The three men who had been searching the ruins had found themselves a truck. With that truck, they had drove away, to the site of another excavation, this one of a much larger scale. Dozens of workers were digging in what had become a large pit in the sand, seeking something, something known only to two individuals. One of those two, a large man with a red and white striped headdress slightly reminiscent of the ancient pharaohs was standing on a rise of sand, watching the workers toil beneath him, the heat from the sand making the air shimmer around the poor sweat soaked laborers.

The three men approached him, their expressions variations on regret and failure. They were attempting to explain why they had been unable to find the item that they had been sent for. As the man with the hat spoke, the leader's face grew angry, and his eyes glittered with fury.

Just as he was about to begin to explain in detail the numerous personal and ancestral failings of his hired minions, a figure approached, holding a gleaming golden shape in her arms. It was like a book, and it showed up like a gleaming promise against the lean woman's black shirt and black hair. Her eyes were bright with a cold pleasure, and her words lessened the anger of the man immediately.

"We're getting close." With those words, she adjusted her grip on the golden artifact, revealing it to be a book, bound in what appeared to be intricately carved gold. Symbols covered the front of it, the ancient sacred writings of the Egyptians, proclaiming that this was the Book of the Living.

Her words still hung in the air, rich with the promise of power when the first screams rang shrill and panicked from the pit. Near mindless with raw terror, the workers all began to scramble from the pit, as if they feared their very lives were forfeit if they remained a few seconds longer. Something had swarmed up from the ground, a dark shape that was filling the pit, covering the sands and spreading upwards, like a creeping stain. The darkness caught the few stragglers, and they fell, twitching and screaming before their screams were choked into silence, the bodies exploding with little dark bits outward.

Men in protective outfits, covered over with heavy white material and carrying flamethrowers moved forwards, spraying fire before them. As they moved towards the pit, the horde of scarabs was seared before them, heating with high pitched noises before the shells burst with loud pops, almost like some sick form of giant popcorn kernels. The panicked workers had made it from the pit, and some were watching with glazed eyes as the insect horde burned. Others had vanished, fleeing the pit as if they were pursued by some terrible force.

The man in the headdress, who carried himself as a man of importance and authority was smiling slightly, an expression that spoke of plans coming towards fruition. The woman was watching with a much less arrogant expression: simple glee at the fear of so many. Her face showed that the terror of the workers had delighted her, and it was through her feral smile that she spoke.

"Very close indeed."

The sun had not risen again before they had found what they had so ruthlessly been seeking. The crane had pulled forth the object from the grip of the earth, as if dragging forth some deeply buried treasure. The pale rays of the moon gleamed upon its surface, showing hints of the rounded and twisted curves over the mass. It was large, something that three men would have had to link arms to encircle, and it looked almost like a giant lump of amber. Inside, there was a shape, almost discernible.

Immediately, the shape was lowered, and very carefully, as if it were something rare and valuable, precious beyond all comprehension, the packing began. Soft cloths were wrapped around it, and it was carefully lifted into a huge wooden crate, which was then filled with the now cooled sands that had concealed it. Then, the man and the woman watched as the large box containing the object of their search was taken away, to be delivered with great care to the British Museum.

The rest of the preparations would have to wait until they were there, in the area below the museum. It should serve quite well for the ritual, and there would be a plentiful quantity of authentic objects to use. Soon, Imhotep would walk again. Soon, he would be great.

end part 26.

They had been able to finish the excavation of the ruins remarkably quick after that, and arranged to return to London. Rick and Evie were debating the origins and meaning of something that they'd found, a golden bracelet shaped like a scorpion. The same bracelet that Willow had drawn, that she had seen in her dreams. Evie thought that it was some sort of clue to finding an oasis, she called it the Oasis of Amon Shere.

For no reason that she could explain, the name set Willow on edge. It gave her this disturbed and worried feeling, as if the name spoke to something deep inside of her, and what it spoke was danger. She had pulled out the sketch that she had drawn, and looked at it, trying to determine what the bracelet could mean. Was it merely gold, shaped into something that held meaning to people from the distant past? Did it hold some sort of enchantment, or cause something to happen? Was it yet another pretty trinket that could destroy the world?

Why did so many people want to destroy the world anyhow? Wouldn't they get destroyed as well? Sort of going out with a big ugly bang? She began to ponder things, and concluded that normally, reasons fell into a few categories. Those who didn't care if they went as long as everyone else was destroyed. Those who felt that they would be rewarded in the afterworld. Those who wanted to remake the world, which mean that it had to be destroyed first. And those who were just insane and didn't know or care what would happen to themselves afterwards.

