Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

" W e need more information," Dewey said. "Why is it fatal? And can it be cured? Or mitigated? We can't panic yet." He glanced at Paige. "Here is an example of me not panicking."

"I've never even heard of this, so I doubt many people have died from it. Look it up and determine the odds or how death occurs."

Dewey bobbed his head up and down as he typed. "Found an entry in Smith's Syndromes and Maladies."

Drucinda leaned over as the information loaded on the screen. "Here. Fairly innocuous. Chance of death low."

"But not impossible." Dewey poked a claw in the air. "And we all know that if something strange can happen, it will happen to Paige."

Paige vehemently bobbed her head up and down at the words.

Dewey scrolled. "Let's see what we need to look out for in terms of when this can be fatal. Here we go. Possible end results for Snow White Syndrome. "

Drucinda narrowed her eyes at the screen before she poked at it. "There, death."

"I see it, I see it." Dewey batted her hand away. "Death can be caused by overzealous creatures squeezing the sufferer to death in an attempt to smother them with affection. Oh, so it's like Hugo with Daffy Duck."

"Who?" Devon asked.

"The abominable snowman in the cartoons. He mistakes Daffy for a rabbit and nearly squeezes him to death while saying how much he loves him."

Devon crinkled his nose.

"Let it go, darling," Drucinda said with a pat on his chest, "it's not that important."

"Right. What is more important than Devon's lack of understanding of pop culture references is if this has any known cures or mitigations." Dewey continued his scan of the article before he shook his head. "Nothing in here. I'll try a blog search."

He tapped on the screen again before he scrolled through the results. "Ah, here we go. Got something."

"What does it say?"

"This blogger claims they had this happen, only it was a cyclops mimicking them. They found it annoying enough that they tried several remedies."

"What are they?" Tarik asked.

"I'm getting there. You know these blogs, they tell you everything from the time they were born. I don't care. Okay…duct tape over the cy's mouth did not work. They tried glue, but that failed. Then they started to experiment with magical remedies. A-ha! Got it. Identity Amulent with Astraflux Elixir will stop the mimicking behavior."

"Hmm, Paris should have that on hand. Let me see." Drucinda motioned for him to pass the RP to her.

He dumped it in her hands, landed on Paige's shoulder, and patted her head. "There we go, buddy, we'll have you talking again in no time."

"Yes," Drucinda said with a nod. "We have both available. Checking them out now."

"So, we need to go back," Devon said.

"Of course not. I have my magic bag. I'll grab them and we'll end this ridiculous nonsense in a moment."

She stalked to her tent and returned minutes later with a sparkling blue crystal pendant and a bottle of glowing green liquid. She looped the necklace around Paige's neck before she dripped a drop of the elixir on it. A puff of smoke escaped, curling toward the sky.

"Okay, Paige, give it a go."

Paige slid her eyes sideways to the mummy. "Did it work?"

The creature stood mute next to her, and she grinned. "It did! It worked!"

"Thank goodness that's over with. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I think we all better retire before our journey tomorrow. We'll need our rest to defeat the Mummy Lord."

They parted ways, heading to their tents. As Paige took a step forward, the mummy followed. "Ugh, I thought this would at least keep it away from me."

"Nope, just stops the mimic. Other than that, you're stuck with it."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Come on…Mummy."

"Mummy? It sounds like it's your mother."

"What do you want me to call it?"

Dewey shrugged as he buzzed into the tent ahead of her. "I don't know. It has a name. I'm not sure we can figure it out, but there has to be something else we can call it."

Paige ducked into the tent with the Mummy following her. "They have names? "

"Yes, Paige," Dewey said with a huff, "they have names like you and me, and the rest of the world."

Paige wrinkled her nose at the Mummy who sat at her feet as she shimmied into her sleeping bag. "Aren't there like thousands of them, though?"

"Aren't there like millions of people who all have names?"

"I guess."

"Humans, honestly," Dewey said with a roll of his eyes.

