Thank you dragonlady, I did realize that it was posted here as well. Again I recommend The Pharaoh and the Thief if you want a nice story to read. I'm addicted to it. But anyway, you guys want to know this new chapter. As promised I have it ready in time.

------------------------

Chapter Seven

Atemu rode beside Bakura with his guards close behind them. He didn't trust the thief, but he had no choice. If he wanted to find Yugi he had to trust Bakura. Right at that moment, Yugi was the only thing on his mind. He wanted to get there in time before something horrible happens to his young lover. About halfway through the desert, the rest of his army came swiftly led by his head priest, Seto. "My pharaoh, we came as quickly as possible. Tell me more about this situation." Since Atemu didn't have long to write a note and send it, he scribbled that Seto should bring as many men as I could get together and meet him in the desert south of his palace.

"Yugi was taken. Bakura knows where he's at so he's leading us. How many men did you bring?"

"Twenty-five men right now, but more are coming. Who took him?"

"Marik," Bakura interrupted.

"How is that possible?"

"Marik is in the shadow realm. He can call upon the magic behind it to use it to his bidding. He's become stronger than he was when the pharaoh first defeated him. He can't think of anything else but revenge. He was the one responsible for the council in ruling that the pharaoh needed a wife. He wanted to hurt Yugi and get him to leave the pharaoh only because he couldn't get to Yugi without having the pharaoh or Malik around. The pharaoh has strong shadow magic much like himself, and Malik can seal him away if he had the strength to. He figured if he could plot it right, Malik and the pharaoh would fight over what happened to Yugi. I apologize right now. I didn't mean to hurt Yugi, but clearly what I did to him wasn't what hurt him. Marik needs Yugi to perform a darkness ceremony. Yugi oddly enough has an extreme amount of light in his soul. Marik is going to use Yugi to plague the world in darkness by first filling Yugi's soul with darkness. We must hurry now that you got your guards." Bakura leaned slightly forward and kick the sides of his horse to start moving faster.

Atemu did the same, now afraid of what Marik would be doing to Yugi. He regretted everything he did. He wanted nothing more but to hold Yugi in his arms and apologize to him. Atemu wanted to ensure that Yugi knew that he wasn't his toy. He loved Yugi with everything he had. He knew that he would have to find a woman to give birth to his son, but he never expected it this early. Yugi had every right to be upset, but what worried him the most was what he said about Bakura. He worried that Yugi had developed feelings for Bakura, and Atemu had no chance at getting Yugi back.

Atemu glanced over at Seto and pulled next to him. "How will the rest of the army find us?"

Seto smiled and pointed back to a few of the guards waiting at every so many yards. "I brought extra to lead a trail of breadcrumbs. Malik will join us as well. He feels that he should be there to help since Marik was part of him."

Atemu nodded remembering that he did give the order to release the two before he left. "Listen, if anything happens to me, you have to make it back to the palace and take care of my wife and son."

"Don't speak like that. My job is to bring you back safely."

"I know this is selfish, but I wish not to go back if I lose Yugi. I love him too much."

"You won't lose your little pet, my pharaoh. I've already told him he has no chance with me and he should return to you," Bakura said. "He has no feelings for me. I just was the first person to comfort his broken heart. Once he sees that he still has you, he'll come back with you."

Atemu nodded and continued the path that Bakura obviously knew by heart. Now he knew why Yugi thought he was just a toy to him. Bakura must have said something. Burying his anger towards the thief, he continued to follow him, knowing that he shouldn't get into a fight with the man that was leading them to Yugi.

Marik pushed Yugi out of the black void that formed in a dark underground passage. Yugi landed with a hard thump on the floor. He winced and quickly got to his feet, attempting to get away from the man that held him. "Now, now Yugi. You know better than that." Marik grabbed him by the back of his shirt and slammed him against the cold stone. "There is no hope for you. The pharaoh won't make it in time even if he had some help from that traitor. I should have known Bakura wouldn't want to torture you. He doesn't have the stomach." Marik slapped Yugi across the face and pushed him into another room.

Yugi felt dazed, but he refused to let Marik overcome him. He didn't want to be used like Marik so coldly explained as "the tool for destruction." He was going to save Egypt even if he could no longer have Atemu. Marik grabbed Yugi's wrist and pulled him over to the center of two pillars. He chained Yugi up with the chains that draped from the ceiling. Yugi moved his legs and tried to kick Marik, but the man quickly grabbed his feet and chained them to the floor. "Stop your useless struggle." Marik moved away from Yugi to let him wallow in his own darkness for the time being. He had things to set up in order to bring about darkness to this world.

Yugi saw the last glimpse of Marik leaving the room before he started to pull on the chains. He continued to pull with all his strength for several minutes before growing tired and remaining there with his thoughts. He thought of Atemu and his life at the palace. Even though he was hurt and he felt something towards Bakura, he could never get Atemu out of him mind. He wanted nothing more than to apologize to the pharaoh. He should have never yelled at him or made him think he wanted nothing more than to be away from him. But what he wanted to apologize the most about was his disloyalty. Even though he knew that it was forced, he never wanted the pharaoh to know that. "I love you, Atemu," he whispered to the shadows, hoping that somehow the pharaoh could hear him even though he knew it wasn't possible.

---------------------------

There you go. I know it's shorter, but I wanted to write a nice long chapter before the finale. Thank you for reading please review

Angel Dove