Chapter 23-

Ardeth and his men grunted in frustration while trying to dig their fingers through the newly discovered trap door. He slammed his fist in aggravation against the icy floor. He cursed in his native tongue. His men were doing their best to ignore the stinging sensations rippling from their fingers throughout their arms. They had never experienced the feeling of ice against their bronze skin before, though it was beautiful, it felt deadly as the bite of a snake. Ardeth leaned back against a glass wall, groaned, ripped off his turban, and slid down to the ground with his hands clutching desperately at the locks of midnight coloured hair. What was he going to go? He couldn’t let Ravena get the Star by herself; danger usually comes with a great discovery, such as Imhotep. Ardeth blew out an exasperated sigh and looked around hopelessly, and absently looked up. The Medjai hung their heads at the sight of seeing their leader disappointed. Suddenly Ardeth jumped up and cried out.

“Sati! I’ve got an idea! Come here!”

His second-in-command strolled up with a look of confusion etching on his fine, young features. He stared dumbfounded at his leader and wondered why the hell Ardeth was looking up at the dome of a ceiling. He soon realized why. There were planks of something metal, possibly iron, crisscrossing the ceiling.

“Look, maybe somehow we can lever those under the trap door and lift it.”

Sati pondered this for a moment. A grin lighted one side of his face.

“Well, we might as well give it a try, what’s the harm? Here Ardeth, lift me up, I may be able to reach the metal plank on our far right if I grab onto that ledge and pull myself up.”

Ardeth nodded, already figured that out. He bent down and cupped his hands together. Sati placed his foot into the palms of Ardeth’s hands and lifted himself up. Ardeth suppressed a chuckle at how much Sati weighed although he was such a skinny man. He didn’t groan because he was too strong to care. Sati reached for the ledge and hoisted himself up. He clambered up and, while trying his best to maintain his balance, reached for one of the metal planks. Sati’s brow drew together in frustration as his arm stretched determinedly towards one, only inches away from it. He grunted as he slowly took one foot off the ledge with hopes to get closer to it. Suddenly he misplaced his foot and cried out as he slowly lost his balance. He started to slide off the icy ledge and slowly he fell off. Luckily, his hands gripped the edge before hitting the ground. Sati elevated himself back up on the ledge, sighed in relief, looked down at his worried comrades, grinned, and waved. Ardeth blew out the breath of air he had been holding in.

“Are you alright Sati?”

His second-in-command looked down.

“Yes, I’m alright sir. Did I scare anyone?”

Without waiting for a reply, Sati looked at the metal plank, this time with a new plan. He positioned himself in a preying mode. He took a deep gulp of air and jumped. The eyes of the Medjai popped up in surprise. They watched horrified as the young man, in midair, grabbed the plank with both of his arms. Sati’s face was beet red as he was trying to hold on for dear life. When he finally felt safe, he looked down upon the Medjai and smiled, but it disappeared quickly as he heard a small groan come from the plank. It was breaking away from the ceiling. Sati whispered to himself in the English tongue.

“Oh shit.”

With that the metal plank ripped off, and with a loud cry, Sati felt himself fall. He shut his eyes in desperation, still clutching the plank close to his chest. He squeezed his eyes closer until the whooshing of the passing air stopped, and he heard a loud groan. Sati opened one eye cautiously, only to see Ardeth’s pained and raging face staring at him. He realized he had landed right on top of his leader. He heard the other Medjai laughing. Ardeth hissed at him through clenched teeth, though very slowly.

“Get...OFF!”

With a red face, Sati rolled away. Ardeth got up and brushed himself off, and then looked anxiously at his second-in-command.

“Do you have it?”

The embarrassment left Sati immediately as he grinned and revealed the plank that he had clutched to his chest.

“Of course. I always get what I’m after.”

Ardeth knew this was true, and chuckled. He gave the young man a grateful grin and quickly seized the metal board. An image of Ravena quickly came to Ardeth’s mind, and he determinedly strolled over the trap door and nodded for his men to help him. The other Medjai stuck in their fingers, and with a loud grunt, they all tried to open it as best they could so that Ardeth and Sati could place the plank through the opening. Finally, when they opened it as far as it would go, and the leader and his second-in-command quickly stuffed then end of the board in, until it stood slanted. The plank was long enough for two men to stand on, and Ardeth nodded to Sati. He lifted three fingers and slowly started to count them off.

“One...two...THREE!”

With that the two men jumped on the plank, and the trap door flung open. Ardeth threw away the metal plank into a corner and quickly peered in. He couldn’t see anything, the hole seemed endless. He looked at all his men before whispering to them...

“If Ravena can get in without getting hurt, so can I.”

With that, he hurtled himself into the pit, devoured with darkness. His men quickly followed him.