The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter XVII

Carolina 

“You’re that know it all Ph.D student from the Egypt trip,” Jay says after rushing towards me. 

Charles just scoffs. “And you’re the clueless American students who got sucked into the tomb,” he snaps back. 

Charles is in a strange, fitted leather uniform that is sleeveless, revealing his toned arms and a scorpion tattoo on his left bicep. My eyes are trained on the long, curved sword he’s gripping tightly—the same silver sword he used to save me from whatever that dark sand storm was. 

“You two need to get out of here,” Charles says as he starts to push us in the direction we were originally going. “Get as far from here as possible.” 

He doesn’t have to tell us twice. We start running down the park’s path when another twister of black sand appears, this time blocking us. 

“Leaving so soon?” That voice. We turn around to find none other than Professor Cohen. 

Before anyone can react, he lifts up his hands, and the dark sand twister that is behind us splits and whips forward towards us. Charles just barely dodges the attack and catches me before I could be thrown far. Jay, however, is pushed with so much force into a near by tree that he falls unconscious immediately. 

“Jay!” I cry as I break free from Charles’ grasp. I don’t get far as Charles grabs me by the arm and yanks me towards his body. 

“Don’t be stupid,” he hisses. “Cohen isn’t after him, he’s after you.”

“And who’s side are you on exactly?” I snap as I send him a cold glare. 

“You mean you haven’t figured it out?” He says sarcastically. Black sand starts to swirl around Cohen’s feet as he steps closer to us. 

“Professor Cohen,” I hiccup in fear and disbelief. “You can’t be-“

“Sorry to break it to you, lass,” he says with a devilish smile. He stops a few feet in front of us to unbutton the first button of his shirt. He tugs down the material to reveal a tattoo of a strange beast with the head of some sort of donkey or horse or giraffe like creature right below his collarbone. “I am. And I’m here for you.” 

The dark sand accumulates in front of Professor Cohen and he shapes them into four octopus tentacle like structures. He then swings those tentacles towards us. 

“Stay back!” Charles barks as he slices through the tentacles, though it’s no use. The sand just re-accumulates after Charles slices through them. I try to step back to give Charles some space as he fights off all four tentacles. 

I immediately stop moving when I feel what feels like arms circle around me from behind. I let out a frightened scream as I kick the body behind me and try to yank myself out of their grasp. I manage to succeed and when I turn around, I see a murky humanoid figure made of Cohen’s dark sand. 

I take quick steps back in attempt to get away, causing me to stumble back and land on my butt. Just as a scream slips past my lips, another blade cuts through the figure. The sand falls to the ground and my heart skips a beat when my eyes land on Elijah. For once, I’m more than relieved to see his strong, imposing form standing in front of me. He’s in casual wear: a pair of jeans, a tight white v-neck and a leather jacket. In his hand, he’s gripping a gold sword that is similar in shape to Charles’ blade, though Elijah’s has more of a warm, yellow glow. 

He offers his hand to me and I gladly take it. He easily lifts me back up to my feet and pulls me to his chest. 

“Are you alright?” He whispers harshly as I feel him start to pull me away from the battle. 

“I’m fine,” I mutter quickly. 

“Good. Charles can handle this. Let’s go,” he says. He drags me by the hand towards the exit of the park but I stop him. 

“We can't leave without Jay,” I say desperately. He looks to me then towards the tree Jay is laying beside, unconscious. 

“He isn’t a priority. Once you're safe, he’ll be taken cared of,” he says. I yank my hand out of his. 

“I said I’m not leaving him here,” I snap. I then run towards Jay’s body. Elijah calls my name out in frustration. I can hear him running after me. 

