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Wrath's Return


A Mummy story
By Deana Lisi
What might’ve happened if Ardeth hadn’t
killed Lock-nah in ‘The Mummy Returns’.





Disclaimer: I do not own Ardeth Bay, (boo hoo)
anyone, or anything else from ‘The Mummy’, but I do own Safti,
and I made up ‘Pharaoh Saphanoph’.
I’d also like to give a massively humongous THANK YOU
to Xanthia Morgan for not only helping me with ideas (great ones) when I was stuck,
but for also providing me with the great title!! Thanks a bunch, ‘Sister of my Soul’!

This story is rated PG-13

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 1

“Evy?”

“Huh?” Evy looked up, realized that she’d been staring into space. They’d arrived at their Cairo home the previous night, and had just finished unpacking.

“Evy, he only went away to school,” said Rick, watching her.

She sighed, gave him a sheepish smile. “I know. What do you expect, Rick? I’m his mother! I’m supposed to be sad.”

Rick smiled, crossed the distance between them, and took her into his arms. “Then I guess I’ll have to give you something to be happy about,” he said, and kissed her.

Evy giggled as Rick picked her up and carried her to the couch. He sat her on his lap. “Think about it,” he said. “Less food to make, no sudden 9-year old yelling, no toys lying around…” he stopped, sighing. He hated to see Alex go, too.

He suddenly felt a punch on his arm.

“Oh, you silly! You miss him as much as I do.”

He sighed again, and nodded. “One thing I do look forward to, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Uninterrupted romance!”

She laughed as he grabbed her roughly, sticking his face in her neck.

“You are the O’Connell’s?”

They both jumped at the sound of a stranger’s voice. Standing before them was a man in black robes with strange markings on his cheeks and forehead.

A Med-jai.

“ ’Uninterrupted’, my foot,” Evy whispered.

Extricating himself from Evy’s grasp, Rick stood.

“Don’t you guys ever knock? Did Ardeth send you?” he asked, wondering why Ardeth hadn’t come himself, since they’d sent him a letter telling him when they were coming.

A flicker of emotion flashed across the Med-jai’s face.

“No,” he said.

Evy stood, sensing that something was wrong.

“Has something happened to him?” Rick asked, afraid of the answer. He saw the flicker of emotion again on the warrior, recognized it as…. fear? Sorrow? Both.

“He has been taken,” the Med-jai told them, with a sigh.

Evy gasped. Ardeth Bay was a strong, fierce warrior, and a competent leader. For him to be overcome by a foe seemed impossible to her.

“Taken? By who? How?”

“There was a battle. Come, I will explain on the way.”

They both hurried after him.

************


“So Lock-nah has held a grudge against Ardeth for a long time?” Evy asked, as they drove through the desert.

The Med-jai nodded. “Since they were very young. Lock-nah aspired to become Chieftain, even though Ardeth was next in line.”

“What right did he have?” Rick asked.

“None. He challenged Ardeth to a fight to the death, and lost.”

“But he is still alive,” said Evy, thinking back to 6 months before, when Lock-nah had kidnapped her in the beginning of the events that lead up to the defeat of the Scorpion King, and for the second time, Imhotep.

“Ardeth did not kill him. He spared his life, and exiled him. It is something he regrets deeply.”

“I’ll bet,” said Rick. “I didn’t catch your name, by the way.”

The Med-jai looked surprised that he’d neglected to tell them. “I am Ardeth’s second-in-command. My name is Safti.”

“Softy?” said Rick.

Evy giggled, quickly covered her mouth.

Safti frowned. “What is funny?”

Evy shook his head. “Nothing. Uh, if Lock-nah wanted to kill Ardeth, why not do it during the battle? Instead of taking him?”

“No way,” said Rick, as he drove. “We’ve seen him in action, Evy. He can’t be beaten easily. How’d they manage to get him?”

The Med-jai sighed. “He was wounded in the battle. Lock-nah’s men carried him off before I had a chance to stop them.”

