Disclaimer: The characters of Evelyn Carnahan, Jonathan Carnahan, Rick O'Connell and Ardeth Bay are the property of Stephen Sommers. I am in no way making any money off this. The character of Emma O'Connell is my own. Just having fun.
This story is rated: PG-13
The author of this story welcomes any advice or comments: teddybear_91730@yahoo.com
Prologue
Almost a year had passed since that fateful day when Evelyn Carnahan had opened the Book of the Dead, not knowing the catastrophic events she was about to set off by reading from the ancient text. It had been a life changing experience. Not just for her, but for the three others that had helped her return Imhotep to the grave. Each one learning something about themselves and about the ones they were with.
For Evelyn, she had a healthy respect for curses now. No longer were they words on a page or stories that her father used to tell her when she was little. They were very real and should be feared. She also discovered the importance of keeping treasure seekers and those who would try to find Imhotep's remains away from Hamanaptra. As the new curator of the Cairo Museum of Antiquities, she was in a position to do just that. Just as Dr. Bey, the former curator had tried to do with her and Jonathan. But most importantly, she had discovered love.
For Jonathan, his life did an about face. Though he didn't give up drinking, he did give up being a drunk. He was more responsible, but still had an uncanny way of getting out of doing any real hard work. And though he still desired riches, he tended to stay away from the places that even hinted of a curse being present. Therefore, when he heard about a dig that was several hundred miles away, in the opposite direction of Hamanaptra, he signed on, thinking he needed a change for a while.
For Richard O'Connell, adventurer, former member of the French Foreign Legion, he discovered that being an adventurer was not what it was all cracked up to be. As far as he was concerned, the best thing to come out of the whole Hamanaptra disaster was Evelyn. She was all the adventure he needed, so, he married her. He figured it was the only way to keep her out of further trouble.
And for Ardeth Bay: hardened warrior, leader of the Med-jai. What he experienced had changed him and how he looked at life. He had returned to his tribe a hero. His men would follow him into hell now, if he asked, but what Ardeth Bay wanted, his men could not give him. There was something missing in his life that he couldn't put his finger on and it made him restless. And though he still had no use for the foreigners that came in and out of Cairo, he considered 3 of them his friends, especially Rick and Evy. Friendship was still a new thing to Ardeth. The men he lead where comrades, fellow warriors, men he trusted with his life, but none that he would consider a real friend. But there was one thing that would never change for the Med-jai leader and that was Hamanaptra.
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Chapter One
Ardeth Bay sat uneasily on his restless black Arabian stallion upon the hilltop. Reaching down he patted his horse gently, mumbling soft, soothing words in Arabic until the horse stilled. All the horses were jittery tonight and had been for several days now. That made the Med-jai warriors nervous. Something was not right. The horses sensed something and the Med-jai warriors learned long ago to trust their horse's instincts.
For the past year, the ruins of Hamanaptra had lay in peace. And although Imhotep had been defeated, the Med-jai never gave up their vigil over the City of the Dead. Keeping treasure seekers away was still their main focus, though not many had come around recently. Then suddenly, a few days ago, the mysterious winds that use to blow through Hamanaptra before its destruction a year ago, were suddenly blowing once again whipping the sand around in an unnatural way. That was not a good sign.
"So, it begins again." Ardeth breathed softly in Arabic as he and his men continued to watch over the buried city.
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The first thing people noticed about Emma O'Connell were her eyes; the second was her smile. Her eyes were the color of sapphires and when she smiled her cheeks were accented with a dimple in each. Her long raven colored hair, which hung down to her waist, was neatly pulled back into one long braid that hung down her back. In coloring, Rick and Emma were totally opposite; Emma had inherited her coloring from their mother's side of the family, which traced back to Egypt.
It was the stories that her mother passed on to her about their Egyptian descendants that ignited a love for Egypt and it's history in Emma. She had gone to school and like Evelyn had learned to read and write Ancient Egyptian, and decipher hieroglyphs. She also had a fairly decent command of the Arabic language, which was improving now that she was living here in Cairo and able to use it more.
