ok, ok, second chapter. YAY! Um, I hope you still like it. We will have more action in the up-coming chapters. Yeah, I hope you still like. NMGS!
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The ride to the vault was silent and short. About half an hour after leaving the city, in which Nick sung to him self quietly, Ameera stopped her horse suddenly. She called out to Nick to stop as well.
"Wait…why are we stopping?"
"We are where we need to be."
"This doesn't look like any…woah."
She had jumped down and began to shove away sand from a certain spot, finally revealing a large stone door. Of to the side, was a star shaped lock, in which Ameera pulled out a star shaped key, and unlocked the large stone door.
"Do you mind helping me? This thing is horribly heavy." She said, grabbing on to the long handle on top of the stone slab. Nick joined her, and with grunts, they pulled the door up. It was heavy, and it hinged back with a thud. Ameera began to climb down the stairs that led into the dark pit, lighting a torch when she reached the bottom. He joined her at the bottom of the cold room, lighting his own torch. They were in a long hallway, its stone walls covered in hieroglyphs and other strange symbols and pictures.
"Even if any one, besides the Med-jai, were to ever find this place, they would not be able to get past the traps we have set. Stay close to me now, I wouldn't want you to be beheaded."
Nick laughed nervously. He stayed at her side and walked with the exact pace she had. Yet, to his surprise, they made it to the end of the hallway with ease, nothing strange happening.
"Wait…what about the traps?" He asked.
"As a Med-jai, I know how to walk this hallway with out setting off any of the traps we have set. It is lucky you stayed at my side…" She didn't explain why he was lucky, and he didn't want to know.
The door in front of them was large and gold, a knob of some sort off to the side. The knob was a large ball connected to an eight-sided star. She placed her hand on the knob and pulled back, twisting it to the left, then to the right, before pushing it back into another eight-sided star underneath it. There was a load sound and the door slowly swung back, revealing a bark, cool, musty room. The air in it thick and old, the temperature about twenty degrees below the temp in the hallway.
Ameera entered first, lighting torches as she went along. Nick followed, his mouth dropping at the sight of the treasures held in the room. Vast piles of gold everywhere, Jewelry, furnishings, statues, all sorts of things sat in the room, untouched from all. Large stacks of stone books filled one corner, where as many nicely folded piles on cloths lined another. Large paintings and rolled up drawings sat in a small pile. And many rolled up pieces of parchment were everywhere.
Ameera saw the look on his face and smiled. Everyone had that expression the first time they entered the room. This place was filled with all the priceless articles the Med-jai had collected over the years, irreplaceable objects that had been stored in the dark room. With a squeak, the door behind them closed, causing Nick to jump.
"Are we…stuck?" He asked, voice shaking.
"No, we are not." She said as she crossed to the other side of the room, pulling back a hanging tapestry and revealing another gold door. This one also had the same strange doorknob. She pulled it out and twisted it left the right, then pushing it back in. Once again, the door swung open, revealing another small dark room. She lit the one torch in the room and crossed to a large wooden box, placing her torch in to a holder next to the box. Nick, who had followed her in, gasped with excitement.
"This very box holds the book of the living." Ameera said softly, brushing her hand over the lid. "Your great-grandfather and great-great-uncle pulled this out of the statue of Horus so very long ago. They saved your great-grandmother with this book, you know."
"Oh…I know," He said breathlessly. He had dreamed of this very book, it was why he was there.
With a grunt, she picked up a side of the heavy box, giving him a 'help me' glance. He picked up the other side and helped her carry it out of the room. They sat it down and pulled off the lid, a musty smell rising from the box. Inside, there was a cloth, gently; Ameera removed it, showing in all its glory, the golden book of the living. Nick let out another gasp, eyes wide, heart pounding. It was everything he had thought it to be.
And it was locked.
"Do…do…do we have the key…?" He asked, reaching out to touch the cool golden surface.
"Yes, we do." She stood up and crossed to the side of the room that the cloths were piled in. she picked up a few off the top, showing a strange black box sitting admits the pile. She picked it up and crossed to Nick, handing him the box.
"This is what started all the trouble for our ancestors." She said softly. "This is what brought both our families together."
He turned the key over in his hands, looking at it closely, as she pulled the heavy book out of the box. With a little gasp, Nick pushed the sides of the octagon, and the top popped out, turning into the key it was. He couldn't believe his eyes…here he was, reliving the past of his believed family.
Ameera placed the book on his lap with a grunt, the weight of it causing him to look up from the special key in his hands.
"Go ahead, open it." She said with a smile. All of this was old news to her, but it was all spectacular to him. He placed the key into the lock, and turned it, breathing in deeply as the side locks popped open. He sat the key down and pulled the heavy cover up, letting it flop over onto his lap.
