Chapter 19

The torchlight illuminated the boulders before them, revealing yet more blood staining the stone. The group said nothing as they took in the sight of the stone. But what they had in common was a coldness. They all felt a strange coldness flowing through them at the thought of what their missing friends must have gone through. Given the amount of blood on the boulders in front of them and by the tunnel entrance it was nothing short of a miracle that they were still alive. But the question remained, where were they now? The sand surrounding the boulders was covered in dark red blood, suggesting something had happened here but what? Joey moved his torch light for one blood splatter to another trying to piece together what might have happened but drew a blank. Beside him Tea was looking at the scene with a hand covering her mouth.

"All this… blood it can't be a good thing." She said.

"It's even more reason for us to find them." Joey replied, not taking his eyes off the sand.

"Where would they go from here?"

"They must still be searching for the river." Solomon replied, he was pacing around his eyes locked on the blood, "Unless something else happened."

Joey looked up frowning, "Like what?"

"Well, the prophecy mentioned something else, didn't it?"

Tea frowned, "Only something about eagles falling, or maybe that thing about a wolf? But what would that mean?"

Solomon made to reply but Joey got there first.

He scoffed slightly, "I'm not sure I believe in all this prophecy crap."

"But Joey we all heard that voice," Tristan said, speaking for the first time in a while, "And… they did seemingly survive a fall that should have killed them so I can't help but think what we heard is true."

"But prophecies can't be real," Joey argued, "It makes no sense."

"Think about it," Tristan countered, "If prophecies didn't exist then surely Atem can't exist. Atem always said it was his and Yugi's destiny to save the world and I can't help but think some of that was a prophecy."

Joey let out a breath and looked away for a moment, seemingly taking in the scene but more likely thinking over what the others had just said. Tristan had a point. After all it was impossible to be friends with an actual Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh and not believe that some mystical power was at work. But that meant if the prophecy was indeed playing out then Atem and Yugi must be facing something. But what was it? Surely after all their years with the Pharaoh and going on adventures with him to save the world in various ways that all the threats would be behind them. The question was then who was behind this? But that alone was an impossible question. There was a few more moments of silence before Joey turned back to the others.

"Right ok so the prophecy is real but what does it mean?"

Solomon shook his head, "I can't be sure, could there be any clues? Has Atem mentioned anything to you guys prior to this trip about anything or anyone he was concerned about?"

The others shook their heads. What were they supposed to do? They had no idea where to begin figuring this out. No leads… nothing.

Joey, determined to try and do something, turned away from the group. Moving his torch across the sand he looked at every single blood splatter, trying to determine if the splatters would become a trail once again and give them something to follow. But there was nothing. The sickly bloodied trail ended at these rocks. Despite some odd blood splatters which were further away from the main collection he couldn't find anything to go on. Was this the end of the road?

Something built up within him. No. He'd never give up. Yugi and Atem would never give up on them so he wouldn't give up on them either. He turned to the others and made to speak but he didn't get the chance. Behind them there came the roar of several engines. Turning they saw bright headlights from a number of jeeps all of which were heading towards them. The jeeps slowed to a stop and numerous doors opened. Two people came running towards them, two people they all recognised.

"Solomon!" The professor called.

The professor ran towards them with Elijah right behind him. Solomon tried to smile as they approached but found himself unable to.

"How did you guys find us?" Tristan asked.

"We found that tunnel," Elijah explained, moving to stand next to Tea, "The authorities found it on the inside and we found it on the other side. We saw the blood trail and followed as I assume you all did as well."

"So, you guys have had as much luck as we have." Tea said.

Elijah put a comforting arm around her, glancing at the Professor who was wearing a troubled expression as he took in the scene around them. Behind him a small group of people were approaching, all carrying large torches. Joey watched them as they drew level with the rest of them, all their torches pointing at the various blood on the sand around them.

"So, what now?" Tristan sighed.

There was an odd silence before Elijah spoke, "I'm not sure how much more we can do."

Joey glared at him, "We're not giving up. We're not giving up on them."

Elijah held his hands up as Joey glare seemed to slice him in two.

"I'm not saying that, what I mean is I think we have to step aside and allow these gentlemen to look. They're professionals, I think they are the best chance we have now of finding them."

Silence fell among them for a moment as they all became lost in their own thoughts. Around them the authorities were still inspecting the area as the wind picked up slightly. One of the members moved over to the group who were still not speaking.

"I think it would be best if you returned to your camp." He said, his tone firm, "We shall continue the search and provide you will regular updates."

"To hell with that." Joey snapped, "We're not going anywhere."

"I appreciate your concern for your friends but there is change in the air and if we do not find them before that change then it damages our chances further."

"Change? What change?"

"If we are right then you will understand soon but for now you must return to your camp."

Joey opened his mouth to respond further but the professor interrupted him.

"I know this is hard Joey but its better for Yugi and Atem that we let the professionals take it from here."

Joey looked at the professor before his gaze found Solomon's who smiled sadly. He looked around at the others before letting out a sigh. He didn't want to give up but perhaps the professor was right. Closing his eyes briefly he nodded, not happy with the decision but knowing there was not much more he could do. He stared at the blood stains for a moment before reluctantly following the others into one of the waiting jeeps.

No one spoke as the professor, who was driving, began heading back in the direction of the dig site. Each of them was once more thinking though the events of the past few days. For those fully aware of the prophecy they were trying to decipher exactly what it meant. Joey couldn't help but begin to wonder whether the reason they hadn't found Yugi or Atem was because they weren't supposed to. Whatever the prophecy truly meant, what if it was something that only those two were supposed to solve. Even so that wouldn't stop him for searching. He would go back and give these so called professionals time to search which would give him time to recover his own strength before once more setting off to find his friends. He would never give up.

