Past Repeating - Book 1

New Place, New People

Slowly, I opened my eyes and found myself still in the desert. I inhaled deeply and the air felt cold inside my lungs despite the hot sun. It felt so good to finally be able to move around again after being trapped in time for so long. The Gods kept me sealed well and I was unbelievably grateful for them. The spell we cast worked quite well.

The sun, as usual and even after five thousand years, still shone high in the sky, its rays beaming to the sand below, sending a wave of warmth in every direction. Golden sand dunes towered above the ruins settled beside the temple; broken towers and rooms that were as old as me. This was the oldest part of Egypt. I knew because of the simple sense of home that I felt, and I knew because my tomb was in one of those ancient sand dunes.

When I slipped my toes into the sand, the heat immediately soaked into my bare feet, enlightening me with warmth beyond imagination. It felt really nice to be home again... even though it had eroded away from so many years. Still, even if home was physically gone, it wasn't completely gone from my heart. I would treasure it always inside.

I sat there simply gazing out into the open desert, still wondering if whether or not I was really alive, just immersing myself in the beautiful warmth and feeling it all was making my heart soar.

Now that I was relaxed, memories of my past played liked a movie before my eyes. I grew up with an older brother and two loving parents. My father was a merchant and my mother stayed home to watch over my brother and me. We lived happily, always smiling. My brother was my best friend - we were always together. He used to tease me quite a bit, but when he lovingly ruffled my hair and smiled, I couldn't help but smile with him. We played together often and we almost had the same hobbies. He enjoyed working with my father sometimes while I enjoyed helping my mother with cooking. Although we were young, we knew each other well. He was a year older than I was and he was taller, which was probably why he pet my head all the time. I missed feeling his warmth. And my parents... they showed their love for us through everything they did. I missed the warm hugs they used to give me.

Then the war happened. I was twelve while my brother was thirteen. One day, it was my brother who disappeared. The next day, it was my parents. I was the only one left. Isis took me in after that. When I was nearing my thirteenth birthday, and I began showing signs of adolescence, she brought me before the Pharaoh and discussed the position of his son's Guardian. For some reason she decided I was the right person for the job. When I started training with Master Mahad, I found that learning the spells came naturally. What would usually take someone a good handful of years to learn, I mastered in about one year. By my fourteenth birthday, I had learned some powerful magic along with sword fighting techniques and had a lot of hand-to-hand combat practice. Along the way, the Pharaoh's son and I slowly became friends. I guarded him from the moment my training ended to the moment our souls were sealed away. For three years, I guarded him with my life, and slowly over that time, we became good friends.

Suddenly my eyes were clouded with various images of what happened during that fateful day when everything changed. How the war with a strange enemy destroyed the kingdom and nearly killed all of its civilians. The enemy was still a blur - my memory hasn't all come back yet. I hoped what Ishizu said was true, that my memory would be back when I saw something connected to it or when I met the Pharaoh. Even though I couldn't remember what the enemy might have looked like, I could still recall the terror he instilled. And most importantly, the evil was so strong that we could only manage to seal it away for a little while. Then the quick image of what the Pharaoh had done flashed across my vision and soon after I could think about some of the preparations we made for the future.

I shook my head, trying to get rid of the headache that was growing. It didn't help.

Then I heard someone walk across the stone floor behind me. I curiously looked over my shoulder to see Ishizu. She had a thoughtful look on her face and she was holding a black duffel bag in her hands.