A Thief's Treasure (7 page)

“Sure,” I replied.
 
I started to play it and somehow he was able to play online despite the altitude.
 
We were playing the game and soon I was getting the hang of it, killing some of the guys and having a great time.
 
Darren was impressed to say the least, I could tell he was feeling proud of me.

“Wow I didn’t know that a girl like you is not only pretty and has a great attitude, but you play games like a guy,” he voiced.

“Thanks.
 
I used to play with some of my guy friends and I stopped for a while.
 
I just had to get the hang of it again,” I replied.

“Well I’m glad you did.
 
Now I have someone I can finally game with while on missions.
 
Trust me, I’ve tried to game with my parents but they can’t do it for shit.
 
Nice to finally have a challenge.
 
Who knows, maybe we’ll make it interesting sometime,” he said flirtatiously.

“We just might,” I replied back.
 
We continued to play games for what seemed like an hour, but soon it turned into about six hours.
 
We had food and snacks next to us while we continued to play, my initial dislike of him starting to dissipate.
 
He was really a great guy and I knew that he meant well despite the fact that he could be a huge pervert at times.

After a little bit the intercom came on again and Coco’s excited voice permeated the fuselage.
 
“Well guys it’s time to land.
 
Put your shit away and get your ass back into your seats.
 
We’ll be landing just outside of Cairo and your target is only five miles away. It is currently 2 am in Cairo and it’s the perfect time to retrieve magical
artifacts
.
 
So sit back, relax and hang on tight because we’re in for a bumpy ride,” she said.
 

We got back into our seats after cleaning up quickly.
 
Once we were buckled in the plane started to make its descent.
 
It was faster than normal planes and for a moment I thought we were going to crash.
 
However, Coco’s crazy piloting saved us and we landed smoothly into Cairo.
 
It was pitch black sans a few lights within the city and I could immediately see the location of our target.
 
It was within that pyramid, and I was more than ready to have some fun.

We landed within a minute and immediately Darren and I sprang up from our seats.
 
I ran to the restroom once more and soon we were on our way out.
 
Coco was there and smiling, obviously excited for us.

“Good luck you two, and if you need backup remember to call me and I’ll bring the plane over,” she stated.

“Thanks.
 
We’ll see you in a couple hours,” he replied.
 
We ran out to the desert, and even though initially was a little wary of wearing black and long sleeves in the desert I was glad I did.
 
The temperatures were close to freezing and I was nice and snug within my
catsuit
.
 
We got to the middle and Darren stopped.
 
He looked back at me and I stopped once I caught up to him.

“It’ll take us over an hour before we get there,” I stated.

“Not if we fly,” he replied.

“Fly?
 
How?” I asked.

“Direct your air alchemy to the ground.
 
See how that goes,” he said.
 

I nodded and tried it, moving my hands like I was doing a dance.
 
That’s the thing with air alchemy I learned; you have to move it like you’re moving air in a subtle dance.
 
Soon I was levitating though, a look of utter shock present on my face.

“Holy shit,” I voiced.

“Yep that’s the awesomeness of alchemy honey.
 
Now let’s get to that pyramid,” he replied.
 
He levitated as well and soon we were flying through the air.
 
It was weird but for some reason I loved it.
 
It was a very short trip and we were there within minutes.
 
When we got there one guard was around, but Darren took care of it with a shot of flame-sleep, a special alchemic incantation that not only burns the guy but also induces sleep.
 
He walked in with me, the pitch-blackness of the tomb dulling our vision.

“Here let me light it up,” Darren said.
 
He conjured a small flame and I walked in with him.
 
It was a long pathway, but I knew that it would lead us to the tomb that we needed to get to retrieve the necklace.
 
According to Anthony it was in the sarcophagus, which was the main reason why I came.
 
I was really good at iron alchemy and was much better at it than Darren despite the time that he’s had to train, so I was going to open it while Darren covered me.

When we got to the tomb we were surprised.
 
There were two guards there, but we both used the fire-sleep and then they were both unconscious.
 
We got to the coffin and Darren looked around, checking to make sure the coast was clear.

“It’s all good Alyssa.
 
I have your back.
 
Go open that tomb and get that necklace,” he stated.

I focused my energy on the coffin, picturing it broken and the top coming off.
 
After a moment a small flash of light escaped it and soon the coffin was open.
 
The necklace was in there, it was just around the skeleton of the dead princess that had died by succumbing to the black alchemy she was given.
 
I pulled it off her neck, trying not to disturb the body any more than it had been.
 
