CHAPTER SEVEN
I hurried down the rock face and into camp just in time to see a black swarm of something coming towards the camp site at an alarming speed.
Turning I saw Evy, Jon and Rick just standing there staring at the swarm before common sense kicked in and they turned to run. Evy saw me and motioned for me to run towards them,
"Ella this way! Hurry!"
As she, Jon, Rick, the American's and their helpers were now running in the same direction.
I stopped by my bed-roll to grab my duffel bag and then took off running as the black swarm grew rapidly closer. I caught up with Evy, Jon and Rick just as they were entering the tomb and we stuck together as we ran through the tunnels.
We turned down yet another tunnel when the ground shook and began to rise, we all backed away from it a bit looking at it curiously until it burst open and thousands of scarabs came pouring out of it. We all backed up and began to run the way we had come, I heard Rick hollering at us to keep running and would have smacked him upside the head if I had the time.
"Honestly what does he think we are going to do. Stop and ask the scarabs to kindly not eat our flesh?!" I thought getting annoyed as we ran for our lives.
Just then we came to a narrow bridge like structure off to the left side there was several large smooth stone's that was separated from the bridge Jon, Rick and I jumped over onto it. I turned ready to help Evy only to see that she had chosen to hide in a small alcove on the opposite side of the bridge.
There was nothing I could do but watch and hope that the scarabs didn't stray from the bridge as they noisily ran along. A few tense seconds and all of us were breathing sighs of relief as the scarabs continued along the bridge and down one of the tunnels at the other end not straying from their focused path. I had turned my eyes onto the scarabs to make sure they left and was dismayed when I looked up and found that Evy had disappeared.
Jon, Rick and I exchanged glances before we all began to call for her, she didn't reply to our calls so we jumped from the stone we were on back onto the narrow bridge and over to the alcove that Evy had been hiding in. Rick began to pound on it with the backend of his shotgun while I looked for a hidden lever and Jon held the torch. Rick swore,
"It has to be a trap door, there must be a switch or lever or stone that push's inward." I said knowing Evy wouldn't just run off on her own.
I used my hands to try and find the lever when the American's came running down the tunnels that the scarabs had taken not all that long ago.
The American's were screaming and one hollered at us to run, we didn't hesitated to jump into the small group of running bodies as we were once again racing against the scarabs. We all just cleared the bridge and were at the bottom of the small room when one of the American's Egyptian worker's fell. He screamed and Rick and I turned to help him up when the scarabs swept down over the man like a blanket, they didn't stop but his voice did as his skeletal remains and clothing were all that was left of him within seconds.
Immediately Rick and I turned towards Jon who was waiting for us just a foot from where we were,
"Go! GO!" Rick hollered motioning for Jon to start running again as we all took off racing down multiple tunnels. As we passed one I glanced into the room which was lit up by the full moon and saw Evy.
"Evy!" I immediately called out running into the room Rick was right behind me and he spoke while running over to her.
"There you are. Will you quit playing hide-and-seek? Come on, let's get out of here!" As Rick spoke I had grabbed onto Evy's left arm and was turning to face the entrance that Jon now waited at when my eye's landed on a site that made my blood run cold.
When neither Evy nor I started to follow Rick as he tried to pull Evy after him he turned his gaze in the location that Evy and I were fixed on.
"WHOA!" He hollered.
At that precise moment Jon came running into the room holding his torch hollering,
"Evy!" Before his eyes landed on the living mummified corpse that was standing in the middle of the room, he hollered and dropped his torch in surprise as he stepped backwards. Two of the American's must have been following Jon as they came up right behind him and stopped and stared at the mummy in shock and horror as well. The mummy seemed to grow angry at all of the interruptions in whatever he or she had been planning on doing so he let out a roaring scream that sent my heart into overdrive.
Evy leaned backwards into me as she gave a small scream of shock and disbelief while Rick still full of surprise and disbelief gave the mummy an answering roar and lifted up his shotgun and fired causing the mummy to give a strange warbling cry before it fell. Immediately I began to tug Evy after me as I ran away from the creature, Rick was right behind us and after mustering up some quick courage Jon, and the two Americans ran past the mummy to follow us. Jon was hollering in disbelief,
"Did you see that?! It was walking!" To the two Americans as we continued our run.
I led us out into the desert again where we were met with the Medjia training their gun's on us. We all slowed down to an immediate halt, I pulled Evy a little behind me as I stared down Ardeth, whom I knew was the leader in the middle of the group of warriors even though they all had their face coverings up. The one American whom I had wanted to punch a few days ago for his arrogance was cowering at their feet clutching a large black book. The sight of the book caused me to feel dizzy and disorientated, I knew that book from somewhere and the memories that it came with the sight of the book were unpleasant.
I clutched Evy's hand tight and closed my eyes trying to regain the breath that felt like it had been knocked out of me, I heard Ardeth and Rick's voice and sometime later one of the American's voice but I couldn't make out the words as memories of the blood, fear and deep demanding voice's asking me about the Book of the Dead and where it was. I had only been six when it had happened, a group of strange men who had wanted to unleash chaos onto the world had been searching for that book. However they couldn't translate the hieroglyphics correctly, I had laughed at them and told them that. The mocking of a six year old girl seemed to be more than they could bare and they came after me, however using my agility and speed I managed to escape them. For the next two weeks I found them and provoked them before out running them again however they were prepared for me the final time.
