Bonjour, Everyone! OK, now things will REALLY start to heat up. J *chuckles wickedly* I have issues.......mwahahahahaha! Lol. I'm just kiddin. I don't have issues. Really.......*does loopy dance* OK. No more. Oooh! Everyone, I just reached fifty reviews!!! Yay! I'm glad. J Thanx to everyone for reviewing! I'm sooooo happy! You all deserve medals! *gives out medals made of everyone's favorite candies* Lol. Enjoy!!! Ok. Now, here you all are. I'm dreadfully sorry about not thanking everyone personally, but I'm in a bit of a hurry, you see, so please forgive me. Luv you all!

Chapter 16

"Keep quiet."

"I know! I'm not a bloody imbecile!"

"Sure fooled me."

"I can't see my feet!"

They're under the sand, moron!"

"Don't call me names O'Connell!"

"Shut up Izzy!"

"Has anyone seen Shanala?"

"I'm right here, Ardeth."

"Right where?"

Rick sighed angrily, "This is ridiculous."

"You are ridiculous, O'Connell! This is stupid!"

"Shut up Izzy!"

"Excuse me, People? Are those soldiers?"

Rick jumped and looked ahead, straining his eyes, "Where?"

"Ahead of us!"

Everyone went completely silent for a minute as they searched the landscape.

Finally,. Rick whispered, "I don't see anyone..."

"Oh, sorry! My mistake!"

Rick sighed angrily, "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, Daddy."

Rick stopped dead in his tracks at that word. For the first time in his life, he felt just what every other father in the world felt for his daughter. It was a feeling that melted his heart with a single smile, made him cry if he saw one tear, and made him feel so protective he thought he'd burst. He swallowed hard, "That's ok....Honey."

Shanala took his hand, and Rick smiled, "It's perfectly fine."

Ardeth chuckled, "Aw, Rick. IN your lifetime, you have battled living mummies, 'devil children' and death itself. Now, this small child takes over your heart in a matter of seconds?" Ardeth clicked his tongue, "Amazing."

Rick simply grinned.

****************************

 Lock-Na stood his ground, his dark eyes watching the small group of people headed for the camp. His hand was itching to grab his sword and simply charge at them...to run his blade through Rick O'Connell's heart....but Lord Imhotep had specifically requested two things: One, that Shanala not be harmed and immediately be brought to Anck-su-namun; two, that Rick O'Connell be left to him. "Where are they now, Lock-Na?" Lock-Na turned at the sound of Imhotep's voice, "They are very close, My Lord."

Imhotep's face broke into a wicked smirk, "Good. Letn them come a little closer...and then charge."

"Yes, My Lord."

They all waited, breathless, the only sound being the muffled screams of Alex and Evelyn O'Connell. However they had long ago been tied and gagged and thrown into tents far away, so they would not be a problem. Finally, Imhotep nodded at Lock-Na, and with a smile, Lock-Na shouted, "Attack!"

********************************

Alex heard Lock-Na's yell and felt his blood run cold; he was too late. His father would be killed, all because he hadn't been fast enough to save him. He blinked back tears of frustration and tugged at the ropes on his hands. The gag in his mouth tasted terrible, and it felt uncomfortably dry in his mouth. His heart started to beat with panic as he heard the soldiers begin to attack...

*************************

Evelyn's wrists hurt terribly, but the pain was invisible compared to her fear for Rick and Shanala. "Please let them be ok," she prayed, fighting against the binds, "Please....oh please.....protect them...please, please, please...."

****************************

Ardeth heard the sharp war cry before he saw the men, and by then, it was too late to do much of anything but shout, "Rick!"

Rick looked up and saw them too, and he pushed Shanala behind him, whipping out his guns and aiming at the men. Ardeth drew out his sword, and Jonathan, after swallowing hard a few times, clenched his fists. Rick saw that he was weaponless and tossed him a spare gun, "You know how to use it?"

Jonathan nodded "Y-yes..."

"Great. Use it!"

By then, the dozens of men were hardly five feet away, and the last things Rick could do was give Shanala an encouraging smile, tell Izzy to protect her with his life, and then face the onslaught.

***************************

Imhotep smiled coldly as he watched the two groups clash. Even from his point, he could hear the clanging of metal and the blasts of guns. Anck-su-namun leaned her head against his shoulder and whispered, "Trieu, Ben Maaña, siñe roseto kjise lostue Shanala, esa joalse O'Connells lieus shie ahibuet." Imhotep smiled and wrapped an amr around her waits, "Tieu, Anck-su-namun. Esa la bente anye uht berimahude." Anck-su-namun smiled and closed her eyes. She loved Imhotep so much, and she knew that she would do anything for him...even let herself die.

***********************************

 Shanala was a little dazed as she sat on the sand. Everywhere there was shouting and groaning, clashing and banging...it was all so overwhelming. Shanala got to her feet and looked around. She felt so small in the crowd of fighters, and when she felt that way, she knew what happened....She swallowed hard, calming herself. Out of pure habit, she grabbed her necklace and backed away, watching the scene before her with unease. Rick was currently shooting at a particularly large man, who just wasn't going down. However, when Ardeth came by and knocked the man to his feet, it was easy for Rick to shoot him down. They were a great team, really, and Shanala truly enjoyed watching them...but right now she was too worried to care, for she knew what would happen next if she wasn't careful. She kept her eyes focused close by and didn't let her thoughts wander; she had to be on top of things if she wanted to stay alive. Ardeth Bay was now sword-fighting two different men at a time, and, one-by-one, he defeated them. Jonathan was shooting everywhere in front of him, so Rick and Ardeth had to consider him a hazard and stayed away. Still, he was hitting a lot of the bad guys....in the legs and arms, and sometimes their feet. Izzy was standing nearby, looking nervous. "What are you doing?" Shanala whispered.