“Wounded? In what way?” asked a worried Evy.

“I do not know.” Safti shook his head. “I did not see.” He pounded his fist on the doorframe of the car.

“Hey, now,” said Rick. “Renting this thing costed me money, you know.”

“Torture, perhaps,” Safti said, answering Rick’s question. “Lock-nah seeks revenge. I swear, if Ardeth does not kill him, I will.”

They rode on in silence for a while, each of them too worried to speak further.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 2

When they arrived at the Med-jai camp, they were greeted by what looked like the whole tribe. Their expressions were nervous, fearful, but Evy could see the hope in their faces as she and Rick entered.

“Ardeth has spoken often about you,” Safti explained.

It amazed Evy, that her —a woman— and Rick —one man— could bring the tribe hope. “I’m sure he exaggerated,” she said, with a smile.

“Okay,” said Rick. “What’s the plan?”

“We have sent out falcons to nearby tribes, hoping that Lock-nah’s group has been seen. They should return with answers soon.”

As he spoke, a Med-jai came running over to them, with a bird swaying on his shoulder. Evy was surprised that it didn’t fall off.

Safti took the small slip of paper, and smiled. “Lock-nah has been spotted.” He sighed. “But Ardeth was not seen.”

“Where did they see Lock-nah?” Rick asked.

“Northwest of here. It is the direction I sent some of our warriors,” Safti said proudly.

“Really?” said Rick. “If they catch up, will they attack and try to get him back?”

The Med-jai nodded. “Lock-nah is outnumbered. We’d won the battle.”

Evy saw a look of irony on Safti’s face. How horrible, to win the battle, but lose their leader, she thought.

Safti held out his arm, and the falcon jumped onto it.

“I will send a message to the group I sent, to tell them that we are following.”

“’Scuse me.” They looked at Evy to see her holding a falcon nearly identical to the other. “Please take this bird...its claws are digging into my skin!”

Safti took the bird from Evy, handing the other back to the other warrior.

“How’d you do that?” Rick asked Evy.

“I saw the thing coming, and I held out my arm. It looked a lot smaller from far away!”

Ardeth’s second-in-command gave a gasp. “They have caught up to them, and await instructions.”

“Why didn’t they attack?” Rick asked.

“Lock-nah met up with more forces.” He turned and looked towards the warriors. “We will follow!”

The rest of the Med-jai cheered; each of them wanting to get a shot at their enemy.

The temporary Med-jai leader smiled at Evy, and stroked the bird’s feathers. “Now we know exactly where to go.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 3

Ardeth Bay didn’t know how much longer he could remain conscious. He’d slipped in and out more times then he could remember, and he knew that if he went out one more time, it would most likely last. He’d been fighting the darkness for a long time, and he was exhausted. There was a strange fuzziness in his mind; he felt like the battle had been months ago. He could barely remember getting surrounded by some of Lock-nah’s men —he couldn’t even remember how many— and being attacked by all of them at once. He remembered being slashed, hit on the head, shot…the battle had been well underway when the men had suddenly come out of nowhere, after Ardeth had grown fatigued from the fighting. It was a planned attack, and he’d fought them as best he could, but they’d had him at a serious disadvantage.

Ardeth found himself drifting and forcefully brought himself back, trying to listen to the talk between the men. He realized that he was no longer on a horse, but was lying on the hot sand. He was not aware of having been laid —or, most likely thrown— there. His mouth and throat were so dry, but he didn’t dare move, not wanting them to know that he was awake. They spoke around him when they thought he was unconscious, not knowing that he was learning of their plans.

“Lock-nah,” he heard. “How much further is it?”

“A few hours,” Lock-nah answered, his voice not too far from Ardeth.

“When are you going to kill him?” the other voice asked.

“Not until after he gets to see me rob one of the precious tombs that he protects,” Lock-nah said, with a sardonic laugh.

Ardeth clenched his jaw.

