Chapter 17-


Ardeth lifted his head and laughed like a man who was having a good time. He was surrounded by a bunch of his old friends, and they were reminding each other of hilarious times from the past. His friends chuckled but looked at him amazed. They had never seen their leader so happy. Maybe it had to do with that woman, Ravena Desmias, although she always wore a sad expression on her face. They were packing up scimitars and other weapons. Ardeth, Ravena, Evy, Rick and 10 other Medjai were going inside Hamunaptra to search for Rafe Steinburger in 20 minutes. They wanted to be prepared.

Ravena quickly wrapped a gun belt around her body, when suddenly she felt a hand around her waist, pulling her too him. It was Ardeth. He was breathing heavily, wondering where he could’ve possibly got the self-control to not make love to her.

“Ravena, I don’t want you going in there.”

Ravena stepped sharply back.

“What? Why not?”

His eyes held hers seriously. It was obvious, wasn’t it?

“Because you could get hurt. After all, you’re just a woman.”

Her eyes blazed with anger. She swiftly moved away from his grasp.

“How dare you! How can you look me straight in the eye and say that? Especially with everything we’ve been through! I want to find that man and I want to kill him. He will pay, and I will see that happen whether you like it or not!”

With that Ravena turned around, preparing to leave.

“Wait, Ravena! You don’t understand, I didn’t mean it that way!”

She still walked on, without so much of a pause.

“It’s because I love you. I have never said that before, because you’re the only woman I have ever loved. I’ve been with many women, but you’re the one that captured my heart. If I lose you I will never forgive myself. You ARE my life, Ravena, you live in my soul. All I want is to see you happy with your daughter and me, I can’t risk the pain.”

During this time Ravena had stopped to listen. When she turned around she had tears in her eyes.

“Do you really mean that?”

Without waiting for a reply, she rushed over to him and kissed him passionately. They stood there for a moment, until Ardeth felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, and Rick punched him right in the nose. But because the leader felt much worse pain then that, he didn’t react much except for surprise. Rick had anger written all over his face.

“Don’t touch her! She’s my cousin!”

Rick’s eyes were blazing. Ravena sighed and replied with a tired yawn.

‘Oh grow up Rick. I’m a grown woman, I can take care of myself.”

Rick stood wide-eyed at her. He sputtered nonsense for a couple of minutes. He turned around to Ardeth and started to swear every bad word ever said in a row, that soon it became slightly humorous. The Medjai leader chuckled softly, not feeling anything except for respect for Rick. He placed his hands on his friend’s shoulders, and despite Rick trying to swat them away, he shook the man.

“Rick, I am sorry you had to see that, but you must know this, I love your cousin more then anything.”

Ravena’s cousin stared suspiciously at him.

“How much?”

Ardeth laughed into the air.

“With all my heart, dear friend, I would walk to the ends of the earth for her.”

Ravena stood in shock at Ardeth, gathering all this information in. It made her excruciatingly happy. She knew she loved him as well, but this time it hit her like a ton of bricks. A smile twitched in the corner of her mouth. By this time Rick had consumed this new information as well. With an uncomfortable glance at her, he held out his hand to Ardeth.

“Well, alright. But if you hurt her in ANY way, I will kick your Medjai ass, understand?”

With that Ardeth grinned, and shook his hand.

“You’ve got a deal.”

Suddenly, they all heard Evelyn’s voice beckoning them. It was time to go. Rick turned and walked slowly towards where his beloved wife stood. Before they could go along with them, Ravena stood on her tiptoes and whispered in her lover’s ear...

“I love you too, Ardeth Bey.”

With that she turned around and walked away, leaving the greatest leader of the history of the Medjai, weak in the knees.



Ravena felt the air rush by her as she climbed swiftly down the rope leading to the tombs, jumping off at the end. She looked around in amazement, despite the room was dark, as the people behind her climbed down as well. She noticed a mirror in the corner of the shadowy room and walked over to it. Her pupils slit down as a beam of light flashed into the vicinity as she turned it down. Ravena barely had time to register this room in her mind, when Ardeth grabbed her arm and nodded towards the corridors.

“We must hurry, we have wasted a lot of time already.”

They all rushed into different musty corridors. Rick held a torch in one hand, while holding his wife’s hand in the other. Ardeth and Ravena were in a different corridor, his hand on her shoulder, guiding her. He had sent his men in one more corridor, it seemed like the City of the Dead was just one huge labyrinth.

Ardeth and Ravena searched every room with no avail. Worry was ceasing against their faces as they wondered what to do next. They had just one more room to go. They hoped it held Rafe Steinburger. Ardeth took one last look at his lover, and stepped into the doorway. Sadness swept against his face. They could see nothing in the room consumed with shadows. They walked into the middle, staring down at a pile of bones, unmistakably Max Schneider’s. Ravena took a shuddering breath. Suddenly they heard a whimper. They turned sharply around, trying to find the source of that sound. They inwardly gasped when they saw him. There crouched Rafe Steinburger, completely naked and doing his best to cover himself. He was covered in bruises, and it was a miracle the scarabs hadn’t gotten to him yet. He looked wild and disoriented. It also looked like he was incapable of speech, he even had trouble breathing. Ardeth felt slight pity for this man. He must’ve encountered Imhotep. They stared at him for a moment, until a flash of light caught Ravena’s eye. It was the amulet, lying just in front of him. She nudged Ardeth and stepped up to grab it.

“Wait Ravena, stay here.”

But it was too late. She picked up the amulet and watched in slow horror as Rafe grabbed her by the neck and pulled her to him. He pulled out a knife and held it against her neck, chuckling at the fear building up in Ardeth’s face.

“You see now what it’s like for people you care about to die, suddenly?”

The Medjai leader glared at him.

“You never cared about any of those people I had to kill, you only worry about yourself.

Rafe shrugged.

“True, but I still have to avenge them.”

With that he pressed the knife further towards Ravena’s neck, but suddenly, Ardeth kicked his leg, making him toppled over. He swiftly pulled his scimitar out and harmlessly pushed Ravena out of the way. He put one foot over the weak man’s chest and pointed the scimitar down.

“Where is Paris Desmias?”

Rafe looked at him incredulously.

“What?”

“ I will repeat myself one more time. Where is Paris Desmias?”

With that he pushed the scimitar closer. Rafe struggled with the words in fear.

“She’s in Italy, with a man called Antony Turner.”

Ardeth smiled, and with all his rage he plunged the sword into the man’s chest, watching him die. Ravena winced, although this man hurt her so much, it was hard to see him die. Ardeth turned around and watched her. She had tears running down her face. He walked over to her and hugged her, holding her closer and closer, wanting to make her happy.