He ran his fingers along the hieroglyphs, reading them silently to himself. His ancestors were all able to read, write, and speak ancient Egyptian, as was he. His own parents, however, never bothered to learn. They said it was useless, but Nick knew it wasn't.
"What am I looking for…?" He asked, eyes scanning the golden pages.
"We know that Evy had read a spell from this book to make the creature mortal so they could kill him. But the spell was a weak one and he was able to come back to life, once the right spell was read from the book of the dead. There must be a spell in this book that will completely destroy the creature, so that he could never come back to life again. We need you to find that spell, can you do it?"
"Of course," He said with a smile, then turned his attention back to the heavy book on his lap. He scanned the pages for a while, his fingers running over the symbols. Finally, he let out a little laugh.
"This is the spell that Evy read, Kadeesh mal! Kadeesh mal! Pared oos! PARED OOS!!" He laughed to himself. "My word…she taught me that when I was a child, told me that is was very useful to get rid of people you didn't want around. I tried it once, but it didn't work. Now I know who to use it on." He laughed again. Then went back to scanning the pages. It took him a little while, and as he read through the book, Ameera walked through the treasure in the room, looking at certain objects. She constructed a small pile of objects, including some jewelry, parchments, a drawing and what looked like a folded Med-jai robe.
"Here we go," He said suddenly, tapping a page with his fingertip, "This is the spell that should completely destroy Imho…the creature."
Ameera smiled. "Very good, now, do you need something to copy it down with?"
"No, I got it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded wad of paper and a charcoal pencil. He unfolded the paper, revealing three large pieces, picking up one; he placed it on the page and began to make a rubbing of it. She watched this all with interest, smiling softly.
He was a handsome man, tall, dashing, charming. She shook the thought away, she mustn't think like that, but she couldn't help it, he was all those things.
After he was done, he went through the rest of the pages, checking to see that he had gotten the right spell. It appeared that he had, but he didn't want to let go of the book.
"Can't I take it with me…to study it more…?"
"No, that book can not leave this vault. It took us a very long time to find it and its box, and we are not going to take the chance of losing it again."
"Then it was you who dug the hole at the city…"
"Yes, I went down there myself. Very beautiful place, the city of the dead…"
"Scarabs?"
"Luckily, no."
"I would love to see it sometime…"
"Maybe. Are you done? We need to get back, there is much to do here…and we have been here far to long as it is."
Nick realized they had been there for about an hour and a half. His eyes fell over the pile of artifacts she had made.
"Wait…what's with that?" He asked, pointing.
"Oh…just some things that I thought you would find intrusting. Like," She picked up a pair of golden tridents. "These were Evy's, she fought with them during the battle at the temple Ka, she saved Queen Emily's life with these. Gave them to her afterwards, said she should keep them."
Nick, who still had the heavy book on his lap, took the weapons and turned them over in his hands, studying them up close. His beloved great-grandmother fought with these…killed with these. They were weapons of a true warrior.
She watched him closely, as he held the tridents close to his face, looking at every inch of them, taking the feel and weight and power of them in.
"I thought you might like to see those." She said softly, picking up one of the folded robes she had picked out. "You might like this to, this was the robe Ardeth Bay was wearing when he first met your family."
Nick gasped and sat the weapons down, running his fingers over the rough black cloth. It was dirty and slightly faded.
"It is also the same robe he wore when they awoke the creature the first time…"
"How do you know?"
"He kept them all, every robe from every significant time in his life, he kept the robes he wore in every battle he ever fought it. This one," She picked up a robe lined in silver, "this one he wore when he traveled to England to save the O'Connell's from the creatures followers. It was never washed and never mended, it still has his blood on it." She carefully unfolded one part of the robe, showing the claw marks of one of Imhotep's mummy solders, incrusted around the slashed were dried blood.
"Oh my god…this stuff in amazing!" Nick carefully lifted the book of the living off his lap and sat it down with a grunt. He kneeled next to the pile; she went down with him.
"This is a drawing that my great-great aunt Meelesh drew of Ardeth, when he was very young." She unrolled a drawing, showing the unmistakable face of the King of the Med-jai.
"What ever happen to her?" Nick asked, looking at the drawing closely.
"She is still alive…" Ameera said, picking up a piece of parchment.
"My god...how old is she?"
She laughed. "We have lost count. This is Ardeth's…um…birth certificate, I believe you call it." She handed him the paper. They sat and looked at the past for another hour and a half, losing all account of time and where they were.
~~
The sun was hanging low when they got back to the Med-jai City.
"Are we all ready to go?" Ameera asked Omar as she dismounted, handing the reigns to a young boy.
"Yes, it will be you, myself, Haris, and Radhi. We will leave tomorrow morning and go to Cairo, where we will have a chartered plane waiting. It will take us about half a day to reach the point where we will have to land and start out on foot. Then it will take us another day to reach where we think the lost oasis is. Did you bring the map?"