In retaliation they had kidnapped me and held me in a room in a sewer and tortured me when I refused to tell them what the scroll said having been sworn to secrecy by the headmistress of the orphanage I had been living in at that time. She had made me swear to never tell the secrets that I somehow knew about the Book of the Dead and the Book of the Living, she said that my strangely intimate knowledge of them would cause the end of all things to come. She was always somewhat afraid of me because of my cat like reflexives and I heard her whisper to one of the cooks that my eyes shown in the dark like a demons on nights with the full moon. The men had used knives, sticks, hot pokers, water boarding and their fist's to punish me every time I refused to translate the scroll for them.
All of the sudden I was jerked out of my thoughts as I felt Evy pulling me along and it was all I could do to make my legs move and follow after her. As I got up on my camel I blocked out the world around me, trying to push those painful memories which still haunted me into the small locked box in the back of my mind where I had been keeping them. The next thing I knew I was waking up in Evy's bed while she and Rick were arguing. I ignored their voice's choosing to focus on clearing the cobwebs in my head and trying to get rid of the nightmarish memories that had besieged me while I had slept.
I quietly slunk out of Evy's room and downstairs I made my way over to the bar and after ordering myself several drinks and a meal I pointed to the table I planned to sit at. The guy behind the bar nodded and I made my way over to the table and sat down, slouching in the seat my back to the bar as I waited for my drinks and food.
After I finished my meal and the last shot of Scotch I laid my head on the cool table and closed my eyes for what I thought was only a minute. However when I opened them again the world around me was in chaos, unsure of what was going on I ran to Evy's room and got there just in time to hear Rick say,
"We are in serious trouble."
Evy seeing my confusion told me about everything that had happened while I had slept as we all made our way to the Museum where she worked. She was confident that her boss would know what to do to stop the Mummy from completing his curse. I was silently freaking out as I realized that some of the things that were now set into motion were things that I had known about for as long as I could remember. I asked about my swords and duffel bag and Evy pulled them out from under her bed and gave them to me. I quickly put them on having felt almost naked without them.
As we all headed to the car I stopped Evy along the way and told her about Ardeth. She was happy for me and promised to keep it a secret since I wasn't sure if Ardeth thought of it as a relationship. I then congratulated her on finally finding her man, she shyly laughed and I gently teased her about finding him in a prison no less. She laughed and for a minute the worry about what was going on in the world around us then Jon hollered at us to hurry up and get in the car and we exchanged glances before rushing to the car.
As soon as we entered the Museum a wave of dizziness swept over me so I motioned for the others to go ahead while I pretended to need to use the bathroom to keep Evy from worrying. After a minute the dizziness passed and I followed in the direction the others had went in. The two American's that I now knew were called Henderson and Daniels were sitting in chairs on the left side while Rick was sitting in another chair on the right with his foot propped up on something. Evy was standing next to him and Jon was leaning across the back of what looked to be a replica of an old Egyptian carriage.
To my surprise Ardeth was leaning against the carriage and although I knew that there was someone else in the room my gaze stayed on Ardeth who was now returning my stare with surprise and what looked like relief in his eyes. When I finally pulled my gaze away from Ardeth I looked at the other person in the room, the only one I didn't know and felt the blood drain from my face. I knew him, this guy he had aged and now had a beard but there was no mistaking that face.
"la… Ella!" Evy's voice hollered my name causing me to jerk back to the present where I found myself overtop of the man a knife to his throat as my other hand held his arms down my teeth were bared. It was only then that when I was boring into his eyes with my own did I realize that though this man looked exactly like the man from my past his eyes told a different story. I pulled my knife from his neck and tilted my head studying him,
"المجموعة أريد أن أتحدث إليكم في أقرب وقت عمله الخاص بك يتحدث إلى هذه." I said before standing up and going to stand by the entrance to the room, keeping my gaze solely fixed on him.
Everyone kept an eye on me after that however I ignored all of them and focused my complete attention on him as they conversed. Whenever everyone left except for Ardeth and him I walked over to him as he watched me warily.
"You have a twin brother." I said, stating it as a fact and challenging him to deny it.
"Yes I do however I have not talked to him for many years." He said.
I watched him carefully as he answered and felt that he was telling the truth.
"My name is Anta Aella. I have met your twin brother before. What is your name?" I asked.
"My name is Doctor Terrance Bay." He said. My mind immediately connected the dots,
"Your Ardeth's uncle." I stated, Doctor Bay's eyes widened in surprise before settling back down as he replied,
"Why yes I am." I nodded in reply and then turned my attention to Ardeth who was watching our interaction.
