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The Zephyr flew above the sandy desert as the blond man looked down for a place to land.

“Do you see anything yet?” Evy O’Connell asked her husband.

Rick looked down to see any sign of their adversary or anything at all. “No sign of tall purple, and ugly if that’s what you are saying.

“Well keep an eye out for him,” the pretty red haired archeologist said. “I’m sure we’ll find him.”

“Don’t we always?” Rick reminded his wife. The handsome man squinted into the horizon. “I’m not sure but I think I see the temple up ahead. Is that it?”

Evy opened the book and looked closely at the sketch. Sure enough the spiral was the same. “Yes, that’s it!”

“Good, now tell the others that we’re about to land,” Rick said.

Evy nodded and went into the back of the zeppelin.

Jonathan Carnahan, Evy’s brother occasionally looked up from the magazine photos to the Med Jai lesson that Ardeth Bey was giving Jonathan’s nephew, Alex. The Englishman listened for a few minutes as Ardeth told the boy to breathe and concentrate. He then felt his mind wander back to the magazine. How important was breathing right anyway to magic? He looked down at the picture of the woman taking a bubble bath and then sighed with relief.

“Pull in and release,” Ardeth said. “Don’t concentrate on anything else. Just pull in and release. Now!” A strong burst of energy seared through the manacle nearly burning Alex. The blast sent Jonathan falling back as it burned a hole through his magazine. “Ouch!” he complained.

“Sorry, Uncle Jonathan,” Alex said embarrassed.

“That’s all right,” Jonathan reassured his nephew. “I’ll just remember not to stand in the line of fire when you are practicing. I’ll stand a little further away like Australia.” He then examined the damage from the magazine. Sure enough, the hole seared through the pages barely showing the blond woman in the picture. “And Jean was taking a bubble bath for me,” he complained.

“I’m sorry,” Ardeth apologized. “Your girlfriend?”

Jonathan stared quizzically at the wizard. How could he not know the beauty that was Jean Harlow? “I wish,” Jonathan said.

 Just then Evy arrived. “We are about to land,” she told them. “You better get secure.” Jonathan, Ardeth, and Alex headed up to the front. “You know between our searches for every blasted magical object, getting scared by that mummy, and/or being used as target practice in Alex’s magic lessons, sometimes I wonder why I’m still here.”

“We wonder that too, Jonathan, but in a grander sense,” Rick said. Jonathan responded the best way he could, by sticking his tongue out at Rick and giving him a raspberry.

“That’s it Jonathan, show Rick that you are an adult,” Evy admonished her brother. She then turned to Alex. “Is something wrong, dear?”

“It’s just this, Mom,” Alex said sadly pointing at the manacle around his wrist. “I still can’t control it.”

“I’m sure you will,” Evy answered. “It just takes a little practice. Remember some of the great heroes took years to harness their gifts.”

“Yeah, right,” Alex snorted.

“And remember, no matter what happens you are still learning and I am still proud of you,” Evy told her son and gave him a quick hug before they landed into the temple.

     As far as temples go, this one wasn’t as dark or as sinister as others but the shadows still jumped from the torchlights giving off an eerie glow in the hieroglyphics. Rats scurried along the walls frustrated with the intruders.

“So what exactly are we looking for?”

“The Eyes of Osiris,” Evy said consulting her book. “They are found in a gryphon. Supposedly, one can use it to create mass destruction.”

Jonathan wasn’t convinced. “So, what exactly are we looking for?”

“Not a clue,” Rick said.

The five walked a little further into the tunnel searching for the object that Evy had read about that morning. None of them knew what it looked like, but they knew that Imhotep was close by. Alex felt a chill that he often felt when he was in one of these places. He had a feeling that the mummy was close by. You didn’t spend most of your life, running from or trailing behind a mummy and not know his moves. There wasn’t a time when he hadn’t known about the mummy even before he was born he was an enemy of his parents. He just knew that the mummy was close by.

He gulped, not wanting to let his fear show. “Hey, umm, guys, I have a weird feeling.”

“This whole place gives me a weird feeling,” Rick said. “What’s yours?”

Alex looked around at the statues that seemed to follow them with their eyes. “I don’t know I kind of feel like we are being watched.”

“Maybe, that’s because you are,” a familiar sinister voice called from behind them.

The five looked up in surprise and shock at the mummy who glared at them.

“The O’Connells, it is quite a pleasure to see you again,” Imhotep sneered as Colin Weasler, Imhotep’s lacky looked down at them alternating between delighted and unaffected by the whole ordeal.

“Nice to see you too, Immy,” Rick said sarcastically.

