Fajr
Chapter 9
Ardeth looked over the bridge his people had built and smiled. How long had it been, how many ages since they had joined together like this for a task? Not only the warriors who had ridden to face the army of Anubis but the women and children who cared for everything while the men moved half a mountain to fill in this chasm? Sometimes in the press of simply dealing with the various tasks he had to keep Hamanaptura undisturbed and the remains of Ahm Shere safe, and the creature bound he forgot that there was so much pride to be had in simply thinking, We are Medjai And I, Allah be praised, have been honored to lead them. He smiled a bit more. I know I should not court your wrath oh my God with such pride, but it is hard not to marvel and my people. I am yours to will oh Allah, and await the task you would set me. But if it would please you, look down upon your children with my eyes so you may know the things they would do in your name.
"It is a good thing to have done." Selim said moving over to stand beside him.
He looked at his uncle in surprise for a moment and then chuckled. "I was thinking the same thing."He agreed. "Shall we see what lies ahead, Selim?"
"I would hope nothing so horrible as yesterday." His uncle replied. "Are you truly well, nephew?"
The fact that he asked the question without couching it in politeness was unusual enough, but Ardeth could easily count on the fingers of one hand the number of times his uncle had referred to him as nephew since he took up the leadership of the Medjai. He looked at the older man in concern. "I am well, surprising as that is." He assured.
A nod. "When this is over, and the creature is bound again to the earth, and we take up once more only the task of seeing that it stays so, will you tell me, son of my sister, what it is that truly haunts your dreams?"
He looked back over the bridge and sighed. "It has threatened much Selim, my sanity, my soul, my friends, and my people. I am only one man, uncle. And while Allah has been merciful to me and so far it has done nothing to carry out its threats it is mad. And I sleep each night not knowing if I will awake as a guest or in chains. Or worse still that I will be unable to prevent it from harming the others."
A strong hand on his shoulder. "You tell me what I already know. We are warriors of Allah, Ardeth, and while the deaths it may bring us all are indeed horrible, have faith that it is only the dying we must suffer. Our souls, and yours, belong to God."
He nodded.
"I will ask again, when this if done. And then we will recall this moment of pride and you can tell me again what you will."
"You do not believe me do you, Selim?" He smiled just a little.
"I believe you. But I am not foolish enough to believe that there is not more you do not say. You are too worried about us to let us worry about you."
He chuckled a bit. "That, is very likely. I am well, Selim, I swear it to Allah. No harm done, but that which you saw yesterday and my own foolishness with the liquor I told you of."
"Allah is merciful, Ardeth he will forgive you that." The strong hand still resting on his shoulder tightened again. "Whatever it has threatened that haunts your eyes and your brother's know that while you are the leader of the Medjai and I will follow you to death and beyond, I have never stopped being your uncle, Ardeth."
He sighed and then gave the only part of the truth he could face giving. "I am afraid."
"Fear does not make one a coward, Ardeth. It only shows that one is brave enough to continue despite it." A sigh. "Allah grant that it is only fear you face then, nephew, and not the actions behind it."
He swallowed once. "In'sh'allah." He put his hand over his uncle's. "It is-- worth more than this pyramid of gold, Selim, to know that I do not face it alone, in my dreams, or here when I must live with the consequences."
"I will thank God again for your brother then." A sigh and then an odd chuckle. "Would that your mother were here to see you, Ardeth. She would be proud."
He squeezed his uncle's hand. "It is good to think so. Come, we will find this armor Evelyn and Sallah think we should have and then we will do as Allah commands us and make sure the thing is bound again."
"In'sh'allah." His uncle agreed. "Hello, O'Connell, it is good you are here." The strong fingers tightened on his shoulder once more and then let go. "I would think the more of us who can face this hunt together the better."
"If the dead things start moving, just chop them into pieces." Rick suggested. "It seems like the best solution. Short of blowing them to bits and that might bring down a wall."
"How much dynamite do you have with you?" Ardeth smiled.
"Only three sticks at the moment. Think I should have brought more?"
"We will hope not." And he took the torch from his friend's hand. "Let us go see what awaits us."
"Once more into the breech, huh? And here you used to worry about what I was going to unearth next."
"If I still had nightmares that you were not a part of, my friend, undoubtedly I still would."
"Last night wasn't all bad." Rick smiled a bit.
"No." He agreed. "I shall hope for another such visit since I doubt very much we will spend the night only sleeping."
"There is that."
"According to the map we go right." Evelyn looked at the sketch she'd made. "Much more pleasant a trip this time I think. I wasn't even looking forwards to crossing that on ropes."
"It was unpleasant." He agreed. The bridge his tribesmen had made was wide enough at the top for one person to walk easily, sloping down into a rough pyramid of its own on both sides. He crossed easily enough finally coming to the other side and nodding at Arebe and Daoud who waited for them. "Right first. Then we shall take the book of AmmunRa, He who is lord of all Egypt, and try to find the creature where it may yet lie."
"That is a very old phrase." Sallah put in. "I do not think I have heard it in Arabic before."
"What?"
"He who is lord of all Egypt." Evelyn repeated. "Although I would certainly think you're the one here most entitled to say that."
He flushed a bit. "I will hope Allah knows I meant no offence." But oddly it did not worry him. His god had gifted him with the glory of beholding the ancient one and he was still thankful for the honor. "We may have more ruble to move." He warned as they headed into the passage. "Did any of you go this way before?"
"No." Rick drew one pistol, torch in his other hand. "I hate this part."
"It is un-nerving to worry what is ahead but I think the mess behind us is proof that the creatures we faced before at least will not bother us this time."
"That's something, we haven't even had any of those damned mummy guards this trip so far."
"Al'hamdil'Allah." He smiled. "I hate those."
"Thanks be to God is right. Nasty things." Evelyn agreed.
"Did I ever thank you for shooting that one to bits before it tore my throat out?" He asked her.
"No, we were distracted." She ruffled her son's hair.
"My thanks then. It seems sometimes it is the Princess who rescues her bodyguard."
She smiled. "I'd hate to be predictable."
"Of that, I think, we have little fear." Selim mumbled in Medja.
Ardeth only chuckled. "Ah, another choice, left or right?" He indicate the two directions of the hall in front of them.
"Right." Alex put in from his mother's side.