"Hello Ardeth, It's good to see you again." I said with a smile, not knowing how comfortable with our 'relationship' or whatever it was so I didn't approach him. He however had no such qualms and he strolled over to me and caught me in his arms in a tight hug which after a second of surprised hesitation I returned. Then he pulled back and I could see the question in his face which I answered by cupping his face in my left hand and sliding my right hand through his silky black hair to slide my nails against his scalp gently as I pulled him down into a deep kiss.
I heard someone clearing their throat behind us however I ignored them as we kissed until we had to pull back for air.
"لقد غاب لك." I said, my voice slightly husky as I placed a gentle kiss on Ardeth's jawline, neck and ear before pulling away fully to keep myself from forgetting about everything but him.
"I have missed you also حبيبتى." Ardeth whispered into my ear as he placed a soft kiss on the outer shell of my ear causing me to shiver as his warm breath blew against my body.
Doctor Bay cleared his throat again and reluctantly I turned my gaze on him, "Sorry to interrupt but how do you know my twin brother? He is no longer apart of the Medjia and I haven't seen him in twenty years." Doctor Bay said.
I pulled fully away from Ardeth as the memories once again passed in front of my mind's eye.
"We met years ago, I was only six. He and his 'friends' left an impression." I said struggling to keep my voice un-broken and emotionless. Fortunetly before we could continue our conversation one of the museum staff knocked on the door and needed to speak with Doctor Bay. When he left Ardeth and I decided to read through the library and see if there was a way to get rid of Imhotep once and for all. The time seemed to fly by and after searching through dozens of books and coming up empty Ardeth and I decided to stop for a cup of tea.
We had just sat down and started drinking our tea when we heard voices, one which I could distinguish as Evy's voice echoing down the hall. We shared a glance and with a sigh set down our cups and stood back before walking out to great Evy, Jon and Rick. I was surprised to see only one American was with them this time and surmised why they were here almost immediately Evy was talking to Doctor Bay so I went over to Jon to get caught up on what had happened while we had been separated.
Evy and Doctor Bay must have figured something out as they headed towards the stairs, Doctor Bay leading the way. I stayed behind to quickly close and lock the museum doors as Ardeth caught up to Doctor Bay and started walking beside him at the front of the small group. When I was done locking the museum door I quickly caught up and started walking beside Jon, Evy's voice catching my attention.
"Yes well according to legend, the black book found at Hamunaptra is suppose to bring people back from the dead. Until now it was a notion I was un-willing to believe." Evy said.
"Well believe it sister that's what brought our buddy back to life." Rick replied as we continued up the steps.
"Yes, and I'm thinking that if the black book could bring dead people to life then-" Rick cut her off as he finished her sentence,
"-Then maybe the gold book can kill them."
"That's the myth. Now we just have to find out where the gold book is hidden." Evy said as we finally reached the top of the steps and started walking towards a large stone with Egyptian hieroglyphs on it. Suddenly a loud noise outside of the museum caught everyone's attention and we all turned towards it with no small amount of dread, as we listened the noise became clear. It was hundreds of voice's chanting together. Evy started towards a large circular window and we all followed behind her.
I came over and stood beside Ardeth who grasped my left hand in his right hand as the words the people were chanting becoming clear as we looked down on them. They were chanting Imhotep names and looked to be in a trance of some kind as they walked towards the outside of the museum, many of them holding torch's and others were holding things that could be classified as weapons.
"Last but not least my favorite plague, boils and sores." Jon said as we all stared down at the gathering crowd.
Ardeth spoke up, "They have become his slaves. So it has begun. The beginning of the end."
Ardeth and I shared a glace as he said this. He had told me what would happen if the creature regained his full strength while we had been looking for help in the library. Evy spoke up then her voice filled with confidence,
"Not quiet yet it hasn't, come on." She said as she turned away from the window and walked in the direction of the large stone coming to a stop in front of it. I felt a bit nervous about speaking up but I knew that time was of the essence so after squeezing Ardeth's hand for strength and comfort I spoke up.
"The gold book, the book of the living, is at Hamunaptra inside the statue of Horus." I said to Ardeth in our native tongue so only Doctor Bay, Ardeth and myself knew what I was saying.
Both Ardeth and Doctor Bay turned their attention to me in surprise,
"I … I know a bit about the books." I said with a shrug trying not to let their stares get to me. Doctor Bay spoke up in his native tongue,
"When you met up with my brother did he ask you about the books?" I rubbed the back of my neck with my right hand in my discomfort as Ardeth was still holding my left.
"Yes." I answered, thankfully that was all the time we had as the doors to the museum broke open and Imhotep's slaves ran into the museum. Their loud cheers causing all of us to refocus our attention on them and what was at hand, during all of this Evy was still deciphering the hieroglyphics to try and find out where the Gold book was.
"Patience is a virtue." I heard Evy say as Rick, Ardeth and I watched the oncoming swarm of Imhotep slaves start coming up the long winding stairs.
"Not right now it isn't." Rick said in reply.
"I think I'll get the car started." Jon said as he turned and high-tailed it out of there. I turned my attention back to the ever nearing danger only keeping half an ear on what was going on behind me. I heard Evy exclaim in happiness behind me as I spoke to Ardeth,
"We need to leave now! I don't want to kill more of these people then I have to." Ardeth nodded in agreement and we turned towards the other four.
