The bandaged figure walked slowly along the section of stone runway between the sarcophagus and the cauldron. Alex, Yanit, Fadil and Tara all watched with close scrutiny.

'Alex,' Fadil said quietly, 'should we attack?'

'No,' said Alex. 'But be ready for anything, okay?'

'Okay,' said the other three.

'The appointed hour has arrived, and so I have awakened,' Mumm-Ra announced. 'It is all happening just as the Spirits foretold. You four young upstarts have dared to enter my tomb uninvited. Now you will tell me the whereabouts of the Eye of Thundera, or I shall wreak unforgettable harm upon you all!'

'You might want to watch out who you're threatening there, pal,' Alex said quietly. 'We're here representing the Order of the Medjai, and we'rethe ones who have questions for you to answer!'

'I have no time for such tiresome trivialities,' said Mumm-Ra. 'The Eye of Thundera must be near, otherwise the appointed hour for my awakening would not be upon us.'

'We don't know anything about the Eye of Thundera,' said Yanit.

'You dare lie to Mumm-Ra?' the mummy snarled. 'You will pay dearly for such an insult, foolish creature! I refuse to be denied what was promised to me. It is my destiny; it is my right. Nothing will deter me from it.'

'Your destiny has nothing to do with us,' said Alex. 'Unless you start causing trouble, of course, then we'll have to stop you.'

Mumm-Ra chuckled deeply and said, 'Is that so?'

'Yes, that's so,' said Alex. 'We're Medjai warriors – it's part of our job, really.'

'You cannot deceive me,' said Mumm-Ra. 'I know you are trying to conceal from me the whereabouts of the Eye of Thundera. But sadly for you, I know exactly where it is to be found. You, boy!'

Alex was taken by surprise as Mumm-Ra jabbed a decaying forefinger in his direction; he could not help jumping backwards slightly.

'There is a very strong aura of power surrounding you,' Mumm-Ra continued. 'Tell me the truth, now – you wield the Sword of Omens, do you not?'

'No,' said Alex, sounding slightly bemused by the accusation, 'I do not!'

'Liar!' Mumm-Ra yelled. 'Perhaps this will persuade you to tell me the truth!'

Mumm-Ra splayed his hands before him and bolts of red lightning crackled from his fingertips. Alex, Yanit, Fadil and Tara all ducked instinctively.

'Look, we don't know anything about the Sword of Omens or the Eye of Thundera!' said Yanit, as the lightning assault ceased. 'Whatever you think your destiny is, and whatever is supposed to be your appointed time to fulfil it, I think you should consider the possibility that you've made a mistake!'

Mumm-Ra looked at Yanit with a curious expression. Alex tensed as though to leap into action, but then the mummy spoke again.

'What do you call this time period?' Mumm-Ra asked.

'We call it January nineteen thirty-nine,' said Alex, 'because that's what it is!'

'The Twentieth Century!' Mumm-Ra declared, sounding very surprised and more than a little annoyed. 'But this is too early – far, far too early! Why have you awakened me, tiresome children?'

'We certainly didn't mean to,' said Fadil. 'Did we bring you into being in some way, by entering your pyramid?'

'Your presence here has breathed new life into me,' said Mumm-Ra, 'yet I am several millennia too early to achieve my goal! You will all pay for this affront, accursed creatures! And then perhaps, seeing as I am awake, I shall wreak a moderate amount of havoc on your world before I return to my slumber. Boy, that is the Manacle of Osiris you are wearing, is it not?'

'Yeah, that's right,' said Alex, giving Mumm-Ra a defiant and dangerous look.

'I could put that to very good use,' said Mumm-Ra. 'Yes, very good use indeed... once I have removed it from your wrist, of course... for which I may well have to remove your wrist from the rest of your body, but I don't think that task will prove too troublesome for me.'

'Why don't you try it and see how far you get?' Alex snarled back at the mummy. 'You've picked the wrong time to come back to life, pal!'

'I?' Mumm-Ra yelled angrily. 'It is you who have disturbed my rest; you who have thrown my plans into disarray! You deserve to pay the price, and so you will!'

'You're here because of me, aren't you?'

Everyone turned to look at Tara, including Mumm-Ra. She was staring down at her feet with her shoulders hunched, looking far from happy.

'Tara, what are you talking about?' Fadil asked worriedly.

'"As long as evil exists, Mumm-Ra lives",' said Tara. 'You were awakened by the presence of evil, weren't you? My evil.'

'Tara, you're not evil!' Fadil exclaimed.

'But I am,' Tara said quietly. 'I tried to kill you – I tried to kill all three of you, directly or indirectly! I am my father's daughter and there's nothing I can do to change that, and that's why I've awakened Mumm-Ra!'