Ameera handed him a rolled up piece of parchment. Rick wasn't the only one to make a map to Ahm Shere.
"Good. When we get there, the sixth tribe will send us reinforcements if needed."
"Good, good. We have the spell in case they bring the creature back."
"Is it the right one?"
"Yes, we went through the book very carefully."
"Radhi can read ancient Egyptian."
"Wait." Nick said, stepping into the conversation. "I thought I was going with you."
"What ever gave you that idea?" Ameera asked, turning to him.
"I helped you find that spell!"
"Yes, and we are very grateful that you did. But this is a dangerous mission and it be best if you just go back to England."
"I told you about the plan!"
"And again, we are grateful you did."
"I am going with you. I know these men; I know how they act and what they will be doing. You need me to go."
"O'Connell, tomorrow I am leaving for Ahm Shere, and you are not going with us. I will have some of our warriors take you and your friend back to Cairo, after we are long gone."
"I am going with you, you need someone to read that spell!"
"That's why Radhi is going with us. Believe me, we have it all planed out and under control."
"I am coming with you."
"No, you are not."
"Then I will go on my own…"
"And how are you going to get there?"
"I will go with the only other person who got out of Ahm Shere alive."
"Izzy is long dead…"
"Yes, but his grandson isn't."
This stopped a walking Ameera in her tracks; she spun around to face him.
"Oh yeah…he knows about the oasis, and how to get there." Nick said, with a smile.
"You wouldn't…"
"I already have. He is standing by as we speak."
"You lie."
"I would never!"
Ameera looked like she was going to punch him, and Nick could tell she was angry as all hell.
"You will not go with him."
"And what is going to stop me?"
"I will tie you up if I have to, tie the both of you up until we get back." She said bitterly, suddenly hating the man she that had spent all afternoon with.
"Wait…I have nothing to do with this!" Robert, who was standing next to Nick, said.
"It doesn't matter, you are not going."
"I am to! Nothing is going to stop me!"
"I am going to stop you!" She roared.
"Ameera, talk to me for a second." Omar said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away.
"What?" She hissed in Arabic, not wanting Nick to hear or understand.
"Maybe we should take him with us. He has a point you know, he does know these men who are trying to rise the creature. He could distract them as we attack."
"No, he IS NOT coming with us."
"Ameera…I don't know why you don't want him to…but I think he should. Radhi is pretty rusty on his Egyptian, what if he says the wrong words? Or what if he gets killed before he can read it? None of us will be able to say it, because we never learned to read Egyptian."
"I can speak it…" She protested.
"But can you read it? I think it would be best if he came along. He knows what to read…he knows how to say it. And he knows the men who are behind this. Besides, this is a part of his history as much as it is a part of ours."
Ameera glared at her cousin and then looked at Nick, who was talking with Robert.
"Fine! Fine, he can come with us. But so help me…if he does one thing to interfere with what we have to do…"
"Why would you say that?" Omar said with a smile.
"Because every time his family and ours gets together, that is exactly what his side does!"
He chuckled. "I'll go tell him the news. By the way, your mom is looking for you." He walked off towards Nick. With a sigh, Ameera lent to where she knew her mother would be.
~~
"Mom? You were looking for me?" Ameera said as she walked into the medical tent. Her mother, like Meelesh, was the head doctor of the Med-jai City, and she found her mom cleaning up around the tent. Muriel looked up and smiled; gray and black hair puled back into a tight bun. Brown eyes shining into her daughter's lime green eyes. Ameera and her mother looked the same, but she had her father's eyes. Who had his father's eyes who had his mother's eyes.
"Yes dear, I wanted to hear about this trip you are going on tomorrow…and the O'Connell boy. My, he is a cute one, isn't he?"
Ameera sighed and rolled her eyes. Always like her mother, trying to set her up with ever 'cute' boy she saw.
"Mom, why do I have the feeling that you already know everything about both the trip and him?"
"Ameera, dear, I want YOU to tell me."
She rolled her eyes again. "Tomorrow, I, along with a few other warriors, are going to Cairo, getting on a plane, and flying to the end of Egypt, then walking down the Blue Nile, until we reach where the lost oasis of Ahm Shere was, then we are going to stop some foolish men from trying to bring back the creature."
"I know all that dear, I meant about the O'Connell boy. Nick, I believe."
"He is a kind man, he is the great-grandson of Rick and Evy, he is just like them, knows how to speak and read ancient Egyptian, and he is very interested in the life's that his family had lived. And I believe that he wants to relieve the life they did."
"Do you think he's cute?"
"Mother!"
"Do you?" Muriel smiled brightly. "Ameera, you are 27 years old, you should think about getting a husband, producing an heir!"
"Don't give me that lecture again, mom, I know how it goes by heart. So please, just stop right there. Nick is a handsome man, yes. But he is not my type, and I am not going to settle down with him."
