Desert Umbra

Cryptic Abyss

I felt my heart pound violently in my chest as we ran away from the huge locusts that had appeared out of nowhere. The swarm flooded the sky in formation, not unlike a thunderstorm cloud. The bugs devoured some of the American workers who were also trying to flee. Nothing was left of them, which was odd because locusts from my understanding were not carnivorous. The Americans took off quickly into the underground city. Our group was a bit more strategic about it, instead of rushing around and getting lost we made our way into a chamber, taking it one step at a time, making sure our sense of direction was not compromised in case there was the need for escape. Suddenly, the ground started shaking and the sand in front of us started to bubble up almost as if it had come alive. We all stared at the pile interested but backed up in case it was dangerous much like all issues we had run into so far. Blue metallic-looking bugs started flowing from the pile, climbing over each other to be the first to get out for their first meal in thousands of years.

"Scarabs!!" Evy shouted in my ear, rendering me deaf for a minute. She grabbed Jon and my arms and started to run away.

"Go, go, go!! Run!" Rick echoed her sentiments as the wave of scarabs threatened to overtake us. I heard gunshots as Evy, Jon, and I left the area. I knew Rick would try to kill them but this seemed impossible. We took a left out of the corridor and onto a stone bridge. Jonathan leaped off to the left and onto a stone pedestal, Rick following his lead. Evy pulled me to the right off their direct path. Evy moved around her back against the stone slab as we watched the army of beetles, suddenly the back opened and Evy started to fall, I watched the fear in her eyes as she tried to grab my wrist. I quickly grabbed her trying to pull her up. I lost my balance faster than I would have liked and we both went tumbling down into the dark passageway. When the devil slide did let us out we were back in the labyrinth, so much for understanding where we were at all times. Evy looked at me terror filling her entire being, I motioned to her to check our surroundings, she poked her head around the corner where we were sitting and got up slowly using the wall to support her weight.

"Oh, Mr. Burns. Thank goodness I was just starting to get scared. I lost everyone, well except Eris here." Evy said as she walked towards the man who had his back to us. I stood up fast and followed her lead watching all around us because something was off, it didn't feel right.

"My eyes, my eyes!" I heard Mr. Burns wail to us, in clear pain as he turned around to show us his empty eye sockets. I heard light breathing behind us and spun around quickly to be face-to-face with the corpse that we had just recently excavated. He was alive, then everything stopped, just like the dream. But this was unusual, all my motor functions and senses were gone. It was like I was a prisoner in my own body. I watched through my eyes as Ahmanet took control.

"You've arrived exactly on time, what exactly are your plans here?" I heard myself speak in the Ancient Egyptian tongue. I heard a gasp from behind me... Evy. I turned to face her, strutting toward her I reached my hand towards her throat but stopped and instead redirected the action to her face. She backed up against the wall pressing herself against it, trying to disappear. I struggled against Ahmanet's hold on my body. I reached for Evy's hair twirling a strand between my fingers. Evy studied my face, her own struck with horror. The mummy looked to Evy's face, a stream of emotions running through his muscles causing his face to contort into a painful half-smile. He grabbed my arm causing Ahmanet to swing my left fist at his face. Not expecting this fast movement, the punch landed, causing him to lose his balance. He regained it rapidly and ran at me, I straightened my arm out at my side, parallel to the ground. He ran into it and I slammed him to the ground, my hand around his neck.

"Without full regeneration, you will submit to my will," I spoke, smiling at his attempts to pry my hand away from him. I released my hold, he stood up next to me a look of surprise coming across his face at the powers that were flowing out of me.