Prince Of Persia: Dark Destiny
Authors Note: Jafar, Darius and Nadina are my characters. Ask and maybe I'll loan them out. Any thoughts, questions or wishes are welcomed so long as they come with a constructive review. Flamers ignored, they bore me…if you don't like a story the best thing to do is not to review. Anyway I'm celebrating my proper finishing of the game with this. Anyone know what those 3 empty video slots are in the Video Gallery? I'm at a loss…
Also I am blocking from my memory the –err – episode – Kaileena and the Prince had on the boat. I think they make a good couple but that was just very random I suppose. Alos I've taken one or two liberties with Kaileena's character…right…that's my bit said.
Chapter 1: The Docks of Babylon
Kaileena's long dark hair flowed behind her; it still fell partially over her right eye and was flicked at the ends in an attractive manner the Prince could not explain. She would be the perfect woman - save the fact she was so strong willed and passionate in her arguments. They were very alike.
"You can be a true shrew," The Prince muttered.
"You act surprised. I was the "Evil" Empress of Time" Kaileena said. They butted heads in a civil manner a great deal. The Prince had no idea she was so - sarcastic and - cynical. "After all, I was Evil because I killed people who tried to kill me - well excuse me for defending myself"
The Prince tightened his grip on the Water sword and bit back the temptation to remind her that she had also refused his offer of peace and gone gung-ho into a battle with him. It was the sword of water he had taken from the secret safe that had prevented a deadly rematch.
"Tell me about Babylon" she said at last. There was a tear in her voice, but Kaileena never cried… she made a rule of it apparently.
"It's beautiful," The Prince said. "The palace has gardens and baths and statues of great beauty. There is always music and dancing…"
Kaileena's eyes blanked as she stared into space. She shivered and leaned on the boats railing.
"Surely I amn't that boring?" the Prince laughed. Kaileena turned to face him; her eyes were cold and shocked. "What? What is it?"
"Look! You'll see for yourself in a few minutes" she exclaimed. The Prince stared. Dread gripped his heart as the pillars of smoke rose up, clotting the air with dark ash. The horizon was lit ablaze.
"NO!" he cried. "How can this be?"
Kaileena gazed out before her. "I saw the current happenings. This has been a long siege but it comes to a close as we speak… the palace is being attacked."
"But how? Why? My father's enemies were not many. The Maharajah was his only true foe and he did not seek war! And the Vizier never had a chance to betray the city!"
"It was not the Indian troops I saw," warned Kaileena. "They were Sand creatures…we must hurry now!" The Prince unlatched the sails and let the favourable wind speed them towards the coast.
The ship in the port had a black sail with a large red sun pattern on it and a pentangle in the centre of the blazing sun. "I don't know that sail! It's not - oh no! Farzaol!" The Prince exclaimed as the boat came close to the docks.
"Who?" Kaileena exclaimed as he leapt overboard and she followed.
"Farzaol! The Pirate Farzaol. Captain of the Black Hornet…that is his ship… but how could he have Sand Creatures at his disposal?"
Kaileena examined the point of her Scorpion blade, the replacement for her lost swords. "It's impossible. The Sands of Time need to have spread somehow from my island but that's impossible, only Shahdee and myself could pass through water. None of the other creatures could do so without disincarnating"
"I don't understand! I don't understand! I DON'T UNDERSTAND," roared the Prince. He saw the creatures running towards him. His amulet glowed and with a roar of rage he attacked. He vaulted over his first opponent, hacked him in the back of the knees as he spun and sliced the head off the nearest one. They were pale creatures; sand composed their skin flawlessly… as if it were real flesh. They wore heavy turbans and dark red trousers with small shoes…the lack of armour was a disadvantage as the Prince sliced off the arm of one, taking his sword before spinning around and decapitating him.
Kaileena sensed the movement behind her; she didn't greet it, the one coming towards her held a javelin. She smashed an elbow into the face of the creature as it ran at her from behind then pivoted and kicked it off the pier into the water with a spinning kick. She grabbed the arm of the oncoming enemy and vaulted over him. She stabbed cleanly through his throat and stepped away as he turned to sand. "Another time maybe" she said.
The Prince stamped down on the creatures skull and it fell away. "I will kill them all!" he hissed.
"That's not very realistic," snorted Kaileena. She looked him up and down as he rounded on her furiously. "You will kill better with focus," she snapped. The Prince tensed, an inner battle raging- then he sheathed his blade.
"We must find my father," he said.
"Perhaps avoiding the streets would be best?" suggested Kaileena as she pulled him down an alley, away from the patrolling monsters.