"Fine…" She stayed silent for a second, "But you do think he is cute?"
"Yes, mother, I think he is cute."
Muriel smiled brightly, crossing to her daughter, taking her head in her hands and kissing her forehead.
"Ameera, I just want you to be happy. I know it is hard for you, being chieftain and all, and I feel that you missing apart of you because you don't have a male…"
"Mom…I will be ok. I have done this…what…five years with out a 'male'."
"I just want you to be happy, Se't lidj. I always worry when you go off on these battles, I worry I will lose you. I already lost your father, and your brother is off with the second tribe. All I have is you, so I have to worry about you and your happiness."
Ameera hugged her mom tightly. "Mom, I will be ok, I will always be ok. I know you worry, but you really don't have to. And as for my happiness, I am happy. I have a wonderful life as it is. Yes, I am 'male less', as you or Andrea would put it, but its ok. One day, I will meet my perfect match, and we will get together, and have a family, and produce heirs for the throne of the Med-jai. Ok?"
Her mom nodded.
"Good, now I have to go get ready for tomorrow and then eat. Care to join me?"
"No, my child, I think I am going to hunt down this Nick."
"Don't you dare…"
The older woman smiled, "I wont."
Ameera didn't believe her.
~~
Travis Ripkin couldn't believe his eyes as they left the Blue Nile. Yes, what was before them was miles and miles of sand, but underneath was treasure, power, and revenge. He smiled brightly in the dusk, and walked on, leading the large group of people who were behind him.
Behind him was a group of fifteen people. Two of his colleges, five large desert warriors, dressed in red and black robes, and seven local workers, hired to dig them to Ahm Shere.
"Travis!" The squeaky voice of Martin Adams rang in his ears, causing his smile to fade. With a bitter sigh, Travis turned his head, looking at the short man who ran up to him.
"According to this map you got, we are now where the oasis was…but I don't think it is here anymore."
"Really?" Travis asked, sarcasm ringing in his voice, "I thought all oasis's look like this!" He had gone through more days with Martin at his side then he ever cared to, but the little man could read the strange map, so he was there.
"Oh! You're so funny!" Martin said with a jolly laugh, he didn't even tell he was being mocked. "But, Travis, if we continue on tonight, we should get to where the gold pyramid is…er…was, in a couple of hours."
"Sounds good to me, everyone carry on!" He shouted, waving his hand forward.
Travis Ripkin was a proud man, always moving his six-foot body with grace. He was nicely built, often spending much time working out to escape the normal British museum male stereotype of being nerdy. A large hand coming up to run through his sandy brown hair, blue eyes scanning the desert through the dark sunglasses he still wore, although it was dusk. His voice was powerful, his accent adding to the power.
Martin Adams, on the other hand, was only five foot seven, slightly portly, and had the most god-awful voice in the world. It drove Travis insane every time he spoke. His red hair was long and often unruly, causing him to have to constantly brush it from his brown eyes. He was not a handsome man in any sort, but he was smart and could figure out anything that was encrypted. He was able to read and discern the strange map that Rick O'Connell had made so many years before.
The third and final college, Steven York, was unlike the both of them. Where as they were British and damn proud of it, Steven was German and hated the very fact. No one ever really knew why, but there were rumors that he was a descendent of a Nazi General. Steven had tried his hardest to rid himself of his accent, but there was still a very weak one in his voice. He was six foot three, muscular, had short, bleached blond hair and pricing green eyes. He didn't talk much, and by looking at him, you couldn't guess he worked in a museum. Yet he did, and he was one of the brightest blokes in there when it came to ancient Egypt. Next, of course, to Nick O'Connell.
Both Steven and Travis hated Nick with a passion, and they both had their separate reasons, but it did make them friends. Martin had nothing against the O'Connell lad; he was always nice to Martin, holding open doors, saying good morning and such. Martin had no idea about the plans that Steven and Travis had for their little trip, he just thought they were going on a normal dig. In fact, he wasn't even present when they had gotten Nick drunk, forced the story out of him, and stole all the material they would need to rise Imhotep again. He knew nothing of it all; he was just there to read the map.
They walked on, Martin eyeing the large warriors uneasily. When he asked why they needed them the answer that came back was, "For protection." He didn't trust them; but then again, he didn't trust most people that much larger then him.
Two hours later, they stopped in the sand, everyone looking around at the nothing that surrounded them.
"Are you sure that this is where we are supposed to be?" Steven asked, his deep voice threatening.
"Um…as far as I can see…this is where we should start digging."
"Good." Travis said, dropping his backpack. "Set up camp here then."
Ten minutes later, after the diggers had set up the three's tents, they all collapsed, exhausted from the journey there.
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Travis is named after my brother. When I told him he was going to be the villan in my story, Trav said he wouldnt want it any other way. My brother is a strange guy. Thus endith the back story to one of my characters. More coming soon.