'You are correct, my dear,' Mumm-Ra's deep voice rumbled, sounding suddenly far less agitated. 'I am here because of you. Whatever happens to your friends, it is your responsibility.'

'Don't listen to him, Tara!' Yanit said urgently. 'You can't be evil – you saved my life a few minutes ago, you really did!'

'I've had enough of you, Mumm-Ra!' Alex declared. 'We're gonna send you back where you came from now, and all your self-proclaimed power isn't going to help you!'

'Is that so?' Mumm-Ra chuckled. 'Very well, foolish boy – you shall see my power, then; much to your sorrow!'

The cauldron began to bubble and steam once again as Mumm-Ra raised his arms in a gesture of power. Fadil gasped in alarm as the stone eyes on all four of the huge statues started to glow red. Alex and Yanit kept their eyes trained on Mumm-Ra, but Tara was still staring down at her feet.

'Ancient Spirits of Evil,' Mumm-Ra intoned, 'transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra, the Ever Living!'

Alex launched himself at Mumm-Ra, barely registering the fact that the mummy was now close to ten foot tall and had sprouted a vast array of enormous muscles through his bandages. Alex landed on hard stone and fell into a crouch, before whirling around to see what had happened.

He was on his own on the far side of the cauldron; Mumm-Ra had leapt in the other direction and was now holding Tara up by her left wrist. Fadil and Yanit were standing ready to spring into action, their eyes fixed on Tara with obvious alarm.

Alex made a move towards the cauldron. Mumm-Ra squeezed Tara's arm, causing her to yell out in pain. Alex stopped.

'This is what happens when you drop your guard, girl,' Mumm-Ra said to Tara. 'Even if your three friends truly are the great warriors they claim to be, you are clearly not of the same ilk!'

'You're right!' Tara sobbed. 'I'm not a Medjai warrior – I'm not anything! I'm evil and I'm worthless and I deserve to suffer for bringing you to life!'

'Foolish child,' Mumm-Ra chuckled softly. 'You yourself are no more responsible than these other three. As long as evil exists, Mumm-Ra lives. Evil exists always and everywhere, and so Mumm-Ra will always exist as well!'

Fadil made a rush at Mumm-Ra, but stopped in his tracks, horror-stricken, as Mumm-Ra unleashed a charge of energy from his free hand directly into Tara's chest. Tara screamed and writhed in his grip; Fadil cried out in anger and alarm.

'Fadil!' Alex called urgently. 'Follow my lead, okay?'

Fadil looked at Alex, who shot him a meaningful look. Fadil nodded in response, and stepped back from Mumm-Ra. The lightning assault ceased and Tara hung there limply, swaying slightly as she fought to regain control of her breathing.

'Did you enjoy that experience, girl?' Mumm-Ra asked her quietly.

'No,' Tara replied, sounding flat and defeated.

'I thought not,' said Mumm-Ra. 'Perhaps your friends will decide to co-operate with my demands once they have seen you endure terrible agony that is beyond imagining, over and over again. But in many ways, I hope that they do not. I want to see your ultimate pain threshold, my dear.'

Lightning crackled between Mumm-Ra's fingers yet again; he laughed horribly.

'I'm going to put this one,' Mumm-Ra intoned, 'right between her pretty -'

'Now!' Alex yelled.

Mumm-Ra was sent flying backwards as Alex thrust both hands towards him with his palms held outwards. Tara tumbled from the mummy's hand, but Fadil was there to catch her as she fell.

'Tara?' Fadil said uncertainly. 'She's unconscious!'

'You take care of her, Fadil,' said Alex. 'Yanit and I will take care of him!'

As Mumm-Ra regained his feet and leapt at Alex, Fadil carried Tara out of harm's way. Yanit attempted to leap up and grab Mumm-Ra's leg as he soared over her head, but he swatted her aside and sent her tumbling to the floor.

'You dare to oppose Mumm-Ra, the Ever Living?' Mumm-Ra bawled at Alex. 'You will pay with your life, boy, and then the Manacle of Osiris will be mine!'

Alex aimed a second telekinetic attack at Mumm-Ra, but he was ready this time. He deflected the attack with a blast of lightning, then he grabbed Alex around the neck with a colossal clawed hand and slammed him up against the nearby sarcophagus, which shook under the impact. Alex yelled.

'Oh my God, I knew he shouldn't have weakened himself like that!' Yanit fretted, as she dragged herself to her feet. 'Come on, Fadil – we have to help Alex!'

