In this chapter, Nikc sings two songs, Readiohead's "Let Down". & CSN&Y's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". As always, I dont own the songs. I dont think there is any chance Thom York or Steven Stills happens to read The Mummy Fanfic, and land on my story. But if they do, I'm telling you guys right now, your music kicks ass.
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"Oh my god…" Nick grumbled as his curtains were flung open, reviling an already bright sun.
"Get up Nick, we will leave in half an hour." Ameera said softly but firmly.
"You really need to work on how you wake people up." He mumbled, turning over in bed, back towards the window.
"I hear that often, but I pay it no heed. Get up!" She slammed the door as she left.
With a sigh and a yawn, he sat up and stretched. Swinging his legs over the bed, he stood up, stretching his whole body. With another yawn, he crossed to his small bag of cloths, pulling out a pair of khaki pants, and a white button down shirt with rolled up sleeves. Just call him adventurer Nick. He sat on his bed as he pulled on his hiking boots, lacing them softly. He then stood and looked at himself in the mirror. There he was, following in the footsteps of his heroes, and he looked the part. He ran a hand through his hair, then ran some gel through his hair, causing it to spike.
Nick grabbed his things and exited the room, smiling as he did so. He found the Med-jai in the small dining room, along with a few other people who were staying at the hotel. There was not one tourist attraction or hotel that a Med-jai didn't work at. They all smiled and returned to eating their breakfasts. As he sat down, Eliza, the owner of the hotel, wondered up to him and took his order for breakfast.
"So, all of you ready?" Nick said happily. They all looked at him, Omar and Haris looking up from a newspaper, then began to eat again.
"Talkative buggers." Nick said to himself as his coffee was poured. Omar snorted, causing everyone to look up at him, but he just pointed to an article in the paper and shook his head in disgust. Craning his neck, Nick looked at the article, but took his head away when he realized that it was in Arabic. The others read the article and shook their heads as well. But no one said what it was about, so Nick didn't ask. Soon, his food came and he ate silently, the others waiting for him to finish eating until they stood up.
"Everyone ready?" Ameera said softly. They all nodded.
"Good then, lets get to the air field. The faster we get there, the better. Eh, boys?" They all nodded again. Ameera paid the bill and they left the hotel, leaving their horses there. They would be picked up some other time.
The morning air was brisk and cool, it had to be around six o'clock. Ameera and Omar led the way to the airfield, Nick behind them, then Haris and Ridha in the back. All were carrying a bag of their own, and a bag of supplies.
When they got there, they found Izzy and his beaten down plane.
"It is very air worthy!" He called, seeing the looks of concern passing between the Med-jai.
"It may not look that way," Nick said, dropping his bags, "But it is. I have flown in that thing plenty of times. You know flying is the safest way of travel."
"No, Camel is. Or horseback riding. After what happen to my great-grandfather, I don't trust those things one bit." Omar said, dropping his bags as well. "But I don't see any other way around it."
Ameera laughed softly and threw her bags in to the plane, then jumping in as well. "It may not have worked for him, Omar, but keep in mind, one time he was strapped to the wing of a plane, the other he was in a flying boat…I figure this has got to be more safe."
Omar glared at her and jumped in the plane as well. Nick threw both his and Omar's bags in and hopped in, followed by Haris and Radhi. (They didn't talk much.) Omar and Ameera sat on the front bench, the other two Med-jai each had one to them selves, and Nick took shotgun, next to Izzy.
"Now, just fassen ya seat belts, and we will be off!" Izzy said, joyfully, starting the plane. The warriors eyed each other uneasily, but did as they were told.
"Nick!" Ameera yelled over the roar of the engine, "If I die because of this plane, I'm having someone bring me back and you are going to be the first one I come after!"
Nick laughed at the comment, but looking back, he stopped. Her eyes told him she was dead serious. He sank into his seat and turned away, looking out the dirty window. After a few minutes passed, the plane jumped and started down the runway. Each of the warriors in the back were praying silently to Allah to get them to Ahm Shere safely, Nick and Izzy both had stupid grins on their faces as the plane left the ground, guiding off into the sky.
