Both Sayid and Ardeth jumped up at the same time and ran for Leigh's tent. Throwing the flaps open, they saw the pack was gone.
No, she wouldn't do that. She was too careful to wrap it up so that no part of it showed to be touched by human skin. Ardeth shook his head. The woman he just spent the night with wouldn't... would she? He took off running for his tent. The only thing that greeted him was his empty bed and Horus still on his perch.
"She is gone."
"Yes, Sayid, she is gone. She can not have gotten far. Send out riders to scout for her. As injured as she is, she will not make it far. I am going into the temple ruins to see if she is there by any chance. Be careful."
To say that Ardeth felt betrayed was an understatement. Leigh had played him a fool. Hadn't he? Their argument last night didn't feel like she was playing him. But who knows the mind of a woman, truly? Ardeth stalked across the sand towards the temple entry, his face set in a hard scowl. What if nothing had happened like they had been thinking? What if she had simply been possessed of an evil spirit that needed to be purged? Would she still feel the same about him? He commanded himself to stop thinking that way. This was no time to be concerned about matters of the heart when the world was potentially in jeopardy.
Deftly he made his way down the corridor by memory. Torches had been set along the way to make coming and going easier. The hissing in the walls had stopped, rendering the place silent as a tomb. This unnerved him slightly as he pressed onward. The closer he got to the Altar Chamber, the louder the other noise got. Chanting... calling to Apophis to return, that the great god Ra was no longer as powerful as he had been. But it was not a woman's voice he heard. It was many men. Relief washed over Ardeth to know that Leigh wasn't calling on the Chaos Dragon to return to the mortal world. But if it wasn't her voice, where was she?
--
Leigh was blissfully unawares of her surroundings. She had been on her way down the corridor when she finally realized that torches had been placed in the wall at even intervals to give easy passage. She had turned around to go back and look for Ardeth, to warn him, when more of the same men from yesterday had grabbed her. Even as tough as she was, she couldn't fight back in her weakened condition. The first blow to her back brought her to her knees, her eyes squeezing closed against the tears of pain that threatened to spill. She could not shed tears in front of these people and have them think she was weaker than them. Valiantly she struggled to her feet only to be hit across the middle of her back again. This time she cried out in pain and hit the ground on all fours, tears spilling freely. After that several men separated her from her rucksack and rummaged around until the found the silk bundle.
"Don.. Don't touch it..." she gasped against the pain.
"Shut up, silly woman." the leader sneered at her.
"I have a name you prick." Leigh snarled and reached down to her thigh for a gun that wasn't there. 'SHIT' she thought. 'This is not good.'
"I don't care if you do or not, WOMAN. You are about to witness the dawning of a new era." She was hauled up and forced to look at the man who now held the bundle of silk wrapped icon.
'Jeez,' she thought. 'He sure looks kinda serpentine with those beady little eyes and hissy voice. Either that or he's a choirboy.' Summoning what strength she could, Leigh threw her head forward into his and head-butted him.
The leader stumbled back and dropped the bundled icon. Leigh managed to kick it out of his immediate reach before she was belted in the stomach for her good intentions. Two of the men restrained her while another landed one last blow to her jaw sent Leigh into dreamland.
Meanwhile, the leader of the group had recovered his wits and retrieved the icon from where she had kicked it. "Bring her."
The men then proceeded down the rest of the corridor to the Altar Chamber. Leigh was shackled to a pillar out of the way as the man with the icon made his way behind the Altar itself.
"We have waited for thousands of years for this chance!" The acolytes took their appointed places around the Altar as the High Priest carefully unwrapped the icon. Chanting began around him as the gold of the statue began to peek its way through the black silk. When the statue was completely revealed, the Priest spoke up again. "Finally, after suffering the humiliation of defeat at the hands of a vain God, the great Chaos Dragon will rise up and devour the Sun!"
"Like hell."
****
No, she wouldn't do that. She was too careful to wrap it up so that no part of it showed to be touched by human skin. Ardeth shook his head. The woman he just spent the night with wouldn't... would she? He took off running for his tent. The only thing that greeted him was his empty bed and Horus still on his perch.
"She is gone."
"Yes, Sayid, she is gone. She can not have gotten far. Send out riders to scout for her. As injured as she is, she will not make it far. I am going into the temple ruins to see if she is there by any chance. Be careful."
To say that Ardeth felt betrayed was an understatement. Leigh had played him a fool. Hadn't he? Their argument last night didn't feel like she was playing him. But who knows the mind of a woman, truly? Ardeth stalked across the sand towards the temple entry, his face set in a hard scowl. What if nothing had happened like they had been thinking? What if she had simply been possessed of an evil spirit that needed to be purged? Would she still feel the same about him? He commanded himself to stop thinking that way. This was no time to be concerned about matters of the heart when the world was potentially in jeopardy.
Deftly he made his way down the corridor by memory. Torches had been set along the way to make coming and going easier. The hissing in the walls had stopped, rendering the place silent as a tomb. This unnerved him slightly as he pressed onward. The closer he got to the Altar Chamber, the louder the other noise got. Chanting... calling to Apophis to return, that the great god Ra was no longer as powerful as he had been. But it was not a woman's voice he heard. It was many men. Relief washed over Ardeth to know that Leigh wasn't calling on the Chaos Dragon to return to the mortal world. But if it wasn't her voice, where was she?
--
Leigh was blissfully unawares of her surroundings. She had been on her way down the corridor when she finally realized that torches had been placed in the wall at even intervals to give easy passage. She had turned around to go back and look for Ardeth, to warn him, when more of the same men from yesterday had grabbed her. Even as tough as she was, she couldn't fight back in her weakened condition. The first blow to her back brought her to her knees, her eyes squeezing closed against the tears of pain that threatened to spill. She could not shed tears in front of these people and have them think she was weaker than them. Valiantly she struggled to her feet only to be hit across the middle of her back again. This time she cried out in pain and hit the ground on all fours, tears spilling freely. After that several men separated her from her rucksack and rummaged around until the found the silk bundle.
"Don.. Don't touch it..." she gasped against the pain.
"Shut up, silly woman." the leader sneered at her.
"I have a name you prick." Leigh snarled and reached down to her thigh for a gun that wasn't there. 'SHIT' she thought. 'This is not good.'
"I don't care if you do or not, WOMAN. You are about to witness the dawning of a new era." She was hauled up and forced to look at the man who now held the bundle of silk wrapped icon.
'Jeez,' she thought. 'He sure looks kinda serpentine with those beady little eyes and hissy voice. Either that or he's a choirboy.' Summoning what strength she could, Leigh threw her head forward into his and head-butted him.
The leader stumbled back and dropped the bundled icon. Leigh managed to kick it out of his immediate reach before she was belted in the stomach for her good intentions. Two of the men restrained her while another landed one last blow to her jaw sent Leigh into dreamland.
Meanwhile, the leader of the group had recovered his wits and retrieved the icon from where she had kicked it. "Bring her."
The men then proceeded down the rest of the corridor to the Altar Chamber. Leigh was shackled to a pillar out of the way as the man with the icon made his way behind the Altar itself.
"We have waited for thousands of years for this chance!" The acolytes took their appointed places around the Altar as the High Priest carefully unwrapped the icon. Chanting began around him as the gold of the statue began to peek its way through the black silk. When the statue was completely revealed, the Priest spoke up again. "Finally, after suffering the humiliation of defeat at the hands of a vain God, the great Chaos Dragon will rise up and devour the Sun!"
"Like hell."
****