š“€€Discoveryš“€€

"Holy shit..."

Both stood, jaws agape and eyes wide, standing over the golden sarcophagus.

"Oh, everything inside me's screaming not to open this thing!" cried Steven. "All right, all right, all right..."

Both leaned against the lid and pushed with all their might - and the heavy top slid off.

"Hello Alexander..." Indeed, an adorned mummy lay inside.

They kept exchanging excited, astounded glances. "Okay, the ushabti - well, if you're gonna hide it for all eternity you'd probably put it in a place where the average looter wouldn't think to look."

"Right - Alexander was the voice of Ammit."

"The voice - I'm going to try something here-" Steven reached in, grabbed ahold of the facial wrappings, and tore them open, revealing a jaw and teeth still perfectly in tact. "Sorry, oh, god. So sorry. Sorry, Mr. Great. All right, open up - sorry Mr. the Great. Sorry couldn't be more sorry-" Muttering apologies, Steven cracked open the pharaoh's jaw and began reaching down his throat.

"Yes!" cried Eva. "Get in there!"

She didn't know it, but Steven heard Marc chuckling a little.

"Ugh, ew!" There was a crunch, a squelch and a pop! and Steven withdrew his hand - well, arm now - along with something else.

Ammit's ushabti.

It was a small stone figure, sleekly carved, and with the signature head of a crocodile. It was incredible that a goddess was actually trapped in here.

The two exchanged more excited glances now. They'd done it!

"I want to kiss you so badly!" he admitted.

"Then that makes two of us!"

Nothing could stop them then - they both shot forward, meeting in the middle in a slightly messy but passionate embrace.

He cupped her face. Suddenly, she drew back. "Was that the hand you had down Alex's-"

"Oh! Oh, god, sorry-" He promptly wiped his hand across the front of his shirt.

She threw her head back and laughed, embracing him again.

So caught up in it all. Steven picked her up and set her on the sarcophagus, her legs going around his waist.

He pulled away briefly to declare, "Oh! I can't believe I'm having a snog in an Ancient Egyptian Tomb! I can't believe I'm snogging you in Alexander the Great's tomb! This is brilliant! We did it, we did it! We kicked arse and we did it!"

They were so caught up in the embrace they didn't hear the footsteps until it was too late-

Flushed and breathless, they turned only to find Layla entering the chamber.

"Layla, look, we won!" Steven held the ushabti high up in victory. He laughed in triumph. "And the ushabti goes to - us!" He presented it like on a game show. "I mean, I had to go digging down old Alexander the Great's gullet, but we found it!"

But Layla did not share in their joy. In fact, she looked the most serious they had ever seen her. Finally, she spoke. "Can he hear me?"

"Alexander? I don't think so - god I hope not!"

"What happened to my father? I'm talking to you - I'm talking to you, Marc!" She shoved him for emphasis.

Luckily, Marc took the obvious hint and took over the body. He snapped right into action, speaking hurriedly. "Come on, come on, let's go, we have to go now!"

"What happened to my father?" Layla pressed.

"Listen to me, we need to leave right now. I will explain everything I swear. But we have to go-"

"No, you listen to me! Did you kill Abdullah El-Faouly?"

A gasp shot from Eva's lips and she took a step back.

"Of course not! Of course I didn't," Marc insisted.

"But you were there. You were there, yeah you were there."

"I-" He chose his words very carefully. "I was there, yeah I was there."

"And how did he die?" Layla was openly crying now.

Eva slunk back, wishing she could disappear to give these two some needed privacy. But she had nowhere else to go.

"My partner got greedy, and he executed everyone on the dig site. I tried, I tried to save your father but I couldn't save him-"

"No. But you brought a killer RIGHT TO HIM!" Her shouts echoed back to them through the chamber.

"Yeah. He shot me too, I was supposed to die that night. But I didn't die that night, and I should have. I've tried to tell you since the moment we met-"

"Oh my god - that's the reason that we met. You just had a guilty conscience."

There wasn't much time to absorb this confession, for the sounds of multiple people arriving at the doorway snapped them back to reality.

"There must be another way out - go find it, I'll hold them off. Eva, you too-" He drew the axe from Alexander's tomb.

Just as she and Layla - she had to drag Layla along - ducked into the shadows, Harrow emerged, surrounded by armed guards, holding the scarab compass in his hand.

"Just you? The rest is silence. I remember the first morning I woke up knowing that Khonshu was gone. The quiet was liberating. You're a free man. And of course, with that freedom comes choice. And right now you have a very important choice to make."

Marc nodded. "Okay-"

One of Harrow's guards stepped forward to retrieve the ushabti but instead of handing it over, Marc delivered a blow with the axe.

Bang!

Marc stumbled back, a red dot now opening in his chest.

"STEVEN NO!"

Harrow had shot him.

Bang!

Again, another shot. Layla was frozen in place.

"STEVEN!" Now it was Eva's shouts bouncing off the walls back at them.

Marc stumbled and fell back, out of sight.

I wanted to get this chapter out sooner but have been really busy with work. But thankfully, here it is! :)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)