Of the Med-jai, only Ameera had ever flown, so she felt somewhat calm. But the other three were all green in the faces, jumping at every slight movement of the plane. After five minutes, when they were fully airborne, the three large males settled down a bit, each taking the chance of looking down at the tiny world below. There were not up to high, but everything was still tiny. Ameera herself looked out the window, and felt her heart drop at the sight from the sky.
"Transport, motorways and tramlines, starting and then stopping, taking off and landing, the emptiest of feelings, disappointed people, clinging on to bottles, and when it comes it's so, so, disappointing.
Let down and hanging around crushed like a bug in the ground. Let down and hanging around.
Shell smashed, juices flowing wings twitch, legs are going, don't get sentimental, it always ends up drivel. One day, I'm gonna grow wings, a chemical reaction, hysterical and useless hysterical and
let down and hanging around, crushed like a bug in the ground. Let down and hanging around.
Let down, Let down, Let down.
You know, you know where you are with, you know where you are with, floor collapsing, falling, bouncing back and one day, I'm gonna grow wings, a chemical reaction, hysterical and hysterical and
let down and hanging around, crushed like a bug in the ground. Let down and hanging around."
Nick had a nice singing voice and his song seen to sooth the nerves of those onboard the plane. Ameera sat back, a found smile on her face. She liked this Nick O'Connell more and more each day she spent around him. She watched him as he stared out the dirty windows, watching the earth move by. He felt he was being watched and looked back, throwing her a bright smile and a wink. He turned back in his seat, and began to sing again.
"It's getting to the point, Where I'm no fun anymore, I am sorry, Sometimes it hurts so badly, I must cry out loud, I am lonely, I am yours, you are mine, You are what you are, And you make it hard -"
~~
One of the workers gave an excited cry, motioning his fellow companions over frantically with a wave of his hand. Pushing through each other, they peered at the mans discovery. Covered by piled sand was the shape of a door, unknown ancient hieroglyphs staring ominously from above it. Working together, they promptly cleared the russet-hued sand, revealing a narrow passageway leading into the depths of the pyramid. Lighting torches with flint and steel, the workers began their sloped descent, the air musty from the years it had been undisturbed. A think layer of dust blanketed the floor, swirled up by the boots of the men's feet after eons of peace.
Meticulous carvings on the depicted the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt, the deities alarmingly real. Icons of Isis and Osiris soon gave way to the sun god, Amon-Ra, and then to the lord Anubis, his jackal head glaring, the uncanny, wicked grin on his face causing the company to shiver. The passage branched out to a large room, the walls washed in gold as torches flickered from their steel holders, hungry flames flickering low in the stale air. Portrayed on the golden walls were stories of the Scorpion King. This, of course, held nothing of notable importance to the workers, who couldn't read their own language, let alone ancient Egyptian. Statues of Anubis, six feet tall, flanked the doorway, their arms crossed and raven paws holding tight to twin tridents.
The group stared in awe, not realizing that one of their company had wandered to the opposite side of the room. He gave a choked gasp of surprise and trepidation as he stared down into the open book of the dead, its obsidian pages glossy and the hieroglyphics carved onto the pages tempting to even those who couldn't read it's magical words.
They spoke in a hushed tone, for no one could believe what they were seeing. Soon, Travis and Steven pushed their way into the golden room, crossing to where the diggers stood around the book.
"Let us th…" Travis began, stopping short at the sight of the book on the floor. He pushed the diggers aside and picked it up, the weight causing a grunt to come out of him.
"The book of the dead." Steven said in a low voice, his eyes scanning the smooth pages. He was fluent in ancient Egyptian and could read it just as well.
"We are very close…all you have to do is read the right spell…and it is all ours." Travis said, voice also low so that the others could not hear it.
"Let us hope there is a spell in here that one could read to bring Imhotep back from hell."
"Yes, let us hope. Take it up and go through it, I am going to stay down here…watch the progress."
Steven smiled and took the book, leaving the pyramid.
"Get back to work!" Travis barked at the workers. "I want the main chamber cleared out very soon. Got it!"
The diggers grumbled under their breaths but went to work on a large doorway.
~~
"How long will we be?" Ameera called up to Izzy.
"About another hour!" He called back.
