Chapter 1
THEBES, 2134 B.C.
Thebes, city of the Living, crown jewel of Pharaoh Seti the First. Home of Imhotep, Pharaoh's High Priest, keeper of the dead. Birthplace of Anck-Su-Namun, Pharaoh's mistress. No other man was allowed to touch her. But for their love, they were willing to risk life itself.
To resurrect Anck-Su-Namun, Imhotep and his priests broke into her cript and stole her body. They raced deep into the desert, bringing Anck-Su-Namun's corpse to Hamunaptra, city of the Dead, ancient burial site for the sons of Pharaohs, and resting place for the wealth of Egpyt. For his love, Imhotep dared the gods' anger 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 removed and placed into five sacred canopic jars. Anck-Su-Namun's soul had come back from the dead but Pharaoh's bodyguards had followed Imhotep and stopped him before the ritual could be completed.
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 been bestowed. He was to remain sealed inside his sarcophagus, be undead for all of eternity. The Medjai would never allow him to be released for he would arise a walking disease, a plague upon mankind, an unholy flesh-eater with the strength of ages, power over the sands and glory of invincibility.
For three hundred years, men and armies fought over this land, never knowing what evil lay beneath it. For three hundred years, we, the Medjai, the descendants of Pharaoh's sacred bodyguards, kept watch.
THE SAHARA, 1925.
Richard O'Connell fought alongside the French and his friend, Beni. From his place behind the remnants of what used to be a wall, he looked around at the two hundred French men, who were his allies, scurrying through the ruins and then at the screaming horde galloping toward him. He looked back just in time to see the Colonel throw his sword to the floor before galloping away on his white horse.
“You just got promoted.” Beni said from his place beside Rick.
Rick winced. Coward. “Tenez vos positions!” He yelled at his men, for they were his now. Beni was right, he was the one in charge now that the Colonel had deserted. “Steady!” He yelled as he pointed his rifle at the horde. “You're with me on this one, right?” He asked Beni, looking sideways at him.
“Oh, your strength gives me strength.” Beni answered without taking his eyes away from his target.
Rick couldn't help but frown at him. Beni was a coward, Rick knew that much and so his reaction was quite unexpected and a little bit too poetic to be true. Rick had expected Beni to flee but he remained by Rick's side.
But Beni wouldn't really be Beni if he didn't prove Rick right. He seemed to have a habit of doing that. Whenever Rick assumed Beni would do something, he would end up doing that very thing somehow. And so, after a couple of seconds of hesitation, Beni shook his head, let go of his rifle and ran away.
“Wait for me!” He yelled after the Colonel.
“Steady!” Rick yelled once again, ignoring Beni's retreating form. “Fire!” He yelled once he deemed the horde close enough. The French soldiers obliged and fired.
Rick watched as their opponents fell from their horses, in the sand one by one, creating a veil of dust clouding Rick's sight. He kept shooting anyway. He had no choice. It was him or them and he would rather not die today. He kept shooting until he had no bullets left, then he had no other choice but to run. He was no fool, he knew when he had to run. He ran as fast he could until he saw Beni.
“Run, Beni! Run!” He yelled as he kept running toward him, enemies hot on his heels. Beni obliged at once. “Get inside, get inside!” What Rick hadn't been expecting was Beni closing the door behind him. “Hey! Don't you close that door! Don't you close that door!”
He reached the door a second too late. Beni slammed the door in his face. Rick grunted in annoyance and rested his back against the door. He didn't have time to rest though as he was shot at again. He ran fast, crouched and jumped to avoid the bullets. He lost his guns on the way but he couldn't afford thinking about it.
He ran for his life. There were seven or eight egyptians after him and Rick felt like every single one of them was after him. He ran until he reached dead end. He was trapped but he refused to die with his back to them and so he turned around, closed his eyes and accepted his fate.
He hears the horses, screech and snort and when he finally decides to open his eyes, the egyptians are gone, they had fled. Rick stood there, frowning, confused by the men's actions. He couldn't have scared them, he was on foot and had no weapons, there was no way he had been the one to make them flee.
“You will die.” He heard a rough voice whisper form behind him. He whirled around and came face to face with a statue representing Anubis. “You will die.” The voice whispered again which made a shiver run up Rick's spine.
Waves of sand rose up as though it were a hand trying to grab Rick. He yelped and avoided the waves the best he could before running away. He didn't want to be here, something odd and evil resided here, he knew it. He didn't want to be anywhere near it. He ran into the open desert, wanting to be far away from here. He ran until he felt like he was being watched. He turned around and looked up, only to see a group of riders. They were very different from the ones Rick had fought half an hour ago. They were olive-skinned, were wearing black robes and their faces were covered in weird black tattoos, Rick couldn't see what it was though. He decided to ignore them, they were too far away to attack him anyway, and resumed his running.