Through the Sands of Time

Chapter 8

"No! You must not read from the book!" A man screamed, waking me from my sleep.

I leapt to my feet to see Evy and Rick hunched over a black book. I pushed them out of the way and slammed the book shut. "What did you do?!" I yelled.

A loud buzzing sound filled the sky as a cloud of locus dispersed from the sands.

"Run!" Rick pulled Evy to her feet.

I grabbed Jonathan and we ran into the tomb as the locus swarmed the campsite. Rick barely had time to grab a torch before entering. I helped Rick light it before going deeper into the tomb.

"What was that?" Jonathan scurried ahead of me.

"Locus one of the plagues of Egypt." Evy clung to Rick.

"How?"

"Evy read the book of the dead." I glared at her.

"You what?" Jonathan's voice squeaked.

A massive shift in the ground stopped us as a pile of sand began to grow in the center of the hall. We watched carefully until scarabs exploded from the sand pile.

"Scarabs!" Evy cried.

We turned back the other way running for our lives. Rick threw the torch and squeezed off a few shots at the bugs. It was of no use.

"This way!" I took the lead down a stone hall with a bridge and two pillars standing from a bottomless pit. "Jump!" I grabbed Evy to jump on a ledge to the right. Rick and Jonathan took to the pillars in time for the scarabs to pass. I leaned against the wall only to activate a hidden door and slide down with Evy. We rolled in a dark area where a faint mumbling sound made my nerves ring.

I motioned for Evy to follow quietly. "Shh." I rose and turned a corner to find an American.

"Oh. Mr. Burns," Evy dusted herself off. "I thought we were alone." She touched his shoulder and he turned around.

"My eyes." He mumbled and I noticed his tongue and eyes were gone.

Evy and I screamed at the state of Mr. Burns. Then in our faces was the mummy we discovered. He had new eyes and a tongue. I screamed in disgust and reached for Ardeth's sword.

The mummy spoke to Evy and called her. "Anka-sun-amun."

"Stay away from her!" I drew the sword cutting the mummy in the face. My pulse raced and my anger boiled. I kicked him back swinging my sword as he rushed at me. I sliced and danced gracefully, but nothing was deterring him.

"Lotus-Kasi." He spoke and my blood froze.

"What?" I dropped my guard.

He dove and grabbed my leg, throwing me into the wall. I hit my head hard and I blacked out.

I started waking up, my head aching, and my body felt heavy.

"This is the sword I gave her." I heard Ardeth's voice.

"Maybe we are too late." Another man said.

I opened my eyes seeing a group of Medjai knelt by my sword. I stretched out my hand towards them. "Ardeth."

"Rose!" Ardeth rushed to my side and ran his hand over my cheek.

"I tried," I coughed, making my ribs hurt. "I tried to stop him. I'm sorry."

"Shh." Ardeth picked me up. "She's frozen."

A medjai took my sword and sheathed it on my hip as another Medjai draped a cloak over me. Ardeth gave orders as he carried me out of the tomb. My vision was going crazy. Each time I blinked I saw the walls change to an ancient time with paint and golden light. Then another blink and the walls returned to normal. I laid my head on Ardeth's chest listening to his heart beat rapidly.