“Hello, I’m Luke. I mean you no harm.” Power flowed out of me along with the words, causing the room to heat up just a touch as my magic slid over the mummy. She looked up at me with linen-covered eyes and started to say something, but the words came out mumbled once again.
She nodded her head once before reaching up and grabbing hold of the material covering her face. It disintegrated under her fingers as she pulled it free. The linen pads came loose and fell from her eye sockets, revealing eyes that burned like a pair of glittering amethysts. As she opened her jaws, stretching the fabric around her face to the breaking point, she pulled a long, golden plate from her mouth.
The mummy girl worked her jaws a few more times, and as she did, I couldn’t help but think she looked familiar. Her full lips spread into a wide grin I was pretty sure would summon small singing birds as she scraped away more of the fabric still covering her face.
“Thank you for waking me,” Aziza squeaked. Her voice was so soft that it was like listening to the fluttering of butterfly wings. “I hate being non-corporeal.”
“You’re welcome,” I said before I could stop myself, I leaned on the closest sarcophagus, heat burning across my cheeks. “And I didn’t realize you were down here too…”
“Of course, I was.” She shook her head, auburn hair shedding bits of linen that cascaded around her like snow and revealing a lot more supple flesh than I expected her to have as a mummy. It looked like she wasn’t a day over twenty. “I was only up there to find someone like you, Luke. Someone who could help me.”
I opened my mouth, about to ask her what she meant by that statement when the ground roiled beneath our feet like a writhing snake. I lost my balance, toppling forward, and grabbing onto Aziza who clung to me. Behind us, the sarcophagus I leaned on began to spew green light into the sky. It cascaded off the ceiling, shooting across the stone and illuminating the room.
“What did you do?” Aziza called, glancing past me at the sarcophagus. “Who did you awaken?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I said, staring wide-eyed at the golden coffin. “All I did was lean on it.”
“You had to have done something,” Aziza cried, pushing past me and shambling toward the sarcophagus. When she reached it, her eyes went wide, and she pointed at it angrily. “You awakened Khufu! Of all people, why did you awaken him?”
“Aziza!” the word thundered out over the room, slamming into me with such force that it was like being punched in the eardrums. I careened sideways as the floor slipped out from under my feet. My body sprawled across the ground. The stone above us fractured with a sound that made my stomach clench. “Did you miss me, Aziza? Did I not tell you I would find my way back to you?”
“Khufu, stop this madness!” Aziza said, glancing back at me as her hands flew across the lid of the sarcophagus, her face was awash with fear and panic.
“I will do no such thing, jailer!” the voice boomed from within the sarcophagus.
“What’s going on?” I took a step toward her, arms spread wide for balance. She glanced at me as a huge onyx statue toppled over in front of me, crashing to the ground with a sound that nearly deafened me.
“Send me back, Aziza. Send me back home!” Khufu snarled, finally throwing the lid free of his coffin and sitting up so I could see him. He wasn’t as big as I thought he’d be, perhaps only five and a half feet tall. His chin was covered with a black goatee while the rest of his head was shaved completely bald.
He reached out, grabbing Aziza by the throat and lifting her one-handed into the air. He peered at her, a sinister smile that was a bit too toothy spread across his face as he flung Aziza behind him. She smacked into the statue with a loud crack, and if she hadn’t been undead, I’d have worried about broken bones and internal injuries. I mean she could still have them, but I wasn’t exactly worried about her dying, ya know?
She slumped to the ground as Khufu pulled himself from the sarcophagus and made a beeline toward the dais in the center of the room. I took a deep breath and leaped over the statue in full werewolf form, and once again, I marveled at how little I felt the transformation. It really was just an on again, off again thing.
I slammed into Khufu, all fangs and snapping jaws as blinding golden light leaped from the dais. We tumbled to the floor, rolling around for a moment before the ancient pharaoh drove his fist through my chest. It burst out my back with a spray of gore, but strangely enough, it didn’t seem to hurt. Instead, I just felt heat along the edges of the wound, pain a far distant thing, and what’s more, I could feel my werewolf body knitting itself back together.