Paige turned off their lantern and settled back into her pillow. Piercing red eyes stared at her. "Ugh."

"Yeah, totally creepy. You gotta close your eyes, Bones. The red-light special is a little much."

Paige nudged it with her foot. "Close your eyes, go to sleep."

A second later, the two piercing red dots disappeared.

"Whew, thank goodness that worked," Dewey said with a long sigh. "Finally, let's get some sleep."

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't been insistent on working on that ridiculous book of yours."

"Sure, sure, blame the tiny dragon with a dream."

"I will, thanks. I'll blame you."

"Shh, quiet, before you get Bones all stirred up again."

Paige silently fumed as she lay in the quiet tent. She wouldn't be stuck with a Mummy practically sitting on her feet if it hadn't been for Dewey's work on the novel that misconstrued every event in her life.

And how did she end up with Snow White Syndrome? Where did it come from? Was that why she'd had several marriage proposals?

Questions raced through her mind before she drifted off to sleep, awakening when the first beams of light hit the tent's material. She rose to find the Mummy eyeing her intently.

"Dewey, get up," she said with a yawn and a stretch .

"Go away. I'd like another hour."

She whipped her pillow across the tent at him. "Too bad. We have to go get this artifact. Now, wake up."

Dewey sat up, his eyelids drooping before he stretched and yawned. "I hate the desert."

"You were so excited about it yesterday."

"That was yesterday. Today, not so much."

"Why?" Paige asked as she skirted the Mummy who followed her every move.

Dewey flopped back into his pillow with a sigh. "We'll have to work today."

"Since when are you allergic to work? You love work."

"Wrong," he answered with a swipe of his claw through the air. "I love research and experiments. I do not love digging in the world's largest sandbox to find the resting place of a powerful Mummy Lord."

"I guess you could sit on your camel and let us do the digging."

"I just might. I'll save my brain power for solving the intricate puzzles and traps that we'll likely encounter.'

"I don't remember you being so anti-sand the last time we were here."

Dewey finally rose, balling his sleeping bag up and tossing it aside. "Last time, they'd already done the excavating. Do you know what it's like to have sand in your scales?"

"Mmm, I see your point."

"Do you, Snow White?"

Paige wrinkled her nose as she collected their things before they deconstructed the tent. "Speaking of that, how did I get this?"

Dewey shrugged. "Just lucky, I guess."

"Why is my luck always weird? I can't hit the lottery, but I get Snow White Syndrome."

"Could be worse," Dewey said as he jammed his pillow into the straps on his backpack. "You could not have had it, then you'd just have gotten killed in the desert."

"Are Mummies really mean?"

"Yes, Paige," Dewey snapped. "Haven't you ever seen the movies where Mummies kill and maim people?"

Paige patted the bandaged head of the Mummy next to her. "This guy seems nice."

"Well, wait until we're surrounded by a pack of his brothers and sisters and you see how nice you think they are then."

They climbed from their tent into the already warm day. "So, all Mummies won't be in love with me?"

"Nope. Just so happens this one was enthralled."

"Good morning, Paige," Devon said as she set their things aside. "Need help with your tent."

"There's another creature smitten," Dewey whispered with a chuckle.

"I was wondering that," Paige answered.

"Wondering what?" Devon asked as he began to dismantle their tent.

"If you have Snow White syndrome."

A cackling chuckle escaped Drucinda. "Try again, noob. Snow White Syndrome only occurs for humanoid creatures, not humanlike."

Paige wrinkled her nose. "What's the difference?"

"Honestly," Drucinda said with a shake of her head as Thorn waddled over to answer.

"Humanoids are those creatures without functional, reasoning brains like the Mummy there. No brain of his own, just a drive to feed and so on. Humanlike means they are almost human, once upon a time, maybe they even were human. They have brains and thoughts and feelings."

"Oh, so…Devon is humanlike. Not humanoid. "

"And therefore cannot suffer from Snow White Syndrome, yes."