With a sigh, she sat back in her seat. Omar was asleep next to her, and Radhi and Haris were both staring out the windows, silent.
Nick stood up as far as he could in the small plane and made his way back to Ameera, sitting down next to her.
"Having fun?" He said loudly over the noise of the plane.
"A blast!" She said back with a smile. "You have a beautiful singing voice!"
"Thanks!" He blushed slightly.
"Do you have the spell?"
He nodded. "In my pack! Don't worry!"
"The only thing I have to worry about is getting off this plane alive!"
Nick laughed and stood up. "You will, don't worry!" He made his way to the front seat again.
Radhi, who was sitting behind Ameera and the sleeping Omar, leaned forward and said something to her in Hebrew. Ameera looked stunned and responded rather crossly. They exchanged words for a minute, and then Ameera shook her head and stopped talking.
"What was that all about?" Nick asked, looking on.
"Nothing!" Ameera shot out, blushing slightly.
~~
Martin stared in excitement at the black book of the dead.
"Is it really…?" He asked, breathlessly.
"Yes. It is." Steven said annoyed.
The smaller of the men reached out to touch the smooth black pages, but his hand was brushed away by the larger man.
"Be gone! I have work to do!" Steven flopped the heavy pages back to the beginning.
Martin frowned and walked out of the tent. He made his way down the large hole of sand, to the opening of the pyramid. Walking inside, he gasped slightly at the beauty of the pyramid. In silence, he walked around looking into the rooms, studying the writings on the wall, the statues of the gods and the over all beauty of the place he was standing in.
"What are you doing in here?" Cane a voice behind him, causing him to jump. Turning, he found him self staring up into the eyes of one of the red & black guards.
"Just…looking around." He got out, trying to hide his fright.
The guard nodded but did not leave.
"No one is supposed to be in these rooms alone." He said darkly.
"Well, I think I am alright. I mean, what harm could I cause?"
"No one is supposed to be in these rooms alone." The guard said again. Little did Martin know that the man was the descendent of one of the men killed in the Oasis of Ahm Shere.
"He is alright." Another voice came behind them. Turning, they both saw Travis standing in the doorway. "Martin, come with me, I have found something you might…enjoy."
The small man stepped out of the path of the larger guard and crossed to his fellow Brit. "What is it?"
"The main chamber of this pyramid." Travis said coolly, "Just uncovered by our diggers."
~~
The main chamber, where Rick had battled Imhotep and the Scorpion King, was large and beautiful. Sadly, there was dabris everywhere, Large blocks of stone covered the floor from where they had fallen from the ceiling. Statues and pillars were broken on their sides, large oil lamps also tipped over. There were many cracks in the floor, two of them so large they had to be jumped over, both bottomless and dark. A large gong on one side, silent since the years Imhotep had pounded it to wake the large half-man half-bug. A few weapons lay scattered on the floor. A set of golden tridents, a couple battle axes, one looked like it was split in two. There was a battle in this room, both men could tell that, a large battle.
Neither man could speak, they just walked around the room, looking at its contents. Though Travis had known the story of the pyramid, he did not know where the lost oasis had really gone. Granted, there was many trees and foliage inside the rooms, but not enough to warrant a large jungle. And the pygmies, where did they go? The one thing he did not know was the most of the oasis, including all its inhabitants, were sucked into the pit of hell that both Imhotep and the Scorpion King had fallen into. The pit it's self was now closed…nothing more then a bottom less hole.
~~
As they walked around the main chamber of the pyramid, Steven went through the black book very carefully. They were very lucky that the book was open, because they did not have the key, and by the looks of it, it was a very tricky lock. Yet, they had found it wide-open, much to their luck. His fingertips slowly ran over the hieroglyphs, as he mouthed the words to himself, he spent about five minutes on each page, studying the words and writing them down on a pad next to him. He was four pages into the book when he came across a spell that made his eyes widen. He read it over and over until he finally smiled. He had found the spell that would bring Imhotep back to earth.
