'Oh heck, what do we do now?' Rani-Ra said. Seisi lay prone on the backseat of the car, his head next to the door. Rani-Ra used a dubious-looking handkerchief to wipe sweat off their guest's brow.

'To be honest, I wasn't sure the whole trip was such a good idea,' Ranofer said. 'But he insisted, he wanted to report to this posse of super priests.'

Trueth said 'Seisi seems to be sure he'll meet those guys again. Never mind, let's go back home. He's tough, he'll pull through.'

'Ranofer can drive,' Rani-Ra said, carefully moving Seisi's legs aside to join him on the seat. He groaned and stirred, then smiled with his eyes still closed. Not at Rani-Ra. At Trueth who was still watching him from the open car door.

'A vision,' he breathed, a beatific smile on his face.

'He's really not well,' Trueth observed and climbed into the passenger's seat.

Seisi recovered swiftly, keen to continue the visit of the demon world. Ranofer put his foot down.'You're going nowhere, mate, but home.' As he was driving, this resulted in a sudden spurt of speed which further raised the spirits of their intrepid guest.

Trueth could not help but admire him.

When they turned into the street in front of the house, the Jeep nearly collided with a mass of rickety cars, dusty pickup trucks and people blocking the road. Ranofer swore, braked and parked right next to the nearest obstacle. His passengers disembarked and gaped at the drama unfolding in front of them.

People were weaving in and out of the bushes at the front of the Al-Nour garden, spilling onto the pavement. The fence had been trampled, and the din of many voices echoed from the garden. A few of the invaders Trueth recognised as Servants, the others had been among the group of supporters that had helped to restore the shrine after Iseret's last stand.

'Oh, what shall we do,' was the gist of the wailing coming from the milling multitudes. A confused wave of thoughts and emotions rolled into her head and made her stagger.

'Pray, let me help,' Seisi's voice said next to her. He waved his palm in front of Trueth's forehead, shining gold flared up in her mind, abruptly shutting out the distraught babble.

Their visitor turned towards the lost lot from the temple. 'Pull yourselves together, good people. You are not taking the right approach. I ask you to elucidate your problems instead, to the noble Trueth and myself.'

Seisi's comment sparked off another cerebral explosion. He contained it with a scything motion like the one Metjen and Iseret used when they wanted to stop things at once.

Nefer, Isis, Gebu and Khafa between them confessed they had let go of the veil again, they lacked the strength to keep it up. Iseret had left them, had claimed she needed to prepare for the journey. According to Nefer, Nebmutef had spotted more gangs from the outside world advancing on their shrine. With Metjen agonising over his family's woes, Nebmutef had no choice. He sent the remaining Servants to their homes in Cairo and Sakkara village before he invoked a spell that sealed their sanctuary.

They had only taken a few items but not the statues of their gods, a teary-eyed Isis added. The close-down did not sound final, but it appeared the combined powers of Nebmutef and at least one more high-ranking priest would be necessary to gain access again.

'But for that we need to keep up the veil, and we can't any more.' Nefer fell quiet.

Trueth turned towards Rani-Ra and Ranofer. ' Get your brother, he better haul ass pronto. He's the one to sort out this mess.'

And he did.

Whatever it was he had been doing, it had not involved either shaving or sleeping. But a few well-chosen sentences calmed the aged mob, hope dawning in their eyes, that all might be well again.

'Go home, I will call you,' Metjen said and stood, a rock among the many vehicles that were belching exhaust fumes and manoeuvering wildly around him.

When the last car had disappeared, fortunately without accidents, his shoulders sagged. Metjen turned towards them, exhaustion pulling lines into his beautiful face.

'I tried to mind-call Nebmutef,' he said. 'He's unreachable. Khafa and Gebu will check things out. Nebmutef is so reliable, I keep forgetting how old he is.'

'Um,' Trueth said, then decided that this was not the right moment to tell her friend about his mentor's strange misgivings.

'He should not have been the one to pull the final seal,' Metjen continued, his voice trembling.

Trueth frowned. 'Yes, but neither you nor Iseret were there. You are both asking a lot from that guy, aren't you?'

Metjen turned his face towards the skies as if seeking answers. 'Maybe, but what choice did we have? In fact, I believe we have just run out of options. With the temple sealed, our money gone, the Servants on their last legs... .'

He did not need to continue. Trueth could guess what he wanted to say.

A silent group gathered for dinner that evening, but for once nobody was hungry. Trueth felt something wet pressing itself into her palm. Blondie was pushing his pink nose against her, the whiskers tickling her arm. When she lifted her head again, Metjen and Seisi had their attention fixed straight beyond her.

'What?' Trueth asked, fear spreading from her stomach.

'We decided this afternoon. We'll go. I reached out to Iseret. She is horrified—as far as she has emotions—about what has happened, but she and Seisi tell me I have to go—and stay.'

