It had happened two months before. Something that he knew to be inevitable. They would come back for him…how could they not?
He remembered it well, that clear night, two months before. Sitting around the bonfire of his town, laughing with family and friends. Nothing had happened to his people in such a long time, they had become accustomed with the peace and safety.
He remembered the look on his second in command's face. One of pure horror. He remembered the very words his friend spoke.
"Thy are at the city…his followers…they are there to get him back."
And he remembered the sight that was laid before him that clear night. The once beautiful Hamunaptra, lying before them. Once so large and full, now nothing but an empty dirt pit on the ground.
It was not empty anymore. It was full…full of people, hundreds of people. With spotlights and cars, machines and tents. And he knew he knew this was only the beginning.
Together, He and his second in command stole up into the large campsite, and looked around. Most of the people were diggers. But he saw a few, one, and a short man who walked around, shouting instructions at the diggers. One, a beautiful woman, who seemed to know her way around the city, and one, an enemy to him. An evil, horrible man who had made his life hell, a former Med-jai, a former friend.
And Ardeth Bay, chieftain of the Med-jai knew that none of this could be good. He had looked over at Ahmad, his second in command, and he remembered the words that came out of his mouth.
"This is not good. If they want to bring him back…we have to keep the O'Connell's safe."