That's the last edited chapter of today. I will be dong chapter four and five, and I may edit the others depending on how I feel when I look at it.

CHAPTER THREE: Petite Cottage

The sun rose again, torturing the men once again, who were working far faster than the day before upon finally uncovering what they hoped to be the entrance to the tomb. Of course, they wanted to clear the area around it before they even considered opening the tomb, in fear that the sand might block the entrance and prevent people from getting out.

Many others were also involved in the dig, even some members of other parties. The discovery of a tomb was a big event, and while some would like to believe they found it first, Lydia's father had a certain authority about him that would ensure that he would be the one to get inside first, and the one to be named the founder of this tomb. That was just how it would be, and no one could argue with it.

Lydia noticed how her father was talking to a tall woman that she did not recognize. She had her hair cropped in a typical bob cut, and certain features to her face that Lydia often associated with the French. She watched them for a moment, trying to translate what they were saying, but she knew almost no French, so she could not understand what they were saying at all.

While staring at them, the woman noticed Lydia staring at her and smiled, waving her over. Lydia hesitated, but put her shovel aside and joined her father and the woman. Upon closer inspection, Lydia noticed her eyes were the same piercing blue as her and her father's eyes.

"Bonjour, Madame…" Lydia started, but she did not know her name.

"Je m'appelle Natasha. Et tu?"

"Je m'appelle Lydia Harwood." Lydia replied. She fortunately knew the basics of the language, and that was always a good start. She knew how to ask where she was, where to find the bathroom, and how to tell someone to leave her alone and that was good enough for her.

"You must be Monsieur Harwood's daughter then." Lydia nodded politely. "We were just talking about you. How is the dig going?"

"We're clearing the area around the entrance in case the sand collapses around the door before people enter. After we think it's clear enough, father along with some other members are probably going to enter first." She said, reciting what one of her father's party members said. They would probably leave her behind, but she didn't mind so long as she was got a look later on. Still… it was always nice to be one of the few people to get a small glimpse of a tomb that had not been entered for well over 5000 years.

"Are you going as well?" Natasha asked, looking at her questionably.

"Probably not until all everyone else is inside first. I'm not allowed." She replied, stating the obvious. Indeed, not only was she a woman, but she was a child, and it would be risky for her to go in while people were still uncertain of what was inside. Natasha frowned slightly.

"That's hardly fair; you did more work than half of the men here-."

"Madame Rouge, I think we need to discuss the plans with the others." Lydia's father cut in. Natasha wanted to protest further, but said nothing. "Lydia, you keep an eye on the others and let me know when the workers are finished clearing the area.

"Of course, father."

It was late afternoon when they finally finished clearing the area and the party was given the chance to enter the tomb. Lydia desperately wanted to join them, but her father protested just as strongly as she did. It was not until Natasha entered the conversation, battling her father in a manner most inappropriate (although completely suiting for Natasha) until her father gave in.

"Very well, but if there's a single sign of danger, she is returning to the surface."

"Thank you!" she sang, hugging her father tightly, and then hugging Natasha who grinned cheerfully. They really were a great team.

Lydia, Natasha, and her father joined the remaining three party members. One of them, Thomas was his name, was a thick burly Russian with a sprouting moustache and a scar over one of his eyes. He was gruff stubborn, but he loved the animals, and had a soft spot for Lydia, seeing a resemblance between her and his little daughter Amelia. The second member was a weedy man with a sickly complexion and watery eyes hidden behind a pair of thick glasses. For the entire of the journey he complained about the heat and the workers. They never spoke to each other, having completely different opinions. The third member was a mystery. He was an Arabic man with a cream robe of sorts and a turban of the same colour. He was probably in his twenties, but to Lydia he looked ageless. His eyes were an unusual colour, being amber in hue and eerie in terms that no matter what lighting he was in you could never see any highlights in them. He had only spoken once and that his name was Abasi. Lydia had almost never seen him around the camp.

"I was beginning to wonder when you would let little Lydia join in." Thomas said, grinning his sharky grin. His head almost touched the top of the door.

"Woman are dangerous people to face." Her father said, almost embarrassed at being defeated so easily.

"Let's go, time is of the essence!" Lydia cheered running up to the others. The door was wide open, just so Thomas could get in. "Imagine who we'll find in there. I wonder what his name is, how old he was-."