"I agree with you two." Doctor Bay said in English causing the other three to give us curious looks however I felt a tingle on the back of my neck and reacted automatically. Shoving Ardeth away and releasing his hand which had been holding my own as I grabbed one of swords from off my back and blocked the incoming pitch-fork causing it to stop mid-air and then fall below, sticking into some poor slave's foot causing him to holler in pain.
"We need to move now!" I hollered in English making a hand gesture to get everyone to start running in the same direction that Jon had ran in.
The American was first in line as we rounded the bushes outside of the museum and ran towards the car which Jon had just revved up.
"Let's go, Let's go, Let's go!" The American hollered as he ran towards the car ahead of the rest of us. He said something else but I wasn't paying attention to him so much as the bunch of slaves that were chasing us. Jon turned the car towards us and started hollering,
"Evy, Ella come on, hurry up!" As he opened the passenger car door for Evy whom Rick helped into the seat before climbing in after her and shutting the door. Beni the worm of a guy from the desert came to the front of the museum doors and after seeing us began to holler for Imhotep.
I ignored him as I climbed into the back seat after Ardeth and settled on Ardeth's lap as there wasn't enough room for me to sit anywhere else since the American and Doctor Bay were also in the back seat with us.
"Your gonna get your's Beni you here me? Your gonna get yours!" Rick hollered as Jon pulled away from the museum just in time as a large group of slaves came running down to where we had just been sitting. As Jon drove away Rick sat down in the passenger seat beside Evy while Ardeth wrapped his arms around my waist holding me firmly against his chest.
All of the sudden Jon came to a stop causing me to snap my head around to the front as I had been watching for anyone creeping up behind us. There in front of us was another large group of slaves, these one's were different than the ones that had been at the museum. For almost a minute there was silence and it was a standoff, then that minute was over as Rick used his own foot to stop down on the gas pedal which Jon had been holding a foot uncertainly over. Jon hollered in pain and surprise as the car lurched forwards, out of the corner of my eye I saw the American starting to fall backwards at the suddenness so I grabbed his closest arm and gave him a firm pull forward.
As soon as the car started moving the slaves did to and within seconds we were running into and over slaves that tried to stop us.
"Hang on!" Rick hollered as the car continued to plow forwards.
At least a dozen managed to make it onto the car and we began to punch them to get them off. I was busy head butting a guy while Ardeth who had stood up was busy with someone else when I heard the American holler for Rick and I saw two guys dragging him out of the car and I jumped forward bringing out one of my swords and cutting off one of the guy's arms while using my other hand to grab and hold onto the Americans legs, bracing my feet against the bottom of the car seats.
The American managed to get the other guy off of him and knowing that in extremely close combat a sword was more of a hindrance I put my sword away still bloody and began to use both arms to pull the American back into the car. I wasn't expecting one of the slaves to jump onto my back and start slashing it with a knife.
I hollered out in surprise and pain almost letting go of the American. When the slave dug into my back again with the blade of his small knife I let go of the American with one hand and tried to grab the slave on my back. As soon as I had let go with my one hand the slave on my back jumped forward grabbing onto the American causing him to be ripped from my grasp. I cursed a blue streak in Korean but I didn't have time to do anything else as two slaves started to beat up Doctor Bay who was sitting on my other side. I grabbed one of their arms and gave them an uppercut while Doctor Bay finished off the other one.
There was no time to rest however as Jon crashed into a water fountain and we all had to quickly abandon the car. Slaves began to encircle us as they blocked off all of our exits. Rick somehow had managed to get a hold of a torch and was using it to fend off the slaves like they were rabid dogs. Knowing what would be coming next I un-sheathed both of my swords and held them at the ready. I wasn't going go down without a fight, Evy, Jon, Ardeth, Rick and Doctor Bay all deserved to live a long full life and I wasn't about to let their lives or my own be snuffed out so soon. The slaves began to call for Imhotep and soon they began to part their voice's quieting down.
We all laid eyes on the same person at the same time but Doctor Bay is the one who spoke up first,
"It's the creature. He is fully regenerated."
We all stayed quiet as we watched him approach, I felt my grip on my swords tighten as he got closer, Beni the little worm was walking closely behind him. Then Imhotep began to speak,
"Come with me my princess it is time to make you mine for all eternity." He said then Beni translated it to English,
"Come vith me my princess, it is time to make you mine forever." Both Evy and I scoffed at his translation, however Evy was the one who corrected him,
"For all eternity you idiot."
Imhotep began to speak again, "Take my hand and I will spare your friends." He said which Beni once again translated into English.
"Oh dear…Have you got any bright ideas?" Evy asked Rick who was standing beside her.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." Rick muttered in reply.
"Well you best think of something fast, because if he turns me into a mummy you're the first one I'm coming after." Evy said. Rick stared at her as did I, I had a feeling that neither of us was going to like what she did next. Sure enough Evy started to approach Imhotep, Rick immediately un-holstered a gun while saying,
"No."