Emma had envied her brother when she learned he had joined the French Foreign Legion. His letters to her, though few, were loaded with details of the places he had visited and the things he had done. That was where Emma and her brother were the same. They both had a thirst for adventure having inherited that wondrous trait from their father, who was an adventurer himself until their mother settled him down. He would tell them stories about the places he'd been and the things he'd done. Their mother hadn't been very happy about their adventure streak. It used to get them in a lot of trouble back in Chicago, where they had grown up. Rick, being the protective brother, had taught Emma how to fight and use a gun and to their mothers horror even taught her to fight with a sword. And while Rick's adventurous streak had finally led him to joining the French Foreign Legion, Emma, because she was a woman, had to direct hers in a more scholarly manner and even then she met with some resistance.
When some months had gone by and she hadn't received a letter from Rick, she had begun to worry. She was living in London when she finally received a letter from him inviting her to come to Cairo, that he had secured a job for her at the Cairo Museum of Antiquities if she wanted it. It would mainly be librarian type work, but it would be a good start for her, his letter had said. As if she would say no. Emma had packed her stuff and had jumped on the first boat she could get a ticket on, her dreams finally coming true.
Emma had been thrilled when she found out that her new boss was also going to be her new sister-in-law. Her and Evelyn had much in common and they quickly became friends. Shortly after her arrival, Rick had told her about Hamanaptra and how Evy had accidentally raised Imhotep, a High Priest who had been cursed with the hom-dai. Emma had been surprised, but not shocked at what he had told her. She had done a thesis on Pharaoh Seti while at university and it had included Imhotep and his betrayal. But like Evelyn, Emma never heard of the hom-dai actually being performed. In all her research, Emma was never able to find anything on Imhotep's punishment. Now she knew why nothing was ever recorded.
That had been eight months ago and the library was nearly back to its original form. Evelyn had never taken the time to clean it up after discovering the map leading to Hamanaptra, so when she had returned to take over the curator's job, it was waiting for her like an annoying mosquito that just didn't want to go away. With Emma's help though, they had been able to get it back into some semblance of order in a short time. Emma loved her job and had tackled it with an energy she had thought long gone. But it was at times like these, when a new crate full of old books came in that Emma was truly happy. It was through these old books that she had her adventures now.
"How ya doing, sis?" Rick asked as he stuck his head into the library.
Emma smiled glancing up at her brother, but continued to unload the books from the crate. "Good evening, Richard. We just got a new shipment of books in this afternoon."
"Great." Rick answered, pretending to be thrilled, but doing a lousy job at it. He walked over to where his sister stood unloading the books and kissed her on the forehead, "You need to get out more, Emma. I worry about you when you get all excited about a crate full of books."
The dark blue skirt and matching top Emma was wearing caused her sapphire eyes to really stand out against her dark hair and olive complexion. It worried Rick that Emma chose to lose herself in books instead of going out and meeting young men. But at least here he knew she wasn't getting into trouble. Still though, she was a very pretty young woman and deserved a good man to take care of her. Rick suddenly thought of his old buddy Ardeth Bay. Now there would be a match, Rick snickered to himself, knowing that Emma would drive Ardeth up the proverbial wall. Rick's snicker turned to a frown. Ardeth and Emma? Where the hell had that thought come from?
Shaking the thought out of his head, Rick picked up one of the books that had been placed on the table; he read the title out loud, 'The History of Egyptian Ancient Burial and Mummification Practices.' I can't believe you find this stuff interesting."
Emma frowned at her brother and grabbed the book from his hand, glancing down at it. "Somebody has to find it interesting, big brother. After all, if it wasn't for Evy's interest in and knowledge of Ancient Egyptian, you would have never made it out of Hamanaptra alive a year ago."
"No," Rick replied, drawing out the "o" dramatically. "If it wasn't for Evy, we would never have had the problem in Hamanaptra in the first place."
Emma waved him off with a flick of her wrist, "Be that as it may, this stuff is very fascinating. Besides, knowledge is power. Evy may have woke up Imhotep, but at least she had the power to put him back down." Emma retorted.
"Well I can't argue with that. I sure as hell couldn't stop him with my barbaric, unschooled ways." Rick answered sarcastically.
Emma stuck her tongue out at him and continued to remove books from the crate.
"Speaking of Evy, where is the little woman, anyways?" Rick glanced around the room. I thought she was supposed to be in here helping you."
Emma took the last book out of the crate and moved the crate off the table placing it on the floor. "She was, but she got called away. Something about a problem with the east side of the museum that was damaged during Imhotep's attempted takeover." Emma picked up the record book from the table and sat down. She would have to record what was received before she could catalogue them.