I was surprised this hadn’t been taken yet, but I know that if anyone tried they would probably succumb to the evil the necklace had within.

“I got it,” I said triumphantly.

“Good.
 
Now let’s get—“ before Darren could finish the tomb started to shake and it was starting to come down.
 
A low voice echoed through there, but we both knew the source of it.

“You think you can get rid of me that easily?
 
Well how about you try getting away from this,” the voice stated.
 
The walls started to cave in and Darren grabbed my hand, pulling me forward.
 
The necklace was trying to control me and infuse me with black alchemy that was within.
 
I stopped it though; I know it was just the necklace and we had to get back to the plane in order to secure it.
 
The real fun was getting out of her though.
 
Darren pulled me into his arms and with one slash with his hands he cut through the rubble coming down on us.
 
When we reached the exit there were about four guards, and with one hand I sent a wall of fire to them.
 
They cried out, and Darren took that chance to push through them and levitate us out.
 
However, the levitation only worked for a little bit, and I knew that mine was not very useful at this point either due to the conflict between myself and the black necklace.

“What do we do?” I asked.

“I have a plan.
 
Use your fire to propel us out.
 
Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he replied.
 
I moved my hand with a snap, creating a small spark and soon we were up in the air and away from the crumbling pyramid.
 
The guards were not so lucky and soon they were crying in pain.
 
The pyramid had engulfed them and taken them into the hell that it had come from.

Chapter Eight

The necklace was still trying to control me, but I ignored it.
 
It was trying to tell me that Darren was evil and that he was here to take me away and ruin me, but I knew that was all wrong. Darren was a great guy and frankly he not only saved his life but mine as well back there.
 
I mentally told myself what she was doing was all a hoax and soon the voice from the necklace was dying away into a small murmur.

We were falling though and we had about a 200-foot landing.
 
I panicked, and I started to use my air alchemy again as a cushion in order to help us land properly.
 
It definitely did us some good and soon we were back safely on the ground.
 
It was a rough landing, but I knew that neither Darren nor I were dead.
 
After the initial shock I started to open my eyes, my mind stopping the spinning it was doing and finally coming back to reality.

“Holy crap that was intense,” I voiced.

“Sure was.
 
But we’re safe now.
 
I pulled the panic button and Coco’s on her way.
 
We’ll be out of here soon,” he replied.

“Good cause I need a fucking drink after all this,” I said jokingly.
 
We both laughed and I started to sit up, my calming feeling replaced with sheer embarrassment.

“Umm Darren?
 
Your hand is on my—“

“Oh my god I’m so sorry,” he replied.
 
His hand was squarely on my breast, his entire hand cupping the small mound.
 
He pulled away immediately, flushing in embarrassment.

“I hope you didn’t land like that just to cop a feel.
 
Cause if you did I might just lose all respect for you,” I voiced.

“I swear I didn’t’ mean it.
 
Sure I joke a lot but this time it was a complete accident.
 
I was trying to make sure you were safe, and I was going to take the brunt of the fall but you saved me and I definitely thank you for that.
 
You are quite the awesome person Alyssa and I’m ecstatic to have you here helping me out.
 
If you weren’t around I would probably…”

“Be dead.
 
I know and I definitely want to thank you as well.
 
You definitely helped me get out of there and it was only sheer luck that I broke away from the black alchemy that the necklace was exuding,” I replied.

“Well good.
 
Now let’s get the hell out of here.
 
Egypt’s starting to weird me out a little bit,” he said jokingly.
 
After a moment the familiar sound of Coco appeared and I could see the sheer happiness and excitement present on her face.

“Did you guys have fun?
 
I see a couple of blushes present and I saw how you landed on her Darren.
 
You dirty dog you,” she joked.

Darren and I both flushed crimson and walked over to the plane.
 
We got in and sat in the seats we were in before; just wishing the damn plane would take off already.
 
She closed the door and came over the intercom again, her giggly
behavior
from earlier still present.

“Welcome back lovebirds.
 
It’s time for us to take off again, and I hope you two had a great time visiting Egypt and the crazy shit that’s there.
 
The necklace is on the floor and I would suggest that Darren put it away and seal it before it tries to do some fishy business here on the plane,” Coco asked.
 

Darren got up and grabbed the necklace that had fallen out of my hand and onto the floor.
 
It tried to hobble away but Darren grabbed it.
 
He motioned for me to come over, and after unbuckling I walked over to the other side where he had a look of concern on his face.