The break I made to Jay makes Charles and Cohen pause for a moment. Cohen accumulates more sand into one tentacle and he lunges it towards me. I feel my heart stop as I see the black mass of sand head in my direction. Before it can get close enough, Charles pulls out a throwing knife from his combat boot and flings it into Cohen’s arm. Cohen instantly grips his bow bleeding arm in pain. The sand falls to the ground as Cohen has ceased his control over it. Cohen retaliates by accumulating enough sand into a ball and hurling it at Charles, pushing him off his feet. 

I’m soon by Jay’s side. I immediately notice a nasty cut on his forehead. His breathing is even but it doesn’t look like he’ll be waking up anytime soon. I pull his head to my lap, my heart clenching at the fact that he had to get hurt. 

“Oh, Jay, please be okay,” I whisper as I gently place my hand over his forehead. I start to feel a strange warmth in my chest. That warmth then shoots through my arm to my hand which is over Jay’s wound. I gasp as I feel the scorching heat at my palms. My eyes widen as I see the cut on Jay’s forehead start to close. Once his wound is completely healed, I start to feel an intense exhaustion and light headedness. 

“Carolina,” I hear Elijah say. I feel myself start to lean back, and Elijah allows me to rest against his chest. “What have you done?” He asks. 

“Jay–he was injured,” I say drowsily, “And I just...I don’t know.”

Cohen pulls the knife from his arm before flinging another mass of sand in our direction. Elijah raises his sword to shield us. He then moves out from behind me and stands over Jay and I. 

He is able to cut through Cohen’s attacks and even starts to move closer to him, forcing him to fall back away from us. Cohen compresses his sand together to create a sword of his own to use against Elijah. 

“Charles, get those two out of here,” he barks while blocking a strike from his opponent. Charles manages to get up and comes over to Jay and I. He helps me get up to my feet, though it takes me a while to find my balance. I then help him get Jay on his back. 

At first, I don’t like the idea of leaving Elijah to fight off Cohen. What if something happens to him? But my worries start to diminish when I see Elijah easily out fighting Cohen. I shouldn’t have had any doubt to begin with. Cohen may be able to control that sand but he’s an older man. Elijah is young, built like a bear and a demigod no less. That doesn’t mean Cohen isn’t trying his best to throw Elijah off with snarky comments. 

“For a son of Horus, I was expecting you to be stronger,” he taunts as he blocks and dodges as many of Elijah’s attacks as he can. 

“Ah yes, if I remember correctly, you’re not at top power because you’ve yet to marry your soulmate. I wonder who’s fault is that,” Cohen continues. Elijah’s movements seem to gain more force with every little thing Cohen says, as if fueled by anger. 

“It’s a pity that we’ll have to kill her. The lass has so much potential,” he says. That seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Elijah’s next strike breaks through Cohen’s sand sword. He makes a cut across his abdomen, Cohen trying his best to dodge but failing. He then slices across one of Cohen’s knees, causing the older man to fall to the ground in pain. 

My heart stops when I see what Elijah is about to do next. He swings his sword level with Cohen’s exposed neck. He’s going to kill him. 

“Don’t do it!” I cry out. Elijah freezes, his blade halting right at Cohen’s neck, but not breaking the skin. 

I see him stiffly turn his head ever so slightly towards me. I can see his rage filled red eyes slowly start to cool down to their normal blue color. 

“Ha ha, she makes a monster likely you human. That is what we call weakness,” Cohen chokes out. Dark sand accumulates around his hand to form a dagger, which he uses to stab Elijah in the lower abdomen. Elijah yelps out in pain. 

Without thinking, I bolt towards him. He staggers backwards, away from Cohen. Cohen’s body starts to dissipate, turning into black sand that is being carried away by the wind. He’s gone. 

I reach Elijah and put my hands on his back to help keep him from falling. I let him wrap an arm around my shoulders to steady himself while his other grips his bleeding side. 

“Cohen escaped,” he grunts out, “We have to get out of here before he sends back up.” 

“I have a car parked not far from here,” Charles says. “Just tell me where to go.” 

“Take us to my apartment. It’s not far from here,” I order.