Chapter Twelve
Horus was tried of flying. The falcon had been flying for hours; he would have stopped sooner but there was nowhere to land. All that was below him was sand; all that was above him was blue sky.
Ahead, Horus finally saw something; a small camp, many horses but almost no one in sight. Perhaps this was the place his master had told him to go. Maybe, he would fly there anyway. He needed to rest.
In a small camp, with many horses -but not nearly enough people to ride them all, so it seemed- a man sat. He was dressed in desert clothes, long black "robes"; the man had black hair and "strange" tattoo like markings on his cheeks and forehead. His name was Ardeth-Bay and he was the leader of the desert warriors called Medji. Ardeth-Bay was a quiet man, a warrior who preferred to keep to himself.
Ardeth-Bay looked up into the desert sky; almost no clouds in sight, as always. However, coming toward the camp was a shape, indistinctive. The shape came closer and Ardeth-Bay recognized it as a peregrine falcon, not unlike the one he had lost almost a year ago. The falcons were associated, it seemed, with Egypt and the desert. Seeing one flying across the sky wasn't rare but Ardeth-Bay was suddenly interested in the coming of the bird. The bird was heading right toward the camp; yes, this falcon definitely meant "something".
As the bird came closer, Ardeth-Bay held out his hand for the bird to land on. The bird alighted on his hand; it was a trained bird so it belonged to something. Seeing a trained, pet falcon in the desert was rare. Ardeth-Bay was even more interested in the bird now.
The bird screeched and flapped its wings when it alighted on his outstretched hand. Ardeth-Bay noticed that around the bird's leg was a cloth or part of a cloth, rolled tightly. Ardeth-Bay unrolled the cloth and looked at it; it was a message, like the ones that he, himself, used to send with his bird. The message was from the O'Connells; they had been captured by the God of Death Anubis and were being taken to Amh-Shre. There, Anubis was going to raise his army; the Medji had to stop him. However, in the note the O'Connells said nothing of getting a falcon or whom the falcon belonged to so Ardeth-Bay figured that the bird belonged to someone else that had also been captured. That didn't matter now, however; he had to raise his own army and stop Anubis before he rose the deadly army.
Horus was tried of flying. The falcon had been flying for hours; he would have stopped sooner but there was nowhere to land. All that was below him was sand; all that was above him was blue sky.
Ahead, Horus finally saw something; a small camp, many horses but almost no one in sight. Perhaps this was the place his master had told him to go. Maybe, he would fly there anyway. He needed to rest.
In a small camp, with many horses -but not nearly enough people to ride them all, so it seemed- a man sat. He was dressed in desert clothes, long black "robes"; the man had black hair and "strange" tattoo like markings on his cheeks and forehead. His name was Ardeth-Bay and he was the leader of the desert warriors called Medji. Ardeth-Bay was a quiet man, a warrior who preferred to keep to himself.
Ardeth-Bay looked up into the desert sky; almost no clouds in sight, as always. However, coming toward the camp was a shape, indistinctive. The shape came closer and Ardeth-Bay recognized it as a peregrine falcon, not unlike the one he had lost almost a year ago. The falcons were associated, it seemed, with Egypt and the desert. Seeing one flying across the sky wasn't rare but Ardeth-Bay was suddenly interested in the coming of the bird. The bird was heading right toward the camp; yes, this falcon definitely meant "something".
As the bird came closer, Ardeth-Bay held out his hand for the bird to land on. The bird alighted on his hand; it was a trained bird so it belonged to something. Seeing a trained, pet falcon in the desert was rare. Ardeth-Bay was even more interested in the bird now.
The bird screeched and flapped its wings when it alighted on his outstretched hand. Ardeth-Bay noticed that around the bird's leg was a cloth or part of a cloth, rolled tightly. Ardeth-Bay unrolled the cloth and looked at it; it was a message, like the ones that he, himself, used to send with his bird. The message was from the O'Connells; they had been captured by the God of Death Anubis and were being taken to Amh-Shre. There, Anubis was going to raise his army; the Medji had to stop him. However, in the note the O'Connells said nothing of getting a falcon or whom the falcon belonged to so Ardeth-Bay figured that the bird belonged to someone else that had also been captured. That didn't matter now, however; he had to raise his own army and stop Anubis before he rose the deadly army.