impossibly closer and putting everything she has into the kiss. His hands slide down and grip her hips, squeezing gently before then sliding to her back and firmly tracing up her body from there.

When Alex finally leans back to breathe, Ardeth rests his forehead against hers again. Sighing against her, he says, "This is not goodbye." "I know." When Ardeth leans back and looks at her, trying to make sure she understands that he's not just leaving her again like last time, she smiles and says, "If it were, I'd know. And I wouldn't forgive you."

He grins gently at that, and then sighs and takes a step back. Brushing his fingers across her cheek briefly, he then says, "Come. We should hurry." Alex nods, and then blushes when Jonathon hands her gun back to her. She'd assumed Ardeth had taken it from her and set it aside. Apparently not.

Jonathon doesn't tease her though. He simply smiles and offers her a wink before moving next to Evie to prepare the rest of the guns. Then Rick joins her and Ardeth, and they head down to the lower part of the jungle to rescue Jason.

It had been a long seven days, but Alex had a feeling that this last night was going to feel longer than the entire rest of their journey combined.


Rick is in the lead, Alex right behind him and Ardeth behind her. They stop briefly when they run into all of the desecrated bodies, heads on spits and some skeletons hanging from cages up in the trees. Alex looks around them and asks, "Any ideas?" Rick lets out a worried breath, "None of them good."

Alex shrugs after a moment, because she hadn't expected any good ones related to this rather torturous looking graveyard. But when she sees Rick seeming to become more and more tense by the second, she reaches forward to grip his shoulder tight. Giving him a firm look, she states, "Jason is fine. And he will remain that way." "You sure?" "Yes."

Ardeth watches as Rick relaxes, smiling at the fact that there was no hesitation in Alex's response to his question. Jason would be fine. And if so much as a hair on his head had been plucked out of place, Alex would kill every living soul that she felt was part of removing it. Turning forward again, Rick lets out a sigh before saying, "Come on. We should keep going." Ardeth nods, "Indeed. We must hurry."

They keep creeping along through the jungle in silence, until they finally hear the roar of gunfire erupting from somewhere beyond them. Pulling out a dagger, twirling it in her hands, Alex says, "And now we know which way to go. Safest bet for finding him is to head towards all the bullets. Let's go!"

When they break past the tree line, they immediately find themselves in the middle of the hectic fray. Guns blazing, Rick starts sweeping towards his right, and Ardeth moves around on the left. Alex, smaller and quicker than both, simply starts darting up the middle. Crouching down in the tall grass, keeping out of sight, she weaves in and out of the men in red, slicing into arms and legs as she goes. All the while, she keeps searching for a small boy amongst them, or a glint of gold designed like a scorpion.

She's about to simply stand up straight and shout his name, when she hears him shouts instead, "Dad!" Rick's response from the other side of the battlefield is, "Jason!" Alex jerks to her left to try and locate where Jason's voice came from. And though he was certainly the smallest person here, she can barely see the top of his head nearing one side of the tree line. And a man in red marching towards him.

Rick is too far away to get there in time. He knows this. But as another man screams in pain, Rick glances over to see Alex removing her dagger from someone's chest. Whistling for her attention, he simply shouts, "Find him!" "What does it look like I'm doing?!"

She vanishes from his sight before he can comment on that. Sliding beneath one man's legs, slicing into both so he goes down as she comes back up, she kicks it into high gear when she hears the desperation in Jason's voice as he screams worriedly, "Alex!" "Jase!"

Two little creatures… Alex doesn't know what you'd call them or whose side they're on. Or if they even have a side. All she knows is they're in her way. So she tosses two daggers, nailing them both between the eyes. And without breaking stride, she keeps sprinting towards her nephew.

She can't see him anymore. But she can see Loch-Na, who looks like he's on a mission. And his eyes are turned further down than anyone else in this place. Best bet… he was going for Jason. So… Alex went after him. Gritting her teeth at the evil grin on this man's face, Alex sprints as fast as she can, ignoring anyone else that might be about to get in her way. One man was coming up on the side of her, about to cut her off. And if that had happened, she would've rolled and kept right on running at this point.

Before she has to worry about it though, he gets shot in the head and immediately goes back down. Alex spares a glance to the ledge where she knows Jonathon and Evie are watching, knowing one of them is responsible for that. Then she takes off again.

Jason is backed into a tree, Loch-Na twirling his knife and preparing to cut off his hand or arm so he can have the bracelet. Or maybe he just plans to cut off Jason's head. Alex isn't sure which. She doesn't care.

"Dad! Alex!" Rick is sprinting as fast as he can, but he knows he still won't get there in time. And he's not a man who cries easy, but he's almost about to in frustration and fear as he shouts, "Jason! No!"

