[◈] Curse of the High Priestess

1 | 8 ⌋ Problems in Paradise

As a medjai, Hasina is fully trained in the ways of battle - whether it's mental or physical. She'd witnessed death more by others than her hand, so it didn't affect her as much as Hassan's death. His cause of death that occurred beneath the skin terrified her because Hasina didn't understand it; it wasn't her fault Hassan chose to wander off, but it didn't mean she wasn't responsible for him.

Hasina stared at the fire's base, ignoring the warmth it gifted her; she fiddled with the necklace her mother had given her - a small lapis lazuli pebble that comforted her during dark moments such as this. 

"What do you suppose killed him?" Evelyn questioned wearily.

"Did you ever see him eat?" Johnathan responded without thought, earning a slap from his little sister, "Ah, I didn't mean-"

Hasina was about to respond when Rick sat beside her, shotgun in hand, "Well, our American friends had a little misfortune today." His light blue seemed to drown in the depths of the Nile, "Three of their diggers were, uh, melted."

"Melted?" Hasina asked.

"How?" Evelyn wondered.

"Salt acid," Rick responded, "pressurized salt acid - an ancient booby trap." He poked at the fire, glancing at Hasina every other second. "How are you holding up?" All he received was a shrug. 

"Maybe this place is cursed," Johnathan said before a soft wind blew through their camp, almost taking out their unearthly fire way.

Hasina's heart stopped before she looked at the dunes; Rick and Johnathan exchanged glances. Evelyn groaned at their behavior, hitting both men on the top of their heads. "For goodness' sake, you two. Hasina, you don't believe in curses, do you?"

"I do," Hasina looked into Evelyn's brown eyes, "do you?"

"I believe if I can see or touch it, it's real." She patted Hasina's hand as a sign of comfort, but the girl did not receive it that way - in fact, Hasina took that as an insult to what she grew up with and what she'd seen, but the Carnahan girl didn't know of any of it. "Sometimes, it's the things you can't see or touch you worry about."

"I believe in being prepared," Rick broke Hasina's concentration.

"Let's see what our friend, the Warden, believed in." Johnathan grabbed the bag that belonged to Hassan. Evelyn hit her brother's arm before motioning at Hasina. "Oh, my apologies-"

"No, it's okay, Hassan won't have use for it now that he's joined the dead." Hasina stood up and walked away as Johnathan revealed a broken bottle of Glenlivet in the dead man's bag. Tears dwelled in her eyes as she ran into the temple, determined to find the truth.

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Somehow the silence comforted Hasina more than she liked. Even though she was alone, it didn't feel like she was. Hasina's hands glided against the cold walls of the passageways, feeling the engravements and the different textures on its surface until she reached the haunted chamber; at least, that's what it felt like to her.

She saw the Warden's still, smelly body in the same spot as before - dead. She walked over to it, examining the blood on his head which was dried by now. "What happened to you?" She asked herself while looking in his pockets, then down his pants until she reached his tarnished shoes. There, she noticed a slit at the bottom of his heel; she took the garment and saw an opening in his skin that still looked fresh.

She stood, gasping.

"He is not worthy of your loyalty, Nabila." Hasina looked to see a bald man in a black robe. He wasn't a Medjai because the warriors have brands on their hands and faces, while this man had none. "Soon, I will awaken," Hasina backed up until she was pressed against a wall, "You and I will become immortal - unstoppable." She closed her eyes as a cold wind caressed her cheek.