Fadil carefully propped Tara against the wall in an awkward sitting position, then he ran to join Yanit. The pair of them vaulted over the cauldron and ran at Mumm-Ra. Keeping his right hand clasped around Alex's throat, the mummy turned and gestured at Yanit and Fadil with his left hand. They both went flying across the chamber and crashed into the wall.

'You and your friends are barely providing me with an interesting diversion, boy,' Mumm-Ra said to Alex, whose entire head had gone extremely red. 'Killing you all is barely a reasonable use of my time and resources... yet I shall do it anyway!'

'I... I don't think so,' said Alex, fixing Mumm-Ra with a determined expression. 'Medjai do not die easily.'

With that, Alex grasped Mumm-Ra's colossal wrist in his right hand and wrenched it from his throat. Mumm-Ra yelled in pain and pulled his arm away. Alex fell awkwardly to the floor, but he regained his footing quickly enough to punch Mumm-Ra in the chest. Mumm-Ra staggered backwards, fighting to stay on his feet.

Mumm-Ra roared, and launched himself at Alex once again. Alex held up his right hand and put up a barrier of telekinetic energy. Mumm-Ra was forced to stop in his tracks, then he caught sight of his own reflection in the golden surface of the Manacle of Osiris.

'Argh!' Mumm-Ra cried in horror, backing away and shielding his eyes. 'No!'

Alex glanced at the Manacle and immediately realised what had happened, then he looked over to where Yanit and Fadil were pulling themselves to their feet. He nodded determinedly.

'Guys, I'm gonna try something with the sarcophagus!' Alex called to them. 'I need you to keep him busy, okay? He hates the sight of his own reflection!'

'Got it, Alex!' Yanit called back. 'Go ahead when you're ready!'

Just as Mumm-Ra managed to regain his composure, Alex leapt into the air and slammed his feet into the mummy's chest. Mumm-Ra was catapulted across the chamber; Yanit and Fadil were ready for him.

'Fadil,' said Yanit, 'we'll use our daggers, all right?'

'I understand, Yanit,' said Fadil.

'You seek to destroy Mumm-Ra?' the mummy snarled at them. 'Foolish children, it cannot be done! Especially not with those pathetic little toothpicks of yours!'

Fadil and Yanit ran at Mumm-Ra with their daggers raised, but rather than attempt to stab him, they thrust the weapons' shining blades towards the mummy's face. Mumm-Ra roared and covered his eyes as he saw his reflection again; Yanit took the opportunity to kick his legs out from under him.

Meanwhile, Alex was using a combination of telekinesis and brute strength to push the sarcophagus towards the bubbling cauldron. Mumm-Ra noticed what he was doing and screamed in fury, but then he was distracted as Fadil's fist slammed into his abdomen.

Alex roared with exertion as he heaved the sarcophagus over the edge of the cauldron and tipped it into the water. Amidst the renewed churning and broiling, Alex fell to his knees under the strain of his efforts, and Mumm-Ra screamed piercingly.

There came a tremendous rumbling noise from overhead. Yanit and Fadil looked up in alarm to see that the pyramid seemed to be collapsing around them. Mumm-Ra was writhing and screaming as he half-melted, half-disintegrated into nothingness.

'Out of here!' Yanit said to Fadil.

'Right!' Fadil replied.

As Yanit ran to help Alex to his feet, Fadil lifted Tara into his arms. The four of them ran back along the stone passage, Tara now moving mostly under her own steam, and finally burst back out into the daylight. They turned around to drink in the awesome sight of the pyramid rocking and shaking as it apparently tore itself apart. The four obelisks surrounding it were all crackling with lightning.

'There,' said Tara, 'I knew those things would zap us if we weren't careful.'

Yanit had already mounted one of the agitated horses.

'Quick, Fadil,' she said, 'pass Tara up to me.'

Fadil nodded, and lifted the unprotesting Tara onto the horse's back, just in front of Yanit. Yanit took hold of the reins, then she carefully but firmly gripped Tara's hips between her knees and spurred the animal forward.

Alex and Fadil wasted no time in mounting the second horse, and followed quickly behind Yanit and Tara. They galloped away to a safe distance, then brought their mounts to a halt. They turned to see how the quake was progressing, and found themselves watching Mumm-Ra's pyramid sink back into the desert sands until not a trace of it remained.

'Well,' Alex remarked, smiling wryly through his exhaustion, 'that's that little problem sorted out, then.'

'Alex, how did you know to dump the sarcophagus into the cauldron?' said Yanit.