The whole trip, Willow had troubled dreams. More of that undead guy, Imhotep. More dreams where he kidnapped Alex, and now there was a pyramid surrounded by lush trees and shrubberies, with streams and waterfalls... it would have been a beautiful place except that it felt so evil. As if the plants were grown from the bodies of the slain, as if the whole thing were rooted in evil.

She'd probably feel almost at home there, actually.

They returned to London, and Willow had the oddest feeling, as if there was some dark and menacing presence in the area. Something that hadn't been there before, something dark and old and evil. It was an uncomfortable, frightening feeling. She found herself keeping close to Ardeth Bey, feeling slightly safer, or at least, distracted from her worries when she was near him. They would talk about his people, and Willow would have him tell her all sorts of stories of the history and traditions of his tribe.

"Willow. Do you feel it? In the air? There is something... like the breath of the wind from an old tomb, long abandoned and filled with corruption." His voice was worried.

"I feel something... It's evil, and old. I don't think it was here before. Whatever it is, it's dangerous, and I don't think it's from here. It doesn't... the feeling doesn't match, if that makes any sense." Her own voice was quiet, in an instinctive effort to prevent the danger that she sensed from detecting her.

He considered her words for a few moments, before nodding. "Yes, I understand exactly what you mean. The feeling of it... it is not from London, it is not a power born in this land of greenery and rain."

Willow focused on his words, a sudden sense of dread peaking inside of her. "Ardeth... you described this power as something that reminded you of old corrupt tombs. Does this... do you think it could be Imhotep? I've been having the dreams still, and there were those people trying to get something from Evie's dig. Do you think that someone could have found Imhotep?"

"But why? He was encased in a chrysalis, to be imprisoned. He could not free himself from it, and the mass was buried in the City of the Dead to prevent anyone from finding it... no, I forget that sometimes people act with a terrible folly, and let pride or ambition blind them to danger. It could be, but... if this presence is Imhotep, he has not yet come forth, he is not calling upon his power." Ardeth's voice was thoughtful, and full of unreadable emotions.

"oh, more of that again. Yeah, wake up or release the big nasty evil because you want something, and then surprise, the big nasty evil doesn't want to take orders, it wants to take over, and you're the first meal after a really long hungry time... Doesn't it ever occur to anyone that these dangerous nasties were locked up for a reason? I mean, hmm warning label: this guy destroyed villages, slaughtered hundreds... I'd want to leave him asleep or enchanted or imprisoned. Why do bad guys do such stupid things... umm, I'm babbling again, aren't I?" Willow realized the spill of her thoughts, and fell quiet with a sheepish expression of concern.

Ardeth looked at her, and one of his hands closed over hers comfortingly. "I have wondered about such things myself. All we can do is try to stop him again, possibly before he can come to power. Come, let us continue to the residence."

end part 27.

They continued, and caught a few taxis to take them and their luggage to the O'Connell house. Eventually, after a ride through air that felt cool and humid in comparison, they arrived at the house, which sat of the horizon like an ominous presence. Rick and Evie didn't seem to notice, and Alex seemed to busy fidgeting in anticipation of a good stretching run to notice anything.

They began taking the luggage inside, and Willow was slightly relieved to feel that her wards were still there, still intact after being away for several months. Clearly, she'd done something right when she'd set them. She just wanted to have a nice long soak...

Evie was talking to Rick, trying to convince him to go on another trip, after the Oasis, claiming that it would be so easy to go searching for it. Rick wasn't as fond of the idea, and seemed to want to stay home and relax a bit before going back to Egypt. The discussion continued for a brief time, and Willow could hear their voices growing fainter as they went up the stairs.

Alex seemed to be just wandering through the room, reminding himself of home and everything that he'd missed. He had been fairly good overall, but he'd missed home, and playing ball with some of the local boys, and visiting the museum.

Willow turned to look at Ardeth, to say something about Rick and Evie's discussion. Just as she opened her mouth, she felt something hammer against the wards that she'd set. It was a cold, tainted feeling energy, and if felt of pain and misery and ambition. She gasped, and her knees gave out, dropping her towards the floor.

Ardeth caught her, his expression one of concern and worry. His hands were firm and strong as he held her, and Willow tried desperately to catch her breath, to make sense of what had just happened.

"Something... broke the wards. Something evil. Not the big something that we felt, this was a cold something, and her power comes from pain." Her words were scarcely over a whisper, and Willow could feel herself trembling.

Ardeth pulled her close, trying to help her stop trembling, and then they heard the sound of gunfire coming from the upstairs. Rattling echoes, and numerous shots, and a few thumps and crashes filled the house.