Since he was a child he had read about these mysterious happenings in Cairo and London. Six of the ten plagues had hit Cairo, causing mass destruction. Fire rained from the sky, flies and locust attacked, people were covered with boils and sores. All these strange happenings took place at the same time that people reported seeing a half-decomposed man walking around, who appeared to most people, almost mummy like. All the carnage stopped after a few days, and people put it out of their heads. But then, nine years later, people reported seeing mummies chasing after a bus in London. And part of the British Museum was destroyed.
All these stories kept a young Steven interested in Egypt and finding out if the stories were true. Then he had heard rumors about the O'Connell family being involved somehow…just his luck that he worked with one of them. Now, he was in Egypt, about to come face to face with he who caused so much destruction, and he would bring Steven much power and wealth. All his life, everyone he ever knew told him that the stories were not true. Well, he would show them they were true.
He looked over the spell. It was not an easy one, to bring someone back from hell. He would have to cut open his hand, so that his blood flowed freely. His eyes scanned the black page, reading all that had to be done to bring Imhotep back to earth. Those Egyptians thought of everything.
~~
The plane came down rather violently. It shook a lot and jumped a couple of times. Izzy had assured them it was because they were landing on dirt. When the plane came to a stop, everyone, including Izzy and Nick, let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, remind me never to do that again." Said a rather grumpy Omar.
"Then how are you going to get back?" Ameera said with a laugh.
"I will walk. Or just go live with the sixth tribe, they are around here…speaking of which, where is here?"
They had landed on top of a hill overlooking a large canyon, a river flowing through it.
"We are at the end of Egypt. Sorry I couldn't of taken you all the way…but there is restricted air space and all…" Izzy said as he began to pull bags out of the plane.
"We are going to have to hike the rest of the way." Ameera said softly. "It should take us the rest of today and part of tomorrow."
Nick didn't like the sound of that, to bad they didn't have their horses anymore.
"Come on, no time to waist. Izzy, are you going to wait for us or are you going to go on?"
"I'll wait for ya. It isn't going to take to long, is it?"
"Maybe one or two days. If there is anymore, you can go here." She handed him a small map.
"This is the sixth tribe of the Med-jai. They will take care of you, give you food and such. They are not that far away and they will treat you very well."
Izzy nodded. "Good luck to ya, friends. I will be here when ya get back."
Ameera slung two bags on to her shoulders. "We are leaving you a large bag of food. It should hold you over for the next few days." She shook his hand. "Thank you for the ride Izzy, see you later." And with that, she started down a narrow path that led to the bottom of the canyon. The others soon followed.
"Do you have any idea where we are going?" Nick asked, walking behind her.
"I have a general idea, the oasis was at the end of the Blue Nile, and we are about a quarter the way into it. So…yes, I believe I do have an idea."
Looking back, Nick saw Omar, Radhi and Haris. So far on the trip, neither of them had said more then ten words, if even that. He chuckled to himself and looked down the canyon they were walking into. It was long and large, the river flowing gently through. Nick imagined his relatives flying through here, on a boat, trying to find their son and get away from a giant wall of water. What a sight that must have been for his family…most likely not the strangest thing they had ever seen, though.
The sun was high in the sky and the heat was almost unbearable. But they pressed on, in silence, in search for the very lost oasis of Ahm Shere.
~~
Steven joined Travis and Martin in the main chamber of the gold pyramid.
"I found the spell." He said low into Travis' ear. "We will perform it tonight, after he goes to bed."
"Great" Travis said back with a smile. Nick O'Connell be damned.
Martin was to busy examining a pair of discarded golden tridents. He held them close to his eyes and scanned every inch of them. Little did he know that Evelyn O'Connell had dropped them there 65 years before. While Steven and Travis were talking, Martin tucked them in the back waist of his pants, un tucking his shirt so it flopped over them. Neither of the men noticed what he did, nor did they notice that he walked a little more straight.
The rest of the afternoon was spent studying the contents of the pyramid. The diggers were finally given time off, so they spent the remainder of the day in what ever shade they could find, chatting about the things they had uncovered.
Travis and Steven worked in the main chamber, clearing away rubble and setting up the large, flat, oil lamps. Martin worked in the small room outside the main chamber, where Evy and Anuck-su-namun had fought each other. He dusted off the walls and stood things back up.
Humming softly to himself. Every once in a while, he got bits and pieces of the conversation Travis and Steven were having in the other room. But he tried not to pay attention to it.