"NO!" Ardeth said.
"Don't!" Evy said while Ardeth grabbed a hold of Ricks' gun and tried to force it down.
"He must first take me to Hamunaptra to perform the ritual." Evy said. Ardeth spoke up agreeing with her,
"She's right. Live today, fight tomorrow." Ardeth said.
I felt sick to my stomach as I watched the creature stare at us, triumph seeming to ooze out of its pores. Rick put away his gun giving in to Ardeth's persuasion, Evy and Rick shared a short but meaningful look before Rick turned his attention to Imhotep,
"I'll be seeing you again." Rick said his words full of malicious. The creature smirked and turned away from us. I had unconsciously returned my swords to their sheaths after Ardeth's persuasion to have Rick put his gun away and I was feeling that that was the wrong move.
The creature and Evy stared to walk away, Evy still gazing at Rick even as she moved with the creature. Rick jerked in Ardeth's grasp and called out,
"Evelyn."
I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and turned towards it pulling one of my throwing knives out of their places to see Beni searching Jon's shirt pockets.
"Hey that's mine!" Jon said as Beni pulled out the key.
"Thank you." Beni said with a smile, I nearly slit his throat then, only the fact that I had more than myself to worry about and I was currently injured kept me from doing so.
"Kill them all!" The creature hollered as he walked further into the crowd of slaves, Evy started to holler,
"NO! Let go of me! Let go of me!" As she tried to return but the creature kept a firm grasp on her arm as the crowd began to fall back into place behind the creature and steadily come nearer. I had been searching for a way out when I sat the sewer hole several feet behind and below us as well as some drums of oil behind us,
"Goodbye my friend." Beni said to Rick before running off, as soon as he left I called out softly,
"Rick below us." Everyone looked down as I started to life the cover off of the sewage tunnel. The crowd continued to grow closer, chanting Imhotep over and over again as I grabbed Jon and shoved him down the sewage hole first then Rick whom I grabbed the torch off of then Ardeth whom I kissed before I shoved down the hole. Doctor Bay started to pull out his sword and I knew what he was planning to do.
"Oh no you don't, Live today, fight tomorrow." I said as I grabbed him and tossed him down the hole as well I grabbed the cover and started to drag it back over the hole.
I pulled off my large outer shirt and dropped it on-top of the cover before throwing the torch at the oil drums which were only three feet behind me before I dropped down the hole and finished shutting the cover from below. I heard the explosion and felt the cover heat up, burning my palms a bit before I yanked them away from the cover and dropped down into the sewer. Immediately I felt Ardeth's scent engulf me as he pulled me into his arms tightly. I felt an unintentional whimper escape my lips as his one arm pressed against one of the wounds the slave had put on my back.
There was no light but I remembered there being a lantern behind the ladder steps, I told the others that as I felt behind the ladder steps and sure enough there was one. We got it lit and I handed it to Rick who seemed to know the sewer tunnels just as well as I did. However when I handed Rick the lantern I had to turn my back on Ardeth who made a noise of surprise upon seeing my back, which I had forgotten was almost completely exposed as I was only wearing a tank-top which I had turned around because the front seemed to expose way to much of my chest. However now it was exposing my back tattoo which I had gotten as a way to try and cover up all of my scars, as well as my wounds.
"We need to move out now. Rick can you take the lead?" I asked Rick who was in front of me so he didn't see the blood that felt like it was covering my lower back, nor my tattoo.
"Yeah, come on Jon." Rick said to Jon who was standing right beside him.
The two of them started walking, Doctor Bay following close behind. I started to walk after them but Ardeth grabbed a hold of my arm stopping me.
"Let me take care of your wounds first." He said gently touching my back, causing a shiver to run up and down my spine.
"Okay." I said softly. He quickly but expertly bandaged my wounds not having anything to clean them out with then we started walking towards the other three who were now waiting for us at a cross-way of tunnels. Ardeth grabbed my hand and tugged me around towards him.
I raised my eyes to meet his wondering what he wanted when I felt a warm cloth fall over my shoulders.
"I don't want anyone else to lay their eyes on you." He whispered into my ear. I couldn't stop myself from reaching up and kissing him, I almost didn't stop until I remembered Evy. Then I pulled away and as we caught our breath I whispered something into his ear before I bit his ear lobe gently and tugged the bottom with my teeth before turning and walking towards the other three guys. Pulling his outer shirt which he had given me on properly, rolling up the extra length and tying it off to the left side so it was out of my way.
As we walked through the tunnels Ardeth was walking beside me and had caught my hand in his own but there was no more speaking. When we finally made it out of the tunnels Rick spoke,
"I have a friend who can help us get to Hamunaptra in a few hours." It was with un-spoken agreement that we shouldn't stop for long however we needed to get some rest until morning so Jon, Rick and I got a room at a hotel while Ardeth and Doctor Bay went to Doctor Bay's house. I took a bath washing my clothes first, including Ardeth's shirt and setting them by the fire to dry.
