Jonathan wondered around outside, his hands in his pockets wondering what he was doing here. He was no warrior and although he considered Ardeth a friend the rest of the Medjai mostly ignored him. None of them were interested in his mostly exaggerated stories of things that had happened to him over the years. Quite frankly, he was bored out his mind and how these people could live like this inside a mountain for thousands of years and not go insane he didn't have a clue.

It was true he had changed a great deal after what had happened at Ahm Shere but that didn't mean that he could live like this—in an isolated community—with nothing to do other then practice at weapons or other boring things that held absolutely no interest for someone like him. Hidden City was absolutely nothing like London or any other civilized city. There were no shops, no restaurants, no form of entertainment and stuff that had to be made was either produced by the people in the city or was bought or traded for in Cairo and for a man like him that meant he was going to go crazy long before the war ended if he didn't find something to keep him occupied. It was true that some of the women sold out of their homes to make a little extra money for their households but it was very limited kind of thing and only stuff that could be handmade like clothes, furniture or crafts of that kind was ever sold and whatever could not be made had to be bought in Cairo. For someone like him this existence was very quiet and boring and if he had to live here for the rest of his life it would slowly drive him insane.

It was also a good thing that he had stopped drinking for apparently the Medjai didn't drink—any of them—and if he hadn't stopped then he definitely would have gone insane.

Rick of course, had found ways to keep himself busy, by going out on patrols among other things with the Medjai, but that wasn't Jonathan's type of thing and he had politely said so when asked if he wanted to come along. Now he almost wished he had agreed if only to break up the monotony.

In fact, that was where his brother-in-law was at that very moment out on one of those patrols and he and Ardeth as well as half a dozen others had been gone for a couple of months and Jonathan didn't expect them back for at least another month if not two. By the time Rick returned his sister's pregnancy—which he had just learned about a couple of days ago—would be very obvious. He was quite sure that Rick would be very shocked to learn that Evie was pregnant for the doctor in London had told his sister and brother-in-law that they would never be able to have another child after Alex was born. He had been quite shocked himself if the truth be known but he was also happy for Evie and Rick for he had always known that they had wanted more than one child. It wasn't something that was openly discussed of course, but that didn't mean Jonathan had missed the looks of longing on Evie's face every time she saw a young child somewhere or the look that was almost painful to see every time his sister realized that Alex was growing up and would soon be a young man and no longer need her.

Even Rick who didn't show his feelings as openly as Evie on the subject had been very obvious on a few occasions about wanting another child but being unable to have one unless they adopted. Jonathan, even knew that they had put their names on a list but it could be years or perhaps even never before they ever got a chance to adopt. After this war was over that would probably change for plenty of children would be orphans before this war was over.

Suddenly he was jerked out of his thoughts as a gentle hand on his arm and when he looked over to see who it was he was surprised to discover it was a beautiful woman of no more than thirty-five offering him a cup of water. This woman had long black hair, like all Medjai, with a slight wave to it and brown eyes. She was relatively tall for a woman being at least 5' 8' and very slender. She had a full mouth and a chin that had a stubborn tilt to it that told Jonathan that this lady was no pushover and knew how to stand up for what she believed in.

"I am sorry if I am interrupting you but you looked so lonely standing out here all alone that I thought I would come and see if you needed anything," said the lady in halting English.

"It's alright," said Jonathan politely taking the cup of water gently from her hand. "I'm Jonathan Carnahan."

"I know who you are and that your—" the lady searched for the correct English word then finding it continued, "—Brother-in-law is the blood brother of the king."

"Yes," said Jonathan wondering how this lady could possibly have known that.

"Word gets around," said the lady as if sensing Jonathan's train of thought. "By the way my name is Helima."

"It's very nice to meet you Helima," said Jonathan politely as he covertly studied her. She was a very pretty lady and he wondered what she was doing out here and why she wasn't with her husband assuming she was married. Unlike almost anywhere else the ladies of the Medjai were not forced to marry if they didn't want to so it was very possible that even as old as she was she might not be married although Jonathan considered that very unlikely.

Helima lowered her eyes and said hesitantly, "You will think it very—how do you say—forward of me, but I have been observing you for several months now. To me you seemed like a man searching for something in his life, something he's not sure of."

"You're not forward at all," said Jonathan. "And besides, you're right. My younger sister Evie has always been the one that knows exactly what she wanted out of life and as for me well ever since our parents died I've just kind of drifted—well, until recently anyway. Even once I realized what I had become at Ahm Shere it has been difficult to change many years of bad habits in just a few years."

"Bad habits?" asked Helima gently.

