Speak Softly
The Field of the Med-Jai

1935: Ardeth Bay is resurrected from the dead. He awakens to a world vastly different, to familiar faces changing and to the knowledge that he is Egypt's final hope for freedom.

He also finds out just how far love and despair can take him.

~~~~~~~

Daybreak was closing in upon Egypt, but the desert was still dark when they reached the beginnings of a shadowy area ahead. There were forms in the distance that Evy knew well. When Ardeth first looked up she had seen the realization in his eyes and it hurt her for him. Last night's rain was gone and the desert heat had begun to settle on the sand. The Field of the Med-Jai was foggy, but they could still make out a few of those forms.

For a long distance ahead and from side to side were a great many posts, Evy knew, for she had watched Imhotep do the horror they would endure seeing soon. The priest had strung the bodies—dead and surviving—up, each Med-Jai facing his palace in death, on their knees with hands tied above. They would forever watch over their pharaoh and bow to him Imhotep had suggested with a dark expression as his beasts had chained them up.

Their footsteps seemed unnaturally quiet to Evy and it made her sigh as they approached. She could pretend forever that they were still minutes away, but the closer they got her vision betrayed her, proclaiming the terror the Med-Jai had suffered. Her stomach hurt as the misty field grew closer.

Ardeth quickened his pace to walk ahead and she let him, not moving to catch up so he could see for himself. This man had a deep love for his people and honored the Med-Jai in ways she didn't know. This would be the hardest trial he would face and all because of her. When they came to the first post he stopped.

Evy stayed behind, watching as he looked upon one of his brothers, decayed and skeletal and head bowed. For a long time he stood there and took in the sight of his people. The wind picked up and sang in hollow whispers across the desert. She tucked her hair behind her ears and waited for his grief to manifest.

Slowly and so quietly she barely noticed, her companion stretched his hand forth and brushed his fingers across the post gently. She waited for tears and got none. He dropped his hand to his side and bowed his head.

Then suddenly he cried out in an anguished voice, ripping his scimitar from its sheath and slamming it into the post. Evy jumped, covered her lips and watched with wide eyes as Ardeth cut one Med-Jai down, then another and another. She could hear him making sounds of sorrow and rage as he ardently worked to free his people from their bondage. Tears formed in her eyes and she turned her head. His heart was breaking now.

The sound of his blade hitting the chains and wood echoed through the air with loud cracks, but it wasn't going to make him feel any better. They both knew it. Evy forced herself to look up when he threw the weapon away. He stood quietly between two posts with his head down and an arm covering his eyes. She could see his breathing coming fast.

Instantly she moved, rushing to his side to offer him any comfort he would have. Her hand softly landed on his shoulder and without a word he turned away and fell to his knees. "There's too many," he lamented in a thick voice bordering on the edge of tears. "I can't…I can't cut them all down."

"Oh, Ardeth," Evy whispered, walking around and kneeling in front of him. Tears raced down her cheeks as she watched him suffer. He looked as though he was fighting for the very air he took in. Her voice shook as she said, "I know. I'm so sorry. I know."

His dark eyes seemed to search the sand for answers he would never find and she took advantage of his grief-stricken state to push back the cloak and pull him into her arms. He gave in without a fight, wrapping his own around her waist and burying his face against her neck. "My people," he groaned in sorrowful, husky tones, as he held to her tightly. "What has happened to this world? This is hell. This is hell."

Evy stared over his shoulder into the fog, crying and searching for the right words to say that would make this okay for him. There were none. He was right. This was hell. The world needed this man, but this felt so wrong. He shouldn't have had to know this. Evy felt him shudder against her and her face crumbled into an expression of grief and hate. She had never hated Imhotep more than this moment. Not for anything he had done to her.

