Day Of The Dog

Day Of The Dog
By DX Xfactor

Disclaimer: The characters of Ardeth Bay, Rick and Evelyn O'Connell and Jonothan
Carnahan on owned by Stephen Sommers and Universal Studios.

This story is rated PG-13
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                                                                                    Chapter 1

     Ardeth was sitting in his tent wondering what to do with himself for a week. The elders of the camp had told him to take it easy, he had been working too hard and wearing himself out. He knew he needed it so he didn’t put up a fight when they mentioned it to him. He had just got up to pack when he thought of Rick.
    “ Rick O’Connell!” he said out loud. “I’ll go see what him and his lovely wife are up to.”
    Ardeth just crammed his clothes into a pack and left the tent. He walked over to where the horses were and yelled for the boy who always did all the saddling for the men. A young looking boy, about the age of thirteen came running.
    “Saddle my horse,” Ardeth told him.
   Once his horse was ready, Ardeth threw his pack over it and jumped aboard.
    “Let the elders know I went to see the O’Connells in Cairo. I will be back in seven days,” he told the boy.
     Ardeth loved being free. He rode with his back straight and the wind blowing through his long black hair. He was savoring every minute of it.

     A day later, Ardeth arrived in Cairo. He knew where they would be so he headed for the museum. As he walked in, he saw Rick sitting at a desk looking pleasantly bored.
   “ Hi there my friend.” Ardeth smiled as he walked toward him.
   Rick looked up and was surprised to see Ardeth walking in.
     “ Hey there old buddy.” Rick smiled back. “ What are you doing here?”
    “ Well first of all, I’m not old, and second, I’m on a week’s vacation and I thought of you. “ Ardeth was quick with a smile again.
    “ How nice, a Medjai thinking of me, without wanting to kill me.” Rick laughed and so did Ardeth.
     “ So where is the lovely Evelyn at?” Ardeth asked his friend while looking around.
     “ Oh, she took Alex and went to visit some family in England, and I got stuck with watching the museum and Johnathan.” Rick smirked.
     “ Well, you got the lousy part of the deal.” Ardeth joked.
    “ You bet I did!” Rick replied. “I hate being in this place and she knows it. So what do you say we close it down and hit the bar? I’ll buy you a drink.”
    “ How about a lemon water?” Ardeth smiled.
    “ Lemon water? What ever turns your crank.” Rick laughed.
    As the men locked up, Johnathan walked up from behind. Ardeth spun around, ready to defend himself when he noticed it was Evie’s quirky brother.
   “ Ho, calm down big fella!” Johnathan yelled as he jumped back.
   “ What have I told you about that Johnathan?” Rick said as he stared at him.
    “ Sorry. I noticed that Ardeth was here and I came to ask a question.” Johnathan sounded excited.
    “ What?” Rick and Ardeth said in unison.
    “ Well, do you know what tomorrow is?” Jonathan asked.
    “ Tuesday.” Rick laughed.
    “ No, it’s the Day of the Dog.” Johnathan said. “ It’s the day that Taweret can be reborn to find her mate and become queen.”
    “ Yes, I have heard of it.” Ardeth looked unconcerned. “ No one knows where she is so it doesn’t matter.”
    “ Well it does now!” Johnathan responded.
    “ What do you mean it does now? “ Ardeth narrowed in on Johnathan.
    “ Well, I was on a dig and I seem to have found her. One of my men, who I thought was a nice guy, turned on me and is now gonna wake her.” Johnathan explained. “ He thinks he is the one she wants to mate with and become king and ruler of Egypt.”
    “ Just great.” Rick replied. “ So where the hell is this site Johnathan?”
    “ Get your horses and come with me,” he said as he ran to get his own.
    “ Why is it whenever you’re around there is trouble?” Rick asked Ardeth.
   “ I was just thinking the same about you my friend.” Ardeth said back as they walked to get horses.