"Lydia, be calm." The weedy man said, irritated by Lydia's excitement. Lydia frowned and glowered at him. The man gulped slightly.

"It is perfectly understandable that the girl would be excited, Elliot." Abasi said, speaking for the second time that month. He had almost no accent as he spoke. Lydia looked at him, slightly surprised. "I can't help but feel excited myself, as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity." There was no emotion in his voice despite the tiny smile on his face. Lydia smiled back, uncertain of how to react.

They entered the tomb, almost completely silent as they made their way through the hallway. Lydia noticed that the torches were already lit, as though welcoming them in.

"Did you already light the torches here?" Lydia questioned, that being her first presumption. Thomas shook his head.

"No one came in before now. We made certain of it." There might have been another way in, and someone already entered the building. Still… would they have not heard them? Then how could the torches be lit? The chances were that someone did enter at Thomas just missed them. But there was something eerie about these torches. Only certain ones were light through certain corridors, while others were unlit. It was as though someone was guiding them through the tomb.

Abasi watched Lydia carefully, observing her face contort into many expressions. The most major one being concentration. She noticed the torches to start with, and was already starting to feel something was unusual about this tomb. He turned his attention to the others. He would need to separate Lydia from them quickly.

"There's a lit hallway here." Elliot pointed upon reaching a dead end. Indeed, there was a tiny corridor, barely wide enough for Natasha to fit, that had torches leading down to another room at the end.

"I suppose that's our only way out." Natasha said bluntly. Lydia did not understand until she looked behind and noticed how all the torches were now out. But… there was no one behind her so how… Maybe the lights just died out. Yeah… that would make a lot more sense. But they looked recently lit when she first saw them, and there was still plenty of material to burn. "Abasi, Lydia, Elliot and I shall go."

"I am not letting my daughter go alone!" her father protested.

"She will not be going alone; she will be going with Abasi and I. Besides, the torches are starting to go out and I do not like that." Indeed, upon staring down the hallway, Lydia noticed that another pair of torches had stopped lighting the hallway. "I would take you two with us but…" She did not need to finish her sentence. They could not fit. Not even if they went sideways. Especially Thomas.

"Don't worry about us. I was part of the army, and there is no way I am going to let some magic trick scare me!" Thomas said proudly, grinning at Natasha. "You be careful little Lydia, don't fall into a hole or hit anything too hard." Lydia smirked back.

"I won't promise anything, but I'll do my best." She replied, slipping into the hallway as another pair of torches went out with a hiss. The truth was she was terrified. Sure, it could be a nasty joke someone was playing on them, or it could just be the lights were not of any use anymore. But she could not help but feel worried.

Abasi walked behind Lydia while Natasha and Elliot were in front. Elliot was already a twitchy man, but he had gotten worse since he had come here, yelping at everything that moved. Abasi's already eerie calmness unsettled Lydia even further considering the circumstances. His footsteps were silent, and he said not a word until they got to the end of the hallway into a large open room covered in gold. It looked like it was the hoard of some dragon who was lying among the gold, awaiting a fine meal to come wandering into his territory.

The room was filled with torches that glowed brightly, causing shadows to flicker and dance around wickedly, dancing to their own cursed waltz. When Lydia turned around, she saw that the hallway was now pitch-dark. There was literally no turning back. She had a feeling something was waiting for her in that darkness…

"There's a sarcophagus there." Elliot said, his fear being relieved upon entering the gold room. He always was one to crave precious metals. He scurried over to the sarcophagus like a rat and stared into the golden face of the pharaoh. Like all pharaoh's, they looked remarkably young, although unlike most coffin's, this king had yellow eyes instead of blue.

Lydia did not want to explore the room, fearing that something might jump out and attack her, but she did not want to be alone either, so she followed Natasha, who was making her way through the tiny pathways that had been made to allow for the previous slaves to move around. She stopped at an image on the wall. Lydia followed her gaze and saw that what she was looking at was the image of the king. However, that was not what caught Lydia's attention. What caught her attention was the woman figure next to him. She was not decorated in such a fashion as the king. In fact, she dressed almost like a little boy. The rest of her looked typical for the women of the time, but the name in the cartouche was what really caught her surprise.