"Thanks a lot, Paige, I have a brain, not just looks," Devon answered with a scowl.

"Sorry." She winced as she loaded her backpack onto the camel. "Gosh, he's sensitive."

"Well, you did say he didn't have a brain, so…" Dewey answered with a shrug.

"Big deal. People talk smack on me all the time. This entire trip it's been…you're so stupid, Paige. You don't know anything, Paige."

"To be fair, those are facts."

Paige offered him an unimpressed stare as their campsite quickly disappeared. Minutes later, they rode further into the desert sands with the Mummy trailing behind Paige's camel.

Paige spun in her saddle and stared at it. It shuffled along in the sand, gazing up at her as though she had descended from the heavens. She wrinkled her nose and twisted to face front again. How was she going to deal with this thing when she returned to Shadow Harbor?

If she returned to Shadow Harbor, her mind added. Her stomach turned over as she imagined herself running from a giant stone ball that threatened to smash her or falling into a pit of snakes, or some other tomb trap similar to an Indiana Jones movie.

The last set of traps they'd gone through in Egypt had nearly killed her. She hoped she had the wherewithal to withstand these ones.

Before she was ready, Tarik brought his camel to a stop and climbed down. "This is the area. We must find…"

His voice trailed off as the Mummy stalked away from Paige and wandered to a low spot in the sand. He bent over and fiddled with something before he disappeared into the sand.

"Well, I guess I'm rid of him," Paige said as she dismounted the camel.

"Uh, Paige…"

She snapped her gaze to Dewey who poked a claw forward. She scanned the area, finding the Mummy's head poking from the sand and waving.

"What luck," Drucinda said. "I think your Mummy led us to the tomb."

Paige wandered forward and peered down the dark hole. "I guess so."

"Good, that will save us time."

Drucinda pulled her bag from the camel and slung it onto her back.

Dewey donned his and fluttered forward. "Thanks, Bones, you're a pal. Now, can you tell us where the scepter is?"

"Dewey, he's not–" Paige's voice cut off as the Mummy motioned for them to follow.

"Maybe he is. Come on, people," Dewey called over his shoulder, "we've got a line straight to the scepter here."

They followed the Mummy down the steep slope into the tomb hidden in the shifting sands. "We'll have to be careful," Drucinda said as she toggled on her flashlight. "There may be traps."

"Traps? He's just barreling forward like nothing's going to happen."

"Yes, but Mummies–" Drucinda started when a blade whipped from the wall and shredded the Mummy into pieces.

Paige's eyes went wide. "OMG! Bones!"

Dewey shrugged. "Don't worry, Paige, he's fine!"

"He's not fine! He's shredded to bits." Paige flung her hand toward what remained of the creature. She squatted closer to the destroyed creature's remains. "Poor Bones."

"You named it?" Drucinda asked.

"Dewey named him. Poor thing. Here he was thinking I was the best thing since sliced bread and now he's chopped to bits."

"But he can–"

"I killed him. I'm cursed. This is terrible." Paige reached for a piece of the bandage when it shifted. She rose, her eyes wide. "The parts are moving."

"Yes," Drucinda said with a sigh. "If you listened instead of lamenting about your life, Dewey tried to tell you that Mummies regenerate. They can survive most things. He'll be quite good at testing these traps."

Paige stared in stunned silence as the bandage pieces fused back together to form the Mummy. He shook his head as though shaking off the hit and waved at Paige.

"Hiya, buddy, good to have you back."

"Also, good to know there's a large meat slicer hidden here that will shred us to bits." Drucinda knelt to study the trap before she pressed a tile. The blade shot out of the wall again, slicing the mummy to bits again.

Paige clicked her tongue and huffed, offering the Valkyrie an unimpressed stare. "Stop doing that."

"He's fine," Drucinda said with a roll of her eyes as the Mummy regenerated, and she successfully navigated past the trap. "And now, so are we."

