Sorry about the dely everybody!! I got sick and everything started piling up!!! I'm back now though, so enjoy!!!

Chapter 9

Bakura's legs seemed to be weightless as they carried him swiftly towards his prize. It would be difficult to obtain his first millennium item, but after that the others would become substantially easier to possess. Once he had the items, his life's purpose could finally be fulfilled. Perhaps, if the Gods were in his favor, he could then live out the remainder of his days in peace, with Marik by his side.

He no longer had to feign affection for the blonde. He was sure now that his feelings were genuine and he could think of nothing else but to tell him so.

Much to the thief's excitement, his musings had distracted his legs so that they weren't so much as stiff when he arrived at his destination.

"The tomb of Pharaoh Aknamkanon," Bakura gazed upon a magnificent golden pyramid, which featured an enormous bolt of lightning, crackling angrily from the sky down to the very top of the magnificent tomb, "Funny, I remembered it as being bigger," the thief scoffed, successfully conquering the last shreds of fear that were clawing at his heart.

Bakura crept cautiously around the guards that were positioned around the tomb. By the look of their robes, they were sorcerers, which could only mean that it was Priest Mahad, greatest magician in all of Egypt, who awaited him inside. Bakura's hand instinctively found the hilt of his dagger and with an almost feline grace, he slit the throats of the two guards who patrolled the entrance to the tomb, without so much as a sound.

As he walked through the main corridor of the pyramid, he found that he could only recall a fraction of the many traps that were hidden here. He barely had enough time to react as several poison tipped arrows pierced the air where he had stood only seconds before.

"Well done, thief.," a deep, threatening voice jeered from across a narrow strip of stone, which acted as a bridge from the main corridor to the grand burial chamber.

"The Great Pharaoh was too cowardly to come, so he sends his lap dog instead, " Bakura shook his head with mock disappointment, " How very…… unfortunate."

A glint of gold caught the thief's trained eye and he spotted the millennium ring dangling carelessly around the Priest's neck.

Mahad's emerald eyes narrowed dangerously, "Be silent! You shall not delay this battle any longer. After tonight, Egypt will be rid of Thief King Bakura."

"We'll have to see about that," Bakura sneered, before lunging at Mahad, his hand

gripping his sword, which was aimed at the Priest's chest. The sorcerer blocked the blow with a shield fashioned from shadow magic, and drew his own blade in one fluid motion.

The clang of metal echoed from the walls and died as it was thrown into the pit below. Bakura was agile and aggressive, a combination which had been lethal for countless others, but Mahad was cunning and skilled with a blade, proving him to be a worthy opponent. Bakura's sword came down hard on top of Mahad's shield, but it didn't so much as make a dent. The thief quickly withdrew his sword to deflect Mahad's, which would have easily pierced his heart.

Bakura purposefully slowed his movements, hoping to fool Mahad into believing he was tiring. Mahad seemed to have misread the thief as planned, and his strikes became increasingly more aggressive, and his defenses began to weaken. Bakura buckled, forcing his legs to tremble in mock fatigue, feigning his own exhaustion. Finally, like a salmon swallowing a worm on a fisherman's line, Mahad fully extended both of his arms in what would have been a devastating blow, leaving his body completely exposed.

The thief caught the sorcerer's eye and the realization of what he had done came crashing down all at once. Bakura used the Priest's hesitation to his advantage by knocking the sword out of his outstretched hands, sending it flying into the dark abyss below.

The magician staggered back, his eyes filled with a mix of loathing and bewilderment. This thief was not only exceptionally skilled with a blade, but was exceedingly cunning as well. He knew he would not be able to defeat such an enemy without tapping into his hidden, inner magic, but the cost of doing such could easily result in the loss of his soul, if not his life.

Bakura vaulted towards Mahad and was astonished when his sword was wrenched from his hand by an invisible assailant. As soon as he came within an inch of the sorcerer, he was thrown back by a barrier of purple flame, which now enveloped the priest. The thief landed harshly on his side, activating one of the tomb's many traps by falling on a trick tile.

Immediately, four enormous blades on pendulum-like chains, fell from the walls and tried desperately to severe Bakura's body. Luckily, fear is strong motivation and Bakura staved off the pain in order to fling himself out of the enormous murderer.

Mahad's body was now completely engulfed in a hellish violet flame, which seemed to be the source of his power. He hurled fireball after fireball at the injured thief, forcing the albino to step back in retreat, straight into another trap. A steal clamp bit into his right foot, nearly severing it from his leg.

Bakura cried out in agony, feebly throwing himself out of the path of yet another deadly blade. His strength was all but spent now, as the blood that seeped out of his ankle was the life that swiftly left his body. He knew he was going to perish and there was nothing he could do to hinder it.

Then, a miracle happened. It seemed as though the barrier and the fireballs Mahad had conjured had finally exhausted his strength. The magician now had no choice but to kill the thief at close range.

Mahad smugly walked over to the wounded creature, pulling out a lustrous, jewel encrusted knife. He knelt over the dying animal and leaned over it until their faces were centimeters apart.

"You're only going to die," the priest hissed into Bakura's face, their eyes locked, " It's not as though you had anything to live for."

Suddenly, Bakura's eyes burned a fiery crimson and in one final, desperate act, the thief drew the knife inside his robe pocket and drove it harshly into the sorcerer's heart.

"That's where you're wrong.," Bakura whispered cruelly, as Mahad's eyes grew to the size of scarabs and blood cascaded from his open mouth.

"May the God's take pity on you," Bakura muttered, tearing off the millennium ring before shoving the body of the suffering priest off of his own and into the black pit below.