Darren Craske - The Eleventh Plague

Quaint reached over and brushed the underside of her chin, forcing her to catch his eye. All her anger towards him had subsided now that she had found a more suitable target. She looked so fragile. 'It's not your protection, Alex – it's your prison. You're incarcerated by your hatred every day that you permit it to shackle your thoughts.'

'And so let us turn this conversation to your shackles, Cornelius…namely your altruistic streak,' Alexandria said, thankful for a change of subject matter. 'This task to save Egypt…why must it fall on your shoulders? Surely there are others in a position to help. What about the consulate in Cairo, what did they say when you informed them about this plot?' Seeing the blank look in Quaint's eyes, she stood swiftly from the blanket and kicked at a tuft of sandy grass. 'You have not even told them? Why do you think you are the only one who can put things right in the world?'

'Because sometimes I am!' flashed Quaint.

'You have to fix every damn thing that is broken, letting what is important slip through your fingers!' Alexandria fumed. 'That is why you ran away all those years ago. Something came to sway your attention, something that you could not leave alone, and you just upped and ran.'

'This isn't like that, Alex…it's my responsibility!' said Quaint, rising to his feet.

'It is your belligerent nature, more like!'

'I did not get involved in this plot to buff my ego, Alex – someone involved me! All I'm trying to do is make sure that he doesn't succeed! I want to wipe his stain from my memory once and for all. Whether you believe me or not, it doesn't matter…it is what I believe, Alex, and I won't fail in it. I cannot fail and I cannot relent, for there is no one else to pick up the pieces! But I can't do it alone…that is why I came to you.'

Alexandria reached out a trembling hand for him. 'I…I am sorry, Cornelius. I am being selfish. You are right…this is not about us. Seeing you again just took me by surprise, it…it brought some old feelings back to the surface. Forgive me.'

Quaint ruffled his hair. 'No, it's all right, Alex…I deserved it. And it's not as if I've not fought this argument before. Destine feels much the same as you do about my belligerent nature…but she knows that I do these things because it's just something that's a part of me. I can't ignore it…and I can't ignore what brought me to Egypt.'

Alexandria unclenched her jaw, and gave Quaint a gallant smile.

'I said that I would help you find someone who might be able to tell you something and here we are, for I did not choose this location by accident.' Her eyes skirted across the horizon, down into the valley below their feet. 'If there is any talk of criminal activities taking place in Egypt, they will know. The only question is whether you are brave…or foolhardy enough…to ask them.'

The Valley of Death's Shadows

QUAINT FOLLOWED ALEXANDRIA to the cliff edge, peering cautiously over the side. The desert wasteland stretched as far as the eye could see. A barren, grey-brown wilderness populated by nothing except hills, rocks, dust and sand.

'Down there?' he asked.

Alexandria nodded. 'If you wish to get answers about this plot of yours, yes,' she said, pointing to the inhospitable landscape below. 'Down into the valley of death's shadows, to the place where the souls of the dead roam, and their ghosts walk freely in daylight.'

'Ghosts?' laughed Quaint. 'Don't tell me you think this place is haunted!'

'Pay heed, Cornelius, for as you will soon discover, evil has made its home here. The valley is haunted by something far, far worse than the ghosts of the dead,' said Alexandria.

Unconvinced, Quaint scanned the valley in closer detail, when he noticed something almost shrouded from view. Nestled in between two gigantic, red mountains was an encampment. It was shadowed in a dark swathe of night, despite it being just past two o'clock in the afternoon. Not one ray from the sun penetrated the valley, as if the encampment did not merit its light.

'Where is this place?' Quaint asked. 'It's not on any maps I've seen.'

'It is a settlement from the old days named Bara Mephista,' replied Alexandria, as she watched the flicker of interest in Quaint's dark eyes. 'It was once home to a group of Nubian settlers who called themselves "The Fleeing Free".'

Quaint rubbed his jaw. 'A literal moniker, I take it?'

Alexandria nodded. 'They were a tribe of nomads that originally fled here from the city of Khartoum…and they are a legacy from my country's past that we do not celebrate. The Fleeing Free worshipped gods of death, and practised their dark rituals right there in the place you see before you. To look across these plains now, save for the remains of their old settlement, you would never know they even existed. They were purged by the pharaoh of that time, their name was struck from all historical records, wiping them from the face of Egypt. That is why you will not find this settlement on any map.'

'When your lot hold a grudge, you don't muck about, do you? I don't suppose one of your ancestors was in charge back then?' joked Quaint.

'Bara Mephista has been tainted by that dark reputation ever since,' Alexandria continued, unperturbed by the conjuror's sarcasm. 'Nubian history was my father's life, and he surely taught you that the ancient Egyptians worshipped Amun-Ra, the Sun God. As the sun was born each day, the eastern sky signified the birth of life, yes? Similarly, as the sun set in the west at the end of each day, it became synonymous with death.' She caught Quaint's sceptical eyes. 'The Fleeing Free built their temple facing west in veneration to the underworld…in service to death itself, hence the superstitions.'

Quaint looked down at the settlement dubiously. For all the beliefs he held, the supernatural was not one of them. 'But how can a long extinct bunch of nomads possibly help me?' he asked.

'They cannot,' replied Alexandria. 'But those who now reside here might.'

Something made Quaint shiver, and he turned around to Alexandria.

'Did you say this place is called "Bara Mephista"?' he asked.

Alexandria smiled. 'It took you long enough to work it out.'

'But, Alex…Bara Mephista is old Nubian for-'

'Land of the Devil, yes. And it is very aptly named,' said Alexandria. 'Bara Mephista is home to the largest criminal infection that Egypt has ever witnessed…a disease that has spread throughout this country for decades, polluting anything and everything in its path. Like packs of wild dogs they roam, foraging and scavenging the land.'

'They?' asked Quaint.

'The Clan Scarabs. Murderers and thieves, every one of them. Ruthless and cunning, they would slit your throat without giving it a second thought.'

'Unreceptive to visitors, I should imagine,' gulped Quaint.

'You will soon find out,' said Alexandria. 'If anyone knows anything about this plot of yours – it is the Scarabs. If you are not to be swayed, then down you must go, willingly into their nest. But if you take but one wrong step in that place, it may well turn out to be your last. You must be cautious.'

'My dear, I'm the living embodiment of cautious,' replied Quaint.

'Cornelius, have you heard nothing of what I just said?' Alexandria snapped. 'These men are murderers! You will be lucky if you live long enough to introduce yourself, let alone ask them any questions!' She turned from the cliff's edge and began gathering up their things, stowing them into the pack on her saddle. 'If you really are going down there then you will not find me by your side.'

'Where are you going?' asked Quaint.

'Where do you think? I am going back home. Back to Hosni,' replied Alexandria. 'I have done my part and led you here. How you decide to kill yourself is your business.'