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Going to be getten' some Imhotep action in the next chapter. WOO HOO! For such a bad guy, that man is a fox.
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"Oh my god…" Nick grumbled as his curtains were flung open, reviling an already bright sun.
"Get up Nick, we will leave in half an hour." Ameera said softly but firmly.
"You really need to work on how you wake people up." He mumbled, turning over in bed, back towards the window.
"I hear that often, but I pay it no heed. Get up!" She slammed the door as she left.
With a sigh and a yawn, he sat up and stretched. Swinging his legs over the bed, he stood up, stretching his whole body. With another yawn, he crossed to his small bag of cloths, pulling out a pair of khaki pants, and a white button down shirt with rolled up sleeves. Just call him adventurer Nick. He sat on his bed as he pulled on his hiking boots, lacing them softly. He then stood and looked at himself in the mirror. There he was, following in the footsteps of his heroes, and he looked the part. He ran a hand through his hair, then ran some gel through his hair, causing it to spike.
Nick grabbed his things and exited the room, smiling as he did so. He found the Med-jai in the small dining room, along with a few other people who were staying at the hotel. There was not one tourist attraction or hotel that a Med-jai didn't work at. They all smiled and returned to eating their breakfasts. As he sat down, Eliza, the owner of the hotel, wondered up to him and took his order for breakfast.
"So, all of you ready?" Nick said happily. They all looked at him, Omar and Haris looking up from a newspaper, then began to eat again.
"Talkative buggers." Nick said to himself as his coffee was poured. Omar snorted, causing everyone to look up at him, but he just pointed to an article in the paper and shook his head in disgust. Craning his neck, Nick looked at the article, but took his head away when he realized that it was in Arabic. The others read the article and shook their heads as well. But no one said what it was about, so Nick didn't ask. Soon, his food came and he ate silently, the others waiting for him to finish eating until they stood up.
"Everyone ready?" Ameera said softly. They all nodded.
"Good then, lets get to the air field. The faster we get there, the better. Eh, boys?" They all nodded again. Ameera paid the bill and they left the hotel, leaving their horses there. They would be picked up some other time.
The morning air was brisk and cool, it had to be around six o'clock. Ameera and Omar led the way to the airfield, Nick behind them, then Haris and Ridha in the back. All were carrying a bag of their own, and a bag of supplies.
When they got there, they found Izzy and his beaten down plane.
"It is very air worthy!" He called, seeing the looks of concern passing between the Med-jai.
"It may not look that way," Nick said, dropping his bags, "But it is. I have flown in that thing plenty of times. You know flying is the safest way of travel."
"No, Camel is. Or horseback riding. After what happen to my great-grandfather, I don't trust those things one bit." Omar said, dropping his bags as well. "But I don't see any other way around it."
Ameera laughed softly and threw her bags in to the plane, then jumping in as well. "It may not have worked for him, Omar, but keep in mind, one time he was strapped to the wing of a plane, the other he was in a flying boat…I figure this has got to be more safe."
Omar glared at her and jumped in the plane as well. Nick threw both his and Omar's bags in and hopped in, followed by Haris and Radhi. (They didn't talk much.) Omar and Ameera sat on the front bench, the other two Med-jai each had one to them selves, and Nick took shotgun, next to Izzy.
"Now, just fassen ya seat belts, and we will be off!" Izzy said, joyfully, starting the plane. The warriors eyed each other uneasily, but did as they were told.
"Nick!" Ameera yelled over the roar of the engine, "If I die because of this plane, I'm having someone bring me back and you are going to be the first one I come after!"
Nick laughed at the comment, but looking back, he stopped. Her eyes told him she was dead serious. He sank into his seat and turned away, looking out the dirty window. After a few minutes passed, the plane jumped and started down the runway. Each of the warriors in the back were praying silently to Allah to get them to Ahm Shere safely, Nick and Izzy both had stupid grins on their faces as the plane left the ground, guiding off into the sky.
Of the Med-jai, only Ameera had ever flown, so she felt somewhat calm. But the other three were all green in the faces, jumping at every slight movement of the plane. After five minutes, when they were fully airborne, the three large males settled down a bit, each taking the chance of looking down at the tiny world below. There were not up to high, but everything was still tiny. Ameera herself looked out the window, and felt her heart drop at the sight from the sky.
