THE PROPHECY OF ANU-RA
Part three
"We must talk."
"We 'must' not," Rick disagreed, echoing Ardeth's words as his eyes darted around the grounds searching out any signs of danger. "The minute you and I get together, someone usually ends up bleeding."
"Rick! You know Ardeth wouldn't be here if it wasn't important." Reproaching her husband's tone, Evelyn turned to Alex and started to guide her son into the house. "Let's go and see if we can get Uncle Jonathan out of bed, shall we, Alex?"
"Every time there's something interesting to listen to I've gotta go and look for Uncle Jonathan," Alex complained. As he saw it, he had faced as much danger as the adults had; and anyway, he just hated being left out of everything.
"Tough!" Evelyn grinned as she prodded Alex forwarded with a gentle hand on his back.
With both O'Connell men duly castigated, Rick shot the Med-jai warrior an impatient look, before like his son, reluctantly ceding to his wife's wishes. "Well, you heard my wife, start talking."
Ardeth had known before making to the trip to London, that Rick's American upbringing coupled with his unwillingness to face his past, was always going to be a stumbling block to making his friend believe in what he was about to reveal. "But will you listen, allowing yourself to hear?" He asked softly.
"I'll listen," Rick answered. "But I don't make any promises on the hearing part of the deal."
Accepting Rick's compromise, Ardeth gestured for Rick to walk with him, as he began to recount the story of the Prophecy to the adverse listener. "For many generations the Med-jai have been told of the 'Wahid', the one of two tribes, born at the sign of two moons, who would grow to manhood and save the world. Three times he will be challenged and three times he will succeed."
"Great story," Rick said dryly. "But what's that got to do with me." His eyebrows arched up and he looked at Ardeth in disbelief, "You 'are' kidding me, right? You don't actually think I'm this...'Wahid' person do you? You're nuts!"
"Listen, please," Ardeth pleaded with Rick. "The Anu-Ra lived in fear of what the birth of this child would mean to their future plans for resurrecting the underworld. In the first year of the Prophecy many Med-jai warriors were killed trying to protect their children, often failing in their attempts. We lost many children, and just as many good men. My father, himself a Chieftain at the time, gave up his life to save mine."
Rick's stunned look gave way to compassion, sighing he shook his head, "I'm sorry about your father, Ardeth, I really am, but even if you are right about me being this 'Wahid' person, which you're not, but even if you were, we can't prove any of it. I don't know who I am, who my parents were. I don't where I was born other than in Egypt somewhere. I don't even know how I came to be at the orphanage in the first place."
"Then you must come back with me and we must find out the truth," Ardeth suggested.
"Go back? Why should I go back?" Rick asked as he frustratingly ran a hand through his unruly fringe.
"Because 'Wahid' or not, the Anu-Ra already know about you and as you have already seen, the underworld has long fingers, even here in London."
Startled by the news, Rick's head whipped around as he look toward the house, "Evy," he whispered fearfully. He had lost his wife once, he couldn't bear to lose her, or Alex again.
"You all must come with me. The Med-jai will pay with their lives to keep your family safe," Ardeth promised before firmly grasping wrist, Rick's fingers covering the brown leather bracelet that hid the adventurer's Med-jai tattoo from the world. "No matter how much you try and hide yourself, you are Med-jai and you know you need to know the truth."
TBC
Part three
"We must talk."
"We 'must' not," Rick disagreed, echoing Ardeth's words as his eyes darted around the grounds searching out any signs of danger. "The minute you and I get together, someone usually ends up bleeding."
"Rick! You know Ardeth wouldn't be here if it wasn't important." Reproaching her husband's tone, Evelyn turned to Alex and started to guide her son into the house. "Let's go and see if we can get Uncle Jonathan out of bed, shall we, Alex?"
"Every time there's something interesting to listen to I've gotta go and look for Uncle Jonathan," Alex complained. As he saw it, he had faced as much danger as the adults had; and anyway, he just hated being left out of everything.
"Tough!" Evelyn grinned as she prodded Alex forwarded with a gentle hand on his back.
With both O'Connell men duly castigated, Rick shot the Med-jai warrior an impatient look, before like his son, reluctantly ceding to his wife's wishes. "Well, you heard my wife, start talking."
Ardeth had known before making to the trip to London, that Rick's American upbringing coupled with his unwillingness to face his past, was always going to be a stumbling block to making his friend believe in what he was about to reveal. "But will you listen, allowing yourself to hear?" He asked softly.
"I'll listen," Rick answered. "But I don't make any promises on the hearing part of the deal."
Accepting Rick's compromise, Ardeth gestured for Rick to walk with him, as he began to recount the story of the Prophecy to the adverse listener. "For many generations the Med-jai have been told of the 'Wahid', the one of two tribes, born at the sign of two moons, who would grow to manhood and save the world. Three times he will be challenged and three times he will succeed."
"Great story," Rick said dryly. "But what's that got to do with me." His eyebrows arched up and he looked at Ardeth in disbelief, "You 'are' kidding me, right? You don't actually think I'm this...'Wahid' person do you? You're nuts!"
"Listen, please," Ardeth pleaded with Rick. "The Anu-Ra lived in fear of what the birth of this child would mean to their future plans for resurrecting the underworld. In the first year of the Prophecy many Med-jai warriors were killed trying to protect their children, often failing in their attempts. We lost many children, and just as many good men. My father, himself a Chieftain at the time, gave up his life to save mine."
Rick's stunned look gave way to compassion, sighing he shook his head, "I'm sorry about your father, Ardeth, I really am, but even if you are right about me being this 'Wahid' person, which you're not, but even if you were, we can't prove any of it. I don't know who I am, who my parents were. I don't where I was born other than in Egypt somewhere. I don't even know how I came to be at the orphanage in the first place."
"Then you must come back with me and we must find out the truth," Ardeth suggested.
"Go back? Why should I go back?" Rick asked as he frustratingly ran a hand through his unruly fringe.
"Because 'Wahid' or not, the Anu-Ra already know about you and as you have already seen, the underworld has long fingers, even here in London."
Startled by the news, Rick's head whipped around as he look toward the house, "Evy," he whispered fearfully. He had lost his wife once, he couldn't bear to lose her, or Alex again.
"You all must come with me. The Med-jai will pay with their lives to keep your family safe," Ardeth promised before firmly grasping wrist, Rick's fingers covering the brown leather bracelet that hid the adventurer's Med-jai tattoo from the world. "No matter how much you try and hide yourself, you are Med-jai and you know you need to know the truth."
TBC