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In the name of Sekmet	By : darkangel985 Category: M through R > Mummy, The (All) > Mummy, The (All) Views: 8291 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own The Mummy movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Since
Aff is working again there will finally be some new updates. I hope
that some of you still remember my story. I'm not really happy with
my writing lately, but hopefully I'll get better sometime soon.

Chapter 12 – Strength and loyalty

Complete darkness
surrounded Rick as he stepped through his doorway. He could hear the
stones shift behind him, but he didn't pay attention to the eery
sound. Completely focused on the unknown task before him Rick walked
down the dark hallway, hoping that his lover was well.

He almost jumped in surprise when torches suddenly appeared on the
walls, lighting his way with their soft, warm glow. The hallway he
was in didn't consist of the same rough stones that had made up the
walls of the chamber, but was instead decorated magnificently. Trying
to ignore the creeping feeling that he had already seen these walls
before Rick continued onwards, hoping that he would soon complete the
task and get to see Ardeth again.

Ahead of him the hallway forked and he had to decide which
direction to take. Rick tried to decipher
the hieroglyphics written next to each of
the two doorways, but his Egyptian was
quite a bit rusty. While they had been exploring temples in the past,
it had always been Alex or Evy who translated the writings.

Figuring that he would simply face whatever he found instead of
wasting precious time on the hieroglyphics
Rick turned left, entering a dark hallway. As soon as he had stepped
through the doorway closed and he suddenly found himself in the
meeting tent of the Med-jai tribe.

Unease was stirring in his body as he looked at the stern faces
that suddenly surrounded him. His eyes frantically scanned the room,
hoping to spot Ardeth, but his lover wasn't there. What the hell was
he supposed to do now? The Med-jai were still staring at him, not
giving him any information about what his task might be.

Rick was about to ask why he was there, when the Med-jai closest
to him started to speak angrily: “It is your fault that our
leader abandoned our tribe and we are now in danger, only if you
leave we can be saved.”

At first Rick wasn't sure that he had heard correctly, but the
Med-jai immediately repeated what he had said as the others joined
him in his speech. Was this the truth? Was leaving Ardeth the only
way to save his tribe?

Rick tried to back away as the Med-jai stepped closer to his body,
his thoughts reeling in his head. He had promised Ardeth that he
would do everything to help his lover's tribe, but what they demanded
was simply too much. He couldn't leave Ardeth, not even if the fate
of the world would depend on it. He needed his Med-jai warrior far
too much to let him go and if that meant letting the tribe down, so
be it.

It was a selfish decision and yet it took him only a moment of
consideration. Steeling himself for the attack he expected to come
after he spoke his mind, Rick began: “I'll never leave Ardeth,
even if this means that the tribe will be destroyed.”

He had barely spoken the words, when the Med-jai suddenly vanished
and he once again found himself back in the long hallway. Coming to
the conclusion that this had been some kind of test and he had
obviously passed it Rick continued on, wondering if his task was
already completed.

Obviously not, since in front of him another door came into view
as he rounded a corner in the hallway. Carefully peering into the
chamber that now lay before him Rick spotted two figures, but their
faces were still hidden in the shadows.

As he stepped through the door torches lit themselves, revealing
the faces of the two people in front of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ardeth involuntarily took a step backwards as the lion came out of
the shadows. It was huge. He had never seen one as big as that
before, it's fur shining almost golden in the torch light. Elegant
and fierce were the words that came to Ardeth's mind as the lion
started circling around him, seemingly studying his opponent.

His claws scraped over the floor as he slowly came closer, baring
his fangs as he roared. But he wasn't attacking yet. His eyes that
shone with uncommon intelligence were still
trained on the Med-jai as they circled around each other, neither
willing to attack just then.

Ardeth could feel the sadness well up in his heart with the
knowledge that he had to kill the beautiful beast. From his earliest
childhood on he had been told to always respect his opponents as the
warriors they were and the same applied to the lion. But he still had
to complete the task, since his tribe was at stake.

Gripping his sword a little tighter Ardeth ran towards the lion
the same moment the large cat attacked him, a fierce battle cry and
the lion's roar resounding through the small room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex and Jonathan. Rick had already made a step towards them, when
he suddenly halted. He had believed the Med-jai to be real, since he
knew none of them, but how could he be sure that this were really his
son and Jonathan and not just illusions? After all
they were supposed to be out of the temple and safe and not trapped
in here like he himself.

There was only one way to find out. His steps were still slow and
cautious as he walked towards them. Alex started grinning as soon as
he caught sight of Rick, while Jonathan's expression was somewhere
between bored and wary. They looked so absolutely real and yet they
couldn't be. Unless the goddess had decided to bring them here for
his task.

His conviction that they were merely illusions wavered further as
Alex ran towards him and hugged him tightly, just like he had done
before he left. Jonathan stayed in the background, but that was what
his brother-in-law had always done, unless there was a treasure close
by.

“What are you doing down here?”

“I don't know. One moment we were with the Med-jai and the
next we were here, dad. But we have found a way out of here.”

“Ok, Alex. Show me.”

Alex lead him towards two stone doors, Jonathan following behind
them. Each of the doors had a hand-shaped hole right in their middle
and hieroglyphics scattered all over the
surface. Turning towards his father Alex said: “We can't open
them. Only one of Sekmet's chosen can. This one leads back outside
and the other one leads to the next task. If one is opened the other
will vanish. Please dad, can we leave?”