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The ride to the vault was silent and short. About half an hour after leaving the city, in which Nick sung to him self quietly, Ameera stopped her horse suddenly. She called out to Nick to stop as well.
"Wait…why are we stopping?"
"We are where we need to be."
"This doesn't look like any…woah."
She had jumped down and began to shove away sand from a certain spot, finally revealing a large stone door. Of to the side, was a star shaped lock, in which Ameera pulled out a star shaped key, and unlocked the large stone door.
"Do you mind helping me? This thing is horribly heavy." She said, grabbing on to the long handle on top of the stone slab. Nick joined her, and with grunts, they pulled the door up. It was heavy, and it hinged back with a thud. Ameera began to climb down the stairs that led into the dark pit, lighting a torch when she reached the bottom. He joined her at the bottom of the cold room, lighting his own torch. They were in a long hallway, its stone walls covered in hieroglyphs and other strange symbols and pictures.
"Even if any one, besides the Med-jai, were to ever find this place, they would not be able to get past the traps we have set. Stay close to me now, I wouldn't want you to be beheaded."
Nick laughed nervously. He stayed at her side and walked with the exact pace she had. Yet, to his surprise, they made it to the end of the hallway with ease, nothing strange happening.
"Wait…what about the traps?" He asked.
"As a Med-jai, I know how to walk this hallway with out setting off any of the traps we have set. It is lucky you stayed at my side…" She didn't explain why he was lucky, and he didn't want to know.
The door in front of them was large and gold, a knob of some sort off to the side. The knob was a large ball connected to an eight-sided star. She placed her hand on the knob and pulled back, twisting it to the left, then to the right, before pushing it back into another eight-sided star underneath it. There was a load sound and the door slowly swung back, revealing a bark, cool, musty room. The air in it thick and old, the temperature about twenty degrees below the temp in the hallway.
Ameera entered first, lighting torches as she went along. Nick followed, his mouth dropping at the sight of the treasures held in the room. Vast piles of gold everywhere, Jewelry, furnishings, statues, all sorts of things sat in the room, untouched from all. Large stacks of stone books filled one corner, where as many nicely folded piles on cloths lined another. Large paintings and rolled up drawings sat in a small pile. And many rolled up pieces of parchment were everywhere.
Ameera saw the look on his face and smiled. Everyone had that expression the first time they entered the room. This place was filled with all the priceless articles the Med-jai had collected over the years, irreplaceable objects that had been stored in the dark room. With a squeak, the door behind them closed, causing Nick to jump.
"Are we…stuck?" He asked, voice shaking.
"No, we are not." She said as she crossed to the other side of the room, pulling back a hanging tapestry and revealing another gold door. This one also had the same strange doorknob. She pulled it out and twisted it left the right, then pushing it back in. Once again, the door swung open, revealing another small dark room. She lit the one torch in the room and crossed to a large wooden box, placing her torch in to a holder next to the box. Nick, who had followed her in, gasped with excitement.
"This very box holds the book of the living." Ameera said softly, brushing her hand over the lid. "Your great-grandfather and great-great-uncle pulled this out of the statue of Horus so very long ago. They saved your great-grandmother with this book, you know."
"Oh…I know," He said breathlessly. He had dreamed of this very book, it was why he was there.
With a grunt, she picked up a side of the heavy box, giving him a 'help me' glance. He picked up the other side and helped her carry it out of the room. They sat it down and pulled off the lid, a musty smell rising from the box. Inside, there was a cloth, gently; Ameera removed it, showing in all its glory, the golden book of the living. Nick let out another gasp, eyes wide, heart pounding. It was everything he had thought it to be.
And it was locked.
"Do…do…do we have the key…?" He asked, reaching out to touch the cool golden surface.
"Yes, we do." She stood up and crossed to the side of the room that the cloths were piled in. she picked up a few off the top, showing a strange black box sitting admits the pile. She picked it up and crossed to Nick, handing him the box.
"This is what started all the trouble for our ancestors." She said softly. "This is what brought both our families together."
He turned the key over in his hands, looking at it closely, as she pulled the heavy book out of the box. With a little gasp, Nick pushed the sides of the octagon, and the top popped out, turning into the key it was. He couldn't believe his eyes…here he was, reliving the past of his believed family.
Ameera placed the book on his lap with a grunt, the weight of it causing him to look up from the special key in his hands.
"Go ahead, open it." She said with a smile. All of this was old news to her, but it was all spectacular to him. He placed the key into the lock, and turned it, breathing in deeply as the side locks popped open. He sat the key down and pulled the heavy cover up, letting it flop over onto his lap.
He ran his fingers along the hieroglyphs, reading them silently to himself. His ancestors were all able to read, write, and speak ancient Egyptian, as was he. His own parents, however, never bothered to learn. They said it was useless, but Nick knew it wasn't.
