The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter 17: Dark Sand

Carolina

"You're that know it all Ph.D student from the Egypt trip," Jay says after rushing towards me.

Charles just scoffs. "And you're the clueless American students who got sucked into the tomb," he snaps back.

Charles is in a strange, fitted leather uniform that is sleeveless, revealing his toned arms and a scorpion tattoo on his left bicep. My eyes are trained on the long, curved sword he's gripping tightly—the same silver sword he used to save me from whatever that dark sand storm was.

"You two need to get out of here," Charles says as he starts to push us in the direction we were originally going. "Get as far from here as possible."

He doesn't have to tell us twice. We start running down the park's path when another twister of black sand appears, this time blocking us.

"Leaving so soon?" That voice taunts. We turn around to find none other than Professor Cohen.

Before anyone can react, he lifts up his hands, and the dark sand twister that is behind us splits and whips forward towards us. Charles just barely dodges the attack and catches me before I could be thrown far. Jay, however, is pushed with so much force into a near by tree that he falls unconscious immediately.

"Jay!" I cry as I break free from Charles' grasp. I don't get far as Charles grabs me by the arm and yanks me towards his body.

"Don't be stupid," he hisses. "Cohen isn't after him, he's after you."

"And whose side are you on exactly?" I snap as I send him a cold glare.

"You mean you haven't figured it out?" He says sarcastically. Black sand starts to swirl around Cohen's feet as he steps closer to us.

"Professor Cohen," I hiccup in fear and disbelief. "You can't be-"

"Sorry to break it to you, lass," he says with a devilish smile. He stops a few feet in front of us to unbutton the first button of his shirt. He tugs down the material to reveal a tattoo of a strange beast with the head of some sort of donkey or horse or giraffe like creature right below his collarbone. "I am. And you're coming with me, lass."

The dark sand accumulates in front of Professor Cohen and he shapes them into four octopus tentacle like structures. He then swings those tentacles towards us.

"Stay back!" Charles barks as he slices through the tentacles, though it's no use. The sand just re-accumulates after Charles slices through them. I try to step back to give Charles some space as he fights off all four tentacles.

I immediately stop moving when I feel arms circle around me from behind. I let out a frightened scream as I kick the body behind me and try to yank myself out of their grasp. I manage to succeed and when I turn around, I see a murky humanoid figure made of Cohen's dark sand.

I take quick steps back in attempt to get away, causing me to stumble back and land on my butt. Just as another scream slips past my lips, a different blade cuts through the figure. The sand falls to the ground and my heart skips a beat when my eyes land on Elijah. For once, I'm more than relieved to see his strong, imposing form standing in front of me. He's in casual wear: a pair of jeans, a tight white v-neck t-shirt and a leather jacket. In his hand, he's gripping a sword that is similar in shape to Charles' blade, though Elijah's has more of a warm, yellow glow.

He offers his hand to me and I gladly take it. He easily lifts me back up to my feet and pulls me to his chest.

"Are you alright?" He whispers harshly as I feel him start to pull me away from the battle.