"Cute. We are going to dinner. Do you think you can drag yourself away from these ancient books long enough to join us?" Rick asked as he headed for the door to hunt down his wife.
"No, I want to finish this before it gets too late." Emma picked up a pen and a book and began entering the information into the record book.
Rick shook his head, but smiled at his sister. "Alright, but don't be here all night. I won't be very happy with you if Evy makes me come get you in the middle of the night."
Emma glanced up at her big brother and smiled, dimples showing, "I promise I won't be late."
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Chapter 2
Two hours later, Emma picked up the last book to be catalogued. "Ancient Egyptian Curses," Emma read out loud. "Hello, what have we here."
Emma could tell right away that the book was very old. The cover was worn, the binding coming apart in places. Opening the book, the pages were thin and yellow with age. Emma began to flip through the pages carefully until one caught her eye. "Oh, my!" she breathed as she sat up straight, opening the book to study the page more closely. "I don't believe it. There is an entire chapter here on the hom-dai."
The hom-dai. The very curse that had been placed on Imhotep more than three thousand years ago. The very curse that had almost gotten her brother, Evy, Jonathan and their Med-jai friend killed. Not much was known about the hom-dai. According to Bembridge Scholars no one had ever been cursed with the hom-dai. Little did they know? But then again, the curse on He Who Shall Not Be Named was safely guarded by the Med-jai. Only rumors and stories were told about a mummy that lay beneath Hamanaptra. Stories that were used to frighten fortune seekers away from the City of the Dead. What little information that had been discovered about the old ancient curse was this: if a victim of the hom-dai where to ever arise, he would bring with him the ten plagues of Egypt. Which, thanks to Evy, was no longer a myth, but a proven fact.
Emma began to read. The further she got into the chapter, the more terrified she became. According to this book, the incantation Evy had read from the book of Amun-Ra had not been enough. There were three incantations that had to be read in order to destroy a victim of the hom-dai. If what Rick and Evy had told her was true, Evy had only read one of them, the incantation to make Imhotep mortal. If Evy had read further into the book, she would have discovered the other two, the incantation to permanently kill him and the incantation to completely remove the curse so he could never rise again. If not done correctly, if only one of the incantations were read, then one year later, the victim of the hom-dai would rise once again. The good news was he would still be mortal; the bad news was that when he did rise, the only person who could destroy him was the person who originally read the first incantation, and they had to be present to finish what they had started by reading the other two. The even more bad news was if anyone other than the person who read the first incantation read the other two, the curse would reverse itself and the hom-dai victim would not only become immortal once again, but he would be literally unstoppable. The Book of Amun-Ra would no longer be able to stop him.
Emma suddenly slammed the book shut and bolted up from her chair knocking it over. "Oh my god!" she croaked. "One year." The one-year anniversary should be coming up in the next week or so, Emma thought. "I've got to find Rick and Evy."
Hearing a noise behind her, Emma turned suddenly to see a strange man coming at her from the shadow of the stacks. Emma gasped as she quickly side stepped the man causing him to crash into the table loaded with the recently received books, tipping the table over and scattering the books everywhere. Emma turned to run, but a strong arm came around her slamming her back up against a very unmovable chest. Another arm came up towards her face carrying a handkerchief full of chloroform. Emma tried to struggle, but the chloroform was beginning to do its job and her struggles became weaker and weaker until she blacked out.
Emma woke slowly. Her head felt like a herd of wild horses had just ran over it. She was in an awkward position and for the life of her, she could not figure out what was happening. She peaked one eye open, then the other and found herself looking at sand as it passed by. She was lying across a horse. Her hands and feet tied. What on earth? Then she remembered. The book! It all came back to her. Reading the book, needing to tell Rick and Evy what she had found, being attacked, and then nothing.
"She's awake, Gerald." Emma heard a man's whinny voice from behind her.
The horse stopped and a few moments later Emma felt hands pulling her from the horse. She landed in a heap on the ground. Her legs were numb from the hours of being tied and thrown across a horse. Looking up, Emma saw two men standing over her. Emma noticed that one was short, fat and balding, and the other was well, short, fat and balding. Emma giggled. For some reason she found that very amusing. "They were like two peas in a pod." Her mom would say.
