A group of long toothed cats watched the herd lazily, appearing disinterested. The tawny felines had huge fangs that curved down several inches out of their mouths. It seemed that the saber toothed tiger had not become extinct in this world.

Suddenly the cats attacked. The herd bolted away, bounding with incredible leaps. One of the gazelles was separated from the rest of the herd, and almost had gotten away but one of the tigers dove for it's throat and latched on. A second one jumped on it's back, tearing at its flesh with long sharp claws.

A young boy watched as this scene played out, he had been sent out to keep track of the grazing herd for the hunters that were camped a short way off. He turned to head back to tell the hunters what had happened. The herd had not gone too far, knowing that the cats would eat their fill and not bother them again for a few days.

The boy shifted his spear to his other hand, using it as a walking stick, and started off toward the camp. He noticed a flattened spot in the grass. Curious, he saw a path where two people had walked away from the flattened place. He thought back to this morning when he had first walked by this spot, and didn't remember seeing anyone here at that time.

The boy was torn, follow the trail, or go back to the men. Thinking he had enough time, he decided to take the trail.

Dira led Ahmed through the tall grass. The stone disc always put them within a couple miles of the next stone, so she knew it had to be close. Her intuition told her to keep going this way, there were several trees up ahead near what must be a watering hole.

She dropped to the ground and he followed her lead. There was a group of men standing in a circle, looking at something in the dirt. Ahmed heard a sound behind him and spun around. There was a boy about nine years old watching them. He was dressed in a reddish loincloth, and was carrying a small spear.

After Ahmed tapped her on the shoulder and pointed the boy out, she decided that it was futile to try to stay hidden. She stood up and beckoned to the boy. She spoke several odd sounding words to the boy and he answered. Ahmed watched as the boy went over to her and began leading her to the men. He followed along after them.

The men looked up from the ground as they approached. Dira could see another man squatting down scratching out pictures in the dust. The boy said a few words to the men, and one of them nodded. She pushed her hair out of her eyes, wishing she had something to tie it back with. She listened to the conversation the boy was having with the men, and found out that they were in the middle of a hunt.

Dira looked out around her. She stood under a small grouping of trees by a small watering hole. The way they had come from was flat grasslands, but back the opposite direction, there were hills going up to a tall mountain that was hidden by the dusty haze. That would be it. Dira knew in her heart that the next stone would be there. Somewhere inside that mountain was the next stone. She felt the stone pulling her toward it, there was a tugging sensation right below her solar plexus.

She looked back to the men. The boy was watching her intently, curiosity written all over his face. She walked back over to him.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"Olu," he answered her, "what are you planning to do?"

"Well, Olu," she replied, "I need to find a certain stone here, and it's in that mountain someplace."

The boy nodded and looked over toward the mountain. There is a place there where the people do not live anymore. The spirits have scared them all away. Only the wild dogs live there now. That might be the place you are looking for."

Dira felt her heart beat faster. After hearing the boy's words, she knew it was exactly where she needed to go. Ahmed was sitting near the men, watching her. She smiled at him and nodded.

"Olu, would you be able to show us the way there?" She asked the boy. He gave her a wide smile, his white teeth nearly glowing against his dark skin. He ran over to the men, and told them what she wanted. She could hear some of it, with the earplug still in her ear, it had seemed to have become a part of her body. The boy came back over to her to tell her that the men said that he could go with them, mostly because they were anxious to get on with their hunt and wanted them out of the way.

After the boy had filled up a couple water bags from the watering hole, he handed one to each of them and they started off toward the hills, traveling in single file. The village he had mentioned was in the foothills of the mountain, hopefully the stone would be there, but Dira still felt that it was deeper inside the mountain.

It didn't take long until she could see the round mud huts on the hillside. As they walked between the huts, she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. A white tufted tail disappeared around behind one of the mud dwellings. There were no people around, it was definitely abandoned. She saw a larger building toward the center of the village, and started walking over in that direction.

