Author's Notes: Hey everyone, so glad to be back with the next chapter so soon. I just got so excited for 15 that I had to post 14 right away. I'd like to once again thank all of you for reading and those who take the time to review my story. It means a great deal to me and I hope that you enjoy my story! And a very special thanks to Lady Tallulah for her constant support with this story, it has helped a great deal.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Although they had wasted some valuable time in going to the palace and sneaking in, Akefia was only minimally upset that he hadn't thought of heading to the temple first. However, when they had made their way back to Marik, Akefia practically threw Amunet onto the horse, catching her completely off guard. She knew he wouldn't be very happy with the fact that they had not only missed the Pharaoh, but also the opportunity to snag the last remaining gold piece before it fell into his royal hands. Now they raced to the temple in hopes of catching him with the necklace, despite the lack of any actual idea of how they would be able to do so.
As Amunet tried her best not to lean back into Akefia's chest while they rode, she couldn't help her gradual descent into sleep as the night air forced her into his warm embrace. When she had initially slumped back, Akefia pulled her the rest of the way, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her close once more.
"You fall asleep faster than I expect a thief like you, and with both eyes closed too," he smirked.
An hour had passed before Amunet slowly opened her eyes, embarrassed to feel the now familiar presence clutching her tightly.
"How long was I asleep?" she asked, noticing the way his chin began to rub against the side of her head as she stirred.
"Not long my pet," he said, still nuzzling her slightly.
Amunet was glad that it was so dark, otherwise Akefia would have seen the red blush bloom in her face almost instantly.
"What will happen when we get there? We cant exactly march right in and snatch the thing from the Pharaoh," Amunet suddenly said, trying to ignore the burning in her cheeks.
"Well, wether I like it or not, we'll have to split up," he said, exasperated by the idea that he would have to trust Amunet not to run away while alone. "Whatever information you have yet to tell me regarding these items, now is the time to enlighten me. I need to know what capabilities these items might have, and whether or not it can be used against us in the process," he spoke hurriedly, moving his arm from her waist and tracing his hand up from her stomach and to her throat. Further emphasizing his point, he gripped her only slightly before continuing,
"So, is there anything in there that you're hiding from me?" he asked mockingly.
"All I know is what I've already told you, although I am curious to find out how exactly you managed to get these," Amunet said, lifting up her wrists and the long golden cuffs that embraced them.
Akefia chuckled, mostly to himself before dropping his hand from Amunet's neck and back to the reigns of the horse.
"All you need to know, is that I'm your Master," he spoke gruffly into her ear.
"Well, Master," Amunet said, pausing. "I was just curious as to whether or not that old drunken priest happened to be at the temple at that fateful moment, for, I would have said it must have been very easy. Obviously, you must have had a far more daring slew of obstacles in your path," she said, trying her best not to smirk. She felt Akefia shift a little behind her and clear his throat before finally mumbling out a quiet,
"Obviously."
"I know that drunken fool seems to pass out at least once per hour, they hardly ever leave him alone to watch over the temple, but when they do-"
"Shut up!" Akefia snapped.
"Yes, Master," Amunet said, leaving a careful pause in between her words. She heard Akefia grumble incoherently behind her as she smiled, doing her best to contain her laughter at his arrogance. Either way, Amunet was grateful that he had actually gone through the trouble of getting them for her.
Soon they began to make out the large columns of the temple, lit dimly by torches. There were a few horses that remained outside, and only one soldier among them. Amunet could make out shadows passing through the interior of the temple, and she felt a horrible pain inside her as she watched the movement.
As she slumped forward, Akefia used one hand to cup her face,
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"He has it," Amunet said, straightening up. "They're getting ready to leave, what do we do?" Amunet asked, turning her head to meet his eyes.
"Speed and stealth, Amunet,"
"Speed and stealth," she repeated, feeling him slide off the horse behind her. As she followed him off the horse, she felt his hand meet the small of her back and his gaze boring its way into her. Once she met his gaze, she felt his hand nudge her forward, inspiring her legs into a run. She kept her eyes on the shadows as she slid down a hill, disregarding the one soldier lingering outside completely. Knowing that he wouldn't be an issue as she saw him mindlessly staring into the stars, as she neared him she heard a noise to her side, Akefia running some distance to her right. He looked at her with a mischievous grin before taking out a small dagger and throwing it in her direction. Amunet caught it by the handle just as she approached the soldier, jumping onto his back before slicing his throat and pushing him down to the ground with her feet.
Akefia had already disappeared when Amunet looked up, seeing the shadows of the men inside cascading down the temple steps. Amunet took off to the side of the stairs, jamming her small frame into the dark corner.