After I scrubbed all of the dirt, sewage, sweat and blood off of me and out of my hair which I was thankful I kept short I quickly dried off and pulled on the damp clothes. I had my underclothes and my pants back on however my shoes, socks and Ardeth's shirt were still not on when I heard a knock at the door. I peeked out and seeing that it was Ardeth holding something I let him in. He had brought ointment for my back and fresh wraps which he put on them.
"Why don't you take a quick bath while you're here Ardeth?" I said as looked at him from over my shoulder as he gently put the ointment on with his hands which he had washed in the sink. His answer was a kiss on the back of my right shoulder blade.
SEVEN HOURS LATER:
Ardeth and I woke up to the knock at my hotel room door,
"Ella get up. Rick and I are going to get a car." Jon said from the door. I looked over at Ardeth and gave him a sleepy smile,
"Guess we have to get up now." I said as I sat up and stretched before rolling over to get out of bed.
"At least we got some sleep." Ardeth joked back. While Rick and Jon were securing another ride, Ardeth and Doctor Bay went to grab us some food while I cleaned and sharpened my swords and knives. Ardeth came back just in time to see Jon and Rick finally convince a guy to let them use his car, they used almost all of their cash to do so, however I didn't see Doctor Bay.
"Your uncle?" I asked Ardeth as I leaned against his chest while we watched Rick fill the car up with gas while Jon put in the bag of food that Ardeth and his uncle had bought for us on our trip.
"He is going to do what he can for the people here." Ardeth said. I nodded and then we all piled into the car, eating on the way as Rick drove like a maniac.
There wasn't a lot of conversation as Jon drove while Rick directed and we all finished eating, we pulled up a barrier bar. As a kid lifted it two others one's stood by a huge sign that read 'Royal Air Force Giza' on it. The two by the sign saluted us as we drove past, Jon waved to them in reply as we past them. A single plane sat in the airfield. Jon parked the car and we all began to trek to where a chubby older man sat underneath of a giant red umbrella that was being held by an Egyptian worker. We could all hear the music being played as we made our way through the sand along the trail that had been made when the two men went out to that place. Rick was in the lead, then Jon, Ardeth and myself.
"Morning Winston. Uh…a word?" Rick said as we got closer.
When we were finally standing in front of Winston who looked to be an older chubby proper Englishman Rick explained why we were there.
"And what's your little problem got to do with his Majesty's Royal Air Court?" Winston asked.
"Not a dang thing." Rick replied, at this Winston placed his tea cup back on the plate and set it on the small circular table beside him. His full attention on Rick,
"Is it dangerous?" Winston asked seeming to be excited about the prospect of it being so,
"Well you probably won't live through it." Rick replied straight-faced.
"By jove! Do you really think so?" Winston asked almost hopefully.
"Well everyone else we've bumped into has died. Why not you?" Jon replied.
I bit my lip to keep from laughing as Ardeth raised an eyebrow at Jon's statement and Rick nodded in agreement.
"What's the uh, what's the challenge then?" Winston asked as he stood up.
"Rescue the damsel in distress, kill the bad guy, save the world." Rick replied. Winston laughed happily at this news.
"Winston Havlock at your service Sir." Winston said while saluting Rick and laughing some more. After knowing that this Winston fellow was going to help us out I immediately took a closer look at his plane which was a two seater. I sized up the plane to see where I was going to fit ruling out the actual seats because Winston was of course going to be flying the plane and Rick was no doubt going to be in the plane seat as well so that left the wings. We decided that Jon and I would be on the same wing however Jon would be closer to the plane since I was taller and would be better to balance out Ardeth's weight on the other plane wing.
As we were flying I couldn't help but laugh in joy as I wondered why I hadn't tried flying in such a way before. Jon however looked terrified. Rick whistled to get our attention and asked if we were alright, I gave him a thumbs up while Jon hollered,
"Do I bloody look alright?!" I laughed at Jon's reply while I watched the sand seem to fly past below us. Sand that not ten minutes later I was covered in as Winston's plane crashed. When we hit the sand I took a couple of seconds to make sure I was in working order before I used one of my knives to cut the ropes that were holding me onto the wing of the plane. I pulled of the brown leather 'helmet' type of hat and the goggles that Winston had insisted that we all ware before turning to look and make sure everyone else had gotten out alright.
I saw Ardeth and Rick were fine so I turned my attention back to Jon was twisted around the wing to where he couldn't see me,
"Excuse me,um.. a little help would be useful if it's not too much trouble!" Jon's voice started going up at the end and he was shouting. I laughed and walked over to him,
"Yeah yeah all right." I said as I cut the ropes and helped him stand up. We circled the plane and stood next to Rick and Ardeth, the latter which gave me a quick look over to make sure I was okay as his hands were full of the machine gun which he had taken off of the back of the plane.
"Winston! Hey Winston!" Rick said as he started walking towards his friend who hadn't moved since we landed. I saw the smile on Winston's face and knew even as Rick moved to check Winston's pulse that he wasn't going to find it. Winston was dead going down like the hero he was.
Rick looked back at us with a somewhat saddened expression when all of the sudden the plane started to move, getting sucked down into the sand. I grabbed onto Jon who grabbed onto Rick as I pulled them away from the quicksand.
