Timeless ||✔️

VII

SARCOPHAGUS CHAMBER-DAY

I bounced slightly from excitement as Rick and Jonathan propped up the sarcophagus. Evelyn squealed in excitement,
"We've dreamed about this since we were little girls!"

Rick looked at us in confusion,
"You dream about dead people?"

I shook my head as I smiled,
"No, finding a mummy together. Plus look all the sacred spells were chiseled off, the hieratics that protect you into the after life, they're missing."

Evie shuddered,
"This man was cursed... Doomed."

Rick and Jonathan ignored what she said but Rick responded,
"Tough break."

Jonathan grinned,
"Well I'm all tears, now let's see who's inside shall we?"

I took the key from my bag as I unmatched it and unlocked the lock. The lid made a cracking noise as it opened and a horrible stench started to come from the sarcophagus. I groaned as I pinched the bridge of my nose,
"No mummy I've ever found has smelled like this."

The two of them ripped off the cover of the sarcophagus and a mummy popped out. All of us screamed in surprise. I gasped as I took in its state. Evelyn nervously said,
"Oh my god it's still..."

"Juicy." Rick and Jonathan said simultaneously.

I stepped towards the mummy as I inspected it,
"It's nearly 4,000 years old and it's still decomposing."

Rick pointed at the lid,
"Look at this."

I crouched down as I brushed away some dust. I quickly translated the hieroglyphics as Jonathan asked,
"Well what does it say?"

I reread it,
"Death is only the beginning."

Evelyn tapped my shoulder and pointed at the bottom of the sarcophagus,
"Arianna come look at this."

I shifted myself so I could read it. This was a more complicated form of hieroglyphics, one that royals sometimes used,
"Ashara I will come for you and make you my queen, as it should have been."

I let out a shaky breath, that couldn't be good.
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BASE CAMP NIGHT

I ran a hand through my hair as I walked over to where Rick and the Americans were sitting. I walked up to where I usually sat next to Rick but Beni was in my seat. Rick looked up at me before saying,
"You're in her spot."

Beni nervously laughed but didn't move before he growled,
"Now."

Beni immediately moved over, I sat down next to Rick. I smiled at him before I mumbled,
"Thanks."

The Americans sat across from us with shit eating grins on their faces. Henderson grinned at us,
"Ey O'Connell what'd you think these honeys'll fetch for back at home?"

I felt Rick tense next to me as Burns said,
"We hear y'all found a nice juicy mummy. Congratulations."

Daniel's laughed,
"If ya dry him out you can sell him for firewood."

As the three of them laughed I rolled my eyes and said,
"For your information the jars won't go for much."

All of them quieted before Burns asked,
"Why?"

I scoffed and said,
"You've got no proof from where you got them and who's they were."

They all thought I was joking but they all shut up. I looked to my right as Evelyn sat down next to me. She reached into her pocket and pulled out- Scarabs.

My eyes widened as she placed one in my hand,
"Scarabs, flesh eaters."

"I found them inside our friends coffin, they can stay alive for years living off the flesh of a corpse or in our case..." Evie trailed off.

"Are you saying someone threw this in with our guy and ate him alive slowly?" Rick asked questioningly.

I nodded,
"Very slowly."

Jonathan smirked,
"He certainly wasn't a popular fellow was he?"

Rick dryly laughed,
"Or he got to frisky with the pharaohs daughter."

I laughed but said,
"Or his mistress. Killed someone important maybe."

Evelyn cleared her throat,
"According to my readings he endured the Hom-Dai the worst of all ancient curses, one reserved for only the evilest blasphemers. It's never been preformed before this man."

"That bad huh?" Rick asked.

I nodded,
"Yes, they never used it because they feared it so. It's written that if a victim of they Hom-Dai was ever to rise he would bring the ten plagues of Egypt with him."

"The ten plagues... All ten?" Rick asked.

Beni leaned forward,
"You mean like what that Moses guys did to the pharaoh?"

I nodded my head,
"Yes that's a way to put it."

Jonathan shuddered,
"Frogs, flies, locusts..."

Burns knee bounced nervously,
"Hail and fire."

Henderson took a swig of his liquor,
"Sun turning to black."

"Water turning to blood." Daniels added.

Jonathan cleared his throat,
"And my personal favorite people covered in sores and boils."