Imhotep looked around him at the darkness of the desert, savouring the coolness of the night. He had been forced to stop because of the lack of stamina of the mortal men around him and smiled as he remembered how weak they could be. He watched from afar as the men made camp, not bothering to waste time helping them. As far as he was concerned they were mere insects, put there to do his bidding. His eyes narrowed as he spotted Ankhef-Sem issuing orders. The man was an irritant that he would soon remove, he thought, smiling in anticipation. He had thought being alive would hold no pleasures for him after Ancksunamun's defection, but he had been wrong. The pleasure he would gain by making these mortals suffer would be beyond compare, especially the O'Connells. Ah yes, they would suffer more than any human in the history of the planet, more so even than he had when he had endured the Hom-dai. He closed his eyes, relishing the thought.
He was rudely interrupted from these reflections by Ankhef-Sem, who walked up next to him and actually had the audacity to touch his arm. Imhotep's eyes snapped open and he examined the hand on his upper arm as if it were a particularly repellent creature, slowly raising his eyes to those of the priest. Ankhef-Sem immediately dropped his hand, moving back a few steps as Imhotep moved toward him.
"Never make the error of touching me again priest, or I shall remove your hands so that you will not touch anything for the remainder of your life. Do you understand?"
The other man paled slightly and bowed his head. "I understand, my lord, and I apologise for my lack of respect," he said, gritting his teeth as he said the insincere words. How he would enjoy killing this monster when the time came. He lifted his head once more. "I merely wished to let you know that your tent is ready for you," he said, gesturing with his hand.
Imhotep nodded. "I shall perhaps have use of it, but not at the present time. I would suggest that you sleep, priest, so that we may continue our journey when the sun lights the horizon," he said and turned away from him, walking casually toward the Nile, making his way through the sparse trees that grew nearby. He walked straight into the waters, stopping only when he was submerged up to his thighs. Dipping his hands into the waters, the surface glittering darkly in the moonlight, he closed his eyes and envisioned the girl who would become the key. A smile touched his mouth briefly as he located her, disappearing as he saw who she was walking with. The Med-jai! No matter, he would soon be dealt with. He concentrated harder and smiled once more. Her name was Matilda. He called softly to her and reached out a hand to touch her, watching as she turned around and scanned the surrounding area. She was pretty, he thought. Once he would have enjoyed a woman like this, but he had learnt a hard lesson that he would not soon forget. He whispered her name once more and enjoyed the fear that crossed her face as she frantically spoke to the Med-jai, letting him lead her through the temple at Karnak. They would be easy to locate when he needed them. He opened his eyes and walked back to the bank, watching as the cult members milled around the tents like ants. He would wait a few hours and then contact the girl again to see how well she responded to his powers. It was an important thing to know, but he could not do it with the Med-jai in attendance.
He waited for a few hours, sitting on his own at the side of the river, his eyes staring unseeingly out across the vast stretch of water. Dawn was touching the horizon when he got to his feet again and stepped into the water, taking up his original position, and placing his hands into the current again.
He instantly saw Ardeth Bay sitting guarding the people within the chamber and cursed. He had hoped they would all be asleep, but this did not matter. He murmured a few words and watched as the Med-jai slumped to the floor, unconscious, smiling at the ease with which the spell had been embraced. He found the girl asleep on the floor and searched through her mind, finding the presence of Meketaten already there, tunnelling through the girls consciousness in readiness for her resurrection. His attention turned toward the people sleeping nearby, focusing intently on Rick and Evy, discounting Jonathan and then studying Jackson Millbrook. This was interesting, he thought as he scrutinised the contents of the man's mind. This mortal's consciousness had also been altered, in fact he could detect the man's pain, but there was no presence there to account for it. He burrowed further inside his head, his eyes narrowing in concentration as he finally found what he was searching for. Ah yes, he thought, there you are. He could detect two green glowing eyes, nothing more, but it was enough. This mortal would be the vessel of Seth and, as strong as his mind might be, he would not survive.
He released the professor's mind and turned once again to the one called Matilda. He said her name, as he had before, and watched as she moved restlessly in her sleep. Once more he called to her and she sat up, her breathing laboured and her eyes vacant.
"Come to me, Matilda. Show me your loyalty," he whispered and smiled as she got out of the bed and walked quietly out of the chamber, making her way toward the river. She stopped on the banks and stood still, her chin lifting slightly.
Imhotep raised his hands and chanted a short spell and the sands near Matilda started to rise up, forming the shape of a man. In her almost comatose state she felt no fear, only watching with mild interest as the sandy figure walked toward her and spoke, his hands going to her arms.
"You are Meketaten," the creature stated, and she nodded numbly. "I will join you soon and you will live once more. The sun is rising. When it sets twice more you must come to me. The mortals who protect you will be dealt with, but the man Jackson will be with you and he will bring you to me. Do you understand?"
"I understand, my lord, but I am weak. I need to gather my energy," she said, her voice a monotone.
"You will remain in a sleeping state until dawn touches the sky once more, then you will be strong, stronger than any of the mortal's who surround you," he broke off and the strange, sand face raised to look across at the temple as a man came running out of it, yelling.