Several things flash before Rick's eyes as Loch-Na's sword begins swinging down. Jason as a baby, then as a child. Then visions of the man he would've been. Rick had already experienced what it was like to watch your own life flash before your eyes. But now he knew, it was infinitely worse to watch your kid's life flash in front of you.

Before he can get too far into that though, before he can fall into dispair… or maybe unimaginable rage… he doesn't hear the sound of metal slicing through flesh. No… no, he hears the sound of metal on metal. A loud clang rings through the air, making Jason look up, and even Loch-Na blink in confusion.

Alex isn't positive how she did it. She just knew that suddenly, more so than ever before, the most direct and choice path was suddenly very clear before her. And once she saw that, getting to Jason in time was easy. Loch-Na's gaze is stunned upon seeing the silver blade blocking his from killing the boy. Sapphire gems in the hilt, he looks up at the owner and glares at Alex who is standing before him.

With a cry of sheer rage, she shoves the sword up and away, and then twirls the blade in her hand. Moving in front of Jason, blocking him, she makes note of his mumbled, "It glows? Why does your compass glow?"

Was he talking about her tattoo? She doesn't have time to focus on that. Loch-Na is twirling his own sword, preparing for battle. Hardening her stance in front of her nephew, she calls out, "Rick!"

Rick is still coming, Evie and Jonathon taking out more of the men in his path. Alex takes a step towards Loch-Na, putting more space between him and Jason. Then she points and says, "Get him out of here, Rick. Head for the pyramid. To the pyramid as fast as you can, understand? Go now!" Rick doesn't ask why he has to go to the pyramid, or why she won't be following right behind him. He just grabs Jason and runs. He knows better than to argue with the few real orders that ever come out of her mouth.

Loch-Na glares at her as Jason and his dad leave their sight. Smirking, he asks, "You think you will beat me?" "No." And at his confused expression, Alex smirks and adds, "I have no intention of beating you. I'm going to kill you. Much simpler."

He cried out in rage and attacked, swinging in a wide arch down at her. She blocks and parries, spins out of his way and then dances into his personal space. She keeps him off balance, and amidst meeting his sword with hers and managing to cut into his chest and clothes, she also throws punches at his face, elbows into his stomach, and she's pretty sure she dislocated one of his knees at one point, though he may have immediately knocked it back in.

She's just sliced into his forearm, deeper this time, making him drop his sword, when another man in red comes at her. Frowning, she says to Loch-Na, "You can't win on your own? You have to cheat to survive? Where is the honor in that?" "I have no honor!"

She bears her teeth at him, and is about to turn to her next opponent, when she hears the sound of metal on metal as well. Ardeth is now beside her, taking on the other man. Loch-Na tries to hurriedly reach for his sword again, but Alex doesn't let him. She kicks him hard in the chin, knocking him up from his crouched position, and then slices across his collar and throat.

The cut is deep, and his eyes widen with the realization that he is going to die, that there is no saving him. He had been beaten. He'd been beaten by a girl.

She glares at him, but relaxes a little when he slumps over and hits the ground like a sack of rocks. Sighing, she then spins around to see Ardeth still fighting the man meant to ambush her. And now another man is trying to ambush him.

Ardeth sees him in the corner of his eye and is about to deflect the man he's with and spin around to fight the other. That's when Alex races forward and attacks the other opponent.

Moving so his back is to hers, he grabs her arm and shouts, "Up and over!" As the man in front of her comes closer, she pushes her feet forward and kicks him hard in the chest. In the process, she jumps up while Ardeth bends down, and she flips over top of his back, her foot now connecting with the man's face that had been in front of him.

Both men go down into the grass, and never come back up. Panting, Alex turns to Ardeth, "You alright?" "Fine." But as he looks at her, sees her arm bleeding, he says, "But you're not." "It's a scratch. I'm fine."

He still rips off a piece of his robe and wraps it around her bicep anyway. As soon as he's done, he looks around at the new dwindling battlefield. Almost everyone was gone now. Those few that remained here, were no longer in the mood to fight. Only to cower and hide. Alex is shaking her head at them, but jumps a little when Ardeth gently grips her chin. His eyes drift over her face briefly, and then he sighs before saying, "Find them and make sure they get Jason to the pyramid." She nods, "I will. Find the commanders and hold off the army until we find a way to stop this."

He nods back to her, but as he prepares to leave, she grips his arm and pulls him back. "What…" He doesn't finish his question. Alex wraps an arm around the back of his neck and pulls him down to her, kissing him hard on the mouth. Before his hands can move to put a grip on her in return, she pulls back and looks him in the eye. "Don't you dare die on me. I will kick your ass."

He can't help but grin, and then he nods again, "I will make you proud, Atheer. So don't you die either." "Oh believe me, I have no intention of dying today."