Ardeth wept with her, his hold around her never fading as if he thought to let go might usher in more loss. Long moments passed as they sat alone in the Field of the Med-Jai. It wasn't until his hands began petting her back that she realized the worst was over, though she could still feel him shaking. "I'm all right," he whispered against her skin, sounding every bit like he was trying to will that statement into reality.

He was not all right, but she didn't have the heart to say it. Evy ran her fingers through his dark, still wet hair and nodded. She couldn't bring herself to speak yet.

"Thank you," he finally added, laying a kiss on her exposed shoulder. It sent a jolt through her. No other man than Imhotep had ever kissed her there.

Instantly the moment seemed to change, though whether that was only on her part or not she couldn't tell at first. Only the sounds of their breathing met her ears, sharp and interesting. Evy felt her pulse being to race as he stilled. Her crying stopped when he slowly tested the waters again, brushing his lips just barely against her skin.

Evy blinked and rested her eyes against the fog while he made no further move. Now she was the one fighting for air. A thousand little things rushed through her mind about what was happening and who this was, but she pushed them away for his need. Her hug on him tightened and she rubbed her cheek against his bowed head. One last tear from each of her eyes fell before she pulled back to look at him.

His tear-stained cheeks struck a chord in her—she had never dreamed of seeing this man so grieved, but those dark eyes were what held her attention most as he stayed close and searched her face like he saw a way out of the pain. Without warning he jerked her back into his strong arms and pressed his lips to hers, asking entrance—to which she agreed. She felt herself shaking hard in his hold as he kissed her frantically, wanting for anything to take him out of this field for even a few minutes. A sweet chill spread through her body, making her forget things—making her see him differently.

Suddenly he was out of her arms and backing away, and she felt empty at the loss. "I'm sorry," he told her, that thickness of emotion returning. "I should not have…I'm sorry."

She got to her feet and approached him, her own grief returning at his wide, wounded eyes. Ardeth stepped away from her again and his back hit a post. His eyes closed and he tightened his fists. She couldn't let him escape and feel alone with this. He needed her and needed to know he hadn't done anything wrong. Evy cornered him against the instrument of humiliation and pain, and rubbed her hands across his sides as her mouth trapped his.

The Med-Jai momentarily struggled in her grasp, but she would not let him go. He was shivering and confused, but responsive and the last made her sides ache when he groaned. "It's all right, Ardeth," she told him, sending her lips over his again and again, leaving behind that girl who would never have been so forward. "You'll be okay. I promise." She breathed against his mouth and her voice hardened. "He'll pay."

He stopped fighting her kisses and slowly began returning them with fervor, his hands cupping her cheeks. Whether to thank her or in need or both she could not tell, but at the moment she didn't care. She knew only that she wanted to hold him. He needed her and she wanted to be there for him. In that she needed him as well. It had been so long since arms had gone around her in anything but smothering lust.

Ardeth snaked an arm around her waist, drawing her closer as he poured his desperate want to escape this horrible reality into her lips. Quiet tears fell again down his cheeks and not breaking the kiss, she drew her fingers up and rubbed them away. He pressed his forehead against hers in response and fought back his grief, his eyes begging her to tell him this wasn't real.

Evy brushed her lips against his again and reached for the clasp of the cloak she wore. It hit the ground loudly, heavy from being soaked of rain and his hands found her wet sides. She could not tell him this was only a nightmare, but she could give and take this.

His hands smoothed over her wet skin easily, warming the chill in their path across her body. They clenched around her upper arms and his thumbs traced little circles on her skin as he trailed her jaw with his lips. When he kissed beneath her ear a flashback of Imhotep intruded upon her memory and she involuntarily jerked. He looked up, his expression worried he had offended her.

