Warriors Vow (The Mummy FanFiction)

Prologue

2,134 B.C.

"Thebes, City of the Living. Crown Jewel of Pharaoh Seti the first. Home of Imhotep, the high priest of Osiris, Keeper of the dead. Birthplace of Anck-Su-namun, Pharaoh's mistress, no other man was allowed to touch her."

A woman covered in body paint walked into a room. As she stepped further into the room, she glanced towards a pair of green-robed men who, in turn, moved towards the enormous doors and shut them behind her. The woman, Anck-Su-namun, walked through curtains greeting her lover; they kissed with passion; Imhotep's hands moved from her shoulders, smearing the paint.

"But for their love, they were willing to risk life itself."

The gold-painted men were attempting to lock the doors as they were pushed open, knocking them back. Frightened at the sight of the Pharaoh, they bowed and backed further away.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, looking around at the men. They did not answer; instead, they dip lower as the Pharaoh walked past towards the curtains. He throws the curtains open and sees Anck-su-namun standing next to the statue of Bastet. Her arm was rested on the cat's head. Pharaoh approached his mistress but stopped when he saw the paint on her shoulder had been smeared.

"Who has touched you?" Pharaoh demanded as he pointed to the smeared blend of colors on her. Anck-Su-namun looked down at her shoulder; Imhotep moved behind Pharaoh, making eye contact with Anck-Su-namun. In one quick motion, he pulled the Pharaoh's sword from its scabbard, which caused the Pharaoh to turn to meet his betrayer.

"Imhotep? My priest?!" With his back to her, Anck-Su-namun moved away from the statue and raised a large dagger above her head before plunging it into Pharaoh's back. He screamed in pain, leaving himself open to Imhotep. Imhotep drove the sword into Pharaoh's stomach and then two lovers took turns stabbing the Pharaoh.

The doors to the chamber burst open, making the lovers stop what they were doing. The painted man came running through the curtains shouting, "Pharaoh's Bodyguard!" They attempted to drag Imhotep out of the room.

"Release me! Let go!" He shouted, fighting to stay with Anck-Su-namun. She reached for the sword he was still holding and took it from him.

"You must go, save yourself. You are the only one who can resurrect me." She spoke urgently, watching as he was dragged away from her.

"I will resurrect you!" He exclaimed as the doors burst open, and the Pharaoh's bodyguard, known as Medjai, rushed into the room. They threw the curtains open and stared at Pharaoh's body; slowly, they looked up to Anck-Su-namun.

"My body is no longer his temple." She growled before plunging the dagger into her heart.

~Later in the night~

"To resurrect Anck-su-namun, Imhotep and his priests broke into her crypt and stole her body. They raced deep into the desert, taking Anck-su-namun's corpse to Hamunaptra, City of the Dead, an ancient burial site for the sons of pharaohs and resting place for the wealth of Egypt. Imhotep dared the gods' anger for his love by going deep into the city where he took the black book of the dead from its holy resting place. Anck-su-namun's soul had been sent to the dark underworld. Her vital organs were removed and placed in five sacred canopic jars."

Anck-Su-namun's body was resting on an altar in sheer black cloth. Five sacred Canopic jars were lined up beside her body, each holding a vital organ. The priests formed a circle around the altar and chanted as Imhotep read from the book. A pool of black liquid started to bubble in front of the platform, and a smoky black figure rose from it. The figure passed through the priests, striking fear through each. It hovered over Anck-Su-namun's body for a moment as it took the shape of her body before sinking into her. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking up at Imhotep. One of the jars began to shake as her heart raced in fear. Imhotep held a dagger in his hand and raised the blade, chanting loudly, began to plunge the dagger down when his hand was stopped. The medjai had followed Imhotep and stopped him before the ritual could be completed. The dark soul of Anck-Su-namun left her body as the chanting stopped.

"Anck-su-namun's soul had come back from the dead, but Pharaoh's bodyguard had followed Imhotep and stopped him before the ritual could be completed.

"NO!" Imhotep shouted, angry that he had not succeeded. The medjai bound his hands and forced him out of the chamber. They led him down many halls until they came to a room with a throne.

Sitting on the throne was a young woman in a long sheer dress, wearing the Pharaoh's crown. Imhotep dropped to his knees before her, bowing and preparing to plead for his life.

"Imhotep, High priest of Osiris, you have betrayed the royal family not once, not twice, but four times!" The young queen shouted, standing from the throne. "First, you and Anck-Su-namun formed a relationship, which both of you knew was forbidden. Second, when you get caught, by the Pharaoh no less, you kill him. Third, by killing the Pharaoh, you caused Princess Nefertari to fall to her death, and finally, you tried to bring your whore of a lover back from the dead." 

She took one step closer to Imhotep with each offense she listed until she stood over his bowing body, "You have betrayed the promise you made to my father when he chose you to be my husband, I thought you loved me, but I was wrong." 

She paused before continuing, "It is with a heavy heart that I have condemned your priests to be mummified alive. But know this: I, Rana, Pharaoh of Egypt and goddess on this plane, have only hatred for you as I condemn you to the Hom-Dai."  She watched with pleasure as he tensed, hearing his fate. He looked up at her with false tears in his eyes and spat at her.

"I will rise again, and when I do, you will be mine for all eternity." He shouted as he was pulled out of the throne room and into the preparation room.

"Imhotep's priests were condemned to be mummified alive. As for Imhotep, he was condemned to endure the Hom-Dai. The worst of all ancient curses one so horrible it had never before bestowed."

His priests were screaming in pain all around him as the Anubis masked workers mummified them slowly. Imhotep was dragged to the middle of the room and forced to his knees by the men holding his arms. They placed their hands on his shoulders, and a third Medjai grabbed his head and forced his mouth open. One of the masked men approached with long tongs and gripped his tongue, pulling it out of his mouth to be cut off. After his tongue was removed, he was wrapped in bandages many times as he screamed and tried talking, but it was garbled without his tongue. After he was lowered into a sarcophagus, scarab beetles were poured into it with him. The sarcophagus was sealed and locked with a unique key and then put into another much larger sarcophagus that was also sealed and secured with the unique key.

Slaves slowly lowered the sarcophagus into the sand beneath a tall statue of Anubis. They filled the hole, and the guards watching them killed each one quickly. The Medjai that were also watching murdered the guards, so no one but them would know the final resting place for Imhotep.

"He was to remain sealed inside his sarcophagus, the undead for all of eternity. The Medjai would never allow him to be released, for he would raise a walking disease. A plague upon humanity an unholy flesh eater with the strength of ages power of the sands and the glory of invincibility."