Perfect. If I wasn’t going to die, I could stop this bastard. I drove myself forward along the pharaoh’s arm, claws struggling to find purchase on the mummy’s still wrapped flesh.
Behind me, Aziza was on her feet, hobbling toward the dais … directly beneath a thousand-ton coffin straining the bindings that had lashed it to its perch high above.
Flinging Khufu away, I sprinted forward, calling on my magic to increase my speed as more cracks spread out across the stone. I crashed into Aziza, shielding her body with my own. Lavender energy burst from my body. The huge coffin hit my magic and stopped, holding itself in midair as I leaped backward, the muscles in my legs straining to the limit. We slammed to the ground a few meters back as my magic gave way, and the end of the sarcophagus hit the ground beside the dais with a sound like crackling thunder.
I rolled, pulling Aziza along with me as the huge coffin wobbled dangerously before toppling toward us like a felled tree. I barely threw my arms up in time, calling upon my magic one more time to shield us.
“Aziza, we need to get out of here!” I cried, glancing around the now exploding room as I used my power to fling the sarcophagus sideways. It smashed into the ground beside me as Aziza started to get to her feet.
“No. I need to get to the dais.” She turned away from me as a huge stone broke free of the ceiling and crashed onto the dais, shattering it into a thousand pieces and causing an eruption of energy that swept outward. I didn’t feel it so much as I knew when it hit me because at that moment I felt more pain than I had ever known, and then I felt nothing at all.
10
Broken sarcophagi filled the dunes for what seemed like miles. Footprints trailed off in every direction as I lay on my back trying to figure out where I was because the last thing I remembered was being in the weird tomb.
I was back in human form, and as I got to my feet, I slowly checked myself for injury, but thankfully, everything seemed to be there. Hell, I didn’t even have a sunburn, which was a little odd considering the entire room had exploded. But considering I’d had a hole punched through my chest and had gotten better, who was I to judge?
Hell, the last thing I remembered was that explosion … so where the hell was I and what was with all the sarcophagi?
Spinning in a slow circle, I saw what looked like, but definitely couldn’t be, the great pyramid of Giza. Why? Because I had been on a Greek island and not Egypt for one. But the real kicker was that it was under construction, and as far as I knew, the pyramid of Giza had been well and truly built for over four thousand years. Seeing it being constructed was enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up straight, and a bad feeling swelled in my gut.
“You’re awake,” a soft sing-songy voice that reminded me of a Disney princess filled my ears.
I whirled to see Aziza, the ghost turned mummy who had gotten me to absorb the sacred heart. She sat on a golden coffin only a few feet away, her chin cradled in her hands as she watched me. The sunlight glittered off her ebony hair as she pursed her perfect lips. My heart sped up in my chest as I stared at her.
What’s more, instead of her wrappings, Aziza was wearing a thin blue dress that clung to her body in such a way that just looking at her made my heart palpitate. No. She wasn’t just pretty. She was, how can I say this? Really, really hot. Like one of those models on the cover of swimsuit editions, only more natural.
&n
bsp; “Yeah,” I replied, smiling at her. “Was I out a long time?”
“Yes,” she replied, sweeping her hand over the horizon and gesturing at the sarcophagi littering the sand. “Long enough for many of the mummies that had been locked away in Isis’s vault to escape. I stopped those I could.”
“You stopped all those mummies? How long was I out? A week?” I swallowed, staring at the literally hundreds of gilded coffins littering the dunes. “And what do you mean by escaped mummies …?”
“The worst mummies of all time were stored in the tomb. Khufu then used the magic that had kept them all sealed for years to cause a fracture in time that sent us all back to Ancient Egypt.” She shot me an amused smile. “It also awakened a great many of the mummies, but as I said, I dealt with some of them.”