"Quicksand get back!" Jon said as we all moved away from the sinking plane. As we watched the plane sink Rick gave his old friend a final salute and then we were on the move, heading towards Hamunaptra. We found one of the room's caved in and immediately started removing the rock's from the door, well at least Rick, Ardeth and myself did. Jon held a torch while another one was lit beside Ardeth, Jon gave us 'advice' on how to remove the rocks which got him a death glare from all three of us.
As the three of us continued to remove the rocks I heard Jon say,
"I say you guys should come and have a look at this." I sighed and turned, knowing Jon he was about to do or say something really stupid. I opened my mouth to ask what we wanted when I saw a scarab burrow into his hand. I immediately grabbed one of my knives and rushed to Jon grabbing his arm as he screamed while the scarab crawled up his arm from underneath his skin.
"What?!" Rick asked as he and Ardeth turned towards us. Jon kept hollering muttering incoherent words as I spoke up trying to hold him still.
"There's a scarab crawling up his arm, Ardeth help me hold him still. Rick use this to pop it out with." I said as I grabbed Jon's shirt and ripped it open so Rick could see the outline of the scarab that was moving up Jon's arm.
Rick popped the scarab out of Jon's arm and it went flying several feet away, it turned around and started to run back towards Jon so Rick pulled out a gun and shot it.
"There goes our surprise entrance." I thought before brushing that out of my mind as I used one of the rag's Ardeth had brought for me to clean up and bandage Jon's cut. We continued to dig and finally moved enough rocks to get through before continuing on our way to find the statue of Horus. As we entered into a small shaft Rick through his torch threw the narrow crack and then his duffel bag before finally going through himself.
Ardeth went next, then Jon and I went through last I grabbed a torch off of the wall and used the torch that Rick had thrown through the crack to lit it before handing it to Jon. Then we walked over to Rick and Ardeth just in time to see Rick shoot a mirror causing it to tilt which caused a chain reaction to the entire room was lit up.
I blinked rapidly several times and then shrugged it off as another thing that seemed to happen in the world that I was now aware of when I saw that we were in the treasure room that was untouched and overflowing with gold and jewels. I looked over at Jon and saw his mouth gapping like a fish's, I grinned at the sight before looking back at all of the treasure. Rick led the way down the stairs with Jon and Ardeth following directly behind him and then me following behind them. As we walked through a row of golden statue's Jon spoke up, "Can you see..?" Rick replied, "Yeah."
"Can you believe..?" Jon asked to which Rick again replied, "Yeah."
"Can we just..?" Jon started to ask and Rick answered him again, "No."
I bit my lip to keep my laughter inside at their dialogue and then something glimmered in the corner of my eye, I turned my head in that direction and felt something mentally calling out to me. I wasn't aware of anything else around me as I reached over and took the small golden chain which held a lioness with sapphire's in place of eyes and the solar disk earring, upright cobra earring and the Eye of Ra earring as well as the four earrings which were hieroglyphs that spelled out the name Sekhmet, all of them had been placed on a white pillow with deep blue trim. As soon as I had them in my hand I felt something whisper that it wasn't time yet, so instead of putting them on as I wanted to I shoved them into the inner pocket of the shirt Ardeth had given me.
As soon as I lifted my hand out of the pocket everything around me came back into focus and sound and I saw several mummified corpse coming towards Jon, Rick and Ardeth with more still pulling themselves out of the sand. I immediately walked behind Ardeth ready to pull out my swords. Rick or Jon must have asked something because Ardeth spoke up,
"Priests. Imhotep's priests."
"Alright then." Rick said before he unloaded his shotgun into the reanimated corpses. Ardeth then started with the machine gun and even Jon got into it, grabbing two of Rick's pistols and using them. I was better at close combat and although I did have many throwing swords a single knife no matter how well placed was not going to kill the already living dead.
I saw some more mummies closing in on us from another side and tugged on the back of Rick's shirt as he was closest,
"There's more coming from the right we need to move now!" I said. I grabbed a hold of Jon and pulled him along with me while Rick and Ardeth ran ahead with us close behind. As we got to a tunnel Jon and I went first while Ardeth and Rick walked backwards in order to shoot the mummies that were in hot pursuit. Jon had the torch so he ran slightly ahead of me, we entered a big room with a high ceiling and Jon's torch light lit it up well enough for me to see the huge statue that sat in the one corner of the room.
"There he is. It's Horus!" I said, letting everyone know that we had finally found the statue we had been searching for. Jon spoke up as he lit the torches around the statue,
"Hello Horus old boy!"
I headed straight for the statue and immediately began to try to pull out the heavy stone drawer that lay in front of the drawer that held the book of the Amun-Ra, trusting Ardeth and Rick to watch my back. Jon came over and started to give me a hand with pulling out the large and heavy stone. I heard Rick say,
"Time to close the door." Before Jon who had been watching them grabbed me and hauled me over behind the statue. I was about to either ask him why or holler at him, I hadn't made up my mind yet when a loud and close explosion gave me the answer to his actions. Immediately after the explosion the four of us got out and Rick and Jon started to pull at the stone along with me while Ardeth kept watch and reloaded his gun.