"What am I looking for…?" He asked, eyes scanning the golden pages.
"We know that Evy had read a spell from this book to make the creature mortal so they could kill him. But the spell was a weak one and he was able to come back to life, once the right spell was read from the book of the dead. There must be a spell in this book that will completely destroy the creature, so that he could never come back to life again. We need you to find that spell, can you do it?"
"Of course," He said with a smile, then turned his attention back to the heavy book on his lap. He scanned the pages for a while, his fingers running over the symbols. Finally, he let out a little laugh.
"This is the spell that Evy read, Kadeesh mal! Kadeesh mal! Pared oos! PARED OOS!!" He laughed to himself. "My word…she taught me that when I was a child, told me that is was very useful to get rid of people you didn't want around. I tried it once, but it didn't work. Now I know who to use it on." He laughed again. Then went back to scanning the pages. It took him a little while, and as he read through the book, Ameera walked through the treasure in the room, looking at certain objects. She constructed a small pile of objects, including some jewelry, parchments, a drawing and what looked like a folded Med-jai robe.
"Here we go," He said suddenly, tapping a page with his fingertip, "This is the spell that should completely destroy Imho…the creature."
Ameera smiled. "Very good, now, do you need something to copy it down with?"
"No, I got it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded wad of paper and a charcoal pencil. He unfolded the paper, revealing three large pieces, picking up one; he placed it on the page and began to make a rubbing of it. She watched this all with interest, smiling softly.
He was a handsome man, tall, dashing, charming. She shook the thought away, she mustn't think like that, but she couldn't help it, he was all those things.
After he was done, he went through the rest of the pages, checking to see that he had gotten the right spell. It appeared that he had, but he didn't want to let go of the book.
"Can't I take it with me…to study it more…?"
"No, that book can not leave this vault. It took us a very long time to find it and its box, and we are not going to take the chance of losing it again."
"Then it was you who dug the hole at the city…"
"Yes, I went down there myself. Very beautiful place, the city of the dead…"
"Scarabs?"
"Luckily, no."
"I would love to see it sometime…"
"Maybe. Are you done? We need to get back, there is much to do here…and we have been here far to long as it is."
Nick realized they had been there for about an hour and a half. His eyes fell over the pile of artifacts she had made.
"Wait…what's with that?" He asked, pointing.
"Oh…just some things that I thought you would find intrusting. Like," She picked up a pair of golden tridents. "These were Evy's, she fought with them during the battle at the temple Ka, she saved Queen Emily's life with these. Gave them to her afterwards, said she should keep them."
Nick, who still had the heavy book on his lap, took the weapons and turned them over in his hands, studying them up close. His beloved great-grandmother fought with these…killed with these. They were weapons of a true warrior.
She watched him closely, as he held the tridents close to his face, looking at every inch of them, taking the feel and weight and power of them in.
"I thought you might like to see those." She said softly, picking up one of the folded robes she had picked out. "You might like this to, this was the robe Ardeth Bay was wearing when he first met your family."
Nick gasped and sat the weapons down, running his fingers over the rough black cloth. It was dirty and slightly faded.
"It is also the same robe he wore when they awoke the creature the first time…"
"How do you know?"
"He kept them all, every robe from every significant time in his life, he kept the robes he wore in every battle he ever fought it. This one," She picked up a robe lined in silver, "this one he wore when he traveled to England to save the O'Connell's from the creatures followers. It was never washed and never mended, it still has his blood on it." She carefully unfolded one part of the robe, showing the claw marks of one of Imhotep's mummy solders, incrusted around the slashed were dried blood.
"Oh my god…this stuff in amazing!" Nick carefully lifted the book of the living off his lap and sat it down with a grunt. He kneeled next to the pile; she went down with him.
"This is a drawing that my great-great aunt Meelesh drew of Ardeth, when he was very young." She unrolled a drawing, showing the unmistakable face of the King of the Med-jai.
"What ever happen to her?" Nick asked, looking at the drawing closely.
"She is still alive…" Ameera said, picking up a piece of parchment.
"My god...how old is she?"
She laughed. "We have lost count. This is Ardeth's…um…birth certificate, I believe you call it." She handed him the paper. They sat and looked at the past for another hour and a half, losing all account of time and where they were.
~~
The sun was hanging low when they got back to the Med-jai City.
"Are we all ready to go?" Ameera asked Omar as she dismounted, handing the reigns to a young boy.
"Yes, it will be you, myself, Haris, and Radhi. We will leave tomorrow morning and go to Cairo, where we will have a chartered plane waiting. It will take us about half a day to reach the point where we will have to land and start out on foot. Then it will take us another day to reach where we think the lost oasis is. Did you bring the map?"
Ameera handed him a rolled up piece of parchment. Rick wasn't the only one to make a map to Ahm Shere.