"As you say." The hall was empty of rubble at least and easily wide enough for them to walk two abreast. He and Rick went first, Sallah, Evelyn and Alex next and then Selim, Daoud, and Arebe. The came to the end of the hall and the sealed door. Statues of Anubis stood on either side, their jackal heads carved with open mouths this time instead of closed as he was used to seeing. He could recall facing the warriors out in the sands who had looked so much like these statues. "Inside I take it?" He indicated the carved stone that filled the door, depicting the standard of the Scorpion King, the round disk held in place by two jackal warriors one on either side. But there were no hieroglyphics around the carving just that and nothing more. "No curses?" He asked.
"None." Sallah agreed. "No words at all. I have never heard of that for a burial chamber, not even for one that was never intended to be used."
"That does make it less of a risk to open." Evelyn put in.
"Yeah." Rick agreed. "Any magic key or combination this time, Evie?"
"Not that we found." She answered.
"Okay then." He handed Ardeth his torch and holstered the gun to pull a crowbar out of his rucksack. "We do it the old fashioned way."
"Is that wise?" He had to ask, as his friend put the bar into place.
"Probably not. But it's only a door, right? No harm ever came from opening a door."
"I heard that." Evelyn put in.
"Figured that." He grinned at her. "Want to step back just in case I unleash something really nasty?"
"Allah have mercy." He stuck the torch into the space between the wall and one statue and the other into the ground and drew his sword and then reconsidered and took one of the pistols from the back of Rick's belt in his left hand as well. "I would prefer a Thompson."
"Bis'mil'Allah rakhman el rahim." Selim whispered but it sounded a little amused. "Cut them to pieces you suggested O'Connell?"
"It does seem to work best." Rick agreed. "Here, love, just in case." He handed his wife yet another pistol.
"Thanks. Okay, Alex, if anything does jump out of there you run and get help, no arguing all right? I don't want to have to worry about you and you know the map by heart by now."
"Right mom."
"On three?" Rick asked.
"Three." Ardeth agreed and took a step back and leveled the pistol over his friend's shoulder just in case, so it might give Rick time to get out of the way.
"One, two, three." He could see Rick strain against the bar and there was a low groan of stone, another pull, with his full weight behind him and the block shifted. "Come on you damned thing..give..."
And then it did. The large carved portal falling into the room beyond with a crash.
An once again nothing at all came at them from the darkness. They stood there for a long moment and then looked at each other. "Too easy." Rick said finally. "Way too easy."
"My thought exactly." He agreed, but he handed Rick back his pistol slowly and then picked up the torch he had jammed between the statue and the wall. "Evelyn? Sallah? What now?"
"Thank you oh God of the Dead, who guards the way to the kingdom of Osiris." Evelyn spoke the ancient words softly. "Since Anubis was so kind to invite us gentlemen, shall we go?" She smiled a bit.
"We came this far." Rick agreed and then picked up the other torch and walked into the darkness. Ardeth followed a step behind. His boots crunching down hard on something that crackled. For a moment all he could picture was the scarabs that devoured the disturbers of Hamanaptura and he had to truly fight not to back up. But he held the torch down and found the floor covered by the bodies of scorpions instead. None of which appeared to move. "Don't come in here yet Evie, Alex." Rick called out. "Yuck."
"As you say." He agreed, but he held the torch down lower and swung the flames over the remains on the floor. Nothing so much as skittered. "Dead." He determined.
"For now. That doesn't always seem to be a permanent thing, you know."
"As you say." He agreed. "How high are your boots?" He asked the others. "We have scorpions all over the floor. And while they appear to be dead..."
"I think we'll be all right." Evelyn answered. He nodded and joined Rick in kicking as many of the things to the side as he could while he walked, clearing a sort of path to the next set of doors. These were covered in gold if not made of the stuff and each had a warrior of Anubis in battle with slain and dismembered foes lying about their feet. He stuck his torch into the ground and took back the pistol Rick handed him. Rick handed his torch to Alex and then put the crowbar into the seal the doors made.
"Three?"
"Agreed." He moved just to the side noticing that Alex, Evie, and Sallah had backed out of the ante-chamber. Selim stood to his left and Daoud and Arebe to Rick's right weapons ready. He leveled the pistol over Rick's shoulder again and then waited.
"One, two, three." Rick pulled hard on the crowbar again. And the golden doors gave with a clang. And yet again, there was nothing. "Okay, this is really starting to bother me. No one goes through all this trouble without cursing something."
"I wish I did not agree so easily with that." He shrugged.
Rick put the crowbar up and took his pistol back. "Well, well, there's our sarcophagus. Minus the guy that's supposed to be in it." He stopped and then looked back at Ardeth. "Or maybe not?"
"That is not a pleasant thought."
"No." Rick agreed, but he holstered the gun once more and drew the scepter of Horus from his pack. "Might do more good."
"It might." He agreed. So this time he sheathed his sword and took the crowbar and set it to the coffin rim. "Bis'mil'Allah rakhman el rahim. We do only what you will oh most merciful Allah."
"May Horus walk between us and all the dark places we must travel." Evelyn repeated the phrase she had used the night before.
He gripped the crowbar tightly and then took a deep breath. "One, two, three." He pushed down with all his weight and the seal cracked and then he pushed up and the lid slid sideways off the lower part of the coffin and onto the ground. Silence after the crashing of the stone lid onto the floor. Rick leaned over the rim of the stone sarcophagus spear in hand and then shrugged.
"Armor." Rick said in some surprise. "Shield, breast-plate, grieves, sword the whole works." He carefully retracted the spear and put it away. "Hand me that back, huh?"
Ardeth gave him the crowbar and then drew his sword once more. Rick carefully slid the bar into one piece of the armor and then lifted it slowly. "Okay, so maybe it isn't cursed? Doesn't that seem kind of odd? It was the Scorpion King's right?"
"That is what worried me." Ardeth agreed. "But at the moment I can not think of anything to do but take it and see what it is that we can do with it."
"Okay, so lets take it and get out of here and then worry about what we might have woken up, or angered , huh?"
He nodded and took the bag Selim handed him. Daoud and Arebe moved in to help them load the armor into the bags. Rick had just dropped the first piece into the bag when Daoud picked up the shield and placed it in the bag Ardeth was holding. His cousin paused in the move an odd look on his face. "Daoud?"
