I don't know if you missed me, but I've surely missed you! I finally wrote this next chapter and I am more than waiting to hear what you think about it.

Only a few more things: about the riddle...poetry is not exactly my gig if you know what I mean, but I did my best. I hope the syllable thing is right, I used a dictionary so it should be.

Any things that don't make sense at this moment will in the next chapters. That's a promise.

Oh, and...enjoy!

"Stella, I have to talk with you about something" said Helen, as they were heading to Sekhmet's chamber.

"What is it, my dear?"

"Actually, I was hoping that it would be a private conversation." thought Helen.

"Alright. Have it your way."

"Listen, I know you probably think you are helping me, but I prefer my thoughts remain private if you know what I mean."

"You are angry that I told the others about the kiss you shared with Nikola or that I exposed your feelings?"

"Both, I guess."

"Listen, Helen, I know what it's like. Being in love with a vampire. You need my help."

"Firstly, Nikola is not a vampire anymore."

"He's still a vampire inside his soul. Nothing can take this away from him. He's brilliant, deadly attractive…"

"Selfish and arrogant…"

"Doesn't he have the right to be arrogant, Helen? The truth is that you are scared to death to face reality. The effect he has on your heart…it creeps you out. How he can make it beat a lot faster than normal with a single whisper or stop it for a second with just one of his smirks. You may try to hide the truth, Helen, but you can't do it forever. I know that you think that you can't be in love with him but this doesn't change the fact that every time your lips touch his, your blood turns to fire. And there is a part of you that wouldn't give up this felling for anything. You have to admit your feelings, Helen. Your mission depends on this."

"I am sorry, but I am not willing to take advices from someone younger than me." Helen said harshly. She didn't mean to be rude, but she was angry on Stella.

"I never said you should, my dear." Stella replied and Helen was relieved to see that she hadn't been offended, because she knew that Stella was after all trying to do the right thing. And maybe she was on to something about her feelings concerning Nikola…Helen was grateful that they had reached the entrance to Sekhmet's chamber and she had an excuse not to think about Stella's words.

"He or she who thinks it is worthy of finding out the darkest secrets of humanity shall step on this pedestal and shall be given a vital clue." Nikola read the hieroglyphs. When Helen didn't react, he stepped on the stone, but nothing happened.

"What a surprise." Said Helen with an ironic tone. "Sekhmet doesn't like you."

"But you do." He said grinning. However, the look on her face made him realize that it wasn't the proper moment for joking. "You think you would do a better job, Helen?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"Well, then, it's all yours…Sweet Lips."

"I am only going to say this once, Nikola. I wouldn't have kissed you if our mission hadn't depended on this. And I assure you it was the last kiss you will ever get from me. Now, step away." Ignoring the look on his face and the fact that she had most certainly blushed, she stepped on the stone. For a few seconds, nothing happened, but soon she felt like blood had just frozen in her veins. She couldn't move. Her lips split and she started speaking, but the words weren't hers.

I am a lonely wanderer who needs not a single guide.

I walk winter or summer, day or night.

Some try to cheat me, but here's a thing you can't hide:

It is useless against my powers to fight,

Because I will always keep walking on my way.

I will only slow down a bit for few,

Who know the bloody secret that can make me stay.

If you want to find out the secret too

Keep in mind that I can be a friend or a foe

And if you cheat me, you I guarantee:

Completely alone on the path of life you'll go.

This, my dear, is a story old as me.

"Sorry for interrupting, Magnus, but do you really think it is the time for poetry?" Kate asked.

"You won't believe it, Kate, but I think I just found a clue."

"Maybe, but what does it mean?"

"I have no idea." She said disappointed.

"Maybe it doesn't matter." Nikola said, pointing out to a pedestal that had risen from the ground in the opposite part of the room. The fragment was on it, apparently unguarded.

"It's too easy." Helen said, but it was too late. Nikola had already started walking towards the pedestal. However, when he stepped on a stone, there was a loud 'click' and the next thing he knew was that he was lying on the ground, with Helen on top of him.

