If You Feel Better

Chapter 6

Aya watched in horror as the flames inched closer to the three of them, already backed up against the wall of the cavern. Air was already becoming thin, the chasm being extremely small to begin with. It was hot, all of them sweating and starting to feel a burning sensation on their skin.

"What do we do?" Aya asked, taking slow, deep breaths to calm herself.

Her father stared helplessly at the fire, not knowing what to do himself. There was no way around it or over it. They were trapped, losing space and oxygen fast. "I don't know!" he called over the sound of the thunderous flames. He stepped in front of his family, protectively as if he could shield them from the blaze.

"Atem!" his wife shouted from behind him. She motioned to her clothes, saturated with oil that splashed her when Bakura threw it at them. Her hair and her left arm were also hit. She was shaking from fear, the cave turning so boiling that her clothes, skin, and hair could ignite at any second.

Pharaoh Atem thought quickly, not willing to let his wife and daughter die this way. He had to come up with an idea. He had to come up with something. Then he had a plan. "Here's what we're going to do!" he yelled his instructions. "We're going to take a deep breath, run straight through, and keep running right into the river! If any part of us catches fire, the water will put us out!"

"What about mother?!" Aya asked frantically, looking at her mother's clothes and hair.

"This is the only thing we can do!" her father shouted, the fire being so noisy that they could barely hear each other. "We'll all die for sure if we stay here! We have to do this now!" He turned to the scorching inferno and stared at it for a brief second, preparing himself for the life-or-death race. "Go!"

He ran first, Aya following fearfully right behind. A split moment before she entered the fire, she saw her mother finally alight, screaming at the top of her lungs as she was eaten by the flames. But Aya couldn't stop. She was already in the thick of it. She hoped her mother was running right behind her, getting through it along with them. The water would be her savior. She held her eyes closed, held her breath, and ran across the burning embers of dried grass and papyrus, blistering her feet as she dashed across them.

She felt the heat around her cease and she opened her eyes again to find that she was no longer in the cave, her father only just in front of her. She could see tiny flames on parts of him and his clothes. She saw some on herself as well, but she ignored them, refusing to tear her eyes away from the lifesaving water.

They both jumped out into the water once they reached the river's edge, fully submerged a few feet down below the surface. They ascended at the same time, swimming back to the edge, and gasping for breath once they made it to land.

Aya's lungs burned, thankful for the fresh air she was once again receiving. She looked down at her clothes, edges and corners partially charred, burned holes dotting her ruined dress. Pieces of her hair were matted together by singed ends and would certainly need to be cut off later. Luckily, she herself didn't seem harmed other than the bottoms of her feet.

Priest Mahad and his men were already there, attempting to douse the fire by throwing bucket after bucket of water from the Nile at the opening, getting almost nowhere due to the fact that water and oil don't mix.

Mahad ran to the princess and the pharaoh at the side of the river, having watched them break free in such an unexpected manner. "My king! Princess!" he said frantically. "Are you alright?!"

Neither one of them answered. Aya finally opened her eyes again once her lungs were satisfied. She saw her father directly in front of her, also on his knees, finishing up panting desperately. Mahad was standing over her, looking concerned down at the two of them. There was no one else immediately around them, only men drenching the flames were by the crevasse opening, and there was no movement in the Nile water.