"I must leave you now. Remember my words, Meketaten," he continued, the grainy hands dropping from her arms as the figure stepped back and turned its attention toward Rick, who was running toward them with his shotgun levelled at Imhotep's imitation figure. He fired twice into him, the bullets passing straight through the sand and Imhotep threw back his head and laughed at this puny attack. Miles along the Nile the real Imhotep raised his arms and threw something invisible at Rick. By the time this was transferred to his sand figure the invisible item had turned into an enormous cloud of sand, which flew with some speed through the air and hit Rick directly in the face, cutting off his oxygen in seconds. The sand figure remained to watch the other man struggle for a few seconds before losing it's form and dropping back to the desert floor. Imhotep did not need it anyway, he could still see quite clearly what was happening at Karnak. The O'Connell man had managed to get most of the sand out of his nose and mouth and was coughing up what had entered his windpipe. It had not been intended to kill him, anyway. That was something Imhotep would have the pleasure of doing face to face. He drew his consciousness back from Rick and Matilda and focused once more on the surrounding area.
The sun had risen now and he could see that the men were readying the camels to leave. he walked back out of the water and joined Ankhef-Sem, who had made his way to the banks of the river to watch what was happening. He had no idea what the creature had been doing, but it was obviously something enjoyable, judging from his expression.
Imhotep gave the priest a mocking smile as he passed him and headed straight for his camel, climbing elegantly on top of it and turning it towards Karnak.
Once again Ankhef-Sem found himself rushing to catch up with him, ordering his men to pack the remainder of their things and follow them, then they were on their way again. They would make camp once more before they reached Karnak, thought Ankhef-Sem, then he would use the creature and destroy him. He smiled as the thought cheered him and he urged his camel to move faster, catching up with Imhotep and riding next to him, knowing how much it would irritate him.
Imhotep turned his head sideways and fixed the man with an impassive, but nevertheless frightening, stare. He almost admired the priests courage as he refused to lower his gaze, but he felt the time had come to teach the man who was the master here. He pulled his camel to a stop and waited patiently for it to sit down before stepping down from it. Ankhef-Sem pulled his own mount up a short distance further on, having been surprised at the creature's sudden cessation, and turned reluctantly back.
"I do not understand, my lord. Why have we stopped? I believed you were eager for us to continue?" he said, looking down on the creature from his seat on the camel. Imhotep waited silently to see if the priest would get down, his eyes narrow, and he realised he was not wrong in his opinion of the other man's character when he remained seated.
Without saying a word he lifted his hand and pointed at the priest, raising his hand higher as he did so. The priests face took on a look of astonishment as he started to lift from the animal's back, his arms flailing outwards as he rose higher and higher over the desert.
Imhotep cocked his head sideways and examined the man who was so surprised at his power, wondering how best to punish him. He smiled as a mosquito flitted past his head and he remembered one of the priests fears. So he did not like insects? A few masterfully spoken words passed his lips and a deep buzzing could be heard from all around, as every mosquito in the vicinity of the Nile flew up into the air, forming a black cloud which swung in several directions before aiming for the priest.
Ankhef-Sem screamed as the cloud of insects converged on him and he felt the first tiny bites sting his exposed arms and face. Common sense made him close his mouth before it was filled with the disease ridden flies, but he couldn't close his nose as well, or his ears, and the insects took every advantage of that fact, attaching themselves to any millimetre of skin that gave them access to his blood supply. He desperately tried not to scream again as the high pitched whining creatures entered his ears and bit into the sensitive flesh there, but he couldn't prevent the noises that escaped his lips. As soon as his mouth opened even a fraction, the insects attached themselves to the soft skin just inside his lips, drinking greedily of his blood. The horror of the insects crawling inside ears and nose, the noise and the sensation, threatened to drive him out of his mind and he could feel himself beginning to weaken as his blood was drained at an alarming rate.
Imhotep watched with extreme gratification, revelling in listening to the men behind him gasping and yelling in terror. After a minute had passed he commanded the cloud of mosquitoes to disperse and lowered Ankhef-Sem to the ground, where he lay shivering. He walked over to the priest and stared down indifferently at the damage he had caused. The man's face was smothered in lumps, the skin red and broken in places, his nose almost completely closed up with the bites that were now beginning to swell. Even his eyelids were swollen and bumpy and he seemed to be having difficulty blinking. He stared up at Imhotep silently, his mouth too painful to speak, and realised how big a mistake he had made in trying to outthink this creature. He lifted his hands and shuddered at the appearance of them. It looked as though a plague had hit him, as though he were in the throes of Smallpox, and he could barely move his fingers. But he was alive, for now. He knew that if Imhotep had wanted him dead, then he would not be lying here now. How the bites would affect him, however, was another matter. He could yet die of infection. He tried to stand up, but his legs were too weak to support him and two of his men rushed forward to help him, carrying him to his camel and placing him on the back of it.
Imhotep returned to his own animal, looking imperiously down his nose at the men who were now cringing away from him. It was good to flex his supernatural muscles again, good to know he could control his powers and feel them growing stronger by the hour. The priest, at least, was no longer in any doubt as to his mastery.
He urged his camel to move and trotted slowly away, not in the least interested in what the priest was doing now, simply looking ahead to the time he would reach Karnak. In another day and a half, he would be able to see the girl in the flesh and watch as he called the spirit of Meketaten to possess her body. He twisted his lips into a parody of a smile. Perhaps he would get the girl to kill the priest so that he could sit back and watch. It was something to look forward to. That, and the fact that he would finally destroy the O'Connells.
