Author's comments: OK, this is my first-ever attempt at fanfic, so I would appreciate it very much if you didn't burn me at the stake.  I've been writing this for about two years, but I never got the chance to finish it (I'm currently working on that) and I've never dared to publish it. That's why I want to thank Drach and Laurus for their encouragement. It's gonna be a long story, focused mainly on my original character and Ardeth Bay, with sequels and everything. And now, on to some explanations:

This is Arabic

This is regular English

This is Ancient Egyptian

Disclaimer: I don't own Ardeth Bay (which is unfair 'cause he owns my heart and thoughts), Imhotep, Anck-su-namun or anything related to The Mummy movie. They belong to Stephen Sommers, Universal Studios and the rest of the cool people who made this film possible. I'm just borrowing them for a little while. No infringement intended, so please, don't sue this poor and devaluated Argentinean writer.

CHAPTER ONE

Outside the ancient Egyptian city of Keethar al Pharos, Jean Marquet, with her head wrapped against the invading wind and sand, was overseeing the ruins. Her khaki pants and shirt were hardly the height of New York fashion, but they were far more practical. She scanned the horizon. The heat shimmer made it look like the entire desert was melting into one enormous tawny puddle. She sipped from her canteen, making a face at the warm, metallic taste of the water. As she went inside the city, a horseman dressed in black appeared on the ridge of a dune and observed her.

'Why am I here?' The question kept coming to her mind, but she had no answer for it. She knew most people would think that a woman her age who went to Cairo alone had to be crazy; and she was tempted to admit they would be right: the looks she got from men everywhere she went were alarming. But she had flown to Egypt without telling anybody, because of an internal need, because something told her she had to be there, but what for? And then there were the dreams, violent, terrifying nightmares about war, death and a dark presence trying to seize her. One night, she woke up screaming and found a strange mark in her arm, it was red and swollen, but she could see it was a triangle with some Egyptian signs inside it, signs she didn't understood; within the following days, the mark became more clear, and so did the dreams.

She was afraid she might have been losing her mind, but the physical evidence was undeniable: every time after she had a nightmare, the mark bled and became clearer. So she was in that god-forsaken place looking for answers. Of course, getting there had been awfully challenging, but for a pretty huge amount of money, she had found a decent man who led her into the desert up to the ruins. 'He wasn't that decent, though,' she thought, as she got distracted for a minute and then he was nowhere to be found. But she would worry about getting out of there later. In that moment, she felt the urge to explore.  'Funny,' Jean thought, as she entered a narrow hallway completely covered by sand. 'I feel like I've been here before.'

The airline had lost her suitcase, so she was only carrying a purse with her passport and all her money and a backpack with some makeup, a hairbrush, a set of clean underwear and other necessities. She had first wondered how would she manage without any clean clothes, but now her mind was busy with different thoughts.

Mechanically, she reached out a hand and touched a symbol that resembled a bird. Suddenly the wall receded, revealing the entrance to a tomb. She followed the path and faced a wall covered with more symbols; when she looked at them, many words came to her mind: Imhotep, Med-jai, Hamunaptra. 'God, what's going inside my head?' Without even thinking, she kept on walking until she reached a dark, gloomy chamber. When she was about to enter it, a man grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth with his hand.

"This is no place for you, ma'am"

Jean fought desperately, but the man was too strong for her, despite the fact that his voice seemed to belong to someone young; finally, she gave up and was dragged towards the exit. There, the man faced her, without letting her go.

"What were you doing inside this place?"

"I just…I don't know."

"Well, we will have to find out then." Before Jean could reply, the man covered her mouth with a cloth, tied her hands and made her sit on a horse. He sat behind her and begun riding towards the desert. Jean was terrified. She had no way of escaping and she knew it.

Two hours later, they arrived to a place, which looked like a camp. Jean saw that there were only men in that place, and that made her heart pound even faster. Her captor spoke, in what seemed Arabic.

"I need to see Ardeth Bay"

***

Ardeth Bay entered the main tent. There, he found 10 of his warriors, along with one of the youngest Medjais, Ahmad. He missed the presence of his second in command and brother, Tarek, who was away. As he entered, they all stood, touched their hearts with one open palm, and then waved it, in ritualistic fashion, toward the sky.

"Harum Bara shad!" they said to him.

The commander of the Med-jai made the same ceremonial sign, and said back, "Harum Bara shad!"

He sat, and after he did, they all sat as well.

"What matters do you wish to discuss with me, Ahmad?"

"The matters of a woman. A foreign woman. I found her inside Keethar al Pharos." He lowered his voice. "She knew how to enter to the Doomed's Chamber."

"How is it possible?" Ardeth asked. "Is she here?"

"Yes, Master."

"Bring her to me."

Ahmad nodded his head and left the room. Then he went back, bringing with him a tall, slim woman that wore a fierce look in her eyes. She stood tall and proud in front of them, in a defiant position against their questioning looks.

In the dim light, Jean couldn't see much about him. From his voice she could tell he was an Arab. He was an Arab man dressed in Arab robes with tattoos on the visible part of his face and hands. And from what she saw of him standing, she could see that he was tall, and well built, but all his body was covered in black clothes, as well as most of his face. All she could see were a pair of attractive eyes looking at her without hiding his interest. Ardeth went over to her, his eyes glittering as he looked into her eyes. The man exuded an aura of power and self-assuredness that unnerved her totally. Jean felt suddenly very aware of this tall, dark desert creature near her and tried to draw away.