Hearing her giggling, the whinny voiced man complained, "I told you, you used too much chloroform."
"Shut up, Bernie!" The man on the left growled. "Good afternoon Miss O'Connell. Nice of you to finally join us."
Emma sobered up as she thought of her situation. These men knew her name. That was not good. Looking around her, she saw a medium size caravan of camels and horses. There were about 15 or 20 men, most of them were natives. The others looked like bodyguards or something. They wore guns and she noticed rifles sheathed in the saddles. These men were definitely up to something and it couldn't be anything good."
Why have you kidnapped me?" She demanded returning her gaze to the man on the left.
"Tsk, tsk, Miss O'Connell. Kidnap is such a strong word. We merely like to think that we are borrowing you for a while." The man on the left answered. "By-the-way, I am Gerald Tate and this is my associate, Bernard Wilmington."
"Why do men always say they are borrowing, when they really are stealing?" Emma asked more to herself than to her captors. Then, "If I am not being kidnapped, then why am I here and why am I tied up?"
Gerald brought out a small knife. "Merely a formality, Miss O'Connell. Merely a formality." He then knelt down and cut the rope off from around her hands and feet. "We are much too far into the desert now to worry about you trying to run away."
"Which brings me back to my original question, why have you kid, um, borrowed me?" Emma asked again as she tried to stand up.
"Why, to perform the ritual of course." Answered Bernard. His whinny voice was really irritating.
"Oh, of course. Why didn't I think of that?" Emma replied sarcastically, smacking the palm of her hand to her forehead. I've got myself a couple of real winners here, Emma thought to herself.
"We are going to Hamanaptra, Miss O'Connell. We will find the book of Amun-Ra and you will help us raise, Imhotep for good." Gerald stated. He reached into his back pocket and brought out a handkerchief and dabbed the sweat off his forehead.
Emma stared at the two men, stunned. It was a moment before she found her voice. "You can't be serious. Are you insane? Haven't you heard what happened the last time he was raised? Besides, what makes you think I can do anything?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact we have heard what happened last time. And as far as what you can do, why, my dear, you will be the catalyst. Don't play dumb with me. I am quite aware of the book the Museum received yesterday." Gerald paused, looking up at the clear sky. The sun was high overhead now and it was unbearably hot. "We might as well set up here and rest. We've been traveling all night and all morning. The animals need the rest and quite frankly, it's miserably hot."
Gerald turned and motioned to one of the armed men, who immediately walked over. "Miss O'Connell, I want you to meet Mr. Simms. He will be the one who will deal with you if you should cause any trouble."
Mr. Simms was a giant of a man. He was well over 6 feet and he had an ugly scar that slashed across his left cheek. He must have been the brick wall chest that she had run into at the museum. Gerald then turned and gave Mr. Simms some instructions that Emma couldn't make out. Mr. Simms nodded once, turned and left.
Gerald turned to walk away, too, but stopped and turned back to Emma, who was checking out the vast desert. "By-the-way, Miss O'Connell."
Emma turned her attention back to Gerald Tate. "Mr. Simms simply has orders to not kill you. If you should try to escape or are uncooperative in any way, he has my permission to deal with you however he sees fit. Do you understand?"
Emma nodded, and sent up a little prayer that Rick would discover her missing soon and come after her. Fortunately, the Med-jai still kept watch over the fallen city and attacked those who tried to uncover it. Hopefully they would stop these idiots before they could find the book of Amun-Ra and reverse the curse. And hopefully they would not kill her in the process.
Chapter Three
It was late by the time Rick and Evy left their favorite restaurant. Hand in hand, they slowly made their way back to their house, which was located close to the Museum, which they had to pass on the way.
"Mmmmm, that was a lovely meal, as usual." Evy commented looking up at her handsome husband.
Rick smiled down at his wife of a few months and leaned down and dropped a kiss on her perky little nose. "Yes, it was. But dessert will be even better."
"Richard O'Connell, you are a cad." Evy scolded in mock indignation, giving his arm a swat. But her laughing eyes, ladled with desire betrayed her true feelings.
As they passed by the Museum, Rick noticed the lights inside were still on. He frowned, "Em said she wouldn't be late tonight, but the lights are still on."
