Valley of Kings by Michael Northrop

Author:Michael Northrop
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2015-08-19T16:00:00+00:00

Alex’s eyes were dazzled, his knees were skinned, and his left hand was wrapped so hard around his scarab that its wings threatened to punch right through the skin of his palm. Once again, the Death Walker spoke, shouting the same question he had asked before: “Little children, who do you worship?”

Alex knew that ancient Egyptians could be very particular about their many gods, but he had a more pressing question in mind: How do you stop a walking undead flamethrower?

As the Walker’s fierce, predatory eyes focused on Ren, as his arms swung back like a pitcher about to deliver some high heat, Alex swept his free hand back and swiftly forward.

The wind that comes before the rain … His amulet had desert magic, and they were in the desert now. A wind more powerful than Alex expected rose instantly and swept across the floor of the valley. Alex braced himself as it rushed past, nearly toppling him. The wind carried with it a swirling, stabbing sea of sand. He felt a thousand sharp stings against his exposed arms. His hat flew off and forward, and now he felt the stings against his neck and cheeks, too.

Scraped up off the valley floor and carried along, the sand was so thick that it seemed to block out the sun itself. The world turned tan and then almost black. Alex saw the glow of the flaming orb smothered completely. As it blinked out, he closed his eyes against the stinging tumult.

A moment later, it was over. The sand and wind had passed. Alex opened his eyes to find Ren hunched over on the ground, hands shielding her head. Luke was a little farther back, bent over, spitting out sand. The Death Walker had dropped to one knee, his headdress slightly askew.

He looked up, and Alex’s breath caught. Sand clung to the Walker’s face, wet from the oozing blisters, and he glared at his enemy with eyes that were now glowing red.

“RUN!” called Alex.

They rushed past the Walker as he slowly rose to his feet. They gave him a wide berth — except for Luke, who shouldered directly into him. There was a sizzling sound as he made contact.

“Aaah!” cried Luke.

But the impact had done its job, knocking the Walker back to the ground.

Injured or not, Luke ran like a gazelle. “Are you okay?” shouted Alex as his cousin quickly caught up.

“No!” shouted Luke. “Felt like tackling a campfire.”

After a few more strides, Alex risked a quick look back. The Death Walker was on his feet now. His hands were raised above him, and in between them, a ball of flame was forming. Alex kicked it up a gear, still amazed at his new health, still testing its limits. It was torture to run in this heat, but crazy desperation fueled him. His body responded, his engine revved, but at any second he expected it all to end in flames.

He’d caught the Walker off guard. He knew it wouldn’t work again. By the time he turned and faced him, he’d be a pile of ash and bone.

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