He wasn't Imhotep. Her master was a terrible, evil man—the only man she'd ever slept with, and she didn't want to carry that with her for the rest of her life. He looked on her in possession. Ardeth looked on her with gentleness mixed with endearing uncertainty, as if he cared he might overstep his bounds. This was something she would be proud to carry with her. Evelyn reached for the tie holding his robe closed, undid it and opened the black clothing slowly with her intent clearly displayed in her dark eyes. He stood still while she slid it off of shoulders and let it fall to the sand where his cloak was.

Ardeth wrapped his arms around hers when she embraced into him and the heat of his body made her want to feel that blessed escape from the cold all over her. His tears waned, giving over to something else and she hugged him, kissing and tasting his neck as she pet his muscled back. What words of comfort could she possibly offer that would hold any weight? This wasn't a moment for talking, but one of silence and feeling.

His hands traveled down the line of her moist sides and stopped on her nearly bare hips to rub back and forth, causing her to swallow hard at the want that produced. Maybe she had never thought of this before, maybe she never would again, but right now it seemed right, seemed perfect and strangely beautiful in its sadness. He grew still again.

Evelyn followed his eyes and looked down as his hands came up to the strings that held the white cloth around her chest. His fingers trembled as he started to untie it gently and she reached up, stopping them in their task, and brought them to her lips as if somehow her kiss would give them strength. When she met his eyes again they were still sad, but there was a quiet desire there that struck her right at the heart. She brought his hands back down to finish what he had begun.

Evy watched as his eyes concentrated, those lashes beautifully close to resting against his tan cheeks, gentle as he pulled the cloth from her body and looked at what was beneath. Her own fluttered for a second when she felt his hand press against her now bare flesh and she couldn't stop the moisture that came to her eyes again at his touch. When he looked up and saw, his own filled again. He was accepting it and she mourned that for him. Evy swallowed and took his shoulder, drawing him down to her level and into her lips. His other arm wrapped around her warmly.

His brows knit as he stole the breath from her, then moved to seek other places to taste. She closed her eyes and was startled at the volume of her whimper when his hot mouth descended on her cold, naked shoulder. Everything seemed heightened, from the chill of the misty rain that started falling, to the sounds of her breath hitting the air.

She leaned her head against his, kissing his wet hair as she looked out across the great field, letting every sensation sear her memory. If she could have taken this one thing from him, this one moment of agony…but she couldn't. Evy pushed him back from her shoulder, then rubbed her hands along his cheeks, drawing him closer to kiss his forehead, then mouth again. She got lost in that kiss, sweet and hot at the same time, so lost that before she even realized how it happened, they were on their knees in the sand. His hands on her skin became a blur of needy, soft caressing and hers were no different.

The length of his side drew her attention to the rim of his pants that was in her path. Ardeth fell easily with her searching kiss as she trapped him with her hands to the ground, crawling over him until he laid back. His hand tangled into her hair as she left his warm mouth and tasted his neck again. His husky scent mingled with the freshness of the rain, a mixture she inhaled deeply and savored, trailing her kiss down his chest to his stomach. Those muscles tightened in response and she smiled for the first time this morning, but it quickly faded within the atmosphere of what was happening and their surroundings. His fingers tightened in her hair when she undid his pants.

Quickly Evy looked up, meeting his eyes with assurance and to confirm his trust was still as it should be. His eyes didn't speak of doubt or regret, but were soft and questioning. Evy pulled his hand out of her hair and brought his wrist to her lips. His fingers gently brushed her cheek, then found her hair again when she left his arm to explore the taste of his side. In a moment she had the opening of his pants drawn aside, exposing his rain-slick hip. He inhaled sharply when she kissed him there and sent a hand down into the rough fabric to rub his warm thigh.

