Here's chapter 2 written by me, Bastet. Thank you all soooooooo much for the reviews! Read and enjoy!

Predator: Ancient World

Chapter 2: The Fallen God

Neferti kneeled down on the West side the Nile River, her back to the sandy Sahara desert, known back then as the land of the dead. She took the elaborately decorated vase off her head and began to fill it with the cool blue water. On the East side of the river, children played happily, the men farmed their fields and the women assisted with all of the daily household chores.

Neferti smiled; she was luck that she was the Queen's personal assistant. Many slaves and servant slept in small crowded rooms and were dressed in simple linen loin clothes and chest veils. She, on the other hand, had her own personal quarters, next door to the Queen's and she wore expensive garments equal to what many nobles wore. She also had much lighter work that the other servants, such as fetching water from the Nile for blessing and its use for the rituals of the goddess Hathor. As long as she served her Queen faithfully, these privileges were bestowed upon her.

Neferti wiped away a stray hair and made sure that her eye makeup was not running from the occasional bead of sweat dripping down her face, using the Nile as a mirror. Neferti glanced upwards and saw something peculiar. Reflected in the sand dunes behind her was some kind of fallen form. Neferti turned around to see what it was. There was something there. After a few seconds of staring at the object, Neferti was struck with realization of what the object was.

A body...a human body...

Neferti hid the water jug in the high reeds; many would steal such a thing if given an opportunity, and raced out into the desert towards the fallen form. After five minutes of sprinting, Neferti came close to the human body only to realize that, besides the vague humanoid form, the body wasn't in any way human.

The creature had reptilian-like skin, in various shades of green and yellow with black speckling. It was also exceptionally tall, about three heads taller than her. It wore strange black body armor, carried weapons, and wore a bizarre looking black mask. It reminded her of some of the masks the high-priests wore during rituals.

'What is this thing?' Neferti thought. She had never seen anything like this before, and she had seen a lot of foreigners in the Queen's house, paying tribute to her.

It was motionless, and didn't appear to be alive. Neferti moved closer and knelt down by the body. She saw the ragged rise and fall of the creature's chest. She checked it over for wounds, not finding much, except for a small healing patch of skin near the creature's ankle, which looked like a Urarus bite.

This creature was bitten by an Urarus, the sacred serpent of Ra. If it did not get healing attention soon, it would surely die. But would it be wise to take in such a creature?

Neferti heard a howling noise and her head shot up from the creature. Upon the horizon, a pack of jackals raced though the sands, ignoring her and the creature. Neferti looked down at the creature. Jackals were the symbol of the god of the dead, Anubis. Such an obvious sign from Anubis clearly meant something.

'The creature must have the favor of Anubis, or the jackals would have come to devour him,' Neferti thought. Perhaps this creature was a god, fallen from the heavens. Neferti draped the figure with a small cloak she had tied around her waist and raced back to Thebes to get assistance. Her frantic running did not go unnoticed for long. Rashem, one of the Pharaoh's generals, and a troop of solders were patrolling the temple when they saw Neferti running towards them.

"Neferti, what troubles you?" Rashem asked, sensing her urgency.

Neferti quickly explained to Rashem about the creature and the sign from Anubis.

"Get a bark immediately!" Rashem called to his solders. Within a minute, the solders came with a bark, the slave-carried bed-like carrier that nobles used.

"Where is the creature?" Rashem asked.

Neferti brought the solders into the desert to where the creature still lay wrapped in her cloak. The solders were hesitant on getting close to the creature, but complied when they were given a harsh glare from Rashem.

"What should we do with it?" One of the solders said, once they had loaded the creature in the bark and closed the crimson curtains around it.

"Take it to my quarters. Let no one see it," Neferti answered for Rashem. "Stand guard over him, I will be there shortly once I fetch water for the Queen her water for blessing."

The solders took off towards the Nile; they would have to use a ship to cross the river and reach the Queen's palace. Neferti retrieved the water jug, filled it, and walked as quickly as she could towards the temple of Karnack.

"You are late Neferti. What slowed your journey?" Queen Tuya asked.

"Uh," Neferti didn't want to tell the Queen of her find with all of the other young priestesses around. It would be best to keep the creature a secret until they deduced its' purpose. "A traveler was in need of my assistance. I need to go to him now, mistress."

Neferti gave Tuya a meaningful look. Tuya nodded slightly. "You are excused Neferti, but I am expecting a more detailed story of this 'traveler' when I return form the daily ceremony."

Neferti bowed low to Tuya and left the temple, hoping to catch the boat Rashem was on.

All he felt was pain. One minute, he was burning up, the other he was freezing. Du'gret tried to move, but his body did not respond to his mind's commands. He drifted in and out of consciousness, unsure whether he was dead yet.

He felt his body being lifted from the ground. Had the Black Warrior come for him? He was laid down on soft fabrics and the burning sun of the planet was shut out. Du'gret sank back into the darkness, not sure of where he would wake up.

Neferti sat near the creature as the doctor and priestess worked on healing the creature. They had removed all of the armor on the creature except the arm bands, the creatures' loin cloth, and the mask.

The priestess chanted prayers to Selket, the goddess of scorpions and healing. The doctor had to reopen the wound on the creature's leg and rewrapped it with herbs to sooth the pain and draw out the poison. Hopefully the methods would work for the creature and restore it to health.

The priestess left after bestowing her blessing on the creature, and the doctor soon left as well, advising Neferti to continually put cool wet cloths on the creature's chest and injury to bring down the fever, being that its face was covered with the metallic mask.

Neferti followed the doctor's advice and even burned some incenses to the goddess Selket hoping to further earn the goddess's favor. There was a knock at Neferti's door.

"Enter," Neferti called.

Queen Tuya entered her room and strode towards the couch Neferti knelt by.

"The guards say there is a fallen god in here," Tuya said, laughingly. Her laughter stopped abruptly when she saw the creature.

"By Ra's glowing hand... What is that thing?"

"I'm not sure. Hopefully if it heals we will find out; it has been bitten by an Urarus. Neferti told Queen Tuya of her discovery of the creature.

"If it awakens, alert the guards. I don't want you to be harmed if it is a demon." Neferti nodded. Demons were a common problem in Egypt. They caused disease and pain. Neferti hoped that she had not lead a demon into the royal house.

Queen Tuya left Neferti to her thoughts. Neferti walked to her large window and looked out over the temples of Amun and his consort Mut, the lower part of the royal palace, and the large bazaar that took place in the streets of Thebes where you could buy literally anything from an exotic dress to a pet leopard, which Queen Tuya had two of.

Neferti's gaze drifted back to the creature or god or whatever it was. Hopefully it was friendly, but by looking at his armor and weapons, Neferti's hopes were not high.

So, did you like it? I hope so! Please Review!