"Transport, motorways and tramlines, starting and then stopping, taking off and landing, the emptiest of feelings, disappointed people, clinging on to bottles, and when it comes it's so, so, disappointing.
Let down and hanging around crushed like a bug in the ground. Let down and hanging around.
Shell smashed, juices flowing wings twitch, legs are going, don't get sentimental, it always ends up drivel. One day, I'm gonna grow wings, a chemical reaction, hysterical and useless hysterical and
let down and hanging around, crushed like a bug in the ground. Let down and hanging around.
Let down, Let down, Let down.
You know, you know where you are with, you know where you are with, floor collapsing, falling, bouncing back and one day, I'm gonna grow wings, a chemical reaction, hysterical and hysterical and
let down and hanging around, crushed like a bug in the ground. Let down and hanging around."
Nick had a nice singing voice and his song seen to sooth the nerves of those onboard the plane. Ameera sat back, a found smile on her face. She liked this Nick O'Connell more and more each day she spent around him. She watched him as he stared out the dirty windows, watching the earth move by. He felt he was being watched and looked back, throwing her a bright smile and a wink. He turned back in his seat, and began to sing again.
"It's getting to the point, Where I'm no fun anymore, I am sorry, Sometimes it hurts so badly, I must cry out loud, I am lonely, I am yours, you are mine, You are what you are, And you make it hard -"
~~
One of the workers gave an excited cry, motioning his fellow companions over frantically with a wave of his hand. Pushing through each other, they peered at the mans discovery. Covered by piled sand was the shape of a door, unknown ancient hieroglyphs staring ominously from above it. Working together, they promptly cleared the russet-hued sand, revealing a narrow passageway leading into the depths of the pyramid. Lighting torches with flint and steel, the workers began their sloped descent, the air musty from the years it had been undisturbed. A think layer of dust blanketed the floor, swirled up by the boots of the men's feet after eons of peace.
Meticulous carvings on the depicted the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt, the deities alarmingly real. Icons of Isis and Osiris soon gave way to the sun god, Amon-Ra, and then to the lord Anubis, his jackal head glaring, the uncanny, wicked grin on his face causing the company to shiver. The passage branched out to a large room, the walls washed in gold as torches flickered from their steel holders, hungry flames flickering low in the stale air. Portrayed on the golden walls were stories of the Scorpion King. This, of course, held nothing of notable importance to the workers, who couldn't read their own language, let alone ancient Egyptian. Statues of Anubis, six feet tall, flanked the doorway, their arms crossed and raven paws holding tight to twin tridents.
The group stared in awe, not realizing that one of their company had wandered to the opposite side of the room. He gave a choked gasp of surprise and trepidation as he stared down into the open book of the dead, its obsidian pages glossy and the hieroglyphics carved onto the pages tempting to even those who couldn't read it's magical words.
They spoke in a hushed tone, for no one could believe what they were seeing. Soon, Travis and Steven pushed their way into the golden room, crossing to where the diggers stood around the book.
"Let us th…" Travis began, stopping short at the sight of the book on the floor. He pushed the diggers aside and picked it up, the weight causing a grunt to come out of him.
"The book of the dead." Steven said in a low voice, his eyes scanning the smooth pages. He was fluent in ancient Egyptian and could read it just as well.
"We are very close…all you have to do is read the right spell…and it is all ours." Travis said, voice also low so that the others could not hear it.
"Let us hope there is a spell in here that one could read to bring Imhotep back from hell."
"Yes, let us hope. Take it up and go through it, I am going to stay down here…watch the progress."
Steven smiled and took the book, leaving the pyramid.
"Get back to work!" Travis barked at the workers. "I want the main chamber cleared out very soon. Got it!"
The diggers grumbled under their breaths but went to work on a large doorway.
~~
"How long will we be?" Ameera called up to Izzy.
"About another hour!" He called back.
With a sigh, she sat back in her seat. Omar was asleep next to her, and Radhi and Haris were both staring out the windows, silent.
Nick stood up as far as he could in the small plane and made his way back to Ameera, sitting down next to her.