“I do not think he will last much longer,” said The Voice. “See how he does not wake and his blood still runs into the sand. Let me kill him now.”

Ardeth heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed, and he tensed. The movement caused intense pain to shoot through his body, especially his right shoulder, the site of a bullet wound. He almost cried out in pain, but somehow managed to stop himself.

Lock-nah and his warrior didn’t notice, for Lock-nah had grabbed the other’s arm.

“No! Not until we reach the tomb.”

The man put his sword away.

“And I will be the one to kill him,” Lock-nah said, menacingly.

************

Evy had flat-out refused to stay behind at the camp, and so she and Rick were speeding along in the car, while the Med-jai warriors galloped beside them.

More birds had returned with messages, and they’d ascertained that Lock-nah had played a game with them, obviously trying to confuse them by taking all kinds of different directions, but it had apparently backfired on him, for the point that Lock-nah was at now wasn’t all that far from theirs. Had Lock-nah picked one direction and stayed with it, Ardeth may’ve been lost to them forever by now.

They spied a lone figure on horseback riding towards them. It was the Med-jai in charge of the warriors sent after their enemy.

“They are there,” the Med-jai pointed. “Beyond that dune. They appear to be going towards Pharaoh Saphanoph’s tomb.”

“Did you spot Ardeth?” Evy asked.

He nodded. “Yes.”

Before Evy got to ask anything else, the Med-jai had galloped off, to the edge of the dune.

She and Rick got out of the car, and went to the edge, where they stood watching Lock-nah’s caravan.

Neither Rick nor Evy could see Ardeth.

“They have him across a horse, at the front,” the warrior said. “With Lock-nah.”

“And he figured he’d rob a bank on the way, huh?” said Rick, gesturing to a large structure not unlike a pyramid that Evy had barely registered in her mind, she’d been so intent on trying to find their Med-jai friend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 4

Ardeth was pushed off the horse, and, barely conscious as he was from blood loss, was still awake enough to feel it. He had to bite his lip to prevent himself from crying out in pain. He kept his eyes closed, tried to keep his face expressionless, hoping he could continue to stall.

Lock-nah knelt in front of him. "Wake up, oh Chief," he snarled sarcastically.

He got no response.

Lock-nah looked at Ardeth's face, smiling at the blood and bruises he saw. He stood slowly, and suddenly kicked Ardeth in the ribs.

It was the hardest thing Ardeth had ever done—to try not to react. The pain made his head spin, he was sure he had broken ribs, whether from the attack on the battlefield or from Lock-nah's kick; he was too out-of-it to know.

He heard Lock-nah laugh. Had his face betrayed his feigned unconsciousness?

Lock-nah waited a moment, giving Ardeth a false sense of security, and then he savagely kicked Ardeth's shot shoulder.

Ardeth cried out in agony, before he had a chance to stop himself. He was suddenly grabbed by the throat; held partly off the ground.

"You should've been an actor, Ardeth," Lock-nah snarled.

Ardeth tried to slow his breathing, having extreme difficulty. His chest felt like it was on fire with every breath he took, and Lock-nah's strangle hold was cutting off whatever oxygen he was managing to get. He opened his eyes, stared at his enemy in defiance, but his eyes would not stay open; he tried frantically to blink back the gray forming at the edge of his vision.

Lock-nah saw Ardeth losing his battle with consciousness, and he suddenly let go, letting Ardeth drop painfully to the sand, where he lay gasping.

"You never thought I'd win, did you?" Lock-nah asked him.

"You...won't," Ardeth said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Lock-nah smiled at his inability to speak. "I'm not sure if I should finish you off, or let you die slowly on your own," he laughed. "You're halfway there already."

Ardeth tried to push himself up, to look at his enemy. His right arm —the same one with the bullet in the shoulder— suddenly screamed in fierce pain, he realized that it was broken. He gasped loudly, tried to shift his weight to the other arm but found with some surprise that his hands were tied in front of him. Had they been all along? he thought. How could I not have noticed? I really AM dying...