A soft urge from his hand drew her attention and he again invited her back to his mouth. Evy forsook the soft flesh below and came back up, rubbing at those arms whose hands were reaching up her thighs, trying to embrace her down. Instead of giving in to that request of her mouth to his, she began kissing his arms in turn until she reached his elbows. He looked so desirable, lying back in the sand with his wet, black hair falling back and his dark eyes' intent. It gave her the sudden urge to give in. Evy leaned forward and pinned his arms back to the earth as she attacked his mouth, and he arched his head into that kiss with a deep groan that brought back that momentary ache to her sides.

Evelyn let go of one wrist and brushed the backs of her fingers down his arm slowly, shivering at his shiver and tasting his husky sounds as he made them. He freed the other arm from her hold and she could feel him touching her again, smoothing the rain down her back to the white covering her backside. His fingers looped around the chain binding her two skirt pieces together, then slipped beneath the cloth behind her. She stopped kissing and closed her eyes, enjoying that caress.

Ardeth leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers again, moving his hand to the front so he could draw aside the white skirt. She could hear the rustle of him adjusting his pants and a jolt spread through her body when his arm curled around her waist and started pulling her over him and down. Her legs hit the sand on either side of his and she trembled in feeling, her limbs instantly becoming weak.

Their eyes met as she took the first step and moved against him slowly. His lashes fluttered, but the eye contact remained constant for that long moment. He allowed his arm to be dragged back up and he gratefully accepted her lips again. Evy moaned into that hot mouth, closing her eyes against his penetrating gaze. The coarse sand scratched her bare legs as she picked up her pace, then slowed again, teasing him into pretty sensations that she loved hearing about in his soft sounds.

She felt him let go and turn his head to the side as he whispered breathlessly, "The life…your life…I can't breathe," but she had no strength to wonder what that meant beyond the second she heard him say it.

He pulled his arms free and hers hit the ground on either side of his head as he hugged her to him tightly, moving with her, letting himself enjoy her. Evy moaned when he slowly rolled over onto her, pressing her back into the wet sand close to where he had been laying. He brushed her hair from her face and took the lead, tilting her head back so he could access her throat. She grasped at the sand as his arm pulled her hips closer to his.

After her neck had been marked by his fervor, he found her jaw line and traveled it, again resting by her ear, but the gravity of the moment forestalled any bad memories. It had never been like this, never so soft and sweet and consuming.

Evy closed her eyes and narrowed her brow as feelings began stirring, desire crawling up her thighs as Ardeth loved her. Her teeth found her bottom lip and soft whimpers called to him as she began to tense. Ardeth pushed her head to the side and again brushed away stray, soaked strands of her dark hair, then kissed her cheek, soothing, "Shhh," as he fingered her collarbone. He slowed his movements and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, bracing herself through the feelings washing through her. Evy tried to urge him faster, but he wouldn't allow it. His hand grasped her hip, steadying her and making her take it slow as he watched her face.

When she couldn't take anymore he yanked her to his mouth to smother her cries, but soon he lost himself, lowering his head into her shoulder and groaning his own as they trembled together in the rain. Evy hugged her legs to his and sought to touch his long hair, letting herself bask in the warmth of being near him so intimately.

He soon stilled against her, petting her hip as she lay beneath him limply. The Field of the Med-Jai seemed to become unnaturally silent as they remained embraced.

Tears began hitting her shoulder, hot drops fighting for the attention that the cold rain was trying to capture. Reality was returning to him. Escape was over. Evy looked at the gray sky and let her own grief resurface. There was so much she wanted to say, but she had no strength to speak or move. A few shuddering breaths made her close her eyes against his shoulder, wanting to hide herself from these raw emotions that threatened to assail them both.

But even if the dark offered refuge, the quiet did not. His gasping breaths burned her ears with the reason they came so painfully. Evelyn herself began crying more freely, letting everything of the past two years finally hit her, drawn out by this one moment, this one man's heartbreak.

She wanted to say she was sorry, but couldn't.

