AN: OMG, I'm back. I bet ya'll forgot I was here. Sorry it took so long for an update, but I hope you enjoy this absolutely brand new chapter.
Kauket sat patiently in her throne waiting for her servants to return with Jade. However she didn't have to wait too long because soon enough her pets returned. Jade was terrified about what would happen to her as Kauket began to study her features. The ancient spirit cupped Jade's face in her hands. Jade smacked the hands away and in an instant an iron collar and chain appeared around the young girl's neck. The chain was attached to the nearby wall.
"Hey, what the heck" Jade exclaimed.
"You need to learn manners, and I will be the one to teach you your place" Kauket explained.
Jade didn't say anything and continued to struggle against the collar. Kauket laughed in amusement at her attempts.
"I admire your spirit and enthusiasm, but those chains are magically enhanced" Kauket chuckled.
Jade snorted and glared at the spirit. After a few more minutes of struggling, Jade finally emitted defeat. Sighing, Jade squirmed around until she could find a more comfortable position considering her limited movement.
Jackie and the rest of the party continued their excursion across the desert with no luck in finding the book yet. That is until Finn stumbled upon something, literally, that proved quite interesting. Upon closer inspection by Jackie, it was discovered to the top of a buried tomb.
"I think this is it" Jackie moved some sand aside to reveal more of the tomb.
Everyone looked at each other before dropping to their knees and started to unbury the rest of the blocks of stone. After several hours of hard digging, the doorway was finally revealed and pried open. The small group of people waiting for fresh air to enter the tunnel before they themselves entered. Jackie lit several of the torches the hung in brackets on the wall. The group made their way deeper into the tunnel and soon found themselves standing in a small chamber that was littered with golden cups, plates, chairs and other things of the sort. Because the roof of the chamber was so low, everyone had to walk through it hunched over. There were two tunnels leading out of the room besides the one they just entered through, one to the left and one strait ahead.
"Ok, we need to split up; Finn, Ratso, and Chow go left. Valmont, Hak Foo, Jackie and I will go strait" Black pointed to the tunnels.
The seven people slip up into their respective groups and entered the tunnels. Finn took a torch and led the other two into the left tunnel past more gold artifacts. Jackie took the lead and headed into the tunnel, moving cautiously so as not to fall over anything or set off any booby traps. The combines torches of Black and Jackie didn't provide much light into the darkness which they were descending deeper into. The tunnel that they were walking along began to slope deeper into the earth and the ambient temperature began to drop. Suddenly though they came to the end of the passageway and found themselves in the treasure room. Everything around them glittered with gold and jewels and all four men found it very hard not to touch anything. Turning to the rest of the group, Jackie spoke.
"Black and I will look over on this side of the room; you and Hak Foo look on the other side. Somewhere in here there might be a hidden door that could lead us to the burial chamber" Jackie looked at Valmont.
With that he handed his torch to the blond and made his way over to Black who had already began to run his hands along the smooth walls. Valmont walked over to where Hak Foo was already searching and held the torch close to the wall for the red-headed mercenary to see what he was doing.
Elsewhere in the tomb, Finn, Ratso, and Chow found a preparation room that is used to hold the body during the process of mummification. They followed another passage to what they thought looked like the correct room. They found several torches mounted on the wall and lit them for more light. The walls in the room were covered with murals and hieroglyphics that told the story of the decedent's life. Finn dropped the light he was holding when the blocks of stone in front of him moved. He let out a scream as more stone was pushed out of the way. He stood clutching his chest as Jackie and everyone else walked through the newly formed hole.
"What's the matter Finn, did we scare you" Black laughed.
"Shut up, it's not funny. You could have given me a heart attack" Finn glared at the captain.
Jackie interrupted them telling both men that this was in fact the desired room that they were looking for. With the extra light in the room from all the torches the group saw that in the middle of the room stood a solid stone, rectangular coffin.
"Hak Foo, if you don't mind, we need you to push the top off" Valmont looked at the red-head.
Hak Foo walked over to the massive piece of rock and got a good grip on the lid. With a strained grunt, Hak Foo managed to get good footing and forced the top off. What lay inside was beyond what they had expected. A solid gold sarcophagus with intricate, detailed carvings met their eyes. The coffin was embedded with emeralds, rubies, sapphires, onyx and other precious and semi-precious stones.
"Where's the book" Chow asked.
"It will probably be on top of the body" Jackie replied.
Everyone grabbed the edge of the lid and carefully lifted it off of the rest of the sarcophagus. Inside they found a wrapped mummy with a thick black, leather bound book on top. They all stared at the book then looked around to each other then finally stared at Jackie.
"This is it, this is what we've been looking for" Jackie simply said.
Valmont picked up the book and handed it to Finn who wrapped it in his jacket. They placed the top back on the coffin and pushed the stone cover back in place before leaving. They all squinted as they emerged from the darkness into the bright Egyptian sun.
Kauket watched as they exited the tomb with the book. She couldn't help the feral grin the spread across her face they started to trudge the long way back to the oasis. Soon she would have everything the she both need and wanted, the source unlimited power. Nothing would be able to stop her once she had the book. Kauket cast a glance at the raven haired girl that sat chained to the wall next to her throne.
"Tell me child, do you love you uncle" the spirit asked.
"Yeah, he the best" Jade answered.
"Then you will be wise to tell him when he returns not to try anything with those silly little talismans that he has" Kauket explained.
Jade's eyes widened when the spirit revealed the fact that she knew about the talismans.
"You won't get away with this, Uncle Jackie won't let you destroy the world" Jade glared at the jackal.
Kauket didn't respond, she just chuckled at the child and continued to watch the small group walk.
Everyone dragged their feet through the hot sand as the reached the banks of the Nile once again. When the found a small group of 5 or 6 palm trees they decided to call it quits for the day. After walking to the tomb, excavating it, searching it, and finally walking back; everyone was exhausted and hungry and in a very sour disposition. Being fit and able for tomorrow's long journey back was of great importance and having enough energy to take on Kauket was a definite must for everyone in the group.