Lock-nah smiled at the pain Ardeth was in. "I made up my mind. I think I’ll help you along," he said, kicking him in the ribs again.

Ardeth gasped as what little breath he had was forced out of him. He tried to get his breath back, felt panic when he couldn't.

He heard Lock-nah laugh again. "Hey, Ardeth," he said, as if they were brothers or something. "You know where we are?"

Ardeth ignored him, concentrating on trying to breathe.

Lock-nah grabbed Ardeth by the throat again, forced him to look.

"Humm, it looks like the tomb of Pharaoh Saphanoph," he said. "You're not doing a very good job protecting it right now, are you? Some Med-jai you are!" He let go, letting Ardeth fall again.

Lock-nah stood, and looked towards his men. He held up his arm as a signal to them to enter the tomb, when his face suddenly registered shock.

Scores of Med-jai suddenly came galloping down a sandy dune, scimitar raised. They attacked Lock-nah's men, while Rick and Safti went for Ardeth.

Lock-nah saw them coming, and turned towards the half-conscious Ardeth, pulling out his sword.

*ping* A bullet sailed past Lock-nah's ear, making him jump and turn in the direction it'd come from. He saw that Rick and Safti were nearly on top of him, and he turned and ran.

*************


"Good shot."

Evy turned to the Med-jai warrior who’d spoken, one of 5 ordered to stay with her on top of the dune.

She gave him a grin, started to reload the rifle. "Thanks, but I missed."

The Med-jai looked puzzled for a minute, before realizing what she'd meant.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 5

Rick dropped next to Ardeth, shocked at his appearance.

"Ardeth? Ardeth, old buddy? Say something!" He felt the pulse on his friend's neck; found it slow and sluggish. Ardeth's body was shaking, shock from the physical trauma setting in. There was blood all over him, and Rick could see he was having difficulty breathing, his face faintly tinged with blue.

Ardeth heard his friend's voice, as if from a distance. He half opened his eyes. "Rick?" he whispered.

Rick was overjoyed to see that Ardeth was conscious, if only barely. "Yeah, buddy. Let's get you outta here." His joy turned to fear when he saw the glassy, detached look in Ardeth's eyes.

Safti had said nothing during this time, allowing the two friends to share the moment. The two of them had been through a lot together through the years, and Safti knew they were like brothers.

They managed to get Ardeth up between them, and held onto him tightly as they tried to get him away from the battle, which was not far from over, Safti noticed, relieved.

Evy had driven the car around the side of the dune, and she screeched it to a halt. Rick got in the back with Ardeth and Safti got in the front.

Evy slammed the gas pedal, and took off.

"How is he?" she asked nervously, stealing glances as she drove.

Bad, Rick thought, very bad. "Not good," he admitted, keeping a tight grip on Ardeth while Evy drove like a maniac.

Safti was turned around in the front seat, facing Rick and Ardeth, a hand on his leader’s arm.

“We must stop, and bind his wounds,” he said, noting that Ardeth’s usually tanned skin was pale. “He has lost much blood.”

Evy slammed on the brakes so hard that Rick nearly lost his grip on Ardeth.

“Sorry!” she said, jumping out and running around the car to help them.

They carefully pulled Ardeth out of the car and laid him on the sand. Evy got the bandages while Rick and Safti tried to find where all the blood was coming from.

Rick winced when he saw the horrible bruises across Ardeth’s chest and midsection, knowing just from looking that many of his ribs were broken. He knew now why Ardeth was having trouble breathing.

Evy brought them the supplies, and they set about bandaging his shoulder. The minute they touched it, Ardeth winced, then cried out in pain when Safti moved his arm.

“Broken,” Rick said, with a sigh.

Safti nodded, shaken that he had caused Ardeth unnecessary pain.

Evy knelt by Ardeth’s head. “Shh, it’s all right, Ardeth, we found you.” She put a hand on his head, smoothed his hair.