"I...Allah...I..." He dropped the gold shield with a strangled cry, his whole arm suddenly swollen red and then blackening to something like rot.
"Oh God..." Rick grabbed Arebe and pulled him away from the armor and Ardeth dropped the bag and caught his cousin as he fell forwards. .
"Daoud." He gripped the young man trying to get his robe off too see what was wrong. Selim was there as well then, cutting the cloth and revealing the spread of whatever was happening. His cousin's entire chest was the color of blood and blackening quickly.
"Ardeth, father I...Allah...have...mercy...on..." And then he shuddered once, a choked sort of scream as his throat and face were swallowed by the same mass and was still in Ardeth's arms.
"Allah. Bis'mil'Allah." Selim's voice broke on the prayer and he took his son from Ardeth's arms and held him close.
"Most merciful Allah have pity on your child. See him, oh God we pray, onto Paradise that was promised by your prophet Mohamed, Peace be upon him, and upon Daoud al Selim, and upon his family oh Allah we pray." Sallah whispered the prayer softly.
Ardeth pulled off his outer robe and laid it carefully over his cousin's face. Then he moved over to wrap his arms around his uncle and let the man mourn. How long they sat there surrounded by images of a god of the dead and his followers Ardeth couldn't have said but then there were more and more and a blanket to cover his cousin and another to bear the body out of the tomb. He stood there for a long time himself, even once Selim had gone with the body.
"Ardeth?" Evelyn's voice startled him, as she put a hand on his arm. "There's nothing more to do here, hmm?"
"No. Nothing at all." He agreed. "Do you know..."
"The armor seems to be poisoned. Rick managed to keep Arebe from picking up a piece. Daoud was-- the only one who touched it." She swallowed hard. "I'm so sorry, Ardeth, I...should have researched more, known better. Nothing is ever as easy as it seems."
He shook his head. "There was nothing written, no warning to be seen. And we were expecting an actual attack not a very ancient booby-trap."
"Sallah and Arebe took the rest of the armor out in some large leather tarps. And everyone is well enough. Why don't we go join them?"
He nodded. "Where is Rick?" He realized suddenly that she hadn't mentioned him.
"I made him take Alex back to camp. He says he's fine, Ardeth.. But I know he touched it too."
"What?!" He turned and stared down at her in disbelief. "You did not tell me?"
"He seems fine." She gripped his arm. "Daoud was gone in moments, Ardeth so, he shouldn't still be fine. But he seems to be, he says he is. I don't understand it either. Talk to him? He-- might tell you something he won't tell me."
He nodded. "If he will not speak of it to you, I doubt he will speak of it to me...but I will try."
"Sometimes, I'm the last person Rick wants to tell, Ardeth, simply because I'm the first one he should." She shrugged. "He forgets that just because he loves me enough to keep me safe doesn't mean I can't share the burden of keeping us both safe."
He blinked a little surprised at that. "I think I understand that more than I thought I might."
"He does it with you too, hmm? You're family now, Ardeth. I can't say I expected him to act too much different toward his brother than he does to Alex or me, or Jonathan in that case."
"Let us see if I can remind him to share the burden a little and then I must see to my cousin...and his burial."
"Amal and Azza were reading him. Sallah said that Arebe sent the fastest rider in the tribes to Aswan for a Mulahin."
"That is good. But I doubt even the fastest rider will be here before sundown.. And we should have him buried before then. It is written in the Koran."
"I know, but we can hope. Can we go now?" She hadn't let go of his arm.
"Are you all right, Evelyn?" He put one hand over hers.
"I'm scared out of my wits actually. He seems fine, Ardeth. I want him to be fine but..."
"But you would know why. Yes, so would I. Come then, sister of mine, let us see to it that we know why." He walked with her back out of the tomb and tried to keep his mind on his friend and the fact that he was well and not on the family he had just let die. But it was very hard not to feel that he had left Daoud behind him in that darkness, and that tasted bitterly like failure.
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Rick stopped by the bathing tent he and Ardeth had used the day before. "Alex. I want you to go back to the tent we've been sleeping in and stay there until your mom comes to find you."
"Dad? What's wrong?" Alex blinked, still obviously shaken with Daoud's death. Rick was still shaky himself. "Dad?"
"There's something I need to do, Alex. And I need to know you're safe. This is serious okay, Alex? Stay there until your mom comes to get you. Then you can tell her where I am."
Alex opened him mouth as if he was going to say something and then closed it and nodded. "Okay dad. But you gotta promise to be okay while I'm gone."
He smiled. "Scouts honor, Alex. I'll do my best."
"Okay." Alex started to move a bit closer and Rick stepped back quickly.
"Go on now." He crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
"Something's wrong isn't it dad?"
"That's what I need to go see about. Go wait for your mom and then come back and we'll see."
"I hate waiting." Alex walked backward a few steps. "I could stay and help."
"Please Alex, I don't want to argue now."
"Okay dad." And then he turned toward the tent.
"Tell her I love her okay?" He whispered it softly, too softly for his son to hear. "You too." And then he went into the tent which was as he expected completely deserted. He took off his gunbelt and set it aside then the shoulder holster and then undid his shirt and pulled that off as well. But nothing looked wrong. He knew he'd touched the armor far more than poor Daoud but noting looked wrong, and he felt fine. It didn't seem real likely that only one piece of the armor was poisoned though. He took a wash bowl and jug of water and scrubbed his right hand and arm throughly with soap, being careful not to get the water or soap anywhere else in the room. Then he did it again. After the third rinse the bowl was full of sudsy water. He took his shirt and the leather bracer he'd been wearing and put them in the bowl as well and then carried it all carefully outside and walked away from the camp. It didn't take long to get out of the growing encampment and several dunes away. Then he buried the whole mess.
"Did you want to mark that as cursed?" Ardeth's voice came from behind him just as a strong hand settled on his shoulder. He flinched away from the touch whirling around and stumbling back a step to stare at his friend. He could only imagine the look on his face feeling the utter sinking sensation in his stomach. Ardeth just stood there and then carefully lowered his hand. "Shall we count to ten and see what happens?"
"Oh hell...Ardeth."
A sad smile. "No harm done I do not think." He shrugged. "It would seem whatever the curse is it is not contagious."
Rick swallowed and then forced himself to breathe. "You didn't know that for sure."