Willow was only slightly behind Ardeth as he raced up the stairs, towards the gunfire. It was clear that whoever or whatever was inside the house was unfriendly. It wasn't too much of a stretch to think that they were connected to whoever was responsible for the arrival of the very ancient evil that they had both sensed, which meant that they had to get rid of these intruders.

Rick kicked open a door, and he leapt in, and they could hear fighting. Then, there was a sudden crash from downstairs, and with a sudden certainty, Willow knew that the second group of bad guys had arrived. If they were following form, they would be searching for something while the first group either caused a distraction or went after a hostage. Willow and Ardeth exchanged glances, and Ardeth went down to find out what was happening, Evie close behind him.

Willow went through the still open doorway, uncertain what she would see. Jonathan was tied to a chair, looking terrified. There were large men with guns fighting with Rick. Standing in the middle of the room, watching everything with an expression of nearly calm amusement was a woman in a long black evening gown, holding a snake.

That woman was the one that had broken the ward over the house. Willow could feel it, could feel the energy from the woman, like a chill in the air. She looked to calm, as if the violence wasn't a disturbance to her in the least, but with an undercurrent of amusement that convinced Willow that the woman was evil. Considering how calm the snake looked, she wasn't certain how human the woman was either.

"Get out of this house. You and yours are not welcome here." Willow's voice held a hint of power when she spoke, and also held a glimpse of the steel that lay beneath the smiling exterior. She also pushed a bit more power into her personal shields, and they began to glow faintly, now visible to the human eye.

The dark woman gave her a furious look, an expression suggesting that she wanted to curse Willow and her family for generations to come. "The time will soon come that you are not so arrogant, little spell weaver."

Between the almost civil looking confrontation between the two women, and the way that Rick was fighting off her armed men, the intruders began a retreat. A careful, guarded retreat, enforced with hostile glances and blows from Rick, but a definite retreat.

Rick and Willow had no way to guess that the real danger was in what was happening downstairs.

end part 28.

Downstairs, Alex had seen his parent going upstairs, probably trying some of that mushy stuff, like kissing each other. Which meant that they would be completely focused on each other, and not on what he was doing. Willow was over there, talking with that guy, the one in the long robes. They didn't look like they were kissing, but they were talking about something, and they looked like they weren't watching him either. That meant that he finally had an opportunity to see what all the fuss was about. Moving quickly, he opened the wooden box that held the bracelet, and pulled it out. It was big and impressive, all glittering gold. It had the scorpion of Anubis on it, and looked very impressive.

He pushed up his sleeve and snapped the bracelet over his arm, imagining that he was one of the ancient pharaohs, that this was his bracelet, and he was about to lead his army forth to defeat his enemies. Suddenly, the most unexpected thing happened. There was this odd humming feeling, and these images shot forth from the bracelet, images of Egypt. There were the ruins that his mum had found the box in, and mountains, and oh, he knew where that was!

The images vanished suddenly, and Alex hear this angry sound upstairs, rapid gunfire, and things crashing. That was scary, and could only be really bad news. Who could be shooting, and at what? A sudden thought occurred to him, Uncle Jonathan was here somewhere, maybe someone was shooting at his uncle? But why would anyone want to do that?

Then there was a noise behind him, and there were men coming into the house. Some of them had wicked looking knives, and he was feeling very afraid. Alex tried to back away, and bumped into a little corner shelf, which swayed a bit before toppling with a thud. One of the men saw him, and started over with his knife drawn, his expression menacing.

Then his mum was rushing down the stairs, her hair flying behind her, and she was shouting, her voice full of concern for him. Behind her was Ardeth Bey, the foreigner that was so interested in Willow. Soon, there was a big fight going, and to his pleased surprise, his mum was doing quite well.

Then one of then hit her in the back of the head, and another pulled a sack over her head, and they picked her up and carried her away. She wasn't moving, and Alex felt very, very worried. All of the other men started to go away as well. It was as if they had accomplished whatever they had hoped to gain... and one of the others was carrying the box.

Ardeth Bey was managing to hold one of the men down, although it was a bit close. The intruder was kicking and struggling. His Da came down the stairs with his Uncle Jonathan close behind, and went absolutely livid when he saw the men carrying off Mum. He ran after them with this sort of roar, and Alex was really worried. What if they had killed his mum?

As they were leaving, he heard one muttering something about a ritual, and that their boss would bring back someone who would make them all filthy rich. Alex didn't like the sound of that. What sort of ritual could they have in mind, and where did his mum and the old box fit in? He had the feeling that it could only be trouble.