He opened his eyes, tried to look at her. His gaze was dull and unfocused. He tried to speak, but she hushed him. “No, Ardeth, save your strength.” What little you have, at least, she thought sadly. Looking him over, she sighed at the sight of deep gashes all over his chest and arms. Leaving one hand on Ardeth’s head for comfort, she took a piece of cloth and tried to stop the bleeding to the worst of them.

Ardeth winced, and closed his eyes.

It took Evy a minute or two to realize that there was something wet on the hand that she’d left resting on Ardeth’s head. She gasped when she saw it was blood. “He has a head injury, Rick!” she said, alarmed.

Rick nodded to show her he’d heard, as he and Safti tried to get the bandage as tight around Ardeth’s shoulder as they could without causing him too much pain. Rick knew by the look on his friend’s face that they weren’t very successful.

“Ev—Evy,” Ardeth whispered, eyes still closed.

She bent close to hear what he was trying to say.

“Can I...have some…water?” he said, voice growing weaker with each word.

She nearly swore aloud, at her stupidity in not offering him some, knowing there was no way Lock-nah had let him have any. She grabbed a canteen, and gently slid an arm under his neck. She looked at Rick, to see that they’d finished with Ardeth’s shoulder, and Rick helped her lift Ardeth up enough so he could drink.

“Slowly, Ardeth,” Evy said, knowing that he knew that, but not sure just how coherent he was.

He tried to nod at her, to show her he’d heard.

As they laid him back down, Evy was heartbroken at the look of pain on Ardeth’s face, not able to imagine the pain of one broken bone, nevermind many at once.

They got him back into the car —Rick at the wheel this time— while Evy held Ardeth in the back. She could hear his painful wheezing, tried to hold him in a position that would be easier on his breathing. He was too tall to lie flat across the back seat, and she knew his ribs had to be in massive pain in the position he was in, laying across her lap, with his head on her shoulder.

“Ardeth? Are you all right?” she asked, trying to make him more comfortable.

To her horror, he didn’t answer her.

“Ardeth?” she said, more urgently, touching his face, trying to get him to look at her. “Ardeth, open your eyes.”

Rick tried to turn his head to see what was wrong, while Safti reached out, and tried to help Evy shift him, without touching his wounded arm and shoulder.

Evy’s voice finally reached through to Ardeth, and he opened his eyes slightly. He wasn’t able to recognize the worry in her face, the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks, as he could only see her as a blur. Suddenly he was plunged into total darkness.

“RICK!” Evy screamed when Ardeth went limp, and started sliding off her.

He jammed on the brakes, nearly as hard as Evy had done earlier. He turned around and reached for Ardeth’s neck, praying he would find a pulse.

He let out a breath. “He’s alive. Unconscious.”

The tears flowed down Evy’s cheeks as she held Ardeth tighter, while Rick sped the rest of the way back to the Med-jai camp.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 6

When they pulled up in the car, scores of people came running. Safti jumped out, yelling something in Arabic, and everyone stood back. Together, Safti and Rick pulled Ardeth out of the car, and the tribe broke into a cheer at seeing their leader alive. It died down when they saw the shape he was in. Rick carried Ardeth into the tent that Safti had opened for him, and he gently laid him down.

Evy dropped to her knees beside him, while the Med-jai healers came running in.

“Evy, come on,” said Rick, trying to pull her to her feet.

“Rick? No! I have to help,” she said, easing the sleeve of Ardeth’s robe off his broken arm.

Rick looked at Safti, who didn’t seem to object. They stood there, nervously watching Evy and the healers take care of their friend.

After what seemed like an eternity, they’d finished, having done all that they could. Rick was immensely relieved that Ardeth had remained unconscious while the bullet had been dug out of his shoulder. The poor guy has enough pain to deal with, he thought.

He hardly noticed when Safti left the tent, and started telling the people in Arabic their leader’s condition. Rick may not’ve been able to understand the language, but he could tell by Safti’s voice that the news was not good.