"Do not be afraid," he said softly. "I assure you, my intentions are honorable." She noticed that his accent was very Arab, though his English was flawless, his voice deep and intense.

"Sure," she said bitterly.

"I understand that you are afraid."

"Do you?"

"We are not bandits of the desert, though they do exist. We are warriors of the Medjai, an ancient tribe of guards to the pharaohs of long ago. You can trust us, for we are honorable, as I have told you before. You have yet to tell me your name."

"How long do you plan on keeping me here?"

"I am not sure, now what is your name?"

"Jean Marquet."

"Well, Jean Marquet, you won't leave until you explain what were you doing inside Keethar al Pharos."

"You have no right to do this to me."

"There are no laws in the desert."

"But…I don't even know why or how I entered that chamber. This is confusing…"

"Then we will return you to Cairo."

"No! I have a mission here!"

"You are hiding something…I know it"

"Don't worry, it's not like I am gonna kill you or anything like that."

"I am used to people trying to kill me."

"What, you just ride around the desert, picking fights with total strangers?"

"No. We guard against the return of one creature. It is he that we fear. The Medjai have been guarding this place for over 3,000 years. We do not want him brought back to life."

"Well, that's quite a story."

"It runs deeper than you know."

At that moment, realization struck her. "Did you say Medjai?"

"Yes…"

"Then I need to talk to you…alone," said Jean and looked at the warriors that surrounded her.

"Everybody leave!"

"But, My Lord, you don't know this woman, it wouldn't be wise to stay here alone with her," Ahmad protested.

"I know, but I can take care of myself."

"As you wish," said Ahmad humbly and left the tent.

"Now, what did you want to tell me?"

"I don't know where to start. Back home I've been having strange dreams about this place…and the word Med-Jai kept coming to my mind, as well as Hamunaptra, Imhotep…" She paused when she saw the look in the man's eyes. "So, I decided to come…I needed answers…for I know a war is coming, and somehow I will have to fight it"

Impressed, and a bit shaken, Ardeth asked her "How do you know this is not a product of your imagination?"

"Because of this", said Jean as she managed to pull up her t-shirt's sleeve, even though she was tied, and revealed the red mark in her arm. "It came out one night and I can't erase it. It bleeds every time I have a nightmare…and…"

"May Allah be blessed… " Whith tose words, Ardeth leapt out of his chair and went to her. He took his dagger from his back. She got a slightly frightened look as he leaned towards her.

"You have no need to be afraid of me."

When he examined her mark, Ardeth was at a loss for words. Though the symbols were very familiar, there was difference in the shape of several, giving them a slightly different meaning.

"And now, less than ever." Mumbled Ardeth as he looked at her with reverence.

"What is this? Why are you staring at me like that? Come on, just tell me what the hell is going on!"

"It is written that one day, a person would come to the Med-jai, a person that would help them destroy the forces of evil in a battle…in a battle for the sake of the world. You are that person."

"Who? Me? That…that can't be possible! You must be mistaken!"

"I am not. I beg your forgiveness for the way I've treated you, miss Marquet."

"Jean, please."

"Jean. I know this must be hard to understand…but you were right, you had a mission here. That's why you knew how to enter Keethar al Pharos' chambers. You said something about nightmares?"

"Yes…I haven't been able to sleep and I thought I was losing my mind." Her beautiful eyes clouded and Ardeth realized she looked very fragile and that teared his heart.

He made a personal vow to help her confront the demons that tormented her. He gave a wry smile as he realized he was the right person for that job. After all, fighting demons was what he had been born for.

"This is simply fantastic."

"Tell me about it. So what do I have to do?"

"Come with me, we must tell the tribe about this miracle."

They both left the tent and Ardeth called the entire camp. It took them a while to gather, and when they did he softly took Jean's arm and showed the mark to the puzzled men, they reacted immediately. Some of them began talking among themselves, others stared at her with their eyes wide opened and the rest simply stood in silence. Ardeth took a place several meters away from Jean. More than a few pairs of eyes regarded her as if she was an exhibit in a museum. She didn't know what to say so she just stared back, but there was no awkwardness, just open curiosity on both sides.

"Jean is the one we have been waiting for and Allah would let the devil have you if you bring harm to her. Mystics, Ahmad, come with me. Vosloo," he called one of the warriors, " guard her." And with that, he went inside one of the tents.

Inside, one of the Mystics told Ardeth "We also believe that she is the One Allah sent us."

Ardeth nodded his head at this. Those things were not uncommon.

"Does she have any powers?"

Ardeth shook his head. "I don't know, all I can tell you is that she has visions about Imhotep and Hamunaptra."

"There is one certain thing," pointed another mystic, "that you must keep that woman out of the hands of the evil forces, whatever they might be, or Imhotep will end up destroying all of Egypt…and the world"

The Med-jai chieftain took all this in slowly. A woman sent by Allah, the return of Imhotep, end of Egypt, possibly the world. The only reaction that he could think of was, 'Why does this happen to me?'

He sighed softly. "I want round the clock protection of the woman. No one enters or leaves her tent without my knowing. And I want her to be respected by everybody; I will not tolerate misdemeanor or rudeness towards her. And one more thing," he said, this time in English. "She speaks English, so we will do the same from now on."

He turned to the mystics. "I thank you for your help. Ahmad, you send out a message to the rest of the tribes. You must all remember that if we have to, we will kill or die in order to protect Jean's life. We have no room to screw ups, men, we have to keep this woman protected, and we have to stop Imhotep from being awakened. Understand?"

The room slowly nodded its head.

***

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanx a lot for reading!