“You know what I will get from you,” Imhotep said.

“Sorry to disappoint but you haven’t won yet,” Evy declared.

“I think the scales will tip in my favor,” Imhotep said as he raised his scepter and circled it in the air. Several fiery creatures appeared. “Seize them, and you,” he turned to Weasler. “Get the book and the eyes.”

“Yes master,” Colin nodded.

“Evy, you come with me,” Rick said. “Jonathan and Ardeth, you take the guys in the jackel suits. Alex, you wait right here!”

The others nodded and went into their positions. Alex sniffed contemptuously. “No way, am I going to miss this,” he said as he followed them.

Alex snuck along a slight passage so, he could remain hidden from Imhotep and his parents. He crawled around looking for the Eyes when he saw a golden statue,  that looked like a gryphon. “Bingo,” he thought. He walked like a tightrope walker in a circus moving towards the head of the bird. He made careful moves to the edge and leaned over. In a move that his father would be proud of, Alex dangled over the beak and skillfully picked up the golden eyes one at a time. “Jackpot!” he said.

“Thank you so much, for retrieving them,” sneered a familiar voice. Weasler picked up Alex by the lapels. He then grabbed the eyes and held them over the boy’s head as though he were playing keep away.

“Give them back, you big Geek!” Alex yelled jumping to get them.

“Uh uh, you should never talk back to adults!” Colin corrected and then grabbed Alex roughly by the arm.

Evy ran up to Imhotep, who had the spell book in his hands. He recited in Egyptian while Evy grabbed the book from them. Imhotep threw her on the ground, as Rick advanced. “That is no way to treat a lady!” Rick demanded attacking Imhotep head on. The mummy rolled his eyes at the interruption and then pushed Rick back too. Out of the corner of her eye, Evy saw Colin with Alex. She screamed the boys name and then ran to his side. She grabbed Alex by the arm and then pushed Colin to the side. In the struggle, Evy was able to get the eyes as Alex ran to his father’s side and fired his manacle. “Set Fire!” Alex commanded. A few small sparks emerged from the manacle. Imhotep easily warded them off with his staff. He then recited in Egyptian. The room began to shake. It shook louder, and wilder knocking down catacombs.

“Alex!” Evy yelled seeing that he was near a part of the room that was about to collapse. She pushed her son out of the way as the floor fell open.

“Evy!” Rick yelled. “Mom1” Alex yelled. Rick grabbed her arm, but couldn’t keep hold. He caught Imhotep trying another spell. The blond man turned to Alex. “Get going Sport! I’ll hold him off,” Rick said.

“But what about Mom?” Alex said.

“I’ll get her, just go now!” Rick commanded his son pushing him away, even giving him a tight hug as he did. Alex felt tears in his eyes as he ran to the front.

Jonathan and Ardeth were still fighting off the fiery jackals, when all of a sudden they disappeared. “I guess we showed them,” Jonathan said proudly.  Suddenly, the room began to rumble.

“Not quite!” Ardeth said as the rumbling got louder. Alex ran to them. “Where are your mother and your father?” Jonathan asked.

“Back there!” Alex said pointing to the other room. Suddenly, an earth shattering crash resounded through the entire building as a whirlwind emerged from it. Jonathan, Ardeth, and Alex ducked for safety.

Suddenly, it was all over. There was a silence from the temple. The silence was just as eery as the noise. Ardeth was the first to rise. “Are you all right?” he asked the two.

“Yes, are you?” Jonathan asked, just barely finding the strength to stand.

Alex looked around feeling a lump form in his throat. “Where are Mom and Dad?” he asked.

Ardeth’s eyes met Jonathan’s. The Med-Jai ran to the remains of the building. He carefully removed some of the stones and debris from the temple, searching. He wanted to search for any sign maybe a slight ray of hope that they were all right. He struggled as he removed a very large stone. When he pushed it off, he felt his heart sink at what he saw.

“Did you find them?” Jonathan asked. He then looked where Ardeth pointed and felt ill. “Oh dear God, no,” he whispered desperately.

“What happened?” a young voice called. “Uncle Jonathan, what is it?”

Jonathan recovered long enough to run up to his nephew. “Alex, don’t!” he said trying to block the boy’s vision. Alex met both his uncle’s and Ardeth’s eyes and knew the truth. His parents, Rick and Evy O’Connell were dead. Alex ran to where his parent’s had fallen and collapsed into his uncle’s arms.

Imhotep returned to his normal form and dropped Colin on the ground. The lacky had a worse time of it than normal. He ran to a dune and threw up the remains of yesterday’s lunch. It wasn’t enough, he felt sick again.