~~~~~~~

Imhotep rubbed his chin thoughtfully, taking in the last direction she could have gone as the rain began to abate. He had Anubis Jackals hunting to the north, west and east, but his heart suspected she had gone south. He stood alone in the misty grounds, his fresh black robe swirling behind him with the wind. Nefertiri would be in great trouble when he got his hands on her.

The morning was dismal through the endless white fog. In irritation he chanted a few words, touched his lips and exhaled forward. The fog began to clear a path to the south. He walked, seeing before him a great hill. The great hill. His enemy was six years dead but the priest knew that meant little in the long run. If she had gone there in some foolish attempt to wake the Med-Jai he would strap her for even thinking it!

He didn't like going that way, so close to the tomb of Ardeth Bay. Before her death Ancksunamun had warned him that within this Med-Jai's hands lay death. But there could be no help for it.

He closed his eyes and willed himself to become as the wind. His body began to disintegrate and join the sands in a whirlwind of seeking. She had gone this way, he could sense it. It was as if her very essence still touched this land.

The rain had beaten down the sands and created little craters in the surface, but he didn't need footprints to show him she had been here. Imhotep became whole and crouched down, touching the ground below. It sang of her footsteps and he smiled. He was getting close.

~~~~~~~

The fog still held thick, but he could see further than before. Ardeth sat against a post with Evy against him. His arm was draped over her shoulders as she hugged into his body and her hair was just within touching distance. He toyed with the drying strands and stared across the field. His people surrounded him once more, but instead of happy reunions it was a grim display dishonoring those people he had called friends and brothers.

Ardeth's eyes fell upon one single post and again his eyes moistened. Even the women and children had been brought here to this evil place to be shown for Imhotep's delight. He should have died out here with them. He should have been with them to suffer this. What gave him the honor to escape it? "I'm sorry," Evy whispered, her fingers fidgeting with his opened robe. She sounded tired and he felt his body reflect that feeling. "I should never have brought you back."

He breathed out and shook his head, still playing with her hair. "You did what you had to do, Evelyn. You think I did not deserve this, but does that mean you deserved to become Imhotep's slave? I would not let you go on in torment if I could help you." And he meant it. His reason to go on—to live, was her now. He would honor them by avenging their deaths and helping her.

She caressed her hand over his bare stomach and continued her resting. "But living with Imhotep wasn't so terrible. I could have…"

"Did you do this for yourself, then?" he interrupted. She was missing the grand point.

Evy turned her head up and looked at him with sad eyes. "I did it for the others, yes. But a part of me wanted you to wake up and take this nightmare away from me, too. For me. I keep making this worse." She rested against him once more, touching him gently. Her life seemed to stay behind on his skin even after her fingers passed. "I'm so tired. I've seen so much and what you're suffering now is just too much. I caused this because I was tired of Imhotep and his games. Because I longed for a few kind words."

Ardeth hugged her, almost too tired himself to offer her comfort in her guilt. But in comforting her he thought maybe he could find some peace himself. "You didn't cause this. The priest did. And when this is done and if we succeed, it will be you people will thank."

"But will you hate me?" Her question was no more than a breath, but it made him hurt more. His hate was for only one man.

He swallowed and closed his eyes, twirling her dark hair around his finger. He needed to get away from here. "Evy, will you do something for me?" She nodded against him. "Evy, please forgive yourself and be strong. Please do that for me, because if you don't I don't know how I'll make it through this. You don't know what it's like, returning like this. I feel empty and out of place, and seeing this has only made these feelings worsen. I never used to admit weaknesses to anyone, but I have been given much to carry this time. I love you, my friend, and that will remain. Do you love me enough to accept that fact and go on?"

He felt her hands start rubbing up and down his sides. She was warm against him and he felt he could sleep like this for days. "Of course I do," Evy said finally, looking up into his face. "I'll carry this with you. I don't know how or if you'll let me, but I'm here for you."

Ardeth held her eyes with a soft expression, wondering if she would let him kiss her now that the storm had passed. He leaned forward to find out, but both he and Evy froze when they heard it. A voice called through the fog, snapping her ancient name with anger and triumph. "Nefertiri!" the priest shouted, sounding deadly close. "I feel you out here, Nefertiri! You cannot hide!"

Evy looked up at him with fear in her eyes. "My God," she whispered, then sat up from him. "He's found us." Immediately their weariness subsided to panic.

He stood up with her and scouted around for his thrown scimitar. Evelyn grabbed his cloak from the sand and looked towards the voice that came from the north as he shouted again. "He feels me out here," she said, smoothing her hair back. She jumped when Imhotep yelled again, this time closer.

Ardeth grabbed her hand and began pulling her deeper into the great graveyard. It shocked him when she pulled back and stopped. He turned back and saw it in her eyes even before she shoved the cloak into his arms. Again Evy searched the graveyard and found something suitable. Her hand clasped over his and she pulled him past a few posts.

She pushed him down behind one of his people as if the robed figure would obscure him in the fog from Imhotep's eyes. He held to her wrist when she tried to get away again. "I'll not let you go to him," he told her, his eyes firm. Dread settled over him. Dread and fear for her life.