'When Mumm-Ra slammed me up against it, I realised there was a connection between the sarcophagus and himself,' Alex explained. 'It was giving him power, although I don't know exactly how. I guess you could say I read the sarcophagus's mind... or I read Mumm-Ra's mind through the sarcophagus, which it was connected to. I'm not sure exactly how I did it, but I did it.'

'And thank goodness you did!' Fadil said with feeling. 'I am very glad to have seen the last of Mumm-Ra.'

'But have we seen the last of him, though?' said Tara. 'You heard what he said. He can't be destroyed; not really. Wherever there's evil, Mumm-Ra lives... and like he said, evil is everywhere.'

'We'll have to keep an eye on this place,' said Alex, 'just in case that pyramid does decide to show itself again.'

'I don't think it will,' said Yanit. 'At least, not in our lifetime. Mumm-Ra was waiting for something – or someone – specific to wake him up and lead him to this Eye of Thundera thingy he was after. And he seemed to think he was thousands of years too early! Whatever the Eye of Thundera is, I don't think it can really have anything to do with us, so I don't think Mumm-Ra is really our problem... or at least he won't be again, after being it today.'

'You mean you think the Eye of Thundera is destined to turn up here in thousands of years' time?' said Alex. 'Like it's suddenly going to fall from the sky or something, when the time is right?'

'Why not?' said Yanit. 'I've had stranger things presented to me as the indisputable truth, Alex, and so have you.'

'It's a daunting thought,' said Tara. 'To think that we might have stumbled upon something so far beyond our comprehension... and just to have experienced the merest brush with it, before going our separate ways once more... it's like touching an alien world.'

'Tara, you do know Mumm-Ra only told you that your evil had awakened him so he could manipulate you, don't you?' said Fadil. 'Like he said, all four of us were just as responsible as each other.'

'Oh yes, Fadil,' said Tara, 'I understand that now. I should have had faith in the love and support that the three of you were giving me... and I do, now.'

'It's certainly true that everyone has evil inside them,' said Yanit. 'Obviously only a tiny bit of evil is enough for Mumm-Ra to latch on to.'

'Personally, I think it's far more likely that he picked up on the evil in me than in you, Tara,' said Fadil. 'I used to be such a pain in the backside, and I endangered my fellow Medjai with my carelessness and selfishness on several occasions.'

'That wasn't evil, Fadil,' said Alex. 'We all know why you acted that way.'

'It was the dark side of my nature that drove me to do it, whatever the underlying cause,' said Fadil. 'And I wasn't even being possessed by my evil father, like you were, Tara.'

'Although your father was largely responsible for screwing with your head, Fadil,' Yanit pointed out.

'That is true,' said Fadil, 'but even so...'

'I understand what you're saying, Fadil,' Tara beamed at him, 'and you needn't worry that I haven't taken it on board, because I have. I am sure of myself now – I am a Medjai warrior... or I will be, once I've completed my training... and I love you, Fadil, with all that I am and all that I have.'

'I love you likewise, Tara,' Fadil beamed back at her.

'Right, so now we've got that straightened out,' said Alex, 'let's go home and tidy ourselves up a little, shall we?'

'Yes, let's do that,' said Fadil, and the girls nodded in agreement.

Night had fallen outside the Medjai Academy. In Alex and Yanit's private suite, Yanit emerged from the bathroom, crossed over to the bed and slipped between the sheets next to Alex, who was sitting up and poring over the Medjai Encyclopedia.

'There's definitely nothing in here about the Eye of Thundera,' said Alex, turning over a page, 'or the Sword of Omens either. I'll take another look through the library archives tomorrow just to be sure, but I really don't think I'm going to find any written reference to either of them.'

'Neither do I,' said Yanit. 'Like I said before, Alex, I do not believe that Mumm-Ra is our problem. Although you are quite right to be cautious in your outlook and meticulous in your investigations, of course.'

'Thanks,' Alex grinned at her, slamming the book shut and throwing it onto the floor. 'Yanit, do you mind if I ask you a question?'

'Ask me anything you want, my love.'

'Do you think we're setting a bad example to the younger Medjai?'

'How do you mean?' Yanit asked, giving Alex a quizzical look.

'By cohabiting like this, I mean,' Alex elaborated. 'Do you think we're encouraging inappropriate relations between them?'

'I didn't realise you thought our relationship was inappropriate, Alex,' said Yanit, pulling back the cover a little and placing one foot onto the floor. 'If that's the way you feel, I'll put some clothes on and then throw myself on the mercy of Tara – I'm sure she won't mind me bunking in with her tonight, seeing as we're best gal-pals now. Or if Fadil's already in her room with her, I'll go and use his bed instead.'

'No!' Alex exclaimed, placing a gently restraining hand on Yanit's arm. 'No, please don't go, Yanit.'

