The Pharaoh

Chapter 9

Aiden's P.O.V.

I let out a small groan as I felt the sun warm up my face. Wait... what?

I shot up into a sitting position and looked all around me. The dome is gone! Oh my Ra! How is that possible? The dome is actually gone! I didn't take it down. It should still be up.

I got onto my feet and looked for Alison. "Alison! We need to get going. The gods, and who knows who else, know where we are," I called out as I slung my bag over my shoulder.

I continued to pack up the camp but quickly realized that it was silent. Alison is too clumsy to be this quiet. I looked up from the items I had been gathering and looked over at her cot that I had set up last night. It was empty. "Alison!" I yelled, "Come on this isn't funny."

No one answered. The silence that should've been broken by Alison remained. My heart started racing and fear began to tickle my insides.

"Bet you wished we could intervene now," a deep voice said behind me.

I turned around to face the god and growled, "Like you, of all beings, would've actually helped."

Seth's eyebrows scrunched together in anger and he replied, "Watch it mortal."

"No!" I snapped, "You watch it. I don't know if you remember this but I have more power than you. You might not be able to die but that doesn't mean your existence has to be pleasant."

He gritted his teeth, causing his jaw to clench. His bald head reflected the sun brighter than usual and I realized I was accidentally manipulating the sun. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down a bit.

Seth's blue eyes narrowed and he glared at me. "Feel better?" He asked me skeptically.

"Where is she?" I grumbled.

He shrugged his shoulders and questioned, "How should I know?"

"You're the god of the desert and you're here right now. So stop acting all high and mighty and tell me where she is," I replied.

"Why should I?" He wondered.

I stepped closer to him till I was eye to eye with him. "Tell me before I turn you into ash and scatter your miserable consciousness across the empire," I threatened him.

"Three hundred paces west and 45 paces north. Small camp with five guards. All of them working for the rebellion," he informed me.

I raised my eyebrow and asked, "Why did they take Alison instead of me then?"

"Maybe because you're a demigod that could kill them faster than they could blink. Plus she's the mystery box. A pretty one too," Seth reasoned.

I rolled my eyes at the problematic god. "Thanks for the information. I'm leaving now," I told him.

I started to walk away but Seth called out, "Don't walk away from me mortal!"

I stopped and a flash of anger spread throughout my body. I turned around and faced the poor excuse for a god. Light all around me became brighter and Seth had to squint his eyes so he could see. "I'm getting really sick of the gods having such big heads," I grumbled.

"I just want my payment," Seth told me with his hands up in surrender.

I scoffed and said, "Talk to Ra about your payment. He's the one that's really pulling the strings. Or has the old man lost his touch?"

"Be careful," he warned, "Ra my be your father but even he has his limits."

I turned around again and began to walk to where Alison was being kept. "I have my limits too Seth, and I reached the end a long time ago," I called out.

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Alison's P.O.V.

I licked my lips in a desperate attempt to bring moisture to them. I need water. It hadn't even been a full twenty-four hours since I was taken and I already felt like I was going to die from dehydration.

My hands were tied together by a rope and it was looped around the neck of what I assume is a camel. The animal was my only companion as my kidnappers were inside a canopy tent, still resting from their nighttime adventure.

The camel jerked its head and my wrists were yanked. The skin was scratched up by the movement and I complained, "Camela! Will you hold still?"

The camel looked at me and we ended up just staring at each other. A few moments came and went before the camel finally looked away. I let out a groan, allowing myself to wallow in my misery.

Why can't things ever go right? It seems like all my life it's just trial after trial. When was I going to get a break?

"Can you speak to animals?" Aiden asked me.

Great! Now I'm hearing things too. I squeezed my eyes closed and willed myself not to cry. I took in three deep breaths then bit my cracked bottom lip.

"Are you crying? Did they hurt you?" He asked again.

I shook my head and tried to get the hope out of my system. Aiden didn't wake up. He's not coming for me. I'm stuck here.

Hands touched my wrists and I jerked. What the? I opened my eyes and was met with the beautiful sight of Aiden. "Am I dreaming?" I wondered.

His fingers untangled the knots from the rope and he smiled at me. "No you're not Alison," he reassured me.

The ropes fell off of my wrists and onto the yellow sand. He took my hands into his and lifted me off the ground. He brought my hands up to his face and examined the rash from the rope. I took my hands out of his and said, "I've been in those ropes for a while now."

His gray eyes darkened and the sun seemed to become brighter behind him. I shielded my eyes from the light and I could hear the camel groaning loudly. "Stay here and cover your eyes," he ordered me.

Too stunned to do anything except what I was told, I stayed there while he went inside the tent. There were a few yells from inside, probably just from surprise, but then they all let out a painful screech. At that moment I couldn't stay still. I ran inside and was met with the sight of four men and one woman holding their faces as they groaned in pain.

I looked from my captures to Aiden and saw that he was glowing. Heat radiated off of him and I could feel my skin drying up and getting slightly burnt.

"Aiden!" I yelled. He turned to look at me and I had to cover my eyes with my hand, "You need to stop!"

He looked between me and the others a few times before he took a deep breath and the light disappeared. Once the light was gone the excessive heat was gone as well.

I went over to him and said, "Let's go."

"Not yet," he replied, "They're part of the rebellion."

"So? Let's just leave before any more damage is done," I pleaded.

"My dome was gone this morning. That never should've happened without me purposely disabling it. They're behind it. It's too dangerous for us to continue traveling to Thot if they know how to disable it," he argued.

I bit my bottom lip and looked at the five people. They could've killed me.

I let out a sigh and said, "Do what you have to do... but please, just be quick about it."

He nodded and went over to them. I looked away. Even the thought of confrontation terrified me, and who knew what Aiden would do to get answers.

I heard shuffling before Aiden finally let out an aggressive frustrated grunt. I opened my eyes and looked at him with five limp bodies surrounding him. "They're dead," he grumbled.