"I can assure you, my King, this will never happen again," a deep baritone voice said.
"Let's hope not," an even deeper voice spoke quite cooly.
"What will become of the necklace, my King?"
Amunet began to see the rich clothing pass the corner of her eyes as the voices had gotten louder above her.
"That is for me to know, and incompetent men like you to only guess," the deeper voice spoke again.
"Yes, yes, my King,"
Amunet strained her ears in an attempt to visualize exactly what they were doing, she realized that they were getting on their horses and it would only be a matter of seconds before someone would notice the lifeless body that laid on the ground nearby.
Just as she had expected, Amunet soon hear a loud yell, followed by a commotion of horses and voices all in a panicked frenzy. Amunet did not move a muscle as she watched several men run by her in an attempt to find the responsible party. Suddenly the air was still again and Amunet stood up confidently that no one was nearby. Sure enough, Amunet was able to run forward into the darkness of the vast desert, hoping to make out either Marik or Akefia's horse where she had last seen them. Unfortunately, once she had made it back up the sandy hill, she could make out no trace of either horse ever being there.
"Shit!" Amunet cursed quietly. She looked back down to see the scurrying solders searching the perimeter of the temple, as well as a dark figure on a horse that upon her viewing, caused her to double over in pain. Her wrists and ankles seemed to burn and clench the very bones that laid beneath them. Realizing that it was probably the connection she felt to the one remaining item, she suddenly felt resolved to head back down after she saw the dark figure gesture something to the soldiers before riding off to the north. Puzzled by the direction the rider had chosen to take off in, Amunet soon saw all the soldiers mount their own horses and head in the same direction.
"Shit!" Amunet cursed more openly, running back down to the temple.
Where are they? Amunet wondered, scared that she had somehow missed a gesture or an order that told her what they would have been doing.
As she made her way back down she saw one of the horses that had been left behind with no rider, and without even having a second thought about it, jumped on and sped off in the direction after them. Moments after Amunet had left the area on the horse, a particular white haired thief made his way out the temple covered in blood. Marik suddenly appeared out of the temple as well, also covered in blood.
Akefia looked up into the sky, and started a laugh that crescendoed up into a despicable manner.
Marik allowed Akefia several seconds to pass before he spoke up, interrupting his laughter.
"She's gone isn't she?"
Akefia had continued to laugh, although at a much lower volume, but took a moment to calm himself before responding to the blonde.
"I told her that if she tried anything one more time, I'd-" Akefia stopped himself, not knowing how much more excited he could possibly be at that particular moment. "That doesn't matter now, she won't get far if she wants that necklace. Find the Pharaoh, find the girl," he said smiling, as he headed to the direction of where his horse was hidden from plain view.
Amunet had stopped worrying about the whereabouts of Akefia and Marik, solely to focus on keeping up with her trail of the Pharaoh. The horse grunted in protest of the speed Amunet was forcing it to keep, but still it ran following the tail end of the soldiers into what appeared to be a very small camp. Amunet almost squealed in pleasure, knowing that the item would be somewhere in that camp, and if she could steal from the great Thief King, than this would be no problem. She stopped her horse, and got off, slinking into the hills of sand to watch for the dark figure with a careful eye. After some time of waiting, Amunet noticed a few men leave a very large tent and walk into the center of the camp, where they had a large fire bringing detail to Amunet's eyes. The dark figure was there, and while she gazed upon him, she felt the same surge of pain ripple through her body as she laid on the sand. Suddenly she heard her horse some paces away, whinny quite loudly and begin to run past her, towards the camp. She tried to stop him but the pain seemed to double the more it lingered, and as she struggled to peer over her sandy ditch, she caught the dark figure almost instantly. Somehow, through the distance and the darkness, it seemed as if he were staring directly into her eyes, and the pain grew into an unmanageable height as her head fell back into the sand. She knew that she had to move from her current position, but the pain was so intense that she had barely made it more than a few feet before she collapsed back into the sand once more.
"Damn this desert," she cursed weakly. It was only a matter of seconds before she heard the shuffling of sand, hands gripping her roughly and dragging her off towards the direction of the fire. She squinted her eyes as if she were looking into the sun itself, and threw her gaze into the sky above.
It will be morning soon, she thought to herself as she was dropped onto her hands and knees before a pair of sandaled feet.
"Looking for something?" that same deep voice penetrating her head.
Amunet slowly brought her head up to look at the man standing before her, but never got a chance to see anything but the sharp blunt object which he used to hit her with, knocking her out.