"Damn it! No! Where are they taking Evie? Ardeth, does that guy have anything useful to say?" His father looked very upset, and maybe, just maybe a bit afraid.

His Da didn't want him to use those words. Said that they weren't good, and that he was smart enough to come up with other ways to say things. Maybe his Da was afraid about the ritual too?

"What sort of ritual did they mean? Why did they take Mum?" His voice quavered a bit, and Alex realized that he was on the verge of tears.

Ardeth Bey looked at him, and his eyes seemed awfully hard and unreadable in that moment. Alex felt almost afraid. Ardeth looked awfully scary in that moment, foreign and intense and oddly powerful, for all that his Da was taller and had more muscles. "What did you hear about a ritual?"

Alex swallowed once, and tried to will his tears away before they could fall. "One of them said that they had what they needed, and there was something about a big ritual, and their boss was going to bring back someone that would make them all as rich as kings. umm they had the box. The old one that Mum found."

Ardeth looked very disturbed. "They have the box? No, this is a disaster, this is perhaps the most terrible thing that they could have done here. With the bracelet, they can..."

Alex knew that he wasn't supposed to interrupt, but if the bracelet was that important... "They don't exactly have it. They have the box." He pulled back his sleeve, showing the glittering golden jackal head of the bracelet.

end 29.

"You have the bracelet of Anubis." Ardeth's voice was stunned, as if he was uncertain what to think of this new discovery.

"Umm... yes. I put it on and there was this whooosh of images, and it was like I was seeing Egypt. There were the pyramids and then a temple..." Alex sounded enthusiastic, as if in his excitement over the amazing images he could put off a measure of his worry over his mother.

"You have started a chain reaction that could bring about the next apocalypse." Ardeth's words were spoken quietly, but with an intensity and fear that terrified Alex.

"Where have they taken my wife!" Rick's voice was full of tension and concern.

"I... do not know. But, if they are after the Bracelet of Anubis, they can only be intending dangerous things.

"How are we going to save Mum?" Alex's plaintive voice raised into the darkness.

"Actually, I can help with that one." Willow gave an answer, her expression concerned. "I can cast a simple location spell, and it will lead us right to them. But it won't give me any idea what to expect when we get there."

"Spell? What's this about a spell? Is that bracelet gold? Is that real?" Jonothan's voice was still a bit shaken from his recent interrogation.

"Yes, a spell. I can use a magic spell to find Evie, the bracelet is gold, and it's possibly cursed, or at least had a horde of villainous people willing to kill after it."

"Then why are you so calm?" Jonothan sounded on the edge of panic.

"You, calm down." Rick pointed at Ardeth. "You, big trouble," while pointing at Alex, and then he turned to glare at Jonothan. "You, get in the car." He then looked over at Willow, his expression almost pleading. "You, spell."

Willow climbed into the car with everyone else, and closing her eyes, she concentrated on Evie. A few words came from her lips, a short phrase. A small glowing green light appeared, perhaps the size of a marble. "Okay, whoever's driving, follow the light."

The trip would have been soothingly uneventful, except that Evie had been kidnapped, the bad guys were probably intending to sacrifice her, and Alex might have started the apocalypse. Gradually, it occurred to Willow that they were going towards...

"I am sorry for alarming your son. But now that he has put on the Bracelet of Anubis, we will have only seven days to stop the rising of the Scorpion King, who will raise the Army of Anubis." Ardeth's voice was filled with tension.

"I take it that's not a good thing?" Jonothan was nervous.

"Oh, he'll wipe out the world." Rick's voice sounded almost casual, as if his emotions had gone still from all the sudden shocks.

"Ah, the old wipe out the world game." Jonothan sounded almost calm now, as if there was some strange logic emerging from all of this.

"Whomever can destroy the Scorpion King can send his army back, or use it to destroy the earth."

"Isn't this the way to the museum?" Alex's voice distracted the discussion from armies and world destruction.

They pulled up at the back of the British Museum, and Rick pulled a box from the car, opening it to reveal an assortment of guns and ammunition. As he removed them, the hieroglyph tattoo on his arm was visible to Ardeth.

"If I were to say to you 'I am a stranger traveling from the east, seeking that which was lost'." Ardeth's voice left a question at the end, inviting a response.

Rick slowed slightly, his eyes focusing on Ardeth. The words of his response were slow, carefully measured. "Then I would say I am a stranger traveling from the west, it is I for whom you seek. How did you..."

Ardeth reached out, turning Rick's arm so that the mark showed clearly. "Where did you get this mark?"

Rick gave a slight shrug. "It was slapped on me while I was in an orphanage in Cairo, why?"