And with that, they finally separate, and Alex runs off to find Rick and Jason again, while Ardeth heads out of the jungle to find a horse that will carry him as quick as possible to the commanders' last location. With any luck, they will be ready for Anubis' army before it rises.

Better yet, with any luck, somehow Alex will have figured out how to stop this before the army can be awakened.


"Come on Mom! Come on Dad! We have to get to the pyramid! I have to get the bracelet off now!" Jonathon sighs tiredly, "Oh, leave it on Jason, it looks good on you."

Alex breaks through the tree line and immediately drops to her knees. Jason gasps and runs at her, almost knocking her over from the force of it. She squeezes him tightly in return, and then says desperately, "Never again. Promise me. Never again." "I promise. Whatever it is, I promise."

Alex laughs at that, loving how he would promise her anything right now, so long as it made her happy. Pushing him back from her, she glances to the bracelet still on his arm. Cursing under her breath, she hops back to her feet, "Alright, we'll discuss all the things you're never going to do again later. Right now, let's go. We have to hurry." Jason nods eagerly, happy that his aunt understands how desperate they really are right now. But Jonathon, still clueless, asks, "Whatever for? It's what they want, isn't it? They want the bracelet at the pyramid?" Alex doesn't deny that, but finally explains, "But if we don't get Jase to the pyramid, the bracelet will kill him."

Looking to Rick, whose relieved expression has gone tense again, she says, "He has to get there before the sun hits it. And I already told you to get him there as fast as possible. So grab your kid and move your fucking ass!"

They don't get far before they hit an unavoidable roadblock. The pygmy things… that's what Rick's calling them anyway… chase them to a log bridge across a deep canyon. Hurrying across, Alex grabs a stick of dynamite from Rick's pocket, and then lights a match against the side of his face. He raises an eyebrow at her, but as she tosses the stick back to the creepy little creatures, she asks, "What? You can do it to Ardeth, but I can't do it to you. That's a little hypocritical. Just saying."

Before Rick can comment, Evie says worriedly, "Rick." And as they all look towards the horizon, a terrified feeling sinks into everyone's gut.

The sun. It's rising. They're out of time, and Jason still isn't at the pyramid.

Alex turns to Rick, sees the panic in his eyes. But before they can say or do anything, Evie's eyes widen as the compass on Alex's back begins glowing again. So bright that it can even be seen through the back of her shirt.

The path they need to take becomes clear as ever, as though Alex had run to this pyramid a million times before, rather than just doing it for the first time today. Without trying to explain, she grabs one of Rick's guns. Picking up one of her own as well, she looks up at him, and he swears a tint of the neon blue is trying to creep into the whites of her eyes. But it's still her when she says, "Grab Jason. Stay on my ass. Don't stop running for anything. I'll cover the front. Evie, you and Jonathan watch the rear. Nobody stop moving! Let's go!"

Alex breaks into a sprint right from the start, and while Jonathan stands gaping for a second of two, Rick and Evie don't hesitate. Rick grabs Jason and puts him over his shoulder again, taking off as fast as he can so he can keep up with her. He doesn't even think about looking around him for danger. He just keeps his eyes clued to the glowing compass on Alex's back. And whenever the arrow that had always pointed north before shifted even slightly, so did Alex.

Every time the gun went off, he knew either Alex or his wife had taken out someone after them. And every time he thought about glancing to his right or left to see who else might be there, he just reminded himself of all that had happened so far on this trip. Most of all… he remembered the way Evie had tried to leap off the dirigible, and how Alex had seen it about to happen, and had been fast enough to save her.

Which meant the only way he was going to save Jason, was to keep up with Alex. He's not certain he's a full believer in all this myth and legend stuff that Ardeth had been telling them. But… he'll admit… if Alex somehow gets them to the pyramid on time… he'll most definitely consider it.

They only just barely make it. Just by the skin of their teeth; they make it. When they break through the tree line in front of the pyramid, Alex shouts, "Go Rick! Go!" She does stop leading him after that, opting for watching the tree line for anyone else that might've been following them. But she is still listening, and her entire body slumps in relief when she hears the bracelet unlock from around Jason's wrist. And she even smiles when she hears Jason take the thing and toss it as far away as she can.

Evie and Jonathan break through the tree line, and upon seeing Alex relaxed again. And… well, not glowing anymore, Evie sighs in relief. Running past her to see her boy, she nearly cries in relief as she says, "They made it." Alex nods in response to that, and grins again when Jonathan adds in, "Praise God."

Then she rolls her eyes when she hears Jonathan start marveling at the solid gold pyramid they're standing in front of. A few minutes ago he wanted nothing to do with the damn thing, and now all he could do was stare at it.