                                                                                  Chapter 2

      The next morning, the three men lay behind a sand dune watching the movement in front of them. There were four men walking in and out of the small temple. One of them, a young man about twenty six, with short black hair, was reading from a scroll. He looked to be Egyptian.
     “ That’s him.” Johnathan whispered. “ His name is Bahir.”
    “ What’s that he’s reading?” Rick asked.
    “ It’s the scroll of Taweret.” Johnathan replied.
    “ And just who is she? “ Rick asked looking at him.
     It was Ardeth who answered him so he turned to look at him.
    “Taweret was the god of pregnancy and childbirth. She never had a child of her own. She was told that when she did, she would be queen and her mate would be king. She had chosen a mate but she was killed in an “accident” before she could wed. They saw it as a curse, so they had put one of their own. If she ever were to return, it would not be the great god herself but an evil god out to rule the world. So they thought of a way to keep it from happening. It was written that the only way to return her before she bred was to use the Amulet of Alhasan. Alhasan, was her love. If it is put around her neck, it would return her to the underworld.” Ardeth recited.
“ So she can breed with anyone?” Rick asked.
“ No. She must find the one true of heart and be a decendent of Alhasan.” Ardeth told him. “ She is said to be a remarkable thing of beauty.”
   “ Ok then, he may not even be the right guy then. Maybe she won’t find him?” Rick looked back at the man reading.
    “ She will eventually search him out. We must stop her.” Ardeth replied.
   “ Ok, then let’s go.” Rick said as he grabbed his shotgun.
     The men slowly moved in. By the time they had reached the edge of camp, the Bahir had went inside. It was way too quiet for Rick’s taste.
    As they slowly moved inside, they heard chanting.
    “ We need to go now. “ Ardeth tried to whisper.
    As they ran in, they saw the four men standing around a coffin. In the coffin a mummified woman was sitting up. All of a sudden she grabbed the closest man and he screamed. The very life of him was being sucked out! The other men yelled and tried to run but they saw the Medjai and the two other men. They knew who the Medjai were and didn’t know which one they’d rather take on.
    The woman in the coffin was now regenerated and climbing from her enclosure. All the men stopped to stare.
    “ It’s Taweret! “ Bahir yelled happily.
   “ Taweret?” Rick looked with a smirk. “ And I’m a pretty princess.” Rick couldn’t believe it. “ You’re joking right?
   The man turned to look at Rick and snarled.
   “ What do you mean by that?!” Bahir was seething.
   “ Well, I mean now I know why they call it the day of the dog!” Rick laughed.
   Ardeth and Johnathan looked at Rick in agreement.
    The woman was about five foot three and had a long nose and face. She had just one long eyebrow and looked to be growing a beard better then Ardeth!
“ And she is supposed to be a thing of beauty?” Rick laughed. “ She looks more like a side show attraction! I feel sorry for the man she breeds with.”
     Johnathan stood his ground laughing so hard he almost fell over. Ardeth noticed that she was not looking at Bahir, but at him!
   “ This isn’t funny!” Ardeth told Rick. “ She’s looking at me!”
    Rick turned around to see Bahir kneeling on the ground but Taweret not even looking at him. She was walking their way with what he thought was some kind of sultry gait. Rick finally realized Ardeth was right and yelled for him to run.
   “ Run Ardeth! Run!” yelled Rick.
   Rick turned around to try and stop her.
   “ Johnathan, go with Ardeth.” Rick told him.
   As Taweret got closer, he noticed she was getting uglier with every step.
   “ You won’t get my friend as long as I’m around Bigfoot!” Rick yelled at her.
   Rick swung at her but she just threw him across the room without effort. Rick landed with a thud in the corner with a handful of hair.
   “ Damn, now I know she’s related to bigfoot.” he thought to himself. He pulled himself up off the floor and ran outside to find Ardeth. He saw Taweret looking around for Ardeth too. He noticed that the other three men had taken their horses and left. All of a sudden he heard a whisper. Rick looked around and saw Ardeth and Johnathan hiding behind a boulder. He ran over and slid in beside them.
   “ What do we do?” Rick asked. “ Maybe if I give you a glass of whiskey she’ll look better and you’ll wanna be king of the world?”
    “ I’d need a case of whiskey!” Ardeth said giving Rick a dirty look.
    “ Just kidding, lighten up.” Rick laughed.
    “ Easy for you to say. You don’t have Madusa wanting to mate with you!” Ardeth retorted.
     “ So what do we do?” Rick asked again. “ Find that amulet thing?”
    “ Yes! It is supposed to be hidden in the same temple.” Ardeth told them.
    “ Ok, stay hidden and we’ll go find it.” Rick said as he grabbed Johnathan’s shirt.
    Rick and Johnathan slithered out of their hiding place and ran into the temple.
    “ We need that amulet or our buddy out there is going to be a father to a little hairy Taweret.” Rick told Johnathan.
   “ Ya, poor chap.” Johnathan replied.
       Outside, Ardeth was watching Taweret’s every move, ready to scramble again. He was settling himself, when she turned and looked his way.
       “ Oh, no!” he thought. “ Did she see me?”
     Sure enough, she had. She was coming his way and fast.
       “ Why me Allah?” Ardeth said to the sky.
      When she was almost to him, he jumped up and ran towards the temple with Taweret hot on his heals. He had just made it inside when she grabbed him from behind. She had the strength of ten men but he fought her with the strength of the Medjai. She started to wear him down when all of a sudden she did a leg sweep and knocked him to the ground.
     “ Rick!!” he yelled.
    She was straddling him and started to rip his clothes from his body! He tried all he could, with all his strength to get her off but she was still winning. She almost had all his clothes off and rubbing his heaving chest when he saw Rick behind her. He had the Amulet of Alhasan! Rick threw it over her head just before she could get his pants all the way off. Taweret, screaming with lust and pain fell to the side of Ardeth. He crawled away tired and exhausted from his fight with Taweret. As quick as she was regenerated, she was gone.
    “ I think you owe me your life.” Rick tells Ardeth.
   “ That I do my friend, that I do.” Ardeth said panting.
    “ What should we do now?” Johnathan asked.
    “ Well, first of all we destroy this.” Rick replied as he lit the scroll on fire. “ And second, we get the hell out of here and find Ardeth some clothes!” Rick laughed.
    “ Ya, ya , thanks alot.” Ardeth joked back. “ I think I’ve had all the fun I can handle for one day.”
    “ Oh come on. Let’s go back to Cairo and have some real fun and find you a real woman.” Rick smiled.
    “ Fun, yes, woman no!” Ardeth laughed as they walked into the sunlight.
    “ Ok then, to the bar!” Rick yelled as they mounted their horses.
    “ To the bar!” Ardeth and Johnathan yelled.

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