Shaking her head, Evy pushed him back and looked towards the coming doom. "Ardeth, we don't have time to argue. It's your destiny to kill him, not mine. He doesn't seem to know you're out here, or he would be calling for you. Stay hidden. I'll be okay."

He didn't want to let her go. Imhotep would likely kill her for her defiance. Ardeth shook his head, desperate to keep her with him and escape this fate. But her face was resolved. If Imhotep had come upon them this fast, he could pursue them past the Field of the Med-Jai and on. "I will save you," he promised, pulling her down for a kiss.

She drank well of that kiss and yanked herself away. "No you won't. You'll go find safety until destiny calls you." Evy smiled and turned away, disappearing into the fog quickly.

With a shaking breath Ardeth backed up against a post and tuned his keen ears towards what would happen. She wanted him to stay here and survive this and that was the tactical thing to do, but everything inside him called against it. "Imhotep," he heard her say in a frightened voice. They weren't very far at all. Likely only thirty feet or so.

"Nefertiri," Imhotep greeted in a strangely mild tone. For a moment the Med-Jai entertained the priest would be merciful, but the sudden sound of his hand meeting her flesh shook him out of it. Evy cried out and hit the sand. "I offer you riches and a glorified life at my side and this is how you repay me." Another slap. Ardeth instinctively rolled to his knees and stayed crouched like a panther ready to attack.

"I'm sorry," Evy replied in a pleading voice. She whimpered at some unseen punishment and the Med-Jai tightened his fists. He couldn't stay here and listen to this. The wet sand below him felt gritty and called to his attention. He took the Black Book out of her pack and started digging.

There was another slap and then some quiet as Ardeth dug and buried the book. "You have come this way, knowing my enemy sleeps nearby and you assumed I would fear it enough to leave you be? Is that your reasoning, Nefertiri?" He hit her again and there was the sound of movement in the sand. Ardeth draped his cloak over his brother that kept him hidden, waiting for the right moment. "I will teach you what submission is, Princess."

The sounds of Evy and Imhotep struggling caught Ardeth's ears sharply. "Please, not here," she whimpered and that was enough.

In a second Ardeth took off towards the sounds, at the moment all else failing his attention. The world might well hate him for this choice, but he absolutely would not leave her to that. As he ran he drew up his scimitar and by the time Evy and the priest were in sight he was close enough to pounce. He fell with Imhotep and began his attack. "No!" Evy cried out from nearby. The panic in her voice shook Ardeth, but right now another emotion was surfacing.

This was the man that had done this to his people. This man who enslaved innocents and destroyed life. Imhotep looked down on him with alarm in his eyes, but he was no less arrogant than Ardeth remembered from before. "So, you have awoken my enemy!" he spat, his eyes ever watching the Med-Jai's movements. His strength was superior in his immortality. "I should kill you both right here, but that would be an unfitting reward. Nefertiri, you have never known pain before what I will do to you now!"

With a yell of rage Ardeth threw his hands into the mummy's shoulders, knocking Imhotep off of him and to the sand on his left. The Med-Jai rolled to his feet and pointed into the fog, commanding, "Run!" to his companion.

"No! I won't leave you!" Evy retorted and he gave her warning glare. She ignored it and he conceded that even if she did run Imhotep would likely catch her and do worse.

The priest was advancing, his midnight eyes twinkling and his lips formed into a sneer. "You have no hope against me, Med-Jai." He flung his hands out and a wind from nowhere knocked both Ardeth and Evy down. He heard the bones of his people rattling and his anger deepened. "What powers have you, awakened one? Were you given any or does mortality still hold you down like a slave beneath her master?"

Imhotep made a fist and threw himself down to attack Ardeth, but he rolled out of the way and immediately jumped into the priest. He sent his fist back into the priest's jaw and Imhotep groaned. Ardeth brought blood back with his hand and froze, looking at the red liquid in amazement. Feeling of his lip, Imhotep also stared in shock and soon his widened eyes turned to the Med-Jai on him. He was vulnerable to Ardeth's attack. That only served to infuriate him.

Suddenly the wind was knocked out of Ardeth and everything blackened for a second. When he opened his eyes his back was against a post. The priest had used his powers to throw him a good ten feet away. Ardeth groaned and stumbled from the post and Evy ran to him. Imhotep began for them and he grabbed her hand, yanking her into the mist to run. Even if Imhotep were vulnerable, he still had powers Ardeth did not. The only option left was to run and hide.

They did run, not even fully realizing in which direction they were headed. They only knew they had to get away at all costs. Ardeth pulled her to the side, hoping to throw Imhotep off their trail by zigzagging the field. "We're going to die," Evy moaned in fear.

Nodding his head, Ardeth risked a glance backwards and muttered, "Could be."

She grunted when he forced her along. Something began to change, though at first Ardeth could not pinpoint exactly what it was. The wind seemed to pick up slightly and if he didn't know any better he could swear it was moving in several different directions at once. His hair moved against his shoulders.

Soon it started to dawn on him that more and more of the posts ahead were becoming visible. Imhotep's triumphant laughter seemed to surround them and echo through the great field. Ardeth grit his teeth at the reality of Imhotep daring to stand on his people's burial grounds. If there were any way under God Ardeth could make this monster pay, he would.

The fog cleared to a certain boundary and stopped, sight granted them inside the Field of the Med-Jai. He and Evy skidded to a halt and Ardeth turned back. Imhotep stalked towards them with his black robes flowing and that familiar smile of victory on his face. "Come on," Evy breathed, taking a firm hold of his wrist and pulling.

Ardeth turned away from his destined enemy and ran with Evelyn. They did not turn back again.