And miss the fact that Anck Su Namun was here. Alex hears her footsteps in the sand, and as she turns her head, she can see the sun glint off the steel blade in her hand. The woman was carrying a sword in one hand, and the book of the dead in the other.

And she was heading straight for Evie.

The entire next five seconds all happened in what felt like a blur. Not really to Alex. The moment she'd seen the blade, she'd known what she was going to do. Everything about her nature and character, made it obvious what she was going to do. The gasping that would follow, therefore, wouldn't make any sense to her. Because this was not strange.

Anck Su Namun was going to kill Evie. That was her intent. And had Alex not been there… she might've succeeded. But, Alex was there. And it didn't really matter whether or not she was a chosen of the Gods. Because for practically her entire life, before Wadjet could've known she would be perfect for this role, her objective had been to protect the people who mattered to her most. She would fight for them. She would kill for them. And when all of her skills and talents combined turned out to not be enough… she would die for them.

She hadn't been lying to Ardeth when she'd said she had no intention of dying today. She didn't want to die. Would really prefer not to. But… she was out of moves at this point, and there was no time to formulate a better plan. So as she moves as swiftly as possible, she sends up a silent prayer to the heavens, hoping that somehow he'll be able to forgive her for breaking her promise to not die.

Alex has Evie by the arm before anyone can realize what's happening. Using her efforts to pull Evie away as leverage, she launches herself in front of Evie as well. Effectively blocking the path of the sword. With her own body.

Anck Su Namun had failed. She wouldn't be killing the reincarnation of Nefertiti today. She would simply be killing… well… Alex.

The sword plunges in just below the center of her chest. The pained gasp that leaves her lips alerts everyone else to what has happened. Even Evie, who is standing there to witness the whole thing, doesn't really seem to register what just took place. Not until Alex's gasp of pain, followed by an almost instant struggle for air, snapped Evie back to the present.

Anck Su Namun is stunned beyond belief. And still determined to succeed, she tries to pull the sword back out; to go and kill Evie anyway. But Alex isn't done yet. Gripping what part of the blade hasn't yet sunk into her body yet, she glares at the bitch in front of her, refusing to let it go, or to budge an inch.

Blood spills over the blade where her hands are cut as she holds it, keeping Anck Su Namun from taking it back. Gritting her teeth, practically snarling, she says, "You will have to do better, bitch."

Anck Su Namun stares at her for a moment, and then her eyes to wide as she mutters, "Chosen." Well… Alex decides that must make it official. As though it weren't already. But rather than simply answer yet, Alex smirks and responds, "No shit."

Alex isn't sure why Anck Su Namun suddenly just 'knows' she's a guardian chosen by the Gods. And she honestly doesn't care. She's just glad that it apparently makes Anck Su Namun rethink her actions. She lets the sword go, and then follows Imhotep out of the yard and into the pyramid.

He frowns and says in Egyptian, "Shame. I would've liked to have kept her alive. She would've made a wonderful pet, a mockery to the Gods and their chosen ones." Anck Su Namun nods, "I'm sorry." "It is not your fault she jumped on the sword. It is just a shame."

Meanwhile, back outside, as Alex finally begins slumping towards the ground, Evie screams, "Alex!"

She hears several voices hollering her name. Evie is beside her now, sitting her up and holding Alex's head in her lap. Then Rick is there, falling down at her side, looking over her in horror. And as she tries to speak, maybe to even joke that it wasn't as bad as it looked, she feels blood coming out of her mouth, choking her words before they can make it out.

Yeah, she was definitely dying. Shit.

"She's going to be alright, isn't she dad?!" Jason? Oh, Jason shouldn't have to see this. Spitting out some blood, Alex says, "Take him. Jonathon… take…" Rick hurriedly turns, "Jonathon!" Jase comes closer and asks, "Dad? She's…" "She's gonna be find, Jason. Jonathon, take him."

Jonathon pulls him aside so he's not looking directly over Alex. Rick then turns back to her, and says, "Alright, you can't die. Alright? You just… you can't! You're gonna be okay." Alex smiles up at him, coughing and struggling to breathe. Reaching up with one hand, taking hold of his, she grips his firmly.

Spitting out more blood so she can talk, she says, "Tell… Ardeth… tell him… tell…" But Rick shakes his head, "No, Alex. You can tell him yourself. Just stay with us, alright? Just stay…" Alex turns her gaze up to Evie, who is crying down over her face, tears falling onto Alex's cheeks. Reaching up to gently wipe at Evie's face, leaving a smear of blood in the process, Alex says, "Tell him… I'm sorry. I tried… but I couldn't… tell him… I'm sorry."

And then her world goes dark.


And that's Chapter 12! Sorry to end it with a cliffhanger, but hopefully the editing and polishing of chapter 13 won't take so long. School work comes first, obviously. But after that, this is next on the list.