"Oh I wouldn't worry, Rick. You know how your sister is when a new shipment of books comes in. I am sure she just got involved with reading one and has forgotten the time." Evy replied trying to draw her husband home for the "dessert" that had been promised.
"I worry about her, Evy. She practically lives in that library. She needs to get out and meet some people." Rick said concerned.
"Well, maybe we should introduce her to someone." Evy suggested.
"Like who?" Rick looked down at his wife with an eyebrow raised. "Nobody around here that I know of could deal with her."
"Richard O'Connell, I swear, you can be so mean sometimes." Evy playfully punched his arm. "Maybe we could introduce her to Ardeth the next time he comes to Cairo."
"Why in hell would we do that?" Rick replied quickly, remembering his own thoughts earlier that evening about Emma and Ardeth.
"Richard, watch your language." Evy chided then continued with her thought. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with introducing the two of them to each other."
"If we introduce Ardeth to Emma, he will never speak to me again." Rick began, "Emma has a way of doing her own thing. In fact she reminds me a lot of you. She never does what she's told and has to argue about everything. He would probably kill her within 10 minutes of meeting her, and then he'd come after me. And quite frankly, I've already been on the other end of his scimitar once and I don't wish to be there again." Rick finished, feeling he'd made his point.
"Well, really, Richard, you're the one who said she needed to get out and meet people." Evy blustered.
"I know. I'm sorry. Listen, I'm going to go check on her. I don't want to have to come back here in a couple of hours to fetch her." Rick tugged on Evy's hand and she consented, following him up the steps to the front door of the museum.
When they entered the library a few minutes later, Evy gasped out loud at the overturned table and books strewn all over the floor. Rick let go of Evy's hand, "Stay here." He commanded and ventured into the room, drawing out one of his revolvers from under his jacket.
"Emma?" Rick called out, looking around the room.
Evy came up behind Rick, placing her hand on his shoulder, Rick jumped and spun around, his heart in his throat. "Dammit Evy, don't you ever listen?"
"Of course I listen, I just don't always obey." Rick wanted to throttle her right now, but he was too concerned about Emma.
"I don't think she is here, Rick." Evy ventured over to the books scattered on the floor. She looked back over at Rick with a worried expression, "I think she has been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped?" Rick repeated surprised. "Why would someone kidnap Emma?"
"Emma would never leave the library like this. We are too much alike and I know she would never leave this mess." Evy bent over and picked up a book, looking at the title of the old, worn cover. Ancient Egyptian Curses.
"I'm going to go have a look in the back. Will you be okay here?" Rick asked.
"Yes." Evy answered as she opened the book and found a marker placed at the fifth chapter. Evy recognized it as one that Emma used. A chill ran up her spine as she read the title of the chapter. Quickly she began to read the chapter on the hom-dai.
A few minutes later, Evy slammed the book shut much like Emma had earlier. "Rick!" Evy screamed.
Rick came bursting back through the doorway gun ready. Seeing Evy was quite safe, he quipped, "What the hell was that for?"
"I know why Emma was kidnapped. My god, Rick, what we did wasn't enough." Evy was beginning to shake.
Rick rushed over to Evy and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. Evy clung to him, the memories of what had happened a year ago rushing back to her. So clear were the memories that it could have happened yesterday.
"Take it easy, sweetheart." Rick pulled back a bit so he could see Evy's face, but he continued to hold her close. "Tell me what you found."
Evy showed Rick the book and the marker that was placed at chapter five. "This is Emma's marker." Evy tapped it with her finger, indicating that Emma had obviously read the chapter. "This whole chapter is on the hom-dai."
"Okay, but what does that have to do with Emma?" Rick asked confused.
Evy quickly told Rick what she had found in the chapter. "And," Evy finished, "if Emma is forced to read the last two incantations from the book of Amun-Ra, it will undo the first incantation and Imhotep will be freed." Evy paused for effect. "Permanently."
"Ah hell!" Rick ran a hand over his face. "Here we go again."
Rick let go of Evy and turned to leave. "Come on."
Bring the book with her, Evy had to run to keep up with Rick's long strides. "Where are we going?"
"Where do you think? Hamanaptra." Rick picked up his pace as a thought occurred to him. "Ah, hell!"
"What now?"
"I just hope we can get there before Ardeth and his 'shoot first and ask questions later' boys take out my baby sister."