Paige carefully moved past the trigger tile, drawing the Mummy with her further into the tomb until they reached a large chamber.

Paige's eyes rose to the distant ceiling, wondering how they built all of this in ancient times. Probably magic, she concluded .

"We should be careful," Tarik warned. "There may be many passages, each guarded by a different–"

Paige didn't catch the end of it as she, along with Dewey who still clung to her shoulder, and her mimicking Mummy, plunged away from the rest of the group when she trod across a tile.

She landed in a heap at the bottom, tangled with the Mummy, in a dark hallway.

Light gleamed down for an instant, and Drucinda shouted to her but the call was cut off as the passage slid shut. Muffled voices sounded before a few stomps banged.

"Oh, great," Paige said as she rose to her feet and dusted herself off. "Now we're stuck down here. Dewey fly up there and see if they can open it."

"I'm surprised they haven't. All they have to do is walk on it, and they'd be down here with us." Dewey fluttered into the air and rose toward the ceiling. "Hey, what are you losers doing up there? Open the passage!"

"No can do, little man," Drucinda shouted back through the stone. "It's locked tight."

"Locked? How could it be locked? We just fell through it thanks to Paige."

"We don't know. We're trying to open it, but we may need to search for another way to you."

"Well, start searching, sister. We're stuck down here in a creepy pit with a Mummy. There are probably bugs and scorpions. We can't stay down here. We'll die!" Dewey descended back to Paige's shoulder. "They're working on it, but no dice so far."

Paige peered into the darkness, using some of the red glow from the Mummy's eyes to make out features of their new space. "I think this is a corridor that extends that way."

"Yeah, looks like it based on Bones's headlights there. "

Paige stepped to the side and tugged a torch from a holder on the wall. "Give me a light, buddy."

Dewey tensed his muscles and spit out a tiny flame. It proved enough to spark the dry torch to life. Paige swept it forward as she tried to assess how far it went.

"There's a channel on the right," Dewey said, poking a claw at it.

"Wonder what it is?" Paige crept closer and leaned over it, staring into a pool of dark liquid. A piece of the torch broke away, and a flaming section fell toward the liquid. It ignited the moment the fire touched it, sending light down the entire corridor.

"That's convenient," Dewey said. "Come on, let's see where it goes."

"Sure. Ahh, Bones, you go first since you can't die." Paige motioned for the Mummy to lead the way.

"Lead, lead," he repeated before he shuffled his way down the hall.

"He's sure is weird," Dewey said.

"He's not. He's died twice because of us. At least, he's helpful."

"I wonder where this goes."

Bones stopped ahead of them and twisted to face them his red eyes glowing between his bandages. "Scepter."

Dewey flew forward and studied him. "Seriously?"

"Mama wants scepter." He poked a finger at Paige.

"Aww, Paige, he thinks you're his mom." Dewey landed on her shoulder again and chuckled. "The Mummy thinks you're its Mummy."

"Are you done making jokes?"

Dewey sobered. "Yep."

Paige refocused her attention on the creature. "Where is the scepter?"

The mummy jabbed a bandaged finger forward before turning to stalk further down the passage. They followed after him, winding around from corridor to corridor in a labyrinthine maze.

"Man, I sure am glad he knows where he's going," Dewey said. "I'd be lost. I hope we don't have to find our way out of this place."

"Me either," Paige said with a shake of her head. "I lost track after we made our third left."

"Follow," the Mummy assured them.

"We're coming, Bones. Keep going."

After they turned a corner, they approached a doorway ahead of them at the end of a long corridor.

"How big is this place?" Dewey huffed.

They stepped inside onto a raised platform. A doorway led to another chamber across the large room. Paige glanced down as she searched for a way to cross it. Her jaw dropped, and her heart skipped a beat.

There wasn't a floor. Instead, they hovered over a massive pit of water. Hungry alligators rose from it, snapping their thick jaws in the air. They'd never make it to the other side alive.