The healers scurried around cleaning their mess, and Rick knelt in the spot next to Ardeth that the healers had vacated. He looked at his wife.

Evy looked stricken, staring down at Ardeth in tears.

The look on her face scared Rick. He looked at Ardeth, and sighed. The Med-jai was out cold, pale, and very still, his breathing shallow and ragged. He had bandages around his head, chest and shoulder, and his right arm was immobilized in splints.

Rick looked at his wife again. “Evy?”

The tears spilled down her cheeks. “He…he might not make it, Rick.”

Those woods sent an actual physical pain through Rick’s chest. “Yes he will,” he said, without hesitation. He has to.

“Rick—he has to,” Evy said, unknowingly echoing her husband’s thoughts, as she continued to watch Ardeth. “He has to live. He—he’s done so much for us, saved our lives. We would’ve never found Alex, if not for him,” she said, referring to when Imhotep had kidnapped their son.

“I know,” Rick said.

Evy sighed, settled in a more comfortable position. She gently felt the pulse on Ardeth’s wrist, and after a minute let go, placing her hand on his arm and leaving it there.

Rick suddenly noticed that it was getting dark. “Why don’t you get some sleep, Evy. It’s been a rough day.”

She made a face. Sleep? “Not bloody likely.”

Rick had expected that. He reached over Ardeth and took his wife’s hand, gave her a little smile. She returned it, and they held each other’s hands tightly as they started their night-long vigil.

******************

It was a night that would haunt them for years. Ardeth developed a high fever, and quickly became delirious. The healers tried everything they could think of, but nothing helped. Evy and Rick took turns wiping his face and forehead with cold water, hoping to bring his temperature down, all the while Ardeth muttered and groaned. He didn’t move around too much; his body being too weak. At one point the fever was so high that they could feel the heat radiating from his body.

Evy was scared to death, sure that he could die at any moment. The hours went by without improvement, and as the sun rose Ardeth started crying out in fear of some hallucination. Evy was holding him in her lap, trying to calm him, while Rick continued to try to bring the fever down.

Suddenly, without warning, Ardeth went limp in Evy’s arms, just like what had happened in the car the previous day.

“Oh God, no!” Evy cried, thinking the worst.

Rick checked his pulse with a shaking hand. “He’s alive, Evy, lie him back down.”

Safti ran in, having heard Evy’s cry. He’d been in and out all night, Rick had heard him talking to his warriors in hushed tones a few times, and he got the feeling that they were planning something, but what?

Safti looked at his chief, and sighed. “Has his fever come down at all?”

Evy wordlessly shook her head.

Safti sighed again, looking upset.

Rick stood, on cramped legs. “I’m gonna stretch my legs, Evy. If you need me...”

She nodded, her eyes never leaving Ardeth.

Rick gestured to Safti to follow, and they both left the tent. Rick was surprised to see the number of people that were already up, standing outside of their tents, staring at them.

“Hardly anyone slept this night,” Safti told him. He said a few words in Arabic, reassuring the people that their chief still lived. The people smiled at them and each other.

“You wished to see me?” Safti said to Rick.

“Yeah, I was wondering what’s going on, I can tell something’s being planned...”

“Yes,” Safti said. He hesitated. “It appears that we are not rid of our foe.”

Rick frowned. “Huh?”

“Lock-nah’s body was not on the battlefield, I have been told.”

Rick's jaw dropped. “What?! Now what? Lock-nah can come back here anytime and try to kill him! He won’t stop now!”

“I know,” Safti agreed. “That is why I must hunt him down.”

“You’re gonna hunt him down? Personally?”

Safti nodded. “I and some of the men.”

“Well, you can count me in,” Rick told him. “I’d like to get a piece of this jerk myself, after what he’s done.”

Safti looked at him for a minute, then smiled. “Ardeth thinks highly of you, American, I can see why.”

Rick grinned. “Thanks, ‘Softy’!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wrath's Return - Chapters 7 - 15