~~~~~~~

Disclaimer: No infringement intended. Ahamad and Nashean belong to me. Author: Angela – jedinineofnine@hotmail.com

A/N: Hmm. No notes this time other than I hope you all enjoyed. I'm thinking that up there falls under a PG13 rating since there's no descriptives of heppy body parts. Hmmm. Actually yes…notes on Eternal Sorrow. Just to make it clear, the sun does shine behind the veil Imhotep has dropped, so there is a night and day that occurs…it's just kinda like an eternal fog…like a rainy day.

To Reviewers:

Hadassaknamu – Sorry to hear about your mouse. ;-) Computers are goofy. Anyway, thanks for the review…I'm glad you get it now. :-D

Montana – Hey, I'm just happy to get any reviews, so no apologies necessary! I hope Rick and Ardeth save the day too. ;-) Thanks!

Lula – Yeah…very true. Our hottie is a very honorable man who wouldn't think anything of taking on such a heavy burden. Too bad most men weren't really like this! :-O Hehehe! Anyway, no apologies necessary when it comes to things like reviews. I'm happy to get them when people can give them. :-) I just like knowing people enjoy my writing. Thanks muchly. PS – here's that extended love scene I didn't have the guts to write for Passion. Lol.

Marcher – Hmmm. I followed the white rabbit and ended up in my granny's back yard across the street. No Matrix and certainly no Ardeth. :-O Anyway, thanks…I'm glad you enjoyed this one and Fury. This one is certainly gonna be as long as Fury, if not more! :-D Hope you all are in it for the long haul! Hehehe Anyhow, as I said to Lula – this is the extended love scene I was talking about...ugh. Lucky Evy…why I write these things I'll never know. *not jealous of Evy* ;-)

Elven Sapphire – Nice screen name! Makes me think of Lord of the Rings! :-D And thanks for the reviews!

Deana – Yeah, you know me and my poor versions of Ardeth. *evil chuckle* But yeah…Evy comforted him as you can see. *Screams like SpongeBob* DOH! Lucky her! :-O Thanks!

Mommints – Hehehe! Lack of sleep, eh? I've been under that influence before! Get even, eh?? ;-) If that involves MORE of your story, doooo it! Hehehe! Anyway, thanks for reviewing. :-)

Eve – Yeah, very true. Good work does take time. :-) Thank you for saying I did a good job. Makes me feel heppy that my sitting here in the cold computer room is redeemed…lol. :-)

Marxbros – Yeas, inspiration is a nice side effect of ff.net, is it not? :-) I'm glad you're enjoying and thank for your compliments! I actually got my weather/atmosphere ideas from a combination of different places, mostly PC games – directly the music from one called Zork Nemesis whose music would be perfect with some of our stories with the atmospheric tones it has. Anyway, also thanks for the compliments on Rick…he's like the hardest for me to capture I think. He and Evy…hehe! But yeah, I've been to the minute = bullets place myself a few times…prolly those last few minutes of school. Hehehe! Thanks!