"No." His friend agreed with another shrug. "But I was holding Daoud when he died, Rick. If it was something I was going to catch, then I would already be dead."
He blinked, not sure of what to say to that. "I didn't think about that. I just..."
"Wanted to cause no one else harm. Yes, I noticed. So Evelyn was right you did touch the armor."
He nodded. "Maybe it was only the shield he picked up, Ardeth. I don't know."
Ardeth seemed to consider that for a moment. "Perhaps, perhaps it was how he picked it up, you used the crowbar first and then took hold of the breastplate. Perhaps you are immune to it, perhaps Allah does have plans for you yet. I do not know. We can not know. Not yet. But I would say with certainty that you are not going to give it to us if you come back to camp."
"You can't know that."
Ardeth smiled, still sad. "Then give me your hand and we will prove it true. Or find out what hell looks like together." He held out his right hand. "I have lost my cousin this day, Rick. Please, do not make me lose a brother."
"It could kill you."
"So could have that horrible mess yesterday, so could the next night's sleep come to that. Come now, brother mine, I must go back to camp. Do not leave me to face my cousin's burial alone."
"It isn't going to help anybody if we bury you next to him." Rick shook his head.
"Fine." Ardeth's eyes darkened. "I will send someone with a horse and water and supplies." He took a few steps away. "Shall I give the creature your regards when I see it again?"
"Damn it..." He turned away himself, hating the feeling of helplessness that swarmed over him.
"Idiot." Ardeth said kindly and strong arms went around him suddenly. "Proof enough?" Ardeth's hand clasped his, his left arm still around Rick's chest. "You can hit me again if you feel the need, but I believe I have proved my point."
"Stupid crazy idiot." He growled the words but he had to smile. "You could have died."
"I have a pardon from AmmunRa himself, and a task to perform for Allah, and news to hear from Marakesh. It seemed a reasonable risk. Come, I truly must get back. And I would not wish to go alone. Evelyn will only make me come back and try again or send a dozen to ride you down and drag you back."
"Would they?"
Ardeth nodded. "If she asked, probably." Then he shook Rick slightly. " If I tell them too? Yes." It was a very believable threat.
"I'm outnumbered pretty badly."
"Yes." His friend agreed. "Will you come?"
"All right, just-- let's work at making sure I'm not going to give it to anyone, okay? I'm scared to death she'll hug me before she slaps me."
"Now I am to keep you from being hugged by your wife? Please, you will expect me to part the Red Sea next."
"You're the one talking to gods." He relaxed a bit more and Ardeth let him go. "I wish I could've stopped Daoud."
"And I." A sad sigh. "But he died as he lived my friend, a Medjai and attempting to keep the damned thing in its grave. Allah no doubt has already welcomed him to paradise."
"Yeah." Rick nodded. "Let's go back."
"Thanks be to God." Ardeth put an arm around his shoulders as they walked. "I was thinking I would lose you too."
"I'm too stubborn to give up on that easy."
"As you say. But you are still and idiot."
"Runs in the family." He pointed out.
"We could do worse."
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The funeral was simple enough. They had dug a grave a far distance from camp and six of his family carried him on a litter of cedar and the brightly woven blankets of the tribes. As was proper, it was Selim and Ardeth who carried the two front corners and then his brothers, and then two more cousins. His mother and sisters came next, and then the rest of the family. Evelyn, Rick, and Alex hadn't been given much choice about whether or not they were walking with them it was simply already expected.
They reached the grave site and carefully lowered the liter into the ground. Ardeth looked up at the darkening sky and then nodded once. And in the ages old keen of those left behind the women of the Medjai gave voice to the grief of the tribe. The undulating wailing cry carried from the grave site to the camp and back again. And then just as suddenly as it had began it ended. Selim stood at the grave's edge and in a soft voice began to recite Daoud's ancestors and his own back the forty generations to Mohamed, peace be upon him, and then after a moment of pause for the Prophet, back again, until he came to the first name still recalled to his line, some hundred and more generations gone now. "My son is at peace now, in the arms of Allah, in the Paradise we all shall find when we leave this life. I will mourn his loss, but I will not mourn his death. He was Medjai. And he died as he lived keeping that oath."
"The tribes are lessened by his loss, and will remember his sacrifice. Allah grant us all as much courage when he face the same. Rest well, Daoud, cousin, warrior. I will miss you beside me in the battles yet to come and thank you sincerely for your strength in those we have won. Allah, God of my people, this man is Medjai, I swear it. No leader of the tribes has ever lost better. Grant him a place by your side, most merciful, he deserves no less." He took a deep breath and then picked up a handful of sand and let it pour into the grave. "We will remember you Daoud, until the wind no longer blows in the desert."
"Good bye my son." Selim said quietly and added his own handful.
"My heart aches, but I am as proud today as the day I bore you." Azza followed her husband. One after another of the family adding a handful of sand. Ardeth was only half-surprised when Rick picked up one himself and then let it fall.
"I'll knock the damned thing into the wall for you."
He smiled just a little despite the sadness.
"He would appreciate that." Selim said quietly, startling Rick a little no doubt.
"Good."
Evelyn paused for a moment and then picked up one handful herself. And then odd as it was considering she hadn't even moved he could see the change that came over her. "Rest well, Medjai, peace be with you, warrior, none of my father's guards could have been braver. May Ma'at walk with you through the halls of death and see you safely to the other side." The ancient Egyptian was a quiet sigh.
"It has been a very long time since one of us was laid to rest with that Princess. Thank you."
She smiled sadly. "Little enough to thank but I meant it none the less."
The sun had finished setting by the time the grave was filled in with sand. He moved away from it and then when the way was clear he looked up at the night sky and shouted to the heavens. "For Allah, for Daoud, for victory."
And the Medjai warriors came down from the dunes in a sweeping wave of horses and when the wave was gone there was only level sand before them.
"When we are gone, we leave no trace but for our memories and our families." He explained quietly to his friends who were standing not far away. "Come there is as much a party as we can manage out here in the middle of nowhere."
"Party?" Rick asked, obviously lost.
"We should see Daoud into paradise with lamentation? There will be many tears, but tonight is for Daoud, mourning is for the comfort of those left behind my friend." He could recall so clearly how Rick had finally sobbed out his own grief in his arms only the night before. "There is, as you told me, enough pain in the world without us hoarding what we are given. So it is with grief as well. Come, you can teach me these drinking songs that will scare the camels." He clasped his friend's shoulder
"Have you ever heard Rick try to sing, Ardeth?" Evelyn smiled.