We had the stone almost open far enough to be able to pull out the drawer with the book when the sound of Imhotep's priests echoed down one of the tunnels, causing me to look up and over in their direction. I wasn't the only one however, Rick swore in frustration as he and Jon kept inching out the stone I stood up and un-sheathed my swords.
"Richard O'Connell you had better find and save Evy and Jon you had better help him!" I said in a no argument tone.
"Wha? What are you going to do Ella?" Jon asked fear tinting his voice. I smiled down at him,
"What I do best." I said before I gave Ardeth a quick kiss, knowing I wouldn't be able to leave him if I did anything more before I ran down the tunnel to buy them time. I heard the clicking sound of a gun sliding it's bullets into place echo down the hallway behind me.
I cut their bodies down anyway I could and since they kept moving I tried to get at least one arm and one leg as well as whatever else I cut off or apart. I had just taken down the last one that was in the tunnel with me when a firm hand grabbed a hold of my shoulder. I had my sword to the neck of what I had automatically reacted to as a threat when I recognized Ardeth.
"What are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?" I said as I removed my sword from his neck. His answer was to push me up against the wall and kiss me senseless even as more danger was coming,
"I am never leaving your side." Ardeth said as he pulled back, his words carrying heavily to my heart like they were a sacred vow. I froze before a gentle smile touched my lips and I kissed him back,
"And I will never leave yours." I replied. Then we pulled apart, there was danger to face and we would face it head on, together.
We fought our way through the corpse's and finally arrived outside of the City of the Dead where Ardeth grabbed a camel which had a saddle on it, however next to it was a white mustang that only had a blanket on top of it where the saddle should go. I grinned at Ardeth and quickly jumped up onto the horse he stared at me in admiration and surprise before quickly getting on the camel.
Just in time to the ground began to shake and both horse's were nervous and ready to get out of there. I was worried about Evy but I knew I could trust Rick and Jon to get her out safely. I reached out for Ardeth's hand which he immediately laced with mine as the City of the Dead began to collapse.
Then I felt relief as I saw three figures running out of the city, I squeezed Ardeth's hand gently before letting go as I nodded to the three figures and held my finger over my lips. He looked at me curiously but followed behind me silently as I walked my horse up behind Jon as he, Rick and Evy were still staring at the fallen city.
I leaned over and clamped my hand down on Jon's shoulder hard, he screamed causing Evy to scream and Rick started to pull out a gun as they all turned to see me and Ardeth. My whole body was shaking as I laughed at their reactions,
"Oh! Thank you, thank you very much." Jon said as he rubbed his shoulder.
I gave him a grin as I slid off of the horse who stayed still, I pulled Jon and Evy into a tight hug which they returned before I pulled back. Ardeth spoke up then,
"You have earned the respect and gratitude of me and my people."
Evy pulled me away from the men as they continued to speak, "The only reason you weren't in there with Rick and Jon would be because you have finally fallen in love." Evy said her question clear in her knowing statement. I felt a blush heat up my face as I gave her a grin which answered her question,
"Oh Ella!" Evy said happily pulling me into another hug which I reciprocated.
"I guess two out of three isn't bad, after all we haven't searched the whole world for a girl for Jon yet." I said causing Evy and myself to burst into laughter. When we sobered up Evy grasped my hands,
"You going with him aren't you?" I gave Evy a small sad smile,
"I love you and Jon but Ardeth…well I really want to find out what our future together is. However I want an invitation to your wedding and I want to be the god-aunt of your kids!" I said starting out serious but ending on a joking note. Evy chuckled then gave me a sad smile,
"As long as you do the same." She replied. I smiled and kissed her forehead like I used to do when she was little,
"We will see each other again Evy. I promise you." I whispered before we hugged tightly and then parted.
"Hey what's all this about? Leaving me in the dark?" Jon asked as he came over to us. I laughed and put him in a playful headlock,
"You used to hate being included in girl talk when we were younger, but if you really want to know…" I said with a grin as Jon pulled away backpedaling out of the conversation causing Evy and I to laugh again. I grabbed Jon and pulled him into a tight hug before placing a quick but meaningful kiss on his forehead and re-mounting the horse.
"Rick. I hope you know taking care of Evy just started." I said sternly but with a grin. He gave me one back and I smiled down at the three of them,
"Well I'll be seeing you three later." I said with a smile before turning my horse and walking it over to Ardeth who had been waiting for me to say my goodbyes. He smiled softly at me as tear's pricked my eyes and I gave him a watery smile in return before we started riding off to the Medjia camp.
I got these translations off of the internet, if they are not correct I apologize.
المجموعة أريد أن أتحدث إليكم في أقرب وقت عمله الخاص بك يتحدث إلى هذه Arabic for I want to speak to you as soon as your done talking to this group.
لقد غاب لك Arabic for I have missed you
حبيبتى Arabic for my love
أحبك Arabic for I love you