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Chapter 4
Ardeth Bay and the Med-jai warriors watched as the group of men below set up camp. From their perch up on the hill, they had a clear view of the city below. It was almost mid-day and the group had arrived not more than an hour before. It had been a while since the last group came. With the destruction of the City of the Dead, fewer groups were coming. Most wanted easy riches and Hamanaptra was no longer easy to get to, being buried under the sand.
Idiots! All of them. Ardeth thought to himself. They have no clue as to what lied beneath.
"Will we attack?" Abdul, Ardeth's second in command asked in Arabic.
"After night fall." He answered and continued to watch.
"What about the woman. It appears she is a prisoner."
Ardeth's gaze moved over to where the woman sat, tied up, in the shade of the still standing Anubis. If they had kidnapped a woman, chances were, they weren't gold seekers. This woman would be a sacrifice. Damn! He hated it when that happened.
"Do not harm her. If she survives the attack, I want her brought to me." Ardeth shifted in his saddle as he continued to watch the woman. Though her coloring was that of an Egyptian woman, her clothing told him that she was a foreigner. The first tendrils of desire curled deep within him as he watched her stretch and move around in the sand, trying to find a comfortable position. He blinked in surprise as he recognized the stirring and immediately stamped it down focusing his attention back on the men below.
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Emma never realized how uncomfortable sand could be until you were forced to sit in it for hours on end. As she looked around at the ruined city, she could only imagine what it had looked like in its prime. Hamanaptra, City of the Dead. Now, three thousand years later it was a pile of rubble and sand. A few pillars still stood here and there and of course Anubis was still here to lend his eerie presence. Looking up, Emma noticed that the men in black robes on top of the hill were still watching them. She had seen Mr. Simms point them out to Gerald Tate when they had first arrived. She hoped that they were the Med-jai that Rick had told her about. Their leader, Ardeth Bay, was a friend of Rick's and she hoped that they wouldn't kill her before she could tell them who she was and about the information she had found in the book. According to Rick, the Med-jai had waited to attack them until after nightfall, so Emma sat back in the shade to wait patiently. There wasn't much she could do anyways, even if she did manage to escape. So she amused herself with watching the natives who'd been hired as diggers moving rocks and rubble. The other men, the one's with the guns, kept watch. Mr. Simms kept his gaze toward the hilltop. Occasionally, she would hear Gerald bark an order, but she would cringe every time she heard Bernard and that whinny voice of his. Boy he complained a lot. Emma still hadn't figured out what his purpose was here, except maybe to irritate the hell out of her.
As night fell, the men began gathering around the campfires to eat. Emma had also been brought in closer to the others. She had her own tent and her own campfire, which she was currently parked in front of.
Gerald Tate, who was obviously the leader of this mess, brought her a plate with some dates, cheese, bread and some dried meat on it. He also handed her a canteen with some water in it. "Eat. I won't have a skinny sacrifice."
Emma blinked in surprise at his statement. "Wait a minute, I thought I was just suppose to read from the book?" She stammered. "Whinny boy over there didn't say anything about being a sacrifice."
"He didn't?" Gerald feigned surprise. "Shall I have him come over here and tell you now?"
"Don't bother. I couldn't stand to hear him whine." Emma growled.
"Temper, temper, my dear." Gerald smiled. "Eat your food, now like a good girl."
"Do you mind untying me? It's a little hard to get the food to my mouth with my hands tied." Emma said sweetly.
"Alright, but do not try to escape. You will be no use to me dead, but I can make you wish you were." Gerald threatened as he bent over and removed the ropes from her hands.
"Now why would I want to escape? Isn't it every girls dream to raise the devil and be a sacrifice?" She grumbled as she began to eat.
Gerald snorted at her sarcasm. "You should be honored to be the sacrifice."
Emma stopped eating and looked up at Gerald. He really wasn't that bad as short fat men go, but she couldn't fathom why he would want to rise up a victim of the hom-dai. "Why Gerald?" finally putting her thoughts to words. "Why are you doing this?"
"You could never understand." Gerald answered gruffly. "Men like me are laughed at and never taken seriously. You'll never know what it is like to be humiliated and called names." Gerald glared at her, the hate she saw there caused her to lean back a bit. "With Imhotep, I will have power beyond imagining. I'll show those bastards who the real man is." He spat as he whirled away from her and stormed away.