Yanit smiled and settled herself back down.

'Alex, I don't think we're setting a bad example to the younger Medjai,' she said. 'Being the Supreme Medjai has to come with a few perks, doesn't it? Why don't you just relax and enjoy one or two of them for a change, hmm?'

'Yeah, okay,' Alex said with a laugh. 'Maybe you'll even let me enjoy three or four of them before we go to sleep, huh?'

'I might do, if you're nice to me,' Yanit grinned at him. 'But I want to tell you something first, Alex. Bearing in mind that you're really not like anyone else in this world, and despite what I said earlier, I do not believe that there is any evil inside you, so there!'

'Sure there is,' said Alex. 'There's good and evil inside everyone, just like you said.'

'Then why did Imhotep have to resort to exposing you to the evil energy of the Well Spring of Darkness when he wanted to tempt you to join forces with him?'

'He was just being lazy. I was far from happy with how my life was going back then; there were plenty of things he could have brought up in an attempt to manipulate me, if he'd bothered to take the time.'

'Such as?'

'The fact that I'd almost completely lost faith in Ardeth and his training scheme; the fact that I was incredibly frustrated about not having more control over the Manacle by that time; the fact that I thought everyone was treating me like a kid, and I resented them all bitterly for it...'

'None of that was caused by something evil inside you, Alex,' said Yanit. 'I'm not saying you were completely right about that stuff, because you've told me yourself that you weren't, but all those feelings were caused by your... your spirit; your backbone; your emotional core.'

'Perhaps that's just another set of terms for someone's dark side,' Alex shrugged. 'Maybe the evil inside us is what we draw on so we can find the strength to make the tough decisions in our lives. Whatever term you want to use, I believe that's what Mumm-Ra picked up on... in me, and in the rest of you as well.'

'Hmm... you present a convincing argument, Alex,' said Yanit. 'I can't disagree with any of that. Perhaps, in truth, "evil" is actually a rather simplistic and inadequate term to describe anything about the human spirit.'

'I think that's true, but while we're on the subject,' said Alex, 'I refuse to believe that you've ever done anything remotely close to evil, Yanit.'

'Is that so?' Yanit said with a laugh. 'Okay, Alex, let me tell you a little story about something I once did; one I've never told you before, and there aren't very many of those left.'

'Whatever it is, I bet it wasn't evil.'

'You'll see. This one time, when I was about seven, my father went to stay for the weekend with two friends of his – they were a married couple – who he'd known for donkey's years, and he took me with him. They had a faulty knob on their bathroom door and my father warned me to be careful when I turned it, but I didn't listen. We'd been there for less than twenty-four hours when I ran to the bathroom, grabbed the doorknob quite unthinkingly, gave it an almighty yank... and that's when it fell off in my hand.'

'Oh my God,' Alex giggled. 'What did you do?'

'Nothing!' Yanit said dramatically. 'I just balanced the knob on the broken mechanism as best I could and then got as far away from the bathroom as reasonably possible. I didn't tell anyone what I'd done. A couple of hours later, my father's friend went to use the bathroom and of course he pulled the knob away from the door, and his wife went absolutely ballistic at him!'

'Poor guy,' said Alex, laughing quite a lot by this point in Yanit's story.

'It wasn't funny!' said Yanit, giggling a little nevertheless. 'She told him he was always breaking things and he was thoughtless and careless and had no respect for their home or for their marriage... and still I didn't own up.'

'I think the guy should've fixed the knob before you came to stay,' said Alex.

'Maybe he should, but its final breakage was my responsibility and I never owned up to it. My father went to his grave not knowing anything about it. I feel deeply ashamed whenever I recall that sorry sequence of events.'

'Yanit, is that really the worst thing you've ever done?'

'Um... yes, I think so,' said Yanit.

'Then there's definitely no evil inside you whatsoever!' Alex said firmly. 'And that's the final ruling of the Supreme Medjai, okay?'

Yanit laughed, and nodded her head. Alex smiled as he tenderly brushed Yanit's slightly disarranged hair out of her eyes. Yanit smiled back at Alex, then she reached out to stroke his chest.

'Your bandage welts have faded completely,' she remarked, several seconds later.

'I know,' said Alex, 'but I still have a few claw marks on my neck.'

'Mmm,' Yanit purred, 'sexy.'

'They'll be gone by the morning,' Alex said apologetically.

'Well then,' Yanit grinned, 'we'd better make the most of them while we can!'

Yanit reached out to extinguish the candle beside the bed; she had launched herself at Alex and attached her lips to his by the time the snuffer clattered onto the tabletop.