"That marks means that you are a Protector of Mankind, a warrior, a medjai."

Rick picked up a belt of ammunition, his expression slightly distracted. "Sorry, you've got the wrong guy."

end part 30

Flickering light from rows of torches illuminated an oval of red robed people bowing and chanting a strange intonation, surrounding a large amber shape, like a cocoon in the center of the area. The boxes and crates had been moved back to allow the ceremony to be set up. To one side, there was a large block of stone, and to the other, a red garbed figure knelt, holding a big book open on his back, like a human podium for a man in a dark suit with a red head cloth. The air was filled with strange scents, and an unnatural feeling of warmth.

A large dark man, recognizable as the one who had threatened to take the box from Evie led a double row of big men in hooded red robes. They carried a platform which held Evie's still form, bound at the wrists with heavy ropes. They placed the platform on the block of stone while the man read a series of sharp words. The jostling of the platform caused Evie to stir, and she leaned up a bit, trying to look around her, to figure out where she was.

Glancing around, Evie's eyes settled on the amber mass, and she squinted, trying to decipher the darker shape inside. Suddenly, it shattered outward, and a desiccated figure emerged, flesh drawn and in some places entirely missing. A figure that had haunted her nightmares for years. "Imhotep."

Rick, Ardeth and Willow found their way into the museum, and the green light led them towards what should have been the receiving area. As they were passing through, they became aware of the sound, echoes of chanting, a man's voice speaking sharp words in a commanding tone. Suddenly, they could hear noises like dry hissing shrieks from one of the rooms ahead. They hurried, following the light to a balcony where they found their selves looking down upon the ceremony.

"You know, a couple of years ago, this would have seemed really strange to me." Rick's voice carried a small hint of wistfulness.

The red robed figures picked up the platform bearing Evie and began walking towards Imhotep, who seemed to be speaking to the black clad woman who had been threatening Jonothan. This provoked a bad feeling in all of them.

"Oh my god... they're going to throw her into the fire!" Willow's voice was barely more than a stunned whisper, but it was enough to send Rick leaping into action, seeking to save his beloved wife.

Leaping through the flames, Rick pulled Evie from the platform, helping her untie her hands. They tried to take cover behind some of the crates, and one of the red robed men produced a gun and began shooting at them. It was so obvious that they were used to working together. Rick passed Evie a gun, and began returning fire, trying to force the men to give them an opening to run back up to the balcony where Ardeth stood.

Willow surveyed the area, trying to decipher the traces of magic that were still thick in the air. "Magic spells to animate long dead bodies... can we say ick? And that's Imhotep... oh, what did I do to get prophetic dreams? Whatever it was, I'm really, really sorry..."

Rick shot again, this time the bullet ignited the formaldehyde instead of simply splattering it, and the flaming explosion created the needed gap for them to run for the balcony. Unfortunately, Willow wasn't the only one to notice the gap. Imhotep also saw it, and in response, he roared with apparent anger before grabbing a large dark urn, holding it up and chanting some words that reverberated with power.

Willow swayed a bit as his power flared, part of her wondering how he maintained the air pressure to talk when his ribcage had rotted away. She felt his power flare, and energy swirled into the urn, powerful energies much like the ones that had brought him forth... "He's calling minions!"

Four desiccated figures, dressed in remnants of Egyptian kilts, with impressive pectoral ornaments and odd hats swirled into being from the dust in the urn, and roared at them, their mouths gaping open impossibly wide, their bellow filled with anger and something similar to the bloodlust of a recently risen vampire. Still bellowing, the undead minions began to charge the stairs, their hands shriveled to a claw like appearance, and reaching towards them.

Her heart pounding, Willow threw a hasty spell, and a wall of pale greenish yellow flame blocked the stairs in front of the minions. She felt something, and looked up, seeing Imhotep facing her, his body language projecting shocked outrage.

"Time to get out of here..." Willow bolted for the door along with Ardeth, Rick, and Evie.

They ran, hearing the frustrated howls of the undead creatures following them. Finally, they reached the door, and Rick slammed it shut behind them and for a moment, Willow was entirely focused on charging for the car. Feeling as if she had just been hit in the stomach, she felt her firewall go down.

"Honey, what are you doing?"

Rick's voice, apparently directed away from them made Willow look up, and she saw Evie trying to drag a wood and metal bench in front of the door.

"These people don't use doors." Rick Grabbed Evie, almost dragging her away.

Willow frowned, and set a barrier across the section of the building. It covered the door, and a wide expanse to either side, and at least ten feet above the ground. "That should slow them down."

end part 31.