Lydia's father taught her the alphabet of Ancient Egyptian one time while she was sickly with a fever, and even taught her to write her own name. Lydia was amazed at the time, and became fascinated with Ancient Egyptian writing, writing her friends names, her governess's name, her fathers, whoever she met really. These days, she had learned to maintain a proper appearance, but she still practiced the writing for her father's excavations.

"It's your name." Natasha said cooly, staring at the female figure standing next to the king. Lydia wanted to distract herself from this disturbing, if not interesting, revelation, so followed after Abasi who was standing at a shrine of sorts.

"Did you light the essence?" Lydia asked, seeing the smoke and smelling the air. It was jasmine.

"I did not." Abasi said simply. Lydia looked down at the offerings. The food was fresh, but no one brought any food with them. They had intended to leave as soon as they were certain of a safe passage, they did not know that they would lose their way.

"This is weird." Lydia said, sitting down. "This place… it feels strange." Abasi said nothing, but he did nod in agreement. He knew full well why it felt so unusual, but he did not expect it so suddenly. "Do you think there is a way out?" Lydia questioned, staring at Abasi cautiously. She was not sure how to deal with him, so she spoke in a timorous fashion.

"Maybe we need to satisfy the needs of the person that turned off all the lights and prevented us from leaving." Abasi states, making sure not to give away more information that necessary.

"It would be nice if they would come out and face me. Then I might be nice enough to speak to them without breaking their nose." Lydia grumbled. Abasi could not help but smile at that. She was already known around the camp for being as wild as the men, but more willing to do what she actually said.

"You could always step into the darkness and face them."

"Nope." Was her sharp reply. It was not that she was afraid of the dark itself, she was afraid of what may be lurking in it. Along with that, she still had some vivid memories of her nightmare that morning, and no one would want to go alone in the dark after something like that.

As Natasha walked back to the others, she could not help but notice that the shadows were starting to look like people. She smirked upon this revelation.

'So you're finally reacting to something, huh?' she thought with confidence, glancing at Lydia. 'Now let's put our plan into action, Abasi.'

Abasi got off the stairs and walked over to the sarcophagus that Elliot was trying to open.

"Since we are here, we may as well write down what we see. Lydia, you're father said you were skilled in translating Ancient Egyptian."

"I am." Lydia replied, getting up and following after him.

"Can you please help translate the phrases written around the rim of the sarcophagus?" Lydia knelt down on the ground and placed her hand on the sarcophagus. An electric shock flung her hand back.

"That… never happened before." She stated, surprised. She gently touched the golden surface with her finger. There was a tingling sensation, but nothing beyond that. She laid down on the ground and began to translate the words under her breath. Abasi watched her silently, calculating what would happen next.

It appeared to be a spell of sorts. Although she highly doubted it would do anything, it certainly added good decoration. She felt shivers run down her spine as she spoke; it was like she was actually summoning something while she spoke. But that was absolutely ridiculous. Such things did not exist in this world, and she knew it. She could only believe in things that she had solid evidence on.

Natasha watched the shadows moves their heads in Lydia's direction, seeming to stretch out towards her. She really hoped they did not turn against her. If they did… then it was all over.

Lydia finished her translation and glanced up at Abasi to speak out what she had read.

"It says-." Something cut her off. The ground began to shake, as though awakening from a long slumber that Lydia had just forced it out of. Sand began to pour out of the roof as the floor beneath Lydia crumbled and she fell in, unable to catch hold of anything. She had hardly any time to scream as she fell into the eternal darkness. That was, until she hit her head and lost consciousness.

The tomb soon settled back into a quiet stillness as Lydia disappeared into the dark pit in the earth. Natasha hesitated before making her way to the edge of the hole. Flickers of colours flashed through the darkness before the gateway to another world sealed up.

"I'm sorry, Lydia. But we need to do this."

When Lydia woke up, she was in a dark, enclosed area and completely alone. She groaned and lifted her head. There was a warm, sticky fluid on her hand. Blood? She didn't pause to think about it, but instead got up.

This room was familiar. She swore she had been in here before…Then she remembered. This was the same place she had been in in her last dream. She resisted the urge to scream as she suddenly recalled the entire incident. The light was gone and there was no method of escape.