"Good. When we get there, the sixth tribe will send us reinforcements if needed."
"Good, good. We have the spell in case they bring the creature back."
"Is it the right one?"
"Yes, we went through the book very carefully."
"Radhi can read ancient Egyptian."
"Wait." Nick said, stepping into the conversation. "I thought I was going with you."
"What ever gave you that idea?" Ameera asked, turning to him.
"I helped you find that spell!"
"Yes, and we are very grateful that you did. But this is a dangerous mission and it be best if you just go back to England."
"I told you about the plan!"
"And again, we are grateful you did."
"I am going with you. I know these men; I know how they act and what they will be doing. You need me to go."
"O'Connell, tomorrow I am leaving for Ahm Shere, and you are not going with us. I will have some of our warriors take you and your friend back to Cairo, after we are long gone."
"I am going with you, you need someone to read that spell!"
"That's why Radhi is going with us. Believe me, we have it all planed out and under control."
"I am coming with you."
"No, you are not."
"Then I will go on my own…"
"And how are you going to get there?"
"I will go with the only other person who got out of Ahm Shere alive."
"Izzy is long dead…"
"Yes, but his grandson isn't."
This stopped a walking Ameera in her tracks; she spun around to face him.
"Oh yeah…he knows about the oasis, and how to get there." Nick said, with a smile.
"You wouldn't…"
"I already have. He is standing by as we speak."
"You lie."
"I would never!"
Ameera looked like she was going to punch him, and Nick could tell she was angry as all hell.
"You will not go with him."
"And what is going to stop me?"
"I will tie you up if I have to, tie the both of you up until we get back." She said bitterly, suddenly hating the man she that had spent all afternoon with.
"Wait…I have nothing to do with this!" Robert, who was standing next to Nick, said.
"It doesn't matter, you are not going."
"I am to! Nothing is going to stop me!"
"I am going to stop you!" She roared.
"Ameera, talk to me for a second." Omar said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away.
"What?" She hissed in Arabic, not wanting Nick to hear or understand.
"Maybe we should take him with us. He has a point you know, he does know these men who are trying to rise the creature. He could distract them as we attack."
"No, he IS NOT coming with us."
"Ameera…I don't know why you don't want him to…but I think he should. Radhi is pretty rusty on his Egyptian, what if he says the wrong words? Or what if he gets killed before he can read it? None of us will be able to say it, because we never learned to read Egyptian."
"I can speak it…" She protested.
"But can you read it? I think it would be best if he came along. He knows what to read…he knows how to say it. And he knows the men who are behind this. Besides, this is a part of his history as much as it is a part of ours."
Ameera glared at her cousin and then looked at Nick, who was talking with Robert.
"Fine! Fine, he can come with us. But so help me…if he does one thing to interfere with what we have to do…"
"Why would you say that?" Omar said with a smile.
"Because every time his family and ours gets together, that is exactly what his side does!"
He chuckled. "I'll go tell him the news. By the way, your mom is looking for you." He walked off towards Nick. With a sigh, Ameera lent to where she knew her mother would be.
~~
"Mom? You were looking for me?" Ameera said as she walked into the medical tent. Her mother, like Meelesh, was the head doctor of the Med-jai City, and she found her mom cleaning up around the tent. Muriel looked up and smiled; gray and black hair puled back into a tight bun. Brown eyes shining into her daughter's lime green eyes. Ameera and her mother looked the same, but she had her father's eyes. Who had his father's eyes who had his mother's eyes.
"Yes dear, I wanted to hear about this trip you are going on tomorrow…and the O'Connell boy. My, he is a cute one, isn't he?"
Ameera sighed and rolled her eyes. Always like her mother, trying to set her up with ever 'cute' boy she saw.
"Mom, why do I have the feeling that you already know everything about both the trip and him?"
"Ameera, dear, I want YOU to tell me."
She rolled her eyes again. "Tomorrow, I, along with a few other warriors, are going to Cairo, getting on a plane, and flying to the end of Egypt, then walking down the Blue Nile, until we reach where the lost oasis of Ahm Shere was, then we are going to stop some foolish men from trying to bring back the creature."
"I know all that dear, I meant about the O'Connell boy. Nick, I believe."
"He is a kind man, he is the great-grandson of Rick and Evy, he is just like them, knows how to speak and read ancient Egyptian, and he is very interested in the life's that his family had lived. And I believe that he wants to relieve the life they did."
"Do you think he's cute?"
"Mother!"
"Do you?" Muriel smiled brightly. "Ameera, you are 27 years old, you should think about getting a husband, producing an heir!"
"Don't give me that lecture again, mom, I know how it goes by heart. So please, just stop right there. Nick is a handsome man, yes. But he is not my type, and I am not going to settle down with him."
"Fine…" She stayed silent for a second, "But you do think he is cute?"
