****Sorry it's taken forever, but I had some major problems with my computer, caused by....lightning! I had typed three chapters and we got hit by lightning and I lost the lot. So I retyped it from memory...dammit....and we got hit again! Luckily my computer had timesaved it...but I wanted to smash it to pieces! Anyway, onwards.....!****

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Charlotte had no idea how much time had passed, but sometime later Grayson came walking over to her, looking tired and grimy, but pleased. "Ah, you're still here I see, I thought you might be," he said, a trace of amusement evident in his tone. "Well, you'll be pleased to hear that we've found the entrance to the tombs below, so now your little adventure can truly begin." He gave her a cold smile and grabbed her arm, hauling her to her feet and dragging her along next to him as he strode over to where Aslar was standing half in and half out of a hole in the sand. As they got nearer she could see that the hole actually led down into a rough rectangular opening, steps visible just beyond it. An eerie darkness seemed to creep out of the place below and she felt her stomach clench with fear, her throat closing as she fought against the professor's hold for perhaps the first time. No matter what mortal terrors she had been expecting, immortal ones held far more horrors, and she had heard much about what could happen from Evy. Somewhere in the back of her mind she hadn't expected the two men to actually find anything, but now they had terrifying visions of things she had been told began to fill her head.

Grayson shook her roughly and narrowed his eyes. "Stop struggling, Miss Carnahan, or would you like me to give you to Aslar to deal with you? I'm sure he could keep you still."

Taking a deep breath, Charlotte forced herself to try and calm down, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking, tremors running through her body almost violently.

Aslar laughed. "I had thought her unmoved by her impending doom, but it seems I was wrong," he said as he reached out one hand and touched her arm, relishing the feel of her trembling. "Come, let us find the altar and we can take the first step on the path to our destiny!"

Grayson chuckled at this and pushed Charlotte ahead of him, his hands still firmly gripping her arms so she couldn't even try and escape. She wondered hysterically if there was any point in even trying anyway. Whatever they planned on doing wouldn't work because she wasn't a virgin, and if she did get away then the Med-jai would see to it she died. Her shoulders slumped as saw the hopelessness of the situation, and she followed meekly behind Aslar as he led his way further and further into the oppressive atmosphere of the tomb.

She shivered as they went on, only a single torch to light their way, and strange scuttling noises could be heard echoing around the empty chambers they passed through. Some of the ceilings were so low that they had to bend to walk underneath them, and she realised that most of the rooms had collapsed under a great pressure. It must be what Evy had spoken about before, about when an ancient mechanism had caused the city to fall back into the sands. It was surprising, therefore, that any part of it could be walked through, but most of the corridors seemed to be intact and they were heading ever downwards, less damage apparent as they progressed.

Soon the torch lit up a small area of what felt like a huge chamber and Charlotte felt herself tugged down a vast set of stone steps, leading down to something as yet unseen. She shivered at the chill in this room, trying to close her mind to the eerie sounds drifting through the chamber. As soon as they reached the bottom and she felt sand underneath her feet they stopped, and Aslar went to the walls to light torches, finally illuminating the enormous cavern to their eyes.

It had a large stone table in the middle, it's edges rough and crudely designed, at odds with most of the Egyptian artefacts and buildings she had seen before. There were also what looked like blood stains on the rough surface, although dark and old, and she realised that this then was the sacrificial altar. But the chamber itself didn't look like any sort of worshipping place. There was a small pool of some hideous tar like substance, a pedestal with hieroglyphs set upon a low dais that seemed to serve no purpose and several doors opening off into who knew where. After whatever destruction had happened here, they were incapable of being opened, the lintels crushed down and the doors stuck fast. So it seemed to her that this room would probably be the last one she would ever see, and she almost laughed with rising hysteria.

"Do you like it here, my dear?" Grayson asked her, stroking a hand slowly over her face and making her cringe. "Such a lovely atmosphere....I confess I'm quite at home. Come, we have much to do," he said, taking her arm roughly and dragging her over to the stone table.

Charlotte stared at it for a second and her shoulders slumped again. There was really no point in fighting this, there was no-one out there who would save her, and she had nowhere to go in this country for sanctuary. She let the professor push her into the table and she lay down on her back, her arms and legs limp as he secured them in chains so she couldn't get away.

His face came back into view and he smiled at her. "You just relax there, Charlotte, and we'll start all the preparations. Shouldn't be too long now." He walked away and Charlotte closed her eyes, letting her sorrow wash over her in a wave and relaxing into it, comfortable now in this one emotion. It was better than dwelling on the fear and anticipation of what was going to happen to her. The one good thing was that Imhotep could not be brought back, at least not with her blood. It was some comfort to know she wouldn't be bringing that plague upon the earth.

*********

Jonathan watched with deep worry when Charlotte tried to run off and fell down as if in pain. He couldn't understand it, and his worry only intensified as the Professor moved towards her small figure and dragged her back again. He couldn't make a move yet, not until he wasn't being watched himself, and it was sheer agony to see someone he cared about being treated badly. As for Ardeth, he had had enough of him to last a lifetime. His opinion of the man had changed drastically over the last couple of days, and he felt disappointed. With his own sister he wasn't sure what to think. Evy and Rick had good reason not to be here, the children were their first priority, but he would like to know what both of them really thought of this situation. He had heard the way Rick had been talking, and he wondered at how everyone was so angry so quickly. It was puzzling, but nothing he thought he couldn't sort out, given time. And time was in short supply for Charlotte right now.

A while later his head came up again when he saw more movement and he followed Grayson's progress as he came and got Charlotte again, taking her towards the hole in the ground they had dug. Aslar touched her and Jonathan felt rage building up inside him. He wanted to kill the man, and he hoped he had a chance to do so before this was all over, no matter what happened to him for doing it. He almost cheered when he saw Charlotte struggle against them, hoping she would be able to escape and maybe punch one of them in the face before she went. But it was over almost as soon as it had begun, and she meekly let them bundle her down into the sands, disappearing from sight instantly. A chill raced through his body as he saw her go, well aware of what she was heading into and wondering how she would survive any of the perils within that dead place.

Finally, after hours of silently keeping watch, the Med-jai stirred and started to gather themselves to approach the tomb. Jonathan knew the drill by now and he watched Ardeth jump onto his horse ahead of them and turn it to make his way down to the City. His dark eyes fixed on Jonathan briefly and he seemed to be waging an internal battle over something. He moved towards him and stared down at him where he was sitting in the sand. "Jonathan, you will stay here?" he asked, his face impassive.

"Yes," Jonathan said, not feeling like he was lying. Okay, he was planning on going down there as soon as this lot were out of sight, but right now he was staying put. So, no lie there.

Ardeth nodded. "Good. We shall return quickly," he said confidently, and why shouldn't he be, Jonathan thought. There were only two men and an innocent young girl to fight, shouldn't take them more than five minutes to hunt them down and behead them. He looked angrily away from Ardeth, hearing him move away again. Then he waited.

Minutes passed and finally they came back into view below him, the men and horses moving in an almost silent procession towards the place where the three had entered the City. Neither Aslar nor the Professor would have heard them coming, they were that quiet, and Aslar would not be expecting them either. Ardeth was right that it wouldn't take them long.

Jonathan stood up and checked his gun, nodding with satisfaction when he saw it was fully loaded. He had a knife in his belt, should he need it, and a second pistol tucked into his boot, also fully loaded. He didn't want to fight the Med-jai, not if he could help it, but he wouldn't let them kill his cousin. With a heavy sigh he started picking his way down the cliff edge towards the deadly City, wondering if he would come out of this one alive.