“Wait …” I took a deep breath, trying to comprehend what she had just said. “Are you seriously telling me I’ve been sent back to Ancient Egypt? How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “But Khufu must be up to something, or he wouldn’t have brought us back.”
“Wait, are you an evil mummy?” I raised an eyebrow at her. “Like all of them?”
“I am not evil. I merely serve chaos.” She looked like she was about to say more, but instead stopped and gestured at the sarcophagi littering the sands. “We should get a move on. You were out a while, and while I stopped those I could, most escaped …”
“There are more?” I asked, finding it hard to believe. There had to be several hundred coffins littering the dunes around us.
“Yes, many more. The most powerful awakened first. They escaped before I awoke to take care of them.” Her smile faded, and she wrung out her hands. “Khufu escaped. I was not able to capture him.”
“That seems bad,” I replied, a horrible feeling settling in my stomach as I recalled the pharaoh I’d fought in the tomb. “I mean, judging by that fight and the way you said that.”
“It is bad. Exceedingly bad. Khufu is probably the most powerful mummy ever created, and unfortunately, he’s quite wily too,” Aziza said, worry filling her amethyst eyes as she stood and walked over to me. “You don’t even understand how bad it is that he has escaped. But thankfully, you’re awake now. You must help me recapture him and everyone else.”
“Recapture them? I don’t even know how to go about doing that,” I replied, running my hand through my hair. I took a deep breath. “I just need to get home.” I gestured at the sands. “Not stay here.”
“You have the sacred heart and the ability to transform into a werewolf. Help me do this, okay?” She gave me a smile that made me think she was almost being reasonable.
“But—” I said and was about to say something really good when she cut me off.
“Look, Luke, I need your help.” Aziza took a step closer and put her hand on my arm. “Please.”
“Okay, I’ll do it,” I said, turning and staring out at the huge pyramid in the distance. Trap an amazingly powerful mummy in Ancient Egypt? That would prove myself to Set, something I still wanted to accomplish.
“Thank you,” she replied, taking my hand and squeezing it. “I know you can do it. Besides, I’m pretty sure Khufu knows how to get you home.” When I turned to look at me. “At least, if anyone does, it’s him.”
“Right.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “Where do I find Khufu?”
“You can’t find him, but I can. And I won’t do it unless you help me recapture all the mummies. Deal?” She held out her hand like she wanted to shake hands with me.
I ignored her hand and instead stared past her at the sand dunes. If the mummies were dangerous, I should stop them. After all, I’d been the one to dig up the sacred heart and start all this. I should finish it. That was the basic rule of adventuring. “Fine.”
“Fine what?” she asked as I took her hand. “Fine what, Luke?”
“Fine, I’ll help you if you help me find Khufu,” I replied, and she nodded.
“Good.” She poked me in the chest with one slender finger. Flames spread across my face as I realized I was naked. I was standing in front of Aziza completely naked. “Let’s get going. Every minute we delay allows the mummies to entrench themselves further in this world.” I pushed her hand away and dropped my hands to cover myself. She raised an eyebrow at me, a sly smirk melting across her face. “Why are you embarrassed, Luke? You look quite nice.”
I swallowed, turning away from her. “Thanks,” I replied, trying to make my heart stop pounding so hard …
I mean, okay yeah, it was great that she thought I looked nice, but that didn’t mean I wanted to walk around with all my bits showing.
“I can see thoughts dancing across your face, flitting through your eyes like little fish.” Aziza smiled at me before turning away from me and walking toward the pyramid. “Come on, let’s get you some clothes, and don’t worry, I’ll walk in front of you.”
“Why didn’t you get me some clothes when you got yourself that dress?” I asked, trying to think of unsexy thoughts before I reacted in a really embarrassing way because her sheer blue cotton dress clung to her in a way I had to try very hard not to admire, even though it fell to her ankles and had long sleeves. In fact, now that I was looking closely, I realized most of her body was covered. So here I was, stark naked, and she was completely covered.
