Ardeth looked at the sword coming down on him. He quickly held onto Catlanda, they rolled out of the way and the sword hit nothing but sand. Ardeth cringed in pain as he sat up.
"Both of you will die. Ramses was not to rise again and you permitted it! For that mistake, you must pay," she yelled at them, still brandishing her sword.
Jonathan had begun to scream and ran behind Rick, who pulled out a gun.
"What the heck does she want with Ardeth and Catty? There must be something more than the fact with Ramses," he whispered to himself.
He stepped in between the woman and Medjai.
"Stay out of this you worthless man. This doesn't concern you," the woman told him angrily. "Only these ones."
"When it concerns my friends, it does concern me lady. Now I want to know why you're doing this, attacking them for no apparent reason. And noone calls me worthless," demanded Rick.
"It's their punishment, that's what it is. Now step out of my way or face the same fate as they do!" she replied coldly, almost yelling at him.
She pushed Rick out of the way and lifted up her sword as she walked towards Ardeth. He quickly glanced to his left and right before his stare came to the Spire. He grabbed it and blocked the oncoming attack. He stood and began to counterattack with it.
"You will not win Medjai," she said as she continued with her attacks.
He stopped all the blocks except for one, which tripped him and he fell to the sand.
"Tell me before I kill you, why do protect the one who allowed half the jewel to fall into enemy hands? And allowed the Demon to be resurrected?" she asked, the tip of the sword to his neck as he laid on the ground.
The others watched on in fear and anticipation. Alex hung onto his mother as Jonathan hid behind her.
"It was not her fault someone wanted to rule the Earth behind Ramses. Besides, I'd rather die than see her harmed," he replied, anger obvious in his voice.
"It's this weakness that'll get you killed," she laughed, a huge smile on her face.
The woman lifted up her sword and was prepared to bring it down on Ardeth, who closed his eyes. She brought it down and Ardeth didn't even fell it connect. He opened an eye to see the sword hadn't even gotten close to him. Catlanda stood beside them, obviously infuriated.
"It's not him you want, it's me. Here I am," she said.
"Catlanda, no!' protested Ardeth, lifting himself to his elbows.
Alex stood even closer to his mother as Rick ran up to Ardeth. Rick slowly helped his friend to his feet as Catlanda went one on one with the strange woman. Her arm ached and she breathed deeply as theycircled around. The woman was very angry.
"Who are you? Why do believe that you have to kill them?" wondered Evie.
"It's none of your business," the woman snapped back.
She lifted up the sword and prepared to bring it down on the Medjai in front of her but was pushed from her spot to the sandy ground. Isis stood growling over her. The woman pushed her away.
"Stupid cat," she said, standing up
Ardeth looked at his friends from the ground.
"Go, get out of here before she attacks you," he cried.
Gasping for air, he stood up as the O'Connells reluctantly left for the camels, leaving Catlanda and Ardeth against the woman. She attacked and sliced Ardeth's arm with her sword. He fell backwards onto the sand. Isis growled at the woman, who snickered.
"A cat, a horse and a female Medjai against me? How pitiful. You will fall like flies," she sneered as she prepared for the final blow.
"No!" cried Rick, who was still nearby. "Stop right there crazy woman."
"No, this can't be! You can't be helping them," cried the woman.
"You can't destroy the trust between friends. I don't know who you are but you're going to pay for tormenting my friends," Rick told her, guns pointed at her.
Ardeth was just as surprised as Catlanda. They both wondered what happened that caused this change of opinion in Rick as he shot at the woman. She dodged the bullets and grabbed Rick by the throat and started choking him. The woman shook her head and tsked.
"You dare challenge me. It's because of that, you will be joining them," the woman said, lifting up a hand and smacking Rick across the face.
His head snapped to the side as she did so. She let him go and he fell to his knees.
"You're nothing but scared. Otherwise you wouldn't be attacking injured people," Rick told her.
Ardeth was sitting nearby and he felt dizzy just by doing that. Catlanda was sitting next to him, making sure he didn't fall to the ground.
"You'll pay for this. I'll make sure of it," she whispered.
She grabbed the Spire and stood before the nameless woman in a fighting stance.
"Prepare to be defeated, you witch. My father would not approve of me using violence, but it'll have to do this time," she told the woman.
The woman just laughed as she held out her hand and pulled the Spire from her. Everyone there was surprised.
"Daddy," Catlanda whimpered quietly as she fell to her knees. "I've failed you."
Tears fell down her cheeks as Ardeth embraced her from behind and tried to hold her back.
"Give it back!" she screamed as Isis clamped her mouth gently on her arm, trying to help him slow her down.
Geb stood behind them, neighing as he reared up. Tears continued to stream down her face as they stared at the laughing woman.
"This will be your downfall. The one thing you swore to protect," the woman said, aiming it at the small group. "You never knew the power this thing holds and you never will."
A bright light came from the Spire and headed right for them.
TBC...