"Having fun?" He said loudly over the noise of the plane.
"A blast!" She said back with a smile. "You have a beautiful singing voice!"
"Thanks!" He blushed slightly.
"Do you have the spell?"
He nodded. "In my pack! Don't worry!"
"The only thing I have to worry about is getting off this plane alive!"
Nick laughed and stood up. "You will, don't worry!" He made his way to the front seat again.
Radhi, who was sitting behind Ameera and the sleeping Omar, leaned forward and said something to her in Hebrew. Ameera looked stunned and responded rather crossly. They exchanged words for a minute, and then Ameera shook her head and stopped talking.
"What was that all about?" Nick asked, looking on.
"Nothing!" Ameera shot out, blushing slightly.
~~
Martin stared in excitement at the black book of the dead.
"Is it really…?" He asked, breathlessly.
"Yes. It is." Steven said annoyed.
The smaller of the men reached out to touch the smooth black pages, but his hand was brushed away by the larger man.
"Be gone! I have work to do!" Steven flopped the heavy pages back to the beginning.
Martin frowned and walked out of the tent. He made his way down the large hole of sand, to the opening of the pyramid. Walking inside, he gasped slightly at the beauty of the pyramid. In silence, he walked around looking into the rooms, studying the writings on the wall, the statues of the gods and the over all beauty of the place he was standing in.
"What are you doing in here?" Cane a voice behind him, causing him to jump. Turning, he found him self staring up into the eyes of one of the red & black guards.
"Just…looking around." He got out, trying to hide his fright.
The guard nodded but did not leave.
"No one is supposed to be in these rooms alone." He said darkly.
"Well, I think I am alright. I mean, what harm could I cause?"
"No one is supposed to be in these rooms alone." The guard said again. Little did Martin know that the man was the descendent of one of the men killed in the Oasis of Ahm Shere.
"He is alright." Another voice came behind them. Turning, they both saw Travis standing in the doorway. "Martin, come with me, I have found something you might…enjoy."
The small man stepped out of the path of the larger guard and crossed to his fellow Brit. "What is it?"
"The main chamber of this pyramid." Travis said coolly, "Just uncovered by our diggers."
~~
The main chamber, where Rick had battled Imhotep and the Scorpion King, was large and beautiful. Sadly, there was dabris everywhere, Large blocks of stone covered the floor from where they had fallen from the ceiling. Statues and pillars were broken on their sides, large oil lamps also tipped over. There were many cracks in the floor, two of them so large they had to be jumped over, both bottomless and dark. A large gong on one side, silent since the years Imhotep had pounded it to wake the large half-man half-bug. A few weapons lay scattered on the floor. A set of golden tridents, a couple battle axes, one looked like it was split in two. There was a battle in this room, both men could tell that, a large battle.
Neither man could speak, they just walked around the room, looking at its contents. Though Travis had known the story of the pyramid, he did not know where the lost oasis had really gone. Granted, there was many trees and foliage inside the rooms, but not enough to warrant a large jungle. And the pygmies, where did they go? The one thing he did not know was the most of the oasis, including all its inhabitants, were sucked into the pit of hell that both Imhotep and the Scorpion King had fallen into. The pit it's self was now closed…nothing more then a bottom less hole.
~~
As they walked around the main chamber of the pyramid, Steven went through the black book very carefully. They were very lucky that the book was open, because they did not have the key, and by the looks of it, it was a very tricky lock. Yet, they had found it wide-open, much to their luck. His fingertips slowly ran over the hieroglyphs, as he mouthed the words to himself, he spent about five minutes on each page, studying the words and writing them down on a pad next to him. He was four pages into the book when he came across a spell that made his eyes widen. He read it over and over until he finally smiled. He had found the spell that would bring Imhotep back to earth.
Since he was a child he had read about these mysterious happenings in Cairo and London. Six of the ten plagues had hit Cairo, causing mass destruction. Fire rained from the sky, flies and locust attacked, people were covered with boils and sores. All these strange happenings took place at the same time that people reported seeing a half-decomposed man walking around, who appeared to most people, almost mummy like. All the carnage stopped after a few days, and people put it out of their heads. But then, nine years later, people reported seeing mummies chasing after a bus in London. And part of the British Museum was destroyed.