"The rooftops" The Prince whispered. He ran up a wall and sprang backwards, rebounding upwards followed closely by the gazelle leap so of Kaileena. He scanned the rooftops. They were empty - but there was movement of sand. "We're not alone up here. We have to hurry - keep up. All is not well…"
"What a perceptive Prince you are" Kaileena sighed as she glanced at the nearby sand man. "Let's move" she leapt the gap and with a swift swing of her blade decapitated the monster. The Prince followed her closely. "Where should we go?" Kaileena asked as they landed on a low bridge.
"The Naval Academy…my father would have been there for planning if Farzaol was a foe. It's where his ships sail from to battle!"
"Let's hurry then," said Kaileena. They were off again, racing along rooftops, hurrying over narrow beams. Swinging on poles, bouncing off tents. There was a clash of blades above them and a Naval Academy Sailor was flung to his death. A man leapt off the roof and landed on a building nearby.
"Who was that?" gasped the Prince.
"Probably not a friend if he killed a human" Kaileena muttered. She pressed her back to a wall and moved along the ledge in her heeled boots. "Where is the Academy now?"
"A few rooftops East of here" The Prince said, pointing.
"Away we go" she smiled… they climbed the window ledges and reached the roof of the building. "DOWN!" Kaileena exclaimed as she pushed the Prince away… the axe hit the wall. Standing on a higher balcony parapet was a young man. His sallow skin and longish dark hair were like siblings to the dusk. His cool blue eyes watched the Prince with some amusement. He wore baggy white trousers tucked into black boots, a red sash and dark blue and red coat that was short around the ribs but had wide sleeves and heavy shoulder pads. He wore a piece of beaded and braided leather around his neck and forehead…he pulled a hook like scythe-sword from across his back.
"Now whom do we have here?" he mused. "Certainly not sand creatures. And women aren't part of the navy…who can you be?" he mused. He flipped his feet over his head and landed before them. "Perhaps the people I've been sent to deal with?"
Kaileena watched him carefully. The Prince tensed for battle...
"My name is Darius," the man said. "Son of Farzaol. Prince of Pirates!"
"And the price of piracy in Persia is decapitation!" snarled the Prince. He charged forwards. His amulet glowed as his blade met with the scythe sword and sent a shower of sparks into the air. Kaileena sensed movement behind her; she spun and kicked out sending the sand creature flying.
"What an interesting occurrence" mused a woman. She was dressed in poison green and silver. Heavy black eyeliner covered her pale skin and she carried two slender blades with horizontal grips as opposed to sword handles. "My name is Nadina - I've been hoping you'd make it to Babylon..."
"Stand aside" Kaileena snapped. "You don't know who you're dealing with"
"We'll see about that Empress!" Nadina attacked her blades met with the sword Kaileena had stolen and her Scorpion blade. Kaileena pivoted and kicked Nadina in the stomach with such force she was sent through a balcony window. The woman flipped to her feet and leapt into a whirling spin as she charged. The blades met again with a clash and Kaileena was knocked off balance. Nadina laughed.
"It's hopeless, feel the despair Empress you cannot win against it. You cannot win against ME!" Nadina performed a complicated spin and slash that knocked Kaileena's blades up. The two women swung at each other again... the blades clashed and went shooting away.
The Prince vaulted over Darius who blocked the strike and kicked the secondary weapon from the Prince's hand and pulled something from his belt... a dagger hissed through the air. The Prince knocked the scythe sword off to one side and managed to block the other blade. There was a blaze of light and for a moment the air between them became solid as a rock before shoving them apart. The Prince leapt up. Darius pointed the blade at him...
"It can't be!" the Prince gasped. "He possesses THE DAGGER OF TIME!" with great urgency he hurled himself at Darius. His amulet glowed and he kicked out, sending Darius falling backwards so he could leap into a deadly flip at the Pirate.
Darius blocked the blade. "Too bad" he mocked and slashed the Prince across the throat.
Darius blocked the blade. "Too bad" he mocked and slashed at the Prince who leaned away in time. Darius' blade met with the Prince's again. They pressed in on one another. "You're a great swordsman," grunted the prince
"Admit defeat?" hissed Darius
"Not TODAY!" The Prince kicked Darius in the ribs then delivered two more kicks across his face and lunged, stabbing Darius through the chest.
"Not TODAY!" The Prince kicked Darius in the Ribs then delivered another two kicks. They were both blocked expertly.
Nadina charged forwards. Kaileena slowed time, leapt forwards and spin in the air, slashing the woman across the torso. The sands had affected her of course, what would kill most did not kill her. She lashed a kick into Kaileena and struck the remaining sword from her hands. "Ta-Ta" Nadina shrieked as she kicked Kaileena off balance and over the balcony, grabbing her long dark hair at the last second and rearing her blade back. "You're no challenge" Nadina sneered. "Perhaps it's selfish of me - however- to kill you when another would much rather decapitate you!"
