Chapter Eleven
Benha
The caravan of riders on horseback were slumped in their saddles, weariness aching at their very bones. Evelyn could no longer fight the oncoming sleep, and she let herself doze off, head bouncing loosely with the horse's footsteps, Alex, now wide awake in the saddle and controlling the horse. Rick knew that he was tired, but his mind would not let him rest. Instead, he smiled at his beautiful wife's dreamy façade, reaching over in his saddle to tenderly stroke her warm cheek, thinking inwardly about the time he almost lost her.
Sunlight was still several hours off, and the desert air was at it's chilliest. He glanced over at the Med-Jai, noting that of course they would not feel the cold, not with their layers of black robes. But he looked at little Alex and grew worried. Alex, though quite alert, was shivering slightly, as he was only clothed in brown shorts and a white cotton shirt.
"Here."
Rick looked over at Jonathan, who was offering him his jacket. Jonathan pointed it towards Alex.
"For the runt."
Rick smiled his thanks, then grabbed hold of Alex's bridle, bringing both their horses to a stop. He forced the jacket over the boy, rolling the sleeves up so his feet wouldn't get caught up in them. Rick grasped the shoulders of his son, smiling down at him, but quickly noticed that Alex wasn't returning his sentimental moment. In fact, Alex looked almost hypnotized by something in the distance.
It was then that Rick suddenly came to the realization that everyone's horse had stopped. He looked at the Med-Jai, Jonathan, and Mi-Aset, who were all staring hypnotized just like Alex into the horizon. Rick finally turned his head.
"Oh, my, God." He said slowly.
Evy came to wake with a start. She shook her wild mane of curly brown hair, and squinted at Rick.
"Hmm? What's everyone looking at?"
Then she too looked to the distance and caught her breath in her throat.
The city of Benha was engulfed in flames. From even a distance as they were, they could see the smoke outlined against the black sky, eerie amber lights shooting up miles into the air, striking dramatically against the backdrop. It was almost breathtaking, the shear destruction of it. No one wanted to move for several minutes.
"This is Neferkaptah's work." Mi-Aset was the first to speak.
Ardeth Bay nodded silently in agreement with her, then gave his horse a small kick.
Slowly, dreadfully, the troupe followed the warrior into an unsure destination.
~~~
Even on the outskirts of Benha they could still feel the searing heat and stinging smoke. The Med-Jai covered their mouths with their robes, a painful silence overcame them. Evelyn looked on sadly, eyes watering not only from the smoke but from the loss of life before here. Homes were nothing more than smoking ashes, buildings had crumbled to parched rubble, charred corpses littered the streets. Off in the distance she could hear the wailing of a child, and then more cries, that of women in mourning.
Rick frowned in obvious fury. "We're getting this bastard." He said to himself.
~~~
"We have proven ourselves in our first feat. But it was merely proving that we have potential for greatness. Now, we must take that greatness, we must strike fear into the hearts of all men, we must show them the true meaning of power."
Hundreds of red robed men, armed with guns and scimitars alike stood before Neferkaptah, still clothed in traditional ancient Egyptian noble wear, in the surroundings of an ancient temple, now abandoned and dusty. Though very few could understand him, they cheered victoriously nonetheless. Some still had soot on their faces, although none seemed to care, instead, they relished their 'battle' markings.
"There are those that will try to stop us. But they will not succeed. For what mortal man can defeat a god?"
The army cheered again.
"We must make a spectacle of these fools. Those that would dare test my strength, and that of my army, shall suffer the most dire of all consequences. There shall be no mercy."
The crowd cheered exuberantly, bloodthirsty.
"We have left them our scent; our days of waiting will not be long."
Thinking his speech was over, the army began to disperse. But Neferkaptah held up a commanding hand.
"I want them alive! Their souls will soon belong to me."
And in typical bad guy style, Neferkaptah laughed heartily. Shrugging, because of course most couldn't understand him, his army chuckled with him.
They had the feeling he wasn't someone to be ignored.