'And that means, we all stay.' Mrs Al-Nour said, observing Trueth with a strange expression on her amiable face.

'To the best of my knowledge, the portal has not been repaired.' Trueth said

'We take that risk—it'll be wrong whatever I do.' Metjen corrected himself. 'Whatever we do. If the sleepers are lost... .' He shrugged.

'Do you realise what happens if that thing misfires and you bring back an ancient civilisation into...into 21st century Earth?' Trueth's voice raised in pitch until it broke.

'This is not what will happen. We examined the possibilities together,' Seisi said calmly.

Metjen nodded. 'As usual I could not divine much, as I'm affected. But the sleepers will not end up in this world.'

'How reassuring.' Trueth felt her future darken as they were ganging up on her. 'And what about me?'

'We need you,' Rani-Ra said.

'Only to kick things off,' Trueth said.

Rani-Ra shook her head vigorously, but she could not convince Trueth.

'Come back with us,' Seisi implored her. Trueth wondered why he cared so much.

'Will you do this for us?' The professor asked. He appeared exhausted until Trueth saw the familiar twinkle under the glasses. 'I'm still an archaeologist and this trip is one heck of a research project!'

Mrs Al-Nour had come across and put her hand on his shoulder. Do not leave us, dear.

Trueth started and stared at her. Metjen's mother smiled back. Trueth rubbed her eyes and nodded assent. She still was torn but if they wanted to go through with this madness she could at least help them on their way, she owed them that much.

In the days after that memorable meal, the professor and his wife took charge of the expedition and ploughed through a checklist that rivalled the pyramid texts in length. Metjen went to tell the Servants of their plans. He asked them to join him as there would be nobody left to bring back their temple. Seisi had gone with him to make sure this news would not finish off the lot of them.

'They will all come. A few of them will die soon. They want to end their lives in the light of the gods,' Seisi stated.

Metjen could not speak to Nebmutef in person but had mind-talked to him, and he too sounded much relieved and would meet them in the hall. Metjen arranged for Khafa and Gebu to escort him there.

'The professor is not allowed into the excavations anymore, how can we enter that corridor?' Trueth asked.

Metjen just laughed.

There was one conversation she still needed to have, even if she dreaded its outcome. In the afternoon before P-Day, as the professor insisted on calling it, she found Metjen in the garden with Mish-Mish on his lap. He sat on the swing, facing the trees with a far-off look as if they were hiding another world.

'Are they coming too?' Trueth settled on the remains of the grass across from him and pointed at the cat.

'They're family. We've got to leave everything behind--but not them. They won't like the carriers, I can tell you.'

Trueth remembered another carrier box she had seen a lifetime away and dug her toes into the soft tufts of grass.

'You could all step—into the night and be lost forever.' It was worth a last try.

'Yes, this is possible, Seisi says. If the sleepers are no more, we will be lost too,' Metjen said calmly. 'There are some possibilities where this happens. But I'm convinced we'll make it.'

Trueth felt like kicking him. It would not have made any difference. 'How does Seisi know all this? He was in his tank when the Guardians were shooting these bastards down?'

'Our friend had set up what would best be described as a priestly spy unit. Lots of people were helping him and telling him things. It worked because the dark priests did not suspect him at first. He learned lots of stuff that way. Seisi thinks quite a few of his helpers must have held high ranks because of the information they gave him.'

Metjen dropped off the swing and sat right next to Trueth. He turned towards her, grabbed both her hands and covered them with his. Warmth spread from her fingertips and her pulse raced. For once he kept the crocodile out of his smile. His look could only be interpreted as concern. 'Forget Seisi and the rest. I must know—what will you be doing?'

Her heart leapt, and her body exploded in heat. Trueth drew a deep breath and struggled to keep her thoughts guarded. She wanted to tell. She needed to hear. 'I will go through if—you want me.'

'You are my best friend I want you to come!' He seemed indignant at first but squeezed her hands as the crocodile rose. 'I wouldn't ask you if I doubted the outcome of this bloody expedition, you know.'

'Not just as a friend.'

'What do you...? Oh, I see.' His face slackened, and he slowly released her hands.

'You don't love me.' It was not a question.

'No... but... .'

There was no answer to that. Trueth got up and fled from the garden.

===

So. I'm sorry, but we have a shipping wreck here. Don't hate me for it, it was the only logical conclusion. We also are on the last stretch towards the climax. Next is a flurry of short chapters, as we race towards the portal. The climax scene itself comes in two parts. Prepare - for a lot of action, revelation, tension - and release. I do promise you one thing - Cursed Times will emerge from the dark again. I believe, you will like the way it all ends! OK. I hope you are ready to rock!

The image is from deviantart, copyright chabert. It was hard to dedicate this chapter to somebody in particular - so many of you have been guessing and hoping ... . So I dedicated it to @mrsCosmopilite, as she was not too engaged on the shipping front. I love her spunky heroine Edith in the novel 'Second'. Make sure to check it out!