“These are my wrappings. Now that I am awakened, they can transform into any clothing I’d like. When I was a young girl, I always wanted a dress just like this, but we couldn’t afford it.” She bit her lip, staring off into the distance and saying no more.
“Well, I think you look very nice,” I said, glad she wasn’t looking at me because I was pretty sure I turned an even darker shade of red.
“Oh?” she asked, glancing at me over her shoulder, and I immediately covered myself.
“Keep your eyes forward, missy.”
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” she asked, looking me up and down, and I felt fire burst across my cheeks and ripple down my neck. “I’m really not trying to do that …”
“Yeah, a little, but it’s not your fault,” I lied. The truth was, I didn’t really want her looking at me naked because, well, I don’t like to be naked in front of random people even if they are really hot Egyptian priestesses, for well, obvious reasons.
“Is it because you haven’t seen me naked?” She arched an eyebrow at me. “Because if it is, I’d be happy to oblige.”
“Really?” I asked before I could stop myself. And, yeah, I’m going to blame it on one of those mouth working before my brain caught up things.
“Yes.” She nodded, coming toward me. “I will do whatever I can to make sure you are most comfortable.” She gave a quick look around. “But this is not the best time and place to do more than that.”
“Right. Of course,” I said as she gave me another once over. “Maybe later.”
“If that is your wish,” she said, right before she dropped to her knees in front of me, and for a moment, time seemed to stop. She gave me a wry smile and blew a kiss at me before turning her attention to the sand beside my feet. “I think these tracks lead north.”
She ran her hand over what looked like half a footprint, and as she did, her hand began to glow with strange lavender light. Her eyes went a little unfocused as she stared into the distance. All at once, footsteps lit up across the dunes. “Come on, the trail won’t last long,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me along. “Maybe we can get this one before he regains too much power.”
“What about my clothes?” I grumbled, stumbling along behind her in the super-heated sand. She glanced at me, eyes sweeping over my body as she bit her lip, dark thoughts flashing through her eyes.
“You’ll be fine.” With that, she turned back toward the trail of iridescent footprints.
“But I’m naked. There’s no way I’m going to fight a mummy naked. It’s just not going to happen.”
“We can get you some clothes later.” She gave me
an apologetic look.
“Aziza, I am not marching around naked. The sun will burn me, for one, and for two, I’m just not.”
That’s when her clothing vanished, leaving her standing there completely naked before me. “Well, now I’m naked too.” She watched me look her up and down for a second. “Let’s go.”
11
“I thought we were going after mummies. Is this where they are?” I glanced over my shoulder at Aziza. We were crouched just behind a sort of stone hut that looked a lot nicer than I’d expected, and as I stared out at what sort of seemed like a quarry, I saw lots of people scurry to and fro. Their dark, shirtless bodies toiled endlessly as they shaped blocks, moved blocks, and generally did a whole bunch of strange, block-related tasks.
“I thought you wanted clothes,” she said, giving me a once over and allowing her gaze to remain on my ass for a lot longer than was necessary. “So, when I saw the slave camp just a little bit off our path to the first mummy, I figured we should stop.” She gave me a smile. “I do want you to be happy, Luke.”
“Oh, well, you didn’t have to do that,” I said, glancing back at the naked priestess. True to her word, she’d remained naked so as to not make me feel like I was the only one sans clothing. It was a bit weird because while she was so hot it made my mind spin, I’d sort of gotten used to seeing her naked after only a few minutes of looking.
In fact, as I leaned my bare chest against the stone, I’d forgotten I was naked.
“You just want to keep me naked too, huh?” she said, smacking me lightly on the arm.
“Well, yeah,” I said, grinning at her. “It’s not often I get to look at someone as pretty as you.”
“Well, maybe once we finish this, we can do a lot more than look at each other.” She smacked me on the ass for good measure. “Now, go steal some clothes so we can get on with this.” She grinned. “I look forward to watching you go.”
King of the Gods Page 6