"No. But I have heard Sallah. Nothing can be worse than Sallah."
"We'll see." She moved over and slipped her right arm through her husband's and then to his surprise her left arm through his and followed Selim and Azza into the camp.
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"It's kind of odd for a funeral don't you think, mom? Dad?" Alex asked, watching the people mill about.
"I kind of like it myself. I've always wanted a wake." Rick answered.
"And given their belief that the moment he died Daoud was assured his place in paradise I suppose they don't see it as a horrible thing that happened to him. Just that they have to bear the loss." Evie leaned her head on his shoulder and Rick smiled, slipping one arm around her shoulders. "It's a beautiful place to be, but I'm happier right here."
"So am I." He squeezed her tightly. "It wouldn't be much like heaven if you weren't there."
"Will I get to meet your parents in heaven do you think, mom?" Alex asked, not even seeming to mind their cuddling for once. Rick reached over and ruffled his son's hair with a smile.
Evie smiled herself. "They're looking forward to it. I think they'd given up on me ever marrying to begin with. But see that you make them wait a very long time, Alex."
"Right." He nodded. "You too dad."
"What? Me?" He squeezed Evie's shoulders. "I'm trying, sport. Honest to God, love."
"I know. You could be more successful though." She teased a bit.
"Right."
"So will I get to meet your parents too dad?"
He looked over at his son and then shrugged. "I don't know, Alex. I don't remember my dad at all, and I was a lot younger than you when mom died. But I suppose it's possible."
"I can't imagine that, not knowing your mom and dad I mean. I don't think I'd be nearly as good at it as you are."
He smiled a little sadly and then hugged his son for a moment. "You'd be as brave as you always are, sport. But you're stuck with us so it's a good thing you're used to it."
"Well, I could do with less smoochy stuff and I'm really too big for you to keep messing my hair, but it's not that big a price to pay." Alex grinned.
"I'm so glad you think so." Evie laughed and then hugged them both. "Let's go see Selim and Azza. Before they send Ardeth to look for us."
"I've got to ask him why everyone seems to think it's his responsibility to find one of us when we aren't where someone thinks we should be." Rick looked pointedly at his wife.
"Because he is of course, responsible I mean. He's the leader of the Medjai and that apparently includes us. Besides which you might get Alex and I to stay behind when you go and do something brave and foolish, but I'm rather certain that he isn't going to let you do it alone. Any more than you'd let him go back to Thebes without you there to guard his back. So, at least I won't worry quite so much."
He looked at her for a long moment. "Are you really angry at me for not wanting you to deal with that thing every night?" He wasn't really sure what to make of her statement.
"Don't be silly." She sighed. "I worry less about you both when I can see you of course. I only meant that I'm glad that neither of you have to face it alone."
"Yeah, well, me too." He agreed. Gladder that I can at least sometimes keep between it and Ardeth really. He looked down at his wife and smiled. It'd be a hell of a lot harder to keep playing this game of innuendo with it if you were there. You'd probably slap me. "I'd be gladder if it would just leave us alone."
"So would I." Evie agreed. "But I know you won't do anything too foolish with your own safety if you've got to watch out for Ardeth's and he'll do the same so I can rest a bit easier that you'll both wake up in the morning."
"In'sh'allah, huh?" He hugged her. "We'll beat it again, Evie. We always do."
"Third times the charm, let's hope it stays dead this time."
"Maybe we should put a stake through its heart just to be safe?"
"That's vampires dad, not mummies." Alex sighed. "I think you're supposed to burn mummies."
"Is that what we did wrong? Silly us." He grinned. "There you go Evie, we dig it up, set it on fire and bury the ashes. Simple."
"Why do I doubt very much that it will ever be that easy?"
"Because my friends, you know this creature as well as I." Ardeth put in walking over to them. "Have you eaten?"
"Lots." Alex smiled. "It's really good."
"As it should be." Ardeth smiled a little. "There is to be music, and perhaps some singing, of those who can sing. Alas, the dancing will be less entertaining than we have seen at Thebes I am sure, but it will be enjoyable none the less. Please, will you come and join us? Selim has asked me twice now where you are."
Rick chuckled a little. "Evie was just saying that we should go join the party before they sent you to look for us. Sorry we didn't get there sooner."
"It is no bother." Ardeth shrugged. "Will you join us?"
"We'd love to." Evie got up and he followed with Alex. "Your people are a wonder to see, Ardeth."
"It is kind of you to say so. I try of course not to be too proud, so as not to anger Allah, but it can be very hard to not be awed at the courage and strength of the Medjai."
"So, if dad's a Medjai, and mom and I are his family, does that make us Medjai too?" Alex asked. "No one's ever said exactly."
Ardeth looked back over at Alex in surprise. "Have we not? My mistake, certainly. You are, all three of you, members of my tribe, unless of course you do not wish it."
"Turn it down you mean? That'd be silly."
"I think Alex has the right of that. We'd be honored, Ardeth." Evie smiled.
"Little late to change my mind now don't you think?" Rick shrugged. "Besides that way Evie at least get's decent in-laws."
"I'll tell my aunt Emily and Jonathan you said that." She glared at him.
"Your aunt Emily and Jonathan are the only people in your family I don't dislike." He reminded her.
"So, if we're Medjai too, uncle Ardeth, will you teach me to ride a horse like you do?" Alex interrupted.
Ardeth smiled. "What do you wish to know, how to race the wind, or jump from ground to saddle? How to keep on your horse and grab things from the ground? Or how to jump walls and not fall off? There is a great deal to learn about riding as we do, Alex."
"Then I guess I should get started, huh?"
"I would be honored to teach you what I can. But I am hardly the best rider in the tribes." His friend smiled. "We shall have to start with finding you a horse."
"Really? Can I mom, dad?"
"You don't have to do that, Ardeth." Evie shook her head.
"If Alex wishes to learn to ride, and there are other young boys learning the same it seems unfair to keep him from it. I have enough horses that I shall not miss one. We will find you a horse tomorrow Alex. If you do not object of course."