It took a while but finally the trailers appeared on the horizon. In some ways they all hoped, as the jeep slowed to a stop, that they would see the two people they were looking for suddenly appear and ask where'd they'd been. But the only people who they saw were the others members of the dig, they were anxious for news but given the looks on their faces they knew it wasn't good. Elijah moved round the jeep and took Tea's hand before leading her away towards her trailer. Joey and Tristan weren't far behind, they walked towards their own trailer without a word. Solomon watched his grandson's friends retreat before letting out a sigh. He felt Marcus place a comforting hand on his shoulder as he passed, heading towards his own trailer. Closing his eyes Solomon took a steading breath, trying to control the raging emotions. But when he closed his eyes memories of the two boys played out in his mind's eye. He recalled a moment only a few weeks ago where he'd come back from a trip away to loud music playing from upstairs. Upon investigating he'd found Yugi and Atem in the living room. Yugi had been on his feet dancing along to a fast-paced song. The former Pharaoh had been watching from nearby with a look of amusement on his face. Solomon had caught a rare moment of naivety from the former Pharaoh as he asked Yugi what exactly he was doing. Yugi went on to try and explain the concept of the air guitar but given Atem's facial expression he hadn't quite understood it.

Solomon opened his eyes, a tear slid down his face. He took another breath before moving forwards, however he did not move towards his own trailer. Instead, he walked past all of them heading deep into the camp and towards the various tents set up near the actual dig site. He idly wondered as he walked whether the dig had continued or whether the whole thing had paused whilst they tried to locate the two missing boys. He walked past a number of tents before moving towards the entrance to one. He cast a careful look around before entering. Inside the tent was various tables, all with boxes piled on top. The boxes contained various things that they'd found during the dig. Slowly, quietly he looked through each box searching for something. It was a slow search as at any slight noise from outside he paused, not wanting anyone to find him. But eventually a small object came into view. Solomon picked up the ring, examining it. Atem's father's ring. He turned the ring over a few times before clasping it tightly in his fist and heading out of the tent. He knew that once they found them that Atem would want it, after all he had every right to it and Solomon would make sure he got it. He past no one on his journey back to his trailer but when he reached the door he paused, turning to look at the trailer directly across from his. From its darkened interior it would appear as though Yugi and Atem were asleep but they were not… they were not even there. He glanced up at the sky sending out a prayer to whoever would listen, a plea to bring them back safely, before heading inside his trailer and pulling the door shut behind him.

The trailers were silent, all were dark as the occupants slept or at least tried to. The other thing that moved was an eagle perched atop one. Its dark beady eyes scanned the area yet there was still no movement. Spreading its wings, it took one strong beat to lift itself into the air. Climbing into the sky it began to move away from the trailers back into the open desert. It took a couple of strong beats with its wings before it began gliding, all the time its beady eyes scanning the ground below. It took in the pin pricks of tiny lights which moved across the desert but paid it no mind. The eagle soared through the air, dipping its wing slightly to make a graceful turn. Its eyes soon found thick black smoke which rose from the ground. The eagle circled the smoke for a moment before its eyes found a nearby tree. The tree wasn't vacant though another eagle was perched one of its branches. In the air the eagle began a gentle dive, gracefully lowering its altitude until it was able to land in the tree one branch higher than the other eagle. The other eagle paid this eagle no mind and together the two eagles scanned the scene below them.

Het sat before the fire, throwing a stone in the air before catching it and throwing it again. Before him the fire crackling happily as it burnt its plentiful supply of wood. He made no movement other than throwing the stone, he didn't move as a few of his friends hurried past him all heading in the same direction. It was only as the quiet night was disturbed by the sounds of malicious laughter that he paused, stone in hand, and turned in the direction of the laughter. A short distance away his friends were standing in an almost circle all looking at something on the floor which Het couldn't see. He watched the malevolent looks on their faces and the laughs and each took a turn to kick or hit the thing on the floor. Het watched this for a while, a complete look of indifference on his face before getting to his feet, chucking the stone into the fire. Moving away from the group, who was still laughing cruelly, he moved towards one of the various tents and ducked inside. His eyes immediately found the person crouched on the floor, his hands tied behind his back. The boy looked up and Het noted the tear tracks staining his face. His expression twisted to one of mock sympathy.

"Oh dear," He taunted, "What's wrong with the little boy? Why so sad?"

Yugi's eyes burned as he held his gaze, "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" He paused, waiting until he could he the sounds coming from outside, "Oh that? Well, I would say we are doing a public service wouldn't you?"

Yugi didn't break his eye contact with Het, he made no response only continued to glare at him. There was a brief moment of silence which was only broken by the sounds coming from outside. Sounds which Yugi tried hard not to think about. He didn't want to imagine what his closest friend was dealing with at this moment. Het was considering Yugi, a frown on his face.

"Why did you try to defend him?" Het asked, eventually, "You could have walked away from here had you not covered for him."

"He's my friend." Yugi replied, "And you have no right to do this to him. What has he ever done to you? You don't even know him."

Het moved over to Yugi and took a seat opposite him, "Oh but I do. His story has been past done through the many generations of my family. My family know him or should I say we know what he did and he has to pay for that."

Yugi shook his head in disbelief, "Pay for what? If you know him then you know everything he's done for all of us."

"Ah well settle in boy." Het replied, "I have a story to tell."