Disclaimer: I don't own any of this stuff, don't sue me, yada yada yada yada yada...


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Ardeth leaned back in his horse's saddle. The sun was setting against the sands. He turned to his right as his second in command rode up beside him.

"A man has made his way to our front line. He says that he is a traveller, travelling from the west, and that he seeks a lost treasure..."

Ardeth brightened. So far his day had been gong pretty badly, with his horse rearing him off in front of all his men. Then there was the incident where he tried to draw his sword out, to teach the younger Medjai how to use it, and he had slipped and cut his hand. Also, there was that scene when he was talking in his foreign tounge, Arabic, and had accidently used the word "nude" instead of "used". That was also in front of all his people.

"Um, sir? What should we do?" Ardeth snapped back to reality as his friend, Olsl, studdied his face. "Let him into the village." Olsl turned his horse, but then turned back and said, "Oh, he's wounded, as well."

Ardeth turned immedietely. "What? How?" Olsl shrugged. "He said he would only tell you. But from what I see, he looks like he got a pretty bad beating from multiple people, his face is cut up pretty badly, and there's a trickle of blood running down the side of his horse from it's side, almost so it looks like the horse is hurt, but if you look closely, you can see that it's coming from the man."

Ardeth digested this news. He only hoped that it wasn't the man he was thinking of. He had a way to get proof, though. "Did the man have a brown leather brace covering his wrist on his right hand?" Olsl nodded. Ardeth cursed in Arabic, then kneed his horse, heading toward his encampment, with OIsl on his heels. In took only a few minutes to get to the front line. Ardeth pulled his horse a little slower as he let Olsl lead. Olsl's horse ran down the line of ditches where several dozen Medjai warriors were stationed, in case an opposing group, such as the Huddags, tried to attack them.

Ardeth felt himself riding his horse, but his mind was elsewhere. How could Rick O'Connell get to such a bad state? Where was Evelyn and Alex? Johnathan would even be welcome right then. Ardeth shook his head to clear his thoughts. They were slowling down now, and Ardeth could see a bunch of warriors surrounding a man on a horse. Ardeth jumped off his horse before he fully came to a stop.

He pushed his way through the crowd and saw Rick in the saddle of his horse. He looked terrible, worse than Olsl described him. There were several more wounds than mentioned, and there was more than a trickle of blood running down his horse. It was like comparing a brook, from Olsl's description, to a whitewater rapid, in reality. Rick looked at him, and smiled slightly. He slid off his horse with difficulty and stumbeled over to Ardeth. When he was an arm's length, he stopped.

He said in a hoarse voice, "The Creature lives again." Ardeth felt his breath catch in his throat. He asked, "What happened to you?" Rick answered slowly, "It was just me, an archaeologist, a kid, and a greedy guy, minding our own buisiness, when a sand vortex runs in through the window, and forms Imhotep. He takes my by the throat, and chokes me, then throws me off to the side. Then, he takes one of the knives off our wall, and slashes Evy through her heart. Then, he cuts Johnathan's throat. Then, he breaks Alex's back. Then, it's just him and me. We fight for a minute or two before he gets two knives and starts a vortex again, and I'm in the middle of it, and he beats me up, all the while using the knives to slash whatever he can. He stabs me in the side and thinks the fight is over. Then, I fall and he leaves, and I make my way here."

There was silence from the surrounding warriors, who had been sniggering at him for his American heritage. Now, they were as silent as death. Ardeth asked, "How is he alive?"

Rick coughed, then said, "As far as I can gather, a guy found the black book in our house in Cairo and raised him. Imhotep killed the guy and assimilated him, and then came after us. The only thing he said other than that, was 'Ank-su-namun'. "

Ardeth looked away for a second, then turned back. He saw tear streaks on Rick's face, from where he had been crying. Rick coughed again, then said, "Oh, yeah, I managed to get this from our house in Cairo."

He turned and walked drunkenly toward his horse. Once there, he reached into a large bag. He pulled out three things. He held them out toward Ardeth.

"The Book of the Dead, the Book of the Living, and the Key that opens them both." Ardeth signaled to three of his men. They grabbed one of the items each. Ardeth spoke in Arabic. "Take them to the village and give them to the elders."

He turned back toward Rick. Rick had fresh tears streaming down his face as he said, "They're gone, Ardeth. All of them are gone. Johnathan is dead. Alex is dead. Evy is dead...again. But this time I can't use the book to bring her back."

Olsl asked, "Why not?" Rick looked at him and said, "There are only three people who can read the Ancient Egyptian language. Evy, Alex, and Imhotep."

Suddenly, Rick fell foward and Ardeth caught him. Rick rested on hs knees and said, "They're gone. They're all gone." He raised his eyes to look straight at Ardeth.

"And I'm gonna kill that son of a..." He passd out before he was able to complete his sentence.