"No objections from me." Rick said firmly. If it was something that would keep Alex's attention and energy while they went and dealt with whatever else was in the pyramid that was fine by him. Evie looked over at him and he could read almost the same idea in her eyes.
"Then it shall be done."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ardeth sat down with a tired sigh. If one more person in the twelve tribes asked him to join them for a dance he was going to fall over. They had danced rings and circles and interwoven spirals among the fires. Songs had been sung and old stories of long lost heroes and old magic told. He'd been a little surprised and embarrassed by Arebe's retelling of the great battle against the warrior's of Anubis on these very sands not long ago. He certainly did not feel that he deserved so much of the honor. They had stood together and done what needed to be done.
"There you are." Selim came over to him. "Come the other women have cajoled Evelyn to tell them the story of awakening He who shall not be named and your brother thought it wise if you were there to help him see she told it correctly. I find I am interested as well."
"Allah have mercy, Selim I am exhausted."
"You've been dancing. That is good. Did Rakhma get you to dance?"
He smiled. "She asked." He agreed. He did not doubt his uncle would be well pleased if he was more fond of the young woman than he was. "I had forgotten how exhausting E'Ageeb is to dance."
"Then you should dance it more often, so you do not forget."
He chuckled. "It takes twenty or more to dance it well, Selim. Where, when there is no crisis to be faced, am I to find twenty to dance it with?"
"At camp where you should come more often." His uncle replied. "But for now you must see to this tale of great deeds."
"We did only what had to be done to see that the creature was returned to its grave."
"I would expect you to say nothing else, that is why it is good you are not telling the tale." His uncle pulled him to his feet and kept a hand on his arm as they walked.
"There you are." Rick grinned. "Evie and I were wondering if we would have to start without you."
"I have been told we are telling of our first fight with He who shall not be named?"
"I've wanted to hear this forever." Alex put in.
"And I, nephew, come, let us see what it is that they will tell us." Selim let go of his arm and then took Alex's hand to lead him over to where Azza and Amal and many of the other women and children of his uncle's tribe sat.
Evelyn was sitting on a blanket not far from the fire and he followed Rick over to sit there as well. "Well, my part of the story begins with my brother Jonathan. I was at the Cairo Museum of Antiquities and he brought me this odd puzzle box he had found."
"Acquired." Rick corrected.
"Acquired, from Rick a while before he brought it to me."
"Where did you find that key?" Ardeth asked.
"Hamanaptura, my first time there." Rick shrugged.
"You let him leave Hamanaptura more than once?" Selim asked.
Ardeth smiled. "I was-- unaware that he was so stubborn. Arebe and I watched him head into the desert and thought that would be the last we would see of him."
"Surprise." Rick grinned. "I made it to an old caravan well and that got me to an oasis and that got me to Menya. And then Jonathan got me arrested in Cairo."
"Which is where he was when I met him. In prison." Evie smiled. "Horrible rude American that he was."
"You were cute, I was going to hang in a few hours and what did I have to lose?"
"He kissed me you see." Evie half-whispered to the young women sitting not far away. "Right there in front of my brother and everyone and I'd only just met him."
There were a multitude of giggles at that.
"Rick." Ardeth shook his head.
"I was going to die, seemed like a nice thing to remember when they hung me..." He rubbed his throat. "That hurt like hell."
"Bis'mil'Allah. They hung you?" He stared at his friend. "How many times have you cheated death now, my friend?"
"Who's counting?"
"So there he was, dangling from the rope and I had to bargain with the warden to get him released. Nasty man...I offered him a 100 pounds, and then he wanted...well...rather more than that. So I slapped him."
"He what?!" Rick's voice was a harsh growl and Ardeth couldn't help but agree.
"Nothing to worry about, love. He put his hand on my knee, nothing more, and I smacked him with my purse. That's when he had them hang you, sorry....and then I had to tell him you knew where Hamanaptura was and agree to let him have part of the treasure so he'd let you go."
"Thanks." Rick grumbled. "You never told me that."
"It didn't seem important at the time. So there we were, my brother Jonathan, Rick, the warden and I all heading for Hamanaptura. We were sharing the boat with another group of American's who were also looking for Hamanaptura. And it sort of turned into a race to see who would get there first. That was when the...oh dear...that was all of you wasn't it?" She looked over at Ardeth.
He laughed. "Who snuck onto the boat and tried to steal back the key? Yes."
"You scared me to death you know."
"We are Medjai We can be frightening when we have to be." He smiled. "But we were unsuccessful in getting back the key and then the boat was in flames and we had to let you go."
"So we found a fellahin village and bought some camels and me some clothes because all I had to wear was my nightgown." Evie went on. "And then we went to Hamanaptura." She smiled a little. "We were searching for a way in to the complex and we came down into the Sa Nedje first."
"Then we nearly got shot by the other group looking for the Book of Ammun." Rick put in. "And Ocid, the warden went off to look for treasure."
"He got himself killed by something...probably those horrible beetles." Evie shuddered. "And then we were trying to dig under the statue of Anubis when the other group...um...knocked the creatures sarcophagus loose above us and...bam...it nearly fell on our heads."
"Scared Jonathan out of his wits. And we were digging around for the book too, so it wasn't all their fault."
"That's true." And that's when we heard Ocid screaming. And the Americans had had some bad luck of their own so...we stopped for the night." She smiled. "And there we were, getting ready to sleep. When you showed up."
Ardeth looked over at her. "Showed up? We rode into Hamanaptura with swords and guns."
"Yeah and you nearly killed me." Rick poked at him. "I thought you were going to gut me there for a second."
"For a second I was." He agreed. "Thanks be to Allah, you did not let me. And you were going to blow us all to Paradise with that dynamite."
"Yeah." Rick grinned. "But it got you to leave us alone for another day."
"My foolishness certainly." He shook his head. "I should have known then that you would find someway to find more trouble."
Evie laughed. "So the next day there we were with this large stone sarcophagus and inside was this black wood carved coffin...with all the protective spells chiseled off. Well I'd never heard of such a thing, and buried at the feet of Anubis' statue? So...well...Jonathan had this key you see and...it fit the lock."
"Bis'mil'Allah Rakhman el rahim." Ardeth shook his head. "You had to open it."
"I didn't know any better did I?" She shrugged. "So I did. Put the key in the lock turned it and...then the lid just flew off and out he fell, well bits of him anyway. Nasty horrible skeleton...still um...decomposing really."