"With Imhotep, my sad little friend, you'll be dead ten seconds after I am." Emma said softly to herself, shaking her head. She really wasn't hungry anymore, but she figured she'd better eat something. She would need her strength for when the Med-jai attacked.
Simms' had his men standing watch, but they still weren't prepared for the powerful onslaught that the Med-jai dished out. It was late and Emma had just about given up hope that the Med-jai would attack tonight when she heard the warrior's battle cry as they swept in on the unsuspecting group. She heard gunshots as she jumped up and pushed open the tent flap. What she saw was utter chaos as Simms' men ran around grabbing their guns and the diggers scattering every which way. The Med-jai warriors were everywhere, swinging their scimitar's killing every one in their path. Emma crept out of her tent and made her way over to a fallen stone beam. Crouching down behind it she waited for her chance. As the minutes passed, Emma could only hear the sounds of gunshots and screaming. She even thought she heard Bernard's whinny voice, but it stopped after a while.
Finally, one of the diggers fell a few feet from her, dropping his rifle. Seeing this as her opportunity, she snatched up the rifle, checked to make sure it was loaded, and slowly began to make her way around the camp. Several times she had found herself in the path of a Med-jai warrior, but they had passed her by with barely a glance. It finally occurred to her that the Med-jai where ignoring her. She hurried past several as they chased down the intruders, but they paid her no attention. Rounding one of the still standing giant pillars, she saw a Med-jai warrior with a gold scimitar. Standing before him was Mr. Simms, who also had a scimitar that he must have removed from a dead Med-jai warrior. Facing each other, they began the fight. Mr. Simms' fought well for a while, but he was no match for the highly trained warrior, and the warrior finally overcame Simms, cutting him down with his golden scimitar.
Looking around to see where he might be needed next, the warrior suddenly turned and looked right at her. The intensity of his stare caused Emma to take a step back. This was one man she did not want as an enemy, she decided. The warrior raised his hand to his face and pulled down the material that covered his nose and mouth. Emma sucked in her breath at the sight of him. He was taller than the other warriors. His dark eyes showed neither friendliness nor hostility, but they watched her closely to see what she would do. She could see his hair underneath his headdress resting in dark curls against his shoulders. A neatly trimmed beard framed full lips and the tattoos across each cheek gave him an otherworldly look. He was incredibly handsome and Emma found it hard to look away from his intense stare.
Taking a step toward her, he started to speak to her, but movement from behind the warrior caught her eye and she focused on the man behind him raising his gun to shoot the warrior in the back. Emma took two quick steps forward; raising the rifle to her shoulder she took aim at the warrior. "Get down." She yelled in Arabic. The warrior dropped immediately and Emma pulled the trigger.
Ardeth didn't know what to make of the woman before him. She held a rifle in her hands, but didn't seem in a hurry to use it on him. Taking a step toward her, he meant to tell her he would not harm her, but her gaze suddenly shifted from him and seemed to focus behind him. She stepped forward quickly raising the rifle to her shoulder.
Ardeth didn't know what amazed him more. Hearing her speak his language or hearing her telling him to get down. But he questioned neither and dropped to the sandy floor just as her rifle fired. Looking quickly behind him, he saw a man, with a gun, slump to the ground, dead with a bullet through his forehead. His first thought was she was a good shot; his second thought was she had just saved his life. He turned back to the woman, but she was gone. Only the rifle she had carried lay on the ground. Getting up quickly he hurried over to where she had stood. Looking around, he finally spotted her being dragged off by a short, fat man.
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Chapter 5
The battle was over. The ruins of the city where covered with the blood and bodies of the dead. Ardeth Bay walked towards the man holding the woman hostage. His golden scimitar was sheathed at his waist.
"Stop right there or I will slit her throat." Gerald growled. He held a knife to Emma's throat with one hand; his other was wrapped snuggly around her waist holding her tightly against him.
"Gerald, you really don't want to do this." Emma pleaded with him as he continued to drag her with him.
"Shut up, shut up!" he growled at her.
Ardeth stopped a few feet from them. His gaze locked with the woman's. She managed to give him a small smile, faintly revealing dimples in each cheek. It was as if she were saying to him, "Hey, remember me? I'm the one that just saved your life back there." It was then that Ardeth noticed that her eyes were the color of sapphires. This caught him by surprise. He'd never seen a woman with eyes that color before. But what surprised him even more was why in the name of Allah was he noticing that now?