"So, you're back are you?" Lydia yelped at the familiar voice and flicked her head around. He was 20 yards away from her, his empty eyes staring at her. If that was possible. The all too familiar grin was plastered across his pale, inhumanly so, face. Lydia stepped back into a wall as he made his way over to her.

"P-please don't hurt me." She stuttered, staring into the empty eye sockets, shaking with fear. The grin disappeared, instead being replaced by a sad smile.

"Am I really so spiteful to you now?" His voice lost all its menace, instead being replaced by the voice of a lonely child. Lydia suddenly felt incredibly guilty. There was nothing to say he wasn't a good person. He hadn't actually threatened to injure her in any way; she just presumed that he was a horrible person because of his appearance.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't-."

"Well, it doesn't matter to me anymore!" He announced with strained cheer, his grin being forced back onto his face. "I'm not even supposed to be here right now! I'm not necessary! So I'll just let you continue on your way!" The room seemed to shake, and Lydia swore she heard voices around her. "I'll see you on the other side."

Lydia woke up to a dull throbbing at the back of her head and a stinging sensation all across her arm. She groaned and rolled onto her back. Her vision was blurry, making it painful to keep her eyes open too long, but she knew she was still inside the tomb. She was inside the hole she had fallen through. Ignoring the pain in her arm, she pushed herself up.

"Hello? Anyone up there?" she yelled upwards, getting no response. "Okay…this is bad…" she thought out loud, looking around for something that could be used to help her up. But all she found were lumps of broken stones that had fallen with her. She sighed. That would just have to do.

Lydia made a make-shift pyramid with the piles of rocks and used them to lift herself closer to the top of the hole. She grabbed hold of the rim with her fingers and struggled to pull herself further up, swinging her leg above her head to hook onto the floor above her. She shuffled her leg further across the ground, pulling her elbows above the hole and slowly using these to drag the rest of her into the light.

It wasn't until she was completely in the light that Lydia relaxed. Thank goodness she was out of that horrible pit. She laughed. She laughed like she had never laughed before. She had somehow made it. Her eyes were still unclear, but she didn't care. She was out!

It was then that she remembered she was bleeding. And that was when the pain came back. She bit her lip as she held back a small yelp. She forced herself up again and turned to look at her throbbing arm. The entire of her right shoulder was coated in a layer of dark red, and it was still bleeding. She let out a small curse, and tore off the sleeve of her blouse, tying it around the wound tightly to prevent it from getting infected until she got back to the camp doctor.

However, as soon as she got to the exit, she discovered that it had been sealed.

"What the-." She ran up to the door, slamming her good shoulder against the stone. It didn't budge an inch. Why was it shut? Did someone close it and leave everyone trapped inside? Was it the same person that turned off all the torches? There had to be something she could use to open this blasted door.

Stick! Not just a normal stick either, but a thick, wooden stick the length of Lydia's leg, but thin enough that it would fit into the small gap between the door and the door way. She shoved it into the gap and pulled into backwards, desperately hoping it would open the gap just wide enough that she could escape.

The stick snapped in half and Lydia fell backwards. She let out a yelp as her bad shoulder hit the ground. She clutched it in agony for a few moments until the throbbing dulled to a faint stinging again before getting up and shoving herself against the door. The gap had widened ever so slightly, about an inch, so if she kept on doing this then eventually the gap would be wide enough for her to leave.

Lydia had no idea how long she spent pushing the door, but instead focused on how many inches it had moved and whether she would be able to fit through the gap. It had taken a lot of effort, so much so that she could barely breathe, until the gap was wide enough for her to fit through. And she did.

"I'm-." she was cut off. The landscape was completely different. Not only had the camp completely vanished, but there was no evidence of any tombs being dug out, and even the sand dunes had switched places. Lydia was startled by this fact. What…was going on?

Lydia stumbled up one of the sand dunes to get a better view of the area around her, catching glimpse of a small building not too far away from where she was. That wasn't there before… She looked at her shoulder; blood was starting to come to the surface of the white material surrounding the wound. It didn't matter that the building wasn't there before. If someone lived there, then maybe they would help her. If not… well it was better than being out here in the open.

She skidded down the sand cautiously before turning in the direction of the building, wiping the sweat off her forehead and heading in its general direction.

Yay! Little cottage! Read and review, and tell me about how you think I can improve.