"After three thousand years?" Ardeth had to ask. Allah, no wonder you are so insane. Merciful God....
"Yes, and there were these horrible claw marks on the inside of the coffin lid, finger nail scratches...and he'd left a message. That I didn't understand either. Se ahebe ni ket-aa."
"Death is only the beginning." He translated it into Arabic for those in the tribe who did no speak ancient Egyptian.
"Well he was right about that. Then the American's found both the chest and the book of the Dead. I didn't know what the curse on the chest said of course, but I wanted to see the book of the Dead. So we went back up to camp and well, I acquired the book from the poor Egyptologist and well the key fit that too. And so I was reading it, and Rick wanted to know what it said."
"I didn't know any better." His friend sighed. "Silly me."
"So there I was reading out of the book of the Dead, because I certainly didn't know it would really work...and then apparently it did because all of a sudden there were all these locusts. And we ran back into the catacombs to escape them, but now we weren't alone. And it caught Burns first, but we interrupted it. Because it hadn't quite um, finished."
"First the creature took his eyes and tongue, because he had opened the cursed chest. It would have finished him, but you interrupted it." Ardeth put in when she seemed to falter over how to explain the rather grisly details.
"And then I stumbled onto an old secret passage and I found poor Burns and then the creature found me." She paused again. "I had never been so frightened in my entire life. He said something to me in Egyptian that I was a bit to scared to understand but I think at first he had me confused with Anck-se-namun."
"Burns did have pretty bad eyesight." Rick put in.
"There is that. How odd, well anyway thank God Rick and Jonathan arrived then and Rick blasted it with his shotgun and we all ran, right into you as I recall." She smiled at Ardeth.
"Indeed. And I told you to leave Hamanaptura and we would try to recapture the thing. We tried, alas, and failed. But at least for once you listened and left."
"We headed back to Cairo. And we were trying to decide if we were going to stay and help or just get on the next boat for England. But the next boat wasn't for another two days so at that point we were rather stuck." Evelyn smiled. "And I wasn't really ready to call the adventure to and end yet, because I really didn't want you to just disappear into the desert or something." She reached over and took Rick's hand.
"Yeah, well. You were probably stuck with me by then anyway, love."
"And then the creature came to Cairo." Evelyn sighed. "And finished off poor Mr. Burns. And released the next plague, and the water was turned to blood." She shuddered. "And we all went to check on Burns and there was He who shall not be named. And he had regenerated some but not completely yet and he tossed us about like rag dolls. But then Miri, this little cat I'd taken in jumped onto the piano and he panicked. He was afraid of cats at that point. Do you suppose they still bother him?"
"Guardians of the dead? I would not think so, no." Ardeth shook his head.
"Too bad, we could invoke Bastet." She shrugged.
"You could perhaps." He agreed. "I doubt much that she would answer me."
"I might try that instead of Mut. Nefertiri was probably fonder of Bastet anyway, sorry we wandered from the story. So He who shall not be named was scared off by Miri and then we all went to the Museum of antiquities. Because I thought Mr. Nabil might have some answers...and there you were." She looked over at him.
"So I was." Ardeth agreed. "Sometimes I am amazed we did not kill each other in those early days my friend."
"Me too." Rick agreed. "In'sh'allah , huh?"
"As it was meant to be." He agreed. "And the creature's power was growing stronger...for it blocked out the sun and brought darkness and hail upon the land."
"That we saw even out in the desert. We were riding toward Hamanaptura even then." Selim put in.
"For which I will be forever thankful." Ardeth smiled. "But that is another part of the story. Nabil was trying to find someway that the creature could be killed. And you went back to your hotel did you not?"
"Sort of." Rick answered. "Jonathan and I went to look for the Egyptologist that was helping the Americans since he'd opened the chest too. We found Bennie, who was helping the creature find all four of the men who had opened the chest."
"Helping He who shall not be named? Was he mad?" Selim asked.
"Bennie was-- just too stupid to know better I think." Rick shrugged.
"He was a horrible scheming little rat." Evie grumbled. "And he paid for it."
"That was later. Anyway we found the Egyptologist just after the creature did so he was pretty dead. And then it released the next plague, flies."
"I was back at our hotel, rather unhappily actual." Evelyn looked pointedly at her husband.
"I wanted you safe."
"You locked me my room."
"So?" He grinned. "I left you guards. I didn't know they were going to get eaten."
"Well Henderson got drained dry and then He who shall not be named snuck into my room. And kissed me." She shuddered.
Several of the women let out gasps and the children giggled nervously.
"I've never been so disgusted in my entire life." She went on. "Because he certainly wasn't in one piece yet. Then Rick and Jonathan burst in."
"We'd found what was left of Henderson in the outer room. I was worried." Rick shrugged. "Then it just tossed me into a wall with a thought. First time that happened, not the last, but I still remember it."
"I thought we were all going to die." Evelyn went on. "Nastily. But Rick had brought Miri with him and that managed to scare the creature away. We were in a bit of a panic by then so we headed back to the Museum to search for the book of AmmunRa."
"And surprise, surprise you were still there." Rick poked him again. "At least this time we didn't try and kill each other."
"As you say, it would have served no purpose." He smiled a little. "But by then the creature had entranced much of Cairo and we had to flee the museum once Evelyn had discovered where the book of AmmunRa was to be found."
"We managed to get out the back and Jonathan had gotten us a car...but it sent all these poor men to stop us who were only under its spell and we didn't want to run them over at first but we had no choice. Then it managed to get Daniels out of the car. And there was no where else to run to." Evelyn smiled a little sadly. "So there we were the five us with our backs literally to the wall and out of the crowd walks He who shall not be named, fully restored. And it said that if I went with it, it would leave Rick, and Jonathan, and Ardeth, and poor Mr. Nabil alone."
Ardeth didn't miss the look Rick gave him at that but he said nothing. No, I am not blind to the similarities, please, my friend not here, not now. "I am sorry I did not let you shoot it." He put in.
"Yeah well, silly us we thought it might keep its word."
"At that point I doubt even an oath to AmmunRa would have been sufficient." He agreed. "It took Evelyn with it and we had to escape through the sewers. That was almost as bad as the chasm in the pyramid."
"Almost." Rick agreed. "And Nabil stayed behind so we could get away... He was a brave man."