"Keeping an eye on you," Izzy replied.

Shanala rolled her eyes, "Doesn't seem like it to me..."

She expected a sharp-tongued retort from Izzy, but nothing happened. Shanala turned to look at him, just in time to see him cast aside by none other than Lock-Na. "Oh no!" Shanala gasped, stumbling backwards.

Lock-Na sneered wickedly, "Oh yes, Shanala."

Shanala turned and fled, not thinking about where she was going, not considering what lay ahead. She just ran.

***************************************

Rick saw Shanala run away in the corner of his eye. He turned to get a better view and was instantly smashed in the face by a thick fist. "Rick! Are you alright?" Ardeth ran over, stabbed the man cleanly in the gut, and kneeled to help Rick up.

"Shanala! She's being chased! Where is Izzy?"

Ardeth glanced around, and then winced, "Ummm...he's currently preoccupied with a little matter known as unconsciousness."

Rick swore under his breath and got to his feet. "Jonathan!"

Jonathan yelped at  Rick's sharp voice and accidentally shot a man in the head.

"So sorry, Old Chap," he muttered, hurrying over to his brother-in-law.

"Jonathan, go help Shanala!" Rick ordered, ducking as a solider shot at him.

"Righto....where is she?"

Ardeth pointed with his sword at the same time as he socked a man in the jaw."

Jonathan saluted them both, "Thank you! I'll be off, then!"

***************************

Shanala's lungs burned and her legs were on fire. She gasped for breath, whimpering pathetically and racing along, choking herself with kicked up sand. She could hear Lock-Na behind her, gaining up, laughing.

"I'm not going back!" she shrieked, although she knew it wasn't wise to use up her oxygen, "I'll never go back to that horrid witch! You can't make me! You can't!" Just the thought of going back to her stepmother made Shanala nauseous with fear, and she somehow put on a burst of speed. She was going along well, the throbbing pain in her muscles subsiding and her lungs growing used to little oxygen, when she tripped and fell. She started to scramble to her feet, but she fell again, and then she burst into tears. Covering her head with her hands, she drew her knees up under her and but her lip, knowing that it was too late.

*********************************

"Bloody hell, but she runs fast!" Jonathan panted, tripping along over the sand. He could just see the dusty fog in front of him., where he knew Shanala had to be running. Just as he made it far into the cloud of sand, he heard a loud shriek from somewhere ahead and he looked around, "Shanala?"

"Help me! Oh please help me! He'll take me back...! No, stop it! Let go! He'll take me back! Help!"

Jonathan started to yell back, but a sudden gust of wind brought sand up into his mouth and he gagged, coughing and spluttering.

He fell to his knees then, as he had closed his eyes against the sand and couldn't see where he was going. "Oh bloody darn," he mumbled, "Rick? I'm lost! Rick?!"

******************************

Rick was exhausted. He could barely lift his arms up to shoot another man. His feet dragged on the sand, and his eyes were getting heavy. "How can I possibly feel tired?" he growled to himself, "My family's in trouble, I'm in the middle of a battle, and there's sand in my mouth. How can I be tired?!?"

"I don't know," Ardeth grunted, shoving a man past him, "But you'd better make it go away before that man behind you kills you."

Luckily, Rick's mind wasn't tired. Without a second thought, he ducked, swung his fist behind him, and laughed when a man fell over, actually crying. Ardeth chuckled too, leaping backwards and causing to charging men to collide with each other. There was a sickening crack as their heads connected, and then they fell over.

Rick nodded and raised an eyebrow, "Impressive."

Then he turned around, grabbed a man behind him, and put him in a headlock. After he smashed the man in the stomach with his knee, he bashed him on the head with his elbow, and then threw him backwards; the soldier collided with three of his teammates.

Rick turned to Ardeth and the Medjai grinned, "Not bad."

"Thanks."

However, Rick's pride didn't last long, as his heart had suddenly stopped beating. The air around him went still and icy, and everything went tin slow-motion as the scene before him played out. Ardeth Bay was turning around, preparing to fight the next bunch of men. Another soldier raced up behind him, sword drawn. Rick opened his mouth and yelled, but it was too late; the guard hit Ardeth in the side and whipped him around, thrusting his sword into the Medjai's side. Ardeth swayed on his feet for a second, and then fell over. Rick yelled something that he himself didn't comprehend, and he ran over to Ardeth. "God...Ardeth....you ok?"

Ardeth was wincing in pain, clutching his hands to his wound, "I....I believe so..."

Rick swallowed his mouth dry, "How...how deep...did it go in...?"

"Not deep."

"Are you sure?"

Ardeth nodded.

Rick looked up and saw that all of the men were watching him. He glared at them all, anger boiling up inside of him, "What? No more fighting? Now that you actually hit someone for once you're down and out?"

One man actually had the nerve to laugh. "We were ordered to kill everyone but you and the girl," he explained.

"Oh really?"

Rick wanted to blow the guy's head off, but he knew that he couldn't leave Ardeth. "So why aren't you allowed to kill me, huh?"

Another man shrugged, Lord Imhotep's orders."

"Imhotep, huh?" Rick looked down at Ardeth and forced a smile, "C'mon, Pal. You're a Medjai: Mean Egyptian Dressed in Jammies and Always Interesting. You can't die."

Ardeth grinned slightly "I will not, My Friend."

"I'll stay here, ok? Until you're well...I'll wait.."

"No...you must save...your family..."

Rick swallowed hard, and, though he hated to be so sentimental, he mumbled, "You are family."

***************************