Bringing his focus back to the current situation, he forced his gaze up to the little fat man and barked orders to his men in Arabic. The Med-jai warriors surrounded them barring any escape.
"You have no where to go. Let the woman go." Ardeth commanded in perfect English.
Gerald pushed the knife further into Emma's skin. Emma cried out in pain as the point of the knife pierced the skin on her neck, causing a trickle of blood to run down her throat. The cold, dead look that Ardeth gave Gerald Tate caused Emma to shudder. Suddenly she felt very sorry for Mr. Tate.
"Miss O'Connell and I are going to get on a horse over there and we are going to ride out of here. If you or your men try to follow, I will slit her throat."
Ardeth froze at the mention of the woman's name. Miss O'Connell? He had never met Rick's sister, but Rick had told him the last time he was in Cairo that his sister was working at the Museum now. "Sons of the Pharaohs!" Ardeth cursed softly in Arabic. This changed everything. He'd have to try a different tactic. Ardeth didn't think Rick would appreciate it if he got his sister killed.
Out loud, Ardeth barked out some more commands to his men in Arabic and the Med-jai warriors began to fall away. Gerald seeing the warriors backing off eased up with the knife and began pulling Emma toward one of the horses. Emma's eyes never left the man she now knew had to be Ardeth Bay. Fear that he was going to allow Gerald to take her began to well up inside her. Panic began to overwhelm her and she began to struggle.
"Be still, Miss O'Connell. I have no problem with killing you." Gerald growled in her ear. And as if to prove the point, he pushed the blade into her neck again, pricking her skin.
Since she had told him to get down, in Arabic earlier Ardeth hoped she did indeed speak his language. Regaining eye contact with her, he spoke softly to her in Arabic, "Go with him and stay alive. I know who you are and I will come for you."
Emma stopped her struggle then, nodding her head indicating she understood and allowed Gerald to put her on the horse. Gerald climbed up behind her and sent the horse galloping off into the dark.
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Chapter 6
They had been traveling for several hours and Emma could see that the dawn was quickly coming. Had she misunderstood Ardeth when he said he knew who she was and that he would come for her? She knew her Arabic was a bit rusty, but she was certain that that was what he had said. Emma looked out into the darkness wondering if the Med-jai leader was out there following.
As if he knew what she was thinking, Gerald suddenly spoke, "If you are wondering if they will come to save you, you can stop. Those desert dogs care for nothing but themselves."
"Those desert dogs as you call them are the Med-jai. They are the descendants of Pharaoh Seti's bodyguards and protectors of Hamanaptra. They are an honorable tribe." Emma retorted.
"It doesn't matter who they are, you are still nothing to them and they will not waste their precious time hunting us down just to rescue you." Gerald spat out.
Emma considered telling Gerald of her brother's friendship with the Med-Jai leader, but then thought better of it. Gerald might decide to just kill her now and get rid of the extra weight.
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Ardeth Bay watched them until they disappeared in to the darkness. He barked out orders to his men as one of them approached leading his horse. Swinging up into the saddle, Abdul approached.
"You don't mean to go after them?"
Turning to his Second in Command, he answered, "I must, Abdul."
"Is it the woman? She is no concern of ours. Let the foreigner have her." Abdul argued.
"I cannot. She is Rick O'Connell's sister." And as if that wasn't enough, looking out into the darkness, he added softly, "And she also saved my life."
Abdul nodded his understanding at this revelation and stepped back. "Get this mess cleaned up, I should be back by dawn." Ardeth reined his horse around and headed off into the darkness in the direction that Gerald had taken Rick's sister.
Ardeth stayed back, not wanting to get too close yet. He wanted the man to relax his guard, so he would have to follow for a while. Letting his thoughts wander a bit, he thought of the woman. So, this was Rick's sister. They looked nothing alike. Ardeth tried to remember what Rick said her name was. It started with an "E" he thought, like Evelyn's did. Edith? No. Elizabeth? No. Emily? No. Emma! That was it, Emma.
"Emma." He said out loud letting the sound of it roll off his tongue.
She was definitely prettier than Rick. Allowing himself a seldom seen smile, Ardeth said softly, "Definitely prettier."