It’s a perfectly normal reaction, he thought, I always feel sick after Imhotep’s trips. But, he pictured Rick and Evy O’ Connell’s last expressions and he felt even sicker.

Imhotep held the eyes of Osiris and the Book. “I will conduct the ritual tomorrow night during the full Moon, but tonight I will make use of these.”

Colin gasped and stammered, not finding anything to say. “Master- Evy O’ Connell Rick O’Connell. They- you –killed them,” he said.

Imhotep glared at his sidekick. “Of course, I did!” he demanded. “What did you expect me to do?”

“But- Master,” Colin interrupted. That was as far as he got, when Imhotep pushed him out of the way.

“Stop your sniveling!” Imhotep ordered. “You serve me remember? I still need the manacle, so I will find the boy!”

Colin nodded absently feeling pale and weak. He gulped a few times before he spoke again. “I will meet with one of my spies, Master,” he said quietly and snuck away.

In reality, he made no such appointment with a spy. He just knew that any feelings that he had, he would have to keep to himself. Colin waited until he was far from the mummy before his eyes filled. He sank onto a sand dune and fell into a fit of sobbing. Revenge was nothing like he had planned.

“We commemorate the spirits of Richard and Evelyn O’Connell though we know this life is only temporary, and when the Great Trump of Judgement is called we will be reunited in the presence of the Father,” the Anglican priest chanted solemnly. A small crowd solemnly stood in front of the Nile River. Alex held one urn that carried the remains of his father, and Jonathan held the other that carried his sister. At the right moment, the two emptied the remains into the River. Jonathan gave his nephew’s shoulder a tight squeeze and Alex wrapped an arm around his uncle’s waist. The two held each other, as the watched the River swallow the remains whole.

The funeral then dissipated as friends and acquaintances shook their hands or gave the two hugs as they walked away. Ardeth was the last in line. He shook Alex’s hand and then Jonathan’s. “I am very sorry for your loss,” Ardeth said. “If there is anything I can do.”

Jonathan looked squarely at the Med-Jai. From anyone else, that statement would have been trite. But from Ardeth, it meant his word was his bond and that he would follow up to it. Jonathan nodded. “Yes, there is something, meet at the hotel later, and would you take Alex back? I just need to be alone for a few minutes.” Alex looked at his uncle with questioning eyes, but Jonathan ruffled the boy’s hair. “It’s all right, Lad. I’ll be but a few minutes.”  Ardeth nodded and sent Alex back with him.

Jonathan waited until he was alone, before he sank down on the bank. He felt a tear fall from his cheek. Before he tried to stop, another fell, and then another. Deciding it was useless, he cried openly. He thought of his sister, Evy, so bright so intelligent. How her nose was always stuck in a book even when they were kids, how she was always curious about their father’s digs. How she knew the answers to every trivia game and would even explain it in long lectures. How sad she was and how her lips quivered at their parent’s funeral. How she received a lot of trouble from everyone else, but support from Jonathan when she tried to join the Archeological Society though she was a woman. How she bravely faced a mummy who was twice her size and lost her life once before only to be brought back. Why not this time?

Jonathan thought of Rick, the American who he couldn’t stand at first. How the two argued with each other, but defended each other when the time was right. How even though he pretended not to like him, he always respected and greatly admired Rick and how he appreciated him for marrying his dear little sister. We do have one thing in common, we both love Evy and Alex, he said to him once. But now it was all gone.

For the first time in his life, Jonathan felt uncertain about the future. He was now responsible for Alex as his godfather. He now had to be the adult, but what to do? He couldn’t stay in Egypt, with that Mummy around. They had to return to England. “I promise you that no matter, what happens he will be safe,” Jonathan whispered to the spirits of his deceased sister and brother-in-law.

He was about to get up and leave, when he heard a voice call, “Mister Carnahan?” Jonathan didn’t even look to see who it was. He recognized it instantly.

“What do you want, Weasler?” Jonathan asked dully.

Colin gulped as if such emotion was hard for him. “I’m here alone, I just I wanted to say. I’m sorry- I hated Evy O’Con-your sister, but I didn’t mean-I didn’t think,” he sputtered but that was as far as he could go.

Jonathan stood up and looked Colin in the eye. At first, Colin wasn’t even sure that he heard him. “Weasler,” Jonathan said softly, but his voice rose. “If you ever come near me or my nephew again, I will kill you!” He then walked away leaving Colin feeling alone and wretched.