All these stories kept a young Steven interested in Egypt and finding out if the stories were true. Then he had heard rumors about the O'Connell family being involved somehow…just his luck that he worked with one of them. Now, he was in Egypt, about to come face to face with he who caused so much destruction, and he would bring Steven much power and wealth. All his life, everyone he ever knew told him that the stories were not true. Well, he would show them they were true.
He looked over the spell. It was not an easy one, to bring someone back from hell. He would have to cut open his hand, so that his blood flowed freely. His eyes scanned the black page, reading all that had to be done to bring Imhotep back to earth. Those Egyptians thought of everything.
~~
The plane came down rather violently. It shook a lot and jumped a couple of times. Izzy had assured them it was because they were landing on dirt. When the plane came to a stop, everyone, including Izzy and Nick, let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, remind me never to do that again." Said a rather grumpy Omar.
"Then how are you going to get back?" Ameera said with a laugh.
"I will walk. Or just go live with the sixth tribe, they are around here…speaking of which, where is here?"
They had landed on top of a hill overlooking a large canyon, a river flowing through it.
"We are at the end of Egypt. Sorry I couldn't of taken you all the way…but there is restricted air space and all…" Izzy said as he began to pull bags out of the plane.
"We are going to have to hike the rest of the way." Ameera said softly. "It should take us the rest of today and part of tomorrow."
Nick didn't like the sound of that, to bad they didn't have their horses anymore.
"Come on, no time to waist. Izzy, are you going to wait for us or are you going to go on?"
"I'll wait for ya. It isn't going to take to long, is it?"
"Maybe one or two days. If there is anymore, you can go here." She handed him a small map.
"This is the sixth tribe of the Med-jai. They will take care of you, give you food and such. They are not that far away and they will treat you very well."
Izzy nodded. "Good luck to ya, friends. I will be here when ya get back."
Ameera slung two bags on to her shoulders. "We are leaving you a large bag of food. It should hold you over for the next few days." She shook his hand. "Thank you for the ride Izzy, see you later." And with that, she started down a narrow path that led to the bottom of the canyon. The others soon followed.
"Do you have any idea where we are going?" Nick asked, walking behind her.
"I have a general idea, the oasis was at the end of the Blue Nile, and we are about a quarter the way into it. So…yes, I believe I do have an idea."
Looking back, Nick saw Omar, Radhi and Haris. So far on the trip, neither of them had said more then ten words, if even that. He chuckled to himself and looked down the canyon they were walking into. It was long and large, the river flowing gently through. Nick imagined his relatives flying through here, on a boat, trying to find their son and get away from a giant wall of water. What a sight that must have been for his family…most likely not the strangest thing they had ever seen, though.
The sun was high in the sky and the heat was almost unbearable. But they pressed on, in silence, in search for the very lost oasis of Ahm Shere.
~~
Steven joined Travis and Martin in the main chamber of the gold pyramid.
"I found the spell." He said low into Travis' ear. "We will perform it tonight, after he goes to bed."
"Great" Travis said back with a smile. Nick O'Connell be damned.
Martin was to busy examining a pair of discarded golden tridents. He held them close to his eyes and scanned every inch of them. Little did he know that Evelyn O'Connell had dropped them there 65 years before. While Steven and Travis were talking, Martin tucked them in the back waist of his pants, un tucking his shirt so it flopped over them. Neither of the men noticed what he did, nor did they notice that he walked a little more straight.
The rest of the afternoon was spent studying the contents of the pyramid. The diggers were finally given time off, so they spent the remainder of the day in what ever shade they could find, chatting about the things they had uncovered.
Travis and Steven worked in the main chamber, clearing away rubble and setting up the large, flat, oil lamps. Martin worked in the small room outside the main chamber, where Evy and Anuck-su-namun had fought each other. He dusted off the walls and stood things back up.
Humming softly to himself. Every once in a while, he got bits and pieces of the conversation Travis and Steven were having in the other room. But he tried not to pay attention to it.
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Going to be getten' some Imhotep action in the next chapter. WOO HOO! For such a bad guy, that man is a fox.