"Well, Helen, I would have never guessed you like it rough, but I can totally work with that." He said with a smirk.

"Don't be silly." She said, fluttering her eyes. "That thing would have killed you."

Trying to focus despite the fact that Helen was still deliciously close to him, he realized that she was right. Fire arrows were flying all over the chamber. The children seemed to have managed to defend themselves. Will and Kate were standing near a wall, and Stella was lying on the ground, apparently unharmed.

"You are right. You saved my life." Nikola said and hugged her, pressing her body to his, just in time to shield her from an arrow that would have probably hit her. Sure, he could have told her to duck, but hugging her was a lot more interesting… Still holding her, he rolled over so that he was now standing atop of her.

"Now, do you want to talk about the reward you deserve for saving my life?" he whispered, sending shivers down her spine. She closed her eyes, not daring to think how close his lips were to hers.

"It won't be necessary." She muttered.

"Are you sure? Cause I could spend a whole night rewarding you…" His lips were almost touching hers and pure desire was starting to burn her on the inside. She was starting to give in, and she hated herself for this. But after all, how much could a kiss hurt? She bit her lip, trying to regain control over her traitorous body, but it didn't help her too much.

"Not that I would want to interrupt your flirting session…" Will yelled, "…but we are dying here!" This got her mind out of the gutter. She pushed Nikola away, making him lie next to her.

"I hate children." Nikola muttered.

"Alright, so firstly, these are not arrows." She said, her heart still beating a lot faster than normal. "They are Avis Igneus."

"Fire birds, for those who don't know Latin." Nikola said.

"Exactly."

"Alright. How do we get rid of them?" asked Kate.

"I have no idea. Stella, a little help?"

"Youngsters…always are searching for the things that are right in front of them."

"Of course. Sekhmet's clue." Helen said.

"It didn't make too much sense." Nikola said.

"On the contrary. It did. Think about it. Sekhmet is a goddess. A woman."

"So?"

"What do women like? What do I love, for example?"

"You mean besides 154 year old handsome geniuses?"

"Riddles, Nikola! It's a riddle! We have to solve it to get the fragment."

He didn't reply, but he looked at her, grinning.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked.

"You didn't deny the fact that you love me."

"I beg you, Nikola, focus! I need your help."

"Well, the answer can't be related to fire, because it would be too easy."

"Right."

"So, why did this clue come into your mind? Why wasn't it written on the walls or something?"

"Because it only makes sense in English. It is a personalized riddle, if you wish."

"Helen, we are talking about a thing that is like, thousands of years old. They didn't know English back then."

"It probably learned it, telepathically. I've seen this before."

"Alright, so besides the lyrics there is a clue hidden in the rhyme or in the number of lyrics or something?"

"The number of syllables has a pattern. 12, 10. 12,10."

"Not to mention that there are 12 verses."

"Alright. So 12 could mean 12 months of the year, but 10?"

"You know, I expect a reward for helping you with this. In Ancient Egypt, the week had 10 days. Not 7."

"So, the answer to the riddle is time?"

"I don't know. What happens if we are wrong?"

"Let's not find that out, alright?"

"Well, if we base our theory on the number of syllables and all that, it works, but the riddle itself…I don't know."

"It makes sense. Bloody secret could refer to something related to blood, well, vampire blood to be more precise."

"And that whole alone on the path of life you will go thing? Helen, this riddle was made by a vampire. Trust me; I never had this problem when I was one of them."

"It wasn't written by a vampire necessarily. We don't know if Isis was a vampire too. And it is obvious that the ones that would want to get the blood for themselves would never think at this downside of immortality. You have no idea what it's like, Nikola. Watching the ones you care about growing old and withering, as you remain alive and well…Fearing that the ones you love and you've known for so much time are going to die…"

"Well, if you say that time is the answer, I trust you. The only problem is how we answer."

However, that didn't seem to be a problem anymore, because in a second, all the fire birds froze in the air and fell on the ground, allowing Helen to take the fragment.

"Well, that was a tough one." She said. "I don't suppose this is getting any easier…"