Staring at the door Rick was suddenly at a loss what to do. He had
to decide between doing what his own son asked of him and what he had
promised his lover, the one choice he had always been scared of. This
was the question of who was more important to him, Alex or Ardeth.
And he simply didn't know the answer.

He knew that he couldn't go on if he let Ardeth down and lost him,
but going on to the next task and leaving Alex here meant possibly
endangering him and Jonathan. Which was the greater burden? His
indecision clearly showing on his face Rick was suddenly shaken out
of his thoughts as Jonathan spoke up: “Have you decided yet? I
don't want to spend an eternity in here.”

Yes, he had decided and he had faith in both his son and Jonathan.
Neither of them was exactly a warrior, but they had always followed
him into whatever danger had threatened. “I have to complete
the task, otherwise the Med-jai are lost.”

The anger that suddenly appeared on both his son's and Jonathan's
face was completely unexpected, causing him to pull back his hand,
that had already reached for the door. His son's voice was filled
with a venomous quality it had never had before, sending a shudder
down Rick's spine. “You leave us here, just because Ardeth is
more important to you than me. I hate both you and him. You could
have saved mom, but you let her die because of him.”

The words stung like nothing had ever had before and yet they
opened his eyes. This could never be Alex and Jonathan, because even
if Alex was mad at him for loving Ardeth he would never be as vicious
as that. He could see that Jonathan was about to ad his part, but
Rick didn't even give him the time to speak as he plunged his hand
into the hole in the wall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ardeth and the lion were still circling each other, the injuries
they had both sustained coloring the floor with their blood. The
Med-jai's shoulder was dripping blood from where the lion's claws had
ripped his skin, but the injury wasn't that bad.

But it had forced him to change his sword hand and now he had to
fight with his left, slightly weaker hand, while the lion was still
as strong as it had been during the first moments of their battle.
Ardeth didn't know how much time had passed, but to him it seemed
like a small eternity as fatigue and exhaustion were slowly settling
in his strained muscles. But he had to go on, had to win the fight.

He managed to dodge another of the lion's attacks,
deeply slicing the cat's flank with his sword. Roaring in anger the
lion attacked again and this time Ardeth wasn't fast enough. The
Med-jai heard his ribs crack as the beast almost crushed him under
his weight, forcing the breath from his lungs.

His sword arm was pinned to the ground by the lion's huge front
paw and he could smell the beast as it roared in triumph. But he
wasn't beaten yet. Claws tore his skin again as he wedged his arm
free from the lion's paw, gaining some space to move.

Bringing his sword upwards in a quick movement he buried it in the
lion's body as the cat was about to deliver a deadly bite to his
neck. His last attack had been a full success
as the lion roared in pain, before sinking
down on top of him.

Ardeth would have been crushed underneath the heavy weight, but
the same moment the lion took his last breath a blinding, white light
enveloped them and carried him away from the small chamber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The moment he touched the door Rick found himself in a magnificent
Egyptian room that seemed strangely familiar. And then it clicked.
This chamber looked exactly like the first temple he had explored
together with Evy.

“Do you remember it?” The voice suddenly coming from
behind him, shocked Rick to the core. Evy. He knew that he should
turn around, but he was too scared of what he might see. Scared that
it would be Nefertiri looking at him, but also scared that it
wouldn't be.

Evy had been the first person he really and truly loved and even
in the face of his love for Ardeth, the love for her had only dimmed
a little. He had never expected to see her again and the prospect
terrified him.

Warm hands suddenly slid along his shoulders, making him jump in
surprise. The warm laugh coming from Evy was the same he remembered
from their past, the same laugh she had always used to distract him
with. Unable to resist the temptation any longer Rick turned around.
She looked exactly the way she had on their first expedition,
stunningly beautiful. Dazzled by the sight he hadn't expected Rick
didn't protest as she slung her arms around his shoulders and pressed
her mouth to his.

Her kiss was passionate but soft, so much softer than Ardeth's.
Ardeth. The whole situation suddenly came back to him and Rick
forcefully pushed her from his body. This wasn't
Evy. This was merely an illusion created by Sekmet and even if he had
no idea what the goddess wanted from him,
he knew that he loved Ardeth and that Evy was dead.

Whatever he had felt for a moment had merely been a memory from
the past, the simple wish for everything to be easy again. But now
that he had remembered Ardeth, the Med-jai's handsome face was locked
in his mind as he thought about the absolute love always shining in
his eyes. He had almost betrayed that, betrayed the man he loved.

“You aren't real.”

“No.” Her voice was a seductive purr, far more sensual
than Evy's had ever been. “But this could be. You can stay here
forever and forget about the horrible world outside. Stay here with
me and everything can be like it was before.”

Rick had to admit that it was a tempting offer to
just leave his troubles behind. Being with Evy had been so much
easier than being with Ardeth, but he had made his decision the
moment he had pulled Ardeth away from the mirror of Osiris. Evy was
his past and Ardeth was his future and he would stand by his choices
no matter what.

“No, I belong with Ardeth.” The words had barely left
his mouth, when he was enveloped in a blinding, white light.

TBC...
- 11
- 12
- 13
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In the name of Sekmet