Without any coverings on the windows, the hut was fairly light inside. It was mostly empty, there were a couple baskets against the wall, but nothing more. As Ahmed followed her into the center of the room, she heard a strange cracking sound. She whipped her head around to look at the boy Olu, just as the floor fell out from beneath her.

She landed hard on her left hip, Ahmed had landed on his feet, turned to help her up. She rubbed the sore, bruised side as she surveyed their new surroundings. She reached into the satchel and took out the flashlight. Clicking it on, she found a tunnel off to one side.

"Are you hurt?" a voice came from above. Olu stood by the edge of the hole and was looking down at them.

"No, we're fine." Dira answered him, "We have found what we were searching for. You should go back now."

The boy flashed his bright grin again and his face disappeared form above. Ahmed pulled her to him and held her tight for a moment, kissing the top of her head. She nestled down into his chest and rested there.

After a couple minutes, she disengaged from him and they started down the tunnel. The passage led deep underground before it opened up. The beam from the flashlight shined on something reflective and glittering. In the center of the room was a sarcophagus made of gold. They walked slowly around it. It wasn't like an Egyptian coffin, it looked more like the African masks Dira had seen in museums back home.

"Let's open it," she said, and they both got one side and slid the top across. Inside was a body wrapped up like a mummy, but with colorful cloth wrappings, and was wearing some kind of ceremonial outfit. On top of its chest was a board with a single stone. This board appeared to be very old, the carving of the tree symbol was worn and faded to barely visible lines.

She picked up the board and flipped it over, tapping on the back so the stone would fall out. It dropped into her hand and she set the board back inside the sarcophagus on top of the mummified corpse. Digging into the satchel, she pulled out the box and set the stone in the next space. That was seven stones, there were only three left to go.

Ahmed brushed her shoulder with his hand and she looked up at him smiling. But he wasn't looking at her, he was staring over her shoulder. She turned around to see what he was looking and gasped as the mummy moved. It had risen up into a sitting position. The wrappings over the eyes had slipped down and she could see two glowing red orbs watching her.

She dumped the box back into the satchel and threw it over her shoulder. She turned off the flashlight, leaving them in darkness. The glowing eyes were easily visible in the dark, and she hoped that it could not see them as well. She heard the sound of Ahmed pulling his scimitar from the sheath and stepped back. It was definitely handy having a man around. She nearly stumbled over something in the darkness, and reached down. There was a staff of some kind there, made of metal that was cold to the touch.

She heard a thump and the creature landed on the floor next to the sarcophagus. She heard the sound of the blade slicing through the air as Ahmed swung his sword at the mummy. It's eyes were on her though, and she could see them moving closer. She gripped the metal staff tightly and pointed it at the thing. Taking a deep breath, she felt like she was taking part in a joust as she ran full force into the creature. The staff sunk into the wrappings and propelled the mummy backwards. She slammed into the wall behind it and pierced into the wall, pinning it. She felt herself being pushed out of the way as Ahmed lifted his sword and took the thing's head clean off. The red eyes dimmed and went out.

They hurried back down the passage to place under the hut. Ahmed boosted her up to climb out of the hole and she clambered up. He handed up one of the broken boards and she took it from him. She set it across a narrow part of the broken floor, and he jumped up, grabbing it and swung himself up and out of the hole.

It was time to get out of the village and they headed out, running past the empty huts. They dropped back to a jog as the got to the grasslands and back to the water hole.

When they got there, the men were gone, probably on their hunt for the gazelles. Dira took the satchel off and unlatched it. She slid the stone disc out and held it in her hand. Seven of the small gemstones were faintly glowing and the next one was shining brightly.

"Are we ready?" she asked him, and he shook his head. "Wait a moment." He said and pulled out his water bag. "Drink this first."

That was a great idea she realized, after what had happened in the desert, she didn't want to end up with heatstroke again or even something worse. She held the water bag up to her mouth and drank it down, grit and all. It was hard getting used to not getting clean purified water from the tap, but she was learning that a person could go without the conveniences of modern life.

She poked the plug back into opening of the bag and tied it to the belt around her waist. Ahmed wrapped his arms around her tightly and she rubbed the next stone.