"Yes, mother, I think he is cute."
Muriel smiled brightly, crossing to her daughter, taking her head in her hands and kissing her forehead.
"Ameera, I just want you to be happy. I know it is hard for you, being chieftain and all, and I feel that you missing apart of you because you don't have a male…"
"Mom…I will be ok. I have done this…what…five years with out a 'male'."
"I just want you to be happy, Se't lidj. I always worry when you go off on these battles, I worry I will lose you. I already lost your father, and your brother is off with the second tribe. All I have is you, so I have to worry about you and your happiness."
Ameera hugged her mom tightly. "Mom, I will be ok, I will always be ok. I know you worry, but you really don't have to. And as for my happiness, I am happy. I have a wonderful life as it is. Yes, I am 'male less', as you or Andrea would put it, but its ok. One day, I will meet my perfect match, and we will get together, and have a family, and produce heirs for the throne of the Med-jai. Ok?"
Her mom nodded.
"Good, now I have to go get ready for tomorrow and then eat. Care to join me?"
"No, my child, I think I am going to hunt down this Nick."
"Don't you dare…"
The older woman smiled, "I wont."
Ameera didn't believe her.
~~
Travis Ripkin couldn't believe his eyes as they left the Blue Nile. Yes, what was before them was miles and miles of sand, but underneath was treasure, power, and revenge. He smiled brightly in the dusk, and walked on, leading the large group of people who were behind him.
Behind him was a group of fifteen people. Two of his colleges, five large desert warriors, dressed in red and black robes, and seven local workers, hired to dig them to Ahm Shere.
"Travis!" The squeaky voice of Martin Adams rang in his ears, causing his smile to fade. With a bitter sigh, Travis turned his head, looking at the short man who ran up to him.
"According to this map you got, we are now where the oasis was…but I don't think it is here anymore."
"Really?" Travis asked, sarcasm ringing in his voice, "I thought all oasis's look like this!" He had gone through more days with Martin at his side then he ever cared to, but the little man could read the strange map, so he was there.
"Oh! You're so funny!" Martin said with a jolly laugh, he didn't even tell he was being mocked. "But, Travis, if we continue on tonight, we should get to where the gold pyramid is…er…was, in a couple of hours."
"Sounds good to me, everyone carry on!" He shouted, waving his hand forward.
Travis Ripkin was a proud man, always moving his six-foot body with grace. He was nicely built, often spending much time working out to escape the normal British museum male stereotype of being nerdy. A large hand coming up to run through his sandy brown hair, blue eyes scanning the desert through the dark sunglasses he still wore, although it was dusk. His voice was powerful, his accent adding to the power.
Martin Adams, on the other hand, was only five foot seven, slightly portly, and had the most god-awful voice in the world. It drove Travis insane every time he spoke. His red hair was long and often unruly, causing him to have to constantly brush it from his brown eyes. He was not a handsome man in any sort, but he was smart and could figure out anything that was encrypted. He was able to read and discern the strange map that Rick O'Connell had made so many years before.
The third and final college, Steven York, was unlike the both of them. Where as they were British and damn proud of it, Steven was German and hated the very fact. No one ever really knew why, but there were rumors that he was a descendent of a Nazi General. Steven had tried his hardest to rid himself of his accent, but there was still a very weak one in his voice. He was six foot three, muscular, had short, bleached blond hair and pricing green eyes. He didn't talk much, and by looking at him, you couldn't guess he worked in a museum. Yet he did, and he was one of the brightest blokes in there when it came to ancient Egypt. Next, of course, to Nick O'Connell.
Both Steven and Travis hated Nick with a passion, and they both had their separate reasons, but it did make them friends. Martin had nothing against the O'Connell lad; he was always nice to Martin, holding open doors, saying good morning and such. Martin had no idea about the plans that Steven and Travis had for their little trip, he just thought they were going on a normal dig. In fact, he wasn't even present when they had gotten Nick drunk, forced the story out of him, and stole all the material they would need to rise Imhotep again. He knew nothing of it all; he was just there to read the map.
They walked on, Martin eyeing the large warriors uneasily. When he asked why they needed them the answer that came back was, "For protection." He didn't trust them; but then again, he didn't trust most people that much larger then him.
Two hours later, they stopped in the sand, everyone looking around at the nothing that surrounded them.
"Are you sure that this is where we are supposed to be?" Steven asked, his deep voice threatening.
"Um…as far as I can see…this is where we should start digging."
"Good." Travis said, dropping his backpack. "Set up camp here then."
Ten minutes later, after the diggers had set up the three's tents, they all collapsed, exhausted from the journey there.
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Travis is named after my brother. When I told him he was going to be the villan in my story, Trav said he wouldnt want it any other way. My brother is a strange guy. Thus endith the back story to one of my characters. More coming soon.