Alex was in his hotel room. They decided not to stay in the Zephyr for the night, since there were too many memories. Alex aimed his manacle at the wall pretending it was Imhotep’s face. He fired causing a slight burn spot into the wall, but nothing else. He pictured the scene in his head like a movie that wouldn’t end. Why did they have to die? They escaped death so many times why not this time? Alex aimed his manacle again this time as the door just as it opened.

Jonathan stood at the door and held up his hands in mock surrender. “I come in peace,” he said. “I thought I told you to watch where you pointed the jewelry.”

Alex lowered his arm and started to cry again. “It was my fault,” he said. “They were helping me when it happened! If I hadn’t been there, or if I could have used this thing they wouldn’t have died!”

Jonathan embraced the boy. “Listen to me, it is not your fault. These things happen. You can’t blame yourself.”

Alex had his head on his uncle’s shoulder and cried even harder. “I wish, I wish that I never found this thing in the first place! I wish Mom and Dad never awakened Imhotep! I wish, I just wish that it were over!”

Jonathan held his nephew even tighter and kissed him on the top of his head. “It will be over, for you. I promise it will be.” They held each other for a few minutes longer, when Jonathan pulled away. “Come now, its time you were in bed. We have a busy day tomorrow.”

“I’m not tired,” Alex said.

“Just try,” Jonathan said. “My first command as a parent, how am I doing?” Alex ignored his uncle’s slight attempt at humor and lay on the bed wrapping the covers around him. Despite his objection to Jonathan, Alex did start to feel exhaustion overwhelm him as he shut his eyes.

Jonathan hovered over his nephew’s bed to make sure that he was really asleep and not faking it. When he was satisfied, Jonathan put the covers closer to the boy’s neck and ruffled his hair, then walked into his room. When he reached his room he took out a flask of whiskey and a carton of cigarettes. He lit a cigarette and poured the whiskey in a glass.

A knock rattled his nerves slightly as he walked to the door and opened it.

Ardeth stood at the other side as Jonathan waved him in. “Where is Alex?” Ardeth asked. “In his room, asleep,” Jonathan replied. “I wasn’t going to wake him.”

“Have you slept?” Ardeth said noting his pale drawn face.

“No, I couldn’t,” Jonathan said. “Too many things edging in my brain.”

“How many of those have you had?” Ardeth asked noting the whiskey bottle

“What are you Social Bloody Services?” Jonathan asked getting more annoyed by the third degree. Then he recovered. “I’m sorry, this is my first. I’m just doing my best to forget everything that has happened so far.”

“You called me,” Ardeth reminded him.

“I was beginning to wonder when we would get to that,” Jonathan said. “Your Med-Jai mates like that Minotaur bloke know how to remove the manacle from Alex.” He didn’t wait for the expression of confirmation on Ardeth’s face. “I want you or your friends to remove it from him. I’m taking him back to England, tomorrow.”

Jonathan waited for any expression on the Med-Jai’s face, but couldn’t find one apart from slight surprise. “You know I cannot do that.”

“Well you are just going to have to!” Jonathan replied.

“The safest thing is for Alex to remain studying as a Med-Jai,” Ardeth replied. “Imhotep’s evil must be stopped before it takes over the world.”

Jonathan grinned sarcastically, feeling the effects of the whiskey creeping up on him. “You know you are talking, but all I am hearing is blah-blah-blah.”

“Listen-“,Ardeth said.

“No you listen,” Jonathan interrupted. “I don’t know much about archaeology or magic, or anything like that, but all I do know is that there is a twelve year old kid up there who just lost his parents! Now excuse me, if I just don’t give a damn about the rest of the world right now! I am going to make damn sure that Alex is never again the target of mummies, or werewolves, or dragons, or God knows what else! If he gets threatened at least, it will be by somebody living.”

“I understand how you are feeling, perhaps more than you know,” Ardeth said. “But Imhotep won’t stop, just because you have crossed a border into England. His evil doesn’t know borders. What if Imhotep tries to capture Alex in England?”

Jonathan paled. He really hadn’t thought of that, but he wasn’t going to change his mind. “We’ll deal with that when it comes,” he said coldly. “Will you help me or not?”

Ardeth shook his head. “I cannot.”

Jonathan held the door open for him. “Then good-bye. I will be honest, I hope I never see you again.”

Ardeth turned to leave. “It is your decision, I just hope you can live with it.”

“I will,” Jonathan said as Ardeth left. Jonathan slammed the door and sank onto his bed. He doused his cigarette into an ashtray. He suddenly felt very exhausted. The funeral, the encounters with Colin, Alex, and Ardeth had drained him to the point where he just fell on the bed and slept.

Continued