"I'm sure you don't want to hear of my bad choices," said Jonathan.

"Not unless you want to tell me. You do not have to tell me but perhaps talking about it to a sympathetic ear will help you to feel better."

Jonathan considered this then nodded and very haltingly began to tell Helima how his life had begun to go downhill after his and Evie's parents had been killed. Jonathan talked for well over an hour and had just begun to realize that his throat was as dry as a desert and that it had begun to get late.

"It sounds to me like you have had a hard road in which to follow and you might have gotten—I believe the word is sidetracked—but eventually you found the path back and that is all that should matter—that you did find your way back."

"But look at how many times I wasn't around when Evie needed me," said Jonathan his expression somewhat sad and pensive.

"But you were always around when your sister really needed you," Helima pointed out, gently. "I mean, sure you liked to avoid dangerous situations but when Evie really needed you, you were always there and you always came through for her."

Jonathan thought about this for a minute then decided Helima was right. Perhaps he had never been able to acknowledge it because he always thought of himself as useless, but after what had happened at Ahm Shere when he had saved Ardeth's life with a single shot he had begun to see himself in a different light. He had thought for the first time since he parents had died that maybe he wasn't useless and that transformation of his personality that had begun then had been ongoing for the last few years. After all, you couldn't break many years of bad habits in a day or a week or even a year. That kind of thing took time, sometimes it took years and sometimes it never happened, especially if you let yourself slip back into bad habits, but for once in his life Jonathan had been determined to make something out of his life and not go back to being what he had been in the past.

"You have given me much to think about," Jonathan admitted. "And for that I thank you."

"You are very welcome," said Helima. "Perhaps I should now leave you alone to your thoughts?"

"Will I ever see you again?"

"If you want to," said Helima, shyly.

"I want to for you are the first friend I have made in this den of lions," said Jonathan only halfway joking.

Helima laughed at Jonathan's statement then said, "That is very funny Mr. Carnahan."

"Please, call me Jonathan."

"As you wish, Jonathan, and I am Helima."

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

Meanwhile, out in the desert at the camp near Hamunaptra several of the Medjai who had been on patrol overnight reported that the foreigners were still there and that they had begun digging. What they were looking for if anything the two scouts didn't know.

Ardeth sighed and knew that these foreigner archeologists would have to be scared away before they managed to raise Imhotep again even if by accident. If the Creature was raised then he would cause a lot of havoc and mass destruction before he was stopped. It was true they had managed to stop him twice before but a lot of lives had been lost in the process both Medjai and innocents and there was also no guarantee that they would be able to stop him a third time.

"Very well," said Ardeth seeming resigned. "Mount up and let's go." All the Medjai complied and they rode out after breaking camp. They were no more than a couple of hours ride away at most if they ran the horses to near exhaustion, Ardeth however, preferred to take it at a fast walk and conserve the horses as much as possible. The archeologist after all couldn't have found anything yet so why wear out the horses unless they had to.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

It was coming on night when the Medjai approached the archeologists camp, swords drawn and Rick with one of his knives in the palm of his hand. The archeologists rose to their feet and several of them drew guns, but before any of them could fire Rick threw the knife he was holding and it hit one of the archeologist's hands that was holding one of the guns making the man drop it and yell in pain. "Don't even think about it," said Rick as he saw another of the archeologist about to fire his gun. "One shot and the next time I won't just aim to injure, I'll aim to kill and that's a promise."

Rick's tone was so menacing that the archeologist dropped his gun in pure fright.

"If it's money you want—" An older man began. By his accent he sounded Spanish.

"We do not want money," said Ardeth. "We are not robbers. What we want is for you to leave and never return. If you do not then you will wind up dead. This is your only warning, leave now and live, stay and die. Those are your only two choices."

While Ardeth had been talking the other Medjai had knocked over the archeologists tents and had their horses hooves kick the fire apart.

Ardeth turned away and headed out of the camp the others following, Rick stopping only long enough to retrieve his knife before following.

The archeologists stared after these mysterious strangers until they were out of sight.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

"Think they'll take the warning?" asked Fakir of no one in particular as soon as they were a good distance away.

Rick snorted in disbelief. "I doubt it."

"Why?" asked Jabbar a slim man who was younger then Rick by at least fifteen years.

"What he means Jabbar, is that people looking for treasure are very rarely scared off easily and even if they're there purely to study the ancient city and dig up a few pieces of pottery they still might discover Imhotep and the Book of the Dead which could well prove disastrous," Ardeth explained.

"Ah, I see," said Jabbar finally understanding.