"Ahmer Nabil was Medjai, my friend. He died a good death." Ardeth shrugged. "And then we went to your friend Winston, who had the airplane."
"That was a damned crazy flight I'll say that. Four of us on a biplane barely able to carry two." Rick grinned.
"At first, I will admit, it was fun." He smiled back.
"My trip wasn't. The creature called up a huge wind, like a tremendous dust devil to carry us to Hamanaptura." Evie shuddered. "It was horrible. And then when we arrived, and I saw your plane. I was so relived." She smiled at her husband. "Until it called up that huge wall of sand, and I thought it killed you."
"I was pretty sure it was going to." Rick agreed. "But then just before it would have the wall just-- stopped. Granted we still crashed but..."
"That was me." Evelyn smiled a bit more. "I needed a distraction. So I um., kissed him."
"You what?" Rick turned to glare at her. Several of the women laughed at that and Ardeth had to try very hard not to smile. Selim shook his head but smiled a bit as well.
"Well it seemed like an idea at the time. And it did work." She bit her lip. "Almost, I am sorry about Winston."
"He went out in a blaze of glory, trying to rescue the girl and save the world. He loved every second of it." Rick smiled. "And it was a good idea and brave, but God Evie."
"Yes well, it worked. But he wasn't very happy. And then Bennie knocked me out."
"If he wasn't dead I'd kill him. Why didn't you tell me that either?"
"Because it was done and by the time I had the chance he was dead."
"We salvaged what we could from the plane and headed into Hamanaptura." Ardeth went on with the story before his friends could get to involved in the argument. "We were trying to find the book of AmmunRa, but the creature sent its servants to kill us. Remains of the priests of the temple I think, and we were hard pressed to keep them from succeeding. Even with the dynamite you brought."
"It worked didn't it?" Rick shrugged. "But finally we got the book and then you decided to play hero."
"I did what had to be done. It gave you time to get the book free did it not?" He smiled. "There were only five."
"Only five. How the hell did you survive that anyway, I threw another stick of dynamite that way too. Figured it might kill you but it was a better death than they were going to provide."
"Odd as it is, I appreciate that. It was a good thought. I however knew what dynamite was. They did not. I pushed past the two closest to the entrance and when it blew I rolled with the blast. That left me with three, and thanks be to Allah I was not alone for long."
"Pasha still says that it was more than three." Selim put in.
"By then, certainly, a dozen or more I think." Ardeth agreed. "But we won."
"We had some good luck ourselves." Evelyn smiled. "Although Jonathan reanimating the guards was not high on the list of good points. And I certainly wasn't happy with his bringing back Anck-su-Namun."
"He did what?" Ardeth had to ask.
"Sorry, let's see. He who shall not be named was reciting the spell from the Book of the Dead to bring back Anck-su-namun. He had just gotten her soul to reunite with her remains and was about to stab me when Rick showed up and stopped him. That's twice you've kept me from being sacrificed love. Thank you."
"Part of the job." He smiled back. "But we didn't have the key to the book by then, the creature did. So all Jonathan could do was read the one on the front and that animated those gravity defying guys that you and I fought on the bus."
"Those were horrible." Ardeth agreed. "Then what?"
"Well he managed to get close enough to um, acquire the key back from the creature and open the book so he could finish the spell. Which was good because those things had Rick pinned to the ground and were about to stab him to death, repeatedly."
"Yeah, well, I think Anck-su-namun was about to run you through too."
"True, but Jonathan got the spell done just in time and sent the guards after Anck-su-namun instead. And then Rick was fighting with the creature and I took the book from Jonathan and read the spell that made him mortal. Pharaoh came and took his Ka to the underworld I think, and then we could kill him. He fell into the sacred pool and just sort of-- reverted back to the skeleton he'd been before. It was rather gruesome actually because he was conscious right up to the end. And he said that same thing. Death is only the beginning.. And then he was gone." She sighed. "But by then the whole place was shaking apart with some sort of ancient booby-trap I think and well we managed to get away but Bennie got stuck there. Good riddance. But we did have some treasure that he got out first, including the scepter of Osiris although we didn't need that until later."
"And surprise, surprise you got out too." Rick looked over at him. "And silly us we thought that would take care of that."
"As you say. So there you are uncle, that is our tale." He looked over at Selim.
"I do not understand how you can be as calm about it all as you would have me believe but I will thank Allah that you were successful. It is a good tale. And it gives me hope that we will once again find a way to win against the thing."
"In'sh'allah." Ardeth agreed. "However, I am too exhausted to tell the second tale. That shall have to wait for another night. Tomorrow will be here too soon, and while I doubt that I will find the rest peaceful I will be in no shape to deal with news that Allah will be sending to us if I do not try."
"As you say. Tomorrow we must try for the book of the Dead, and if we are fortunate we will find the remains of He who shall not be named and destroy it or bind it back to where it belongs."
"As Allah wills." Ardeth agreed. "Will you sleep, Selim? I will not leave you to this night alone, uncle."
Azza smiled and reached over to touch his hand. "You are a good nephew, Ardeth, and a kind chieftain. But we have honored our son with this revelry for his acceptance into Paradise. We will rest now. May Allah grant you rest."
"As you say." He laid his hand over hers. "Sabeh el Keher, MaSalaama."
"And to you." Selim agreed.
"Okay then, back to Thebes, huh?" Rick got to his feet with a sigh. "Are we doing this in shifts or just hoping for the best?"
Ardeth shrugged. "At this point it is barely five hours until dawn. And we do have standing pardons as I recall. Shall we try to rest?"
"Why not? Ready to try and sleep love?"
Evelyn got to her feet and then nodded. "Of course." She hugged her husband tightly. "I wish...you didn't have to go."
"So do I, Evie. But right now we don't have a choice."
An oddly sad smile. "I know. Try to stay out of trouble, please? Both of you?"
"As you say." Ardeth agreed. "I will do my best to avoid it, if I can."
"I'll try love." Rick hugged her again. "Come on sport, let's get a few hours sleep."
"Okay dad. That was a great story." Alex got up with a yawn.
"Yeah, it had its fun parts. MaSalaama, Selim, Azza."
"And to you O'Connell. I wish you a sleep free of He who shall not be named."
"Allah willing." Rick agreed.
Ardeth nodded himself.
Fejr:ToC