Finally, they all stopped a few hours ride from Hamunaptra and made camp for the night.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

The next day the scouts reported that the archeologists were still there and had started digging again. Ardeth sighed because now he would have to make good on his threat to at least injure a few and possibly kill a few of them. Why couldn't they listen?

"Very well break camp and mount up, we leave in an hour."

The other nodded and went about their silently but efficiently.

Exactly an hour later they rode out their expression grim. Even Rick was internally shaking his head at the stupidity of some people. Of course, admittedly, they didn't know about Imhotep the undead but Rick had a feeling even if they did they wouldn't believe it and would laugh their heads off right up until they died.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

They rode through the camp scimitars drawn and the archeologists and the workmen scattered before them. "We warned you to leave or suffer the consequences," said Ardeth, his sword ripping through a tent as if it was a flesh and blood person. "Now either leave or die!" Ardeth's sword ripped through one of the archeologist's stomach as the man tried to shoot Ardeth with a rifle. The man fell gasping with blood flowing out of the long slash wound the Ardeth's scimitar had caused. "Let that be a warning to you. If I had wanted to kill him I would have. Now leave and take him with you."

"You can't threaten us," protested one of the younger archeologist's.

"Medjai do not make threats," Baghel said in heavily accented English. "Only promises. Now leave and live or stay and die."

"Medjai?" another archeologist asked this one was an older gentlemen with brown hair streaked through with gray and intelligent grey eyes. "Medjai are nothing but myths."

"It doesn't matter who we are," said Ardeth slashing his sword at yet another tent. "Just heed our warning for if you are still here as of tomorrow then we will kill every man and women that remains that that's not just a promise, but a guarantee."

Ardeth turned away and headed away from the archeologists' camp the others following. Rick however remained behind for a moment and said, "I would listen to him folks, my brother doesn't make any promises he won't keep. Just look at what he did to your associate. If my brother had wanted to kill him he'd be dead not merely wounded. Leave while you still live." Rick then turned away and rode after the others who were waiting for him on the top of a sand dune.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

"Think they'll listen this time?" asked Rick.

"I hope so," said Ardeth. "Because if they do not we will be forced to kill them and although that is the last thing I want I will kill them if I must. I will do anything to prevent the Creature from being brought back to life."

"I agree with you there buddy," said Rick grim-faced. "That's the last thing we need. The last time was bad enough, and I don't particularly want to go through that again. Alex kidnapped, Evie killed by the reincarnation of Anck-Su-Namun then brought back to life, me fighting the Scorpion King and then falling into that pit with the spirits trying to grab me by the ankles while I was holding onto the edge of the pit trying to pull myself out. If not for Evie I wouldn't be around talking to you for I'd be dead. She risked her life to pull me out of that pit and at the same time the temple at Ahm Shere was disintegrating all around us. The whole place was falling down around our ears."

"But you survived," Fakir pointed out.

"It was a lot closer then I like to think about. All four of us were on the top of the pyramid and it was sinking into the ground along with the trees and other plant life. I mean where were we supposed to go? At the time up was the only solution. Luckily for us, Izzy had managed to get the dirigible running again and he rescued us just in the nick of time. Not more than a minute after we got on board the Oasis of Ahm Shere sunk into the ground and totally disappeared into the sand."

"Well, I believe Kadin said it best," said Mahir. "He says you are the luckiest man he knows."

"Does he now?" said Rick laughing at hearing himself be described as such.

"He does," Ardeth confirmed with a smile.

"Well, I suppose, I have survived a lot over the years," Rick conceded. "My parents dying of a fever when I was ten, one that I survived. Many minor skirmishes when I was a member of the Foreign Legion. Two run-ins with an undead mummy—"

"Something that would have killed most anyone else," Ardeth pointed out.

"Fighting and killing the Scorpion King and being poisoned," Rick finished. "However, I prefer to think of myself as merely a survivor instead of lucky in a world that could kill me if I'm not careful."

"I think I agree with Kadin," said Fakir. "You are lucky."

Rick shrugged not willing to argue the point.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

The next day two of the Medjai reported that the archeologists were packed up and gone and their tire tracks led back towards Cairo. At this news everyone breathed a sigh of relief but Ardeth suggested that they not celebrate just yet and that they might want to stay around for a couple of days just to be certain they were really gone. "They could come back," Ardeth pointed out. "Let's make sure we really scared them off and it isn't some kind of trick."

The other's agreed and began going about daily chores.

A week later, the archeologists still hadn't returned and Ardeth decided it was safe enough to leave Hamunaptra to another patrol for they had already been out for several months and it was time for them to head home.

All the Medjai helped pack up the camp and within a couple of hours they were on their way back to Hidden City.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~