The spinning blade whirled in the air straight for Kaileena. She swung - there was an unpleasant hiss as hit whirred close...Kaileena saw it bounce off a wall, the three sharply curved blades glinting from the hoop they clung to with its leather handle in the middle...it was - familiar... It came at her again and she struck Nadina in the arm. The woman's grip weakened and the blade sliced through Kaileena's hair.
Nadina gave a shriek of rage as Kaileena caught a pole and swung on it, launching herself onto a rooftop and landing in a crouch. "We will fight again WENCH" screamed Nadina. "The despair and anguish will reclaim your soul and then I will cut out your heart and feed it to ravenous wolves who will devour it only after they have torn it to shreds."
"Fabulous monologue" Kaileena muttered. There was a hiss and she ducked as her Scorpion sword swung through the air and imbedded itself in a pillar. She glanced in the direction it had come but all she saw was the movement of a curtain.
The Prince ducked the Dagger of Time and blocked the Scythe sword. He slowed time and delivered a furious strike combination. The man bled but the sands protected his body, just as they did the princes...anyone who was not turned to a Sand Creature by the sands became something else. It was a balance of the scales; they were given a chance to fight.
Darius was an incredible fighter. His grace and style matched the Prince's and he was a cut above the average warrior.
"You know - I respect you" Darius grunted through gritted teeth.
"I'm flattered," snarled the Prince as they locked blades again. He dodged a deadly downward hack and slashed across Darius' leg as he spun aside.
"Doesn't mean I won't kill you" Darius sneered.
The Prince felt the burning heat of the flames of Persia rising. He knew he had to hurry to the Academy. "I have no time for this!" he exclaimed as he blocked the slash of the blade and vaulted backwards off the building, bouncing on the tented roof of a stall below to crash backwards through a second story window on the building opposite. Darius watched for a moment.
"The man has style" he smirked.
Kaileena looked at the Prince as he walked over to her place on a rooftop overlooking the burning city. "I wondered where you had gotten to"
"I took a detour," he said. "Did you do something with your hair?"
"I stopped for a haircut of course," she snorted with a roll of her eyes. "And you? The scenic route, I presume. I expected better of you" she sighed and turned away. "I assume that is the naval academy" she said, pointing to the white building with the huge gates covering a bay full of ships...a black ship with red sails was in the bay. The sail had an insignia on it; a snake entwined around two scimitars.
"I don't recognize that one," murmured the Prince.
Kaileena shuddered and felt a vision of the future run towards her it struck in a jumble of things. "We must move!" she exclaimed.
"Too late" a voice sneered. They whirled around. A group of the shirtless turban wearing sand men leapt from a rooftop, then came troops in blue armour with white turbans and sashes brandishing sharp axes and swords. The speaker dropped from the roof.
His scimitar was exceptionally large and heavy looking, engraved with gold and the handle set with sapphires. He wore dark purple robes under a green over robe that had a white snake patterned on it. His purple turban was held with a large dark green gem and his dark face was lined with scars.
"Jafar!" exclaimed the Prince.
"The Prince!" smirked the man, stroking his thin black beard. "What a surprise...killing you will be a true pleasure!"
"You presume a great deal," Kaileena said.
"What a charming lady...perhaps I will keep you for my own private harem!"
"Now I want to kill him so much more" Kaileena spat as she raised her blade.
Jafar laughed. "The King wants you dead" he smiled.
"My father?"
"Alas no" Jafar sighed. "I'm afraid he is not long for this world...we've broken through his every defence - I did help from the other side of the gate of course...but that's a minor detail"
"You betrayed my father!" The Prince snarled. "I will kill you myself!"
"I trained you Prince...I can kill you!" Jafar snarled. Kaileena slowed time as Jafar spun. The Prince dodged as Kaileena leapt and kicked the man away. His soldiers advanced as time began again. Kaileena blocked a blade and slashed the owner clean in two. His sands rushed into her body.
How the sands her minions had been made of had escaped from the island she didn't know. But they had spread like wildfire...and it was her responsibility to stop them.
Jafar blocked the Prince's every attack and punched the Prince across the rooftop. He caught the boy by the throat, lifted him up and head butted him so hard the Prince's teeth rattled. "Neophyte of the blade now and forever" Jafar sneered. "You can't defeat me! I have been touched by the sands!" He thrust out his hand and a burst of golden sand threw the Prince off the building. He dug the water sword into the parapet and managed to swing back up.
"I am not a child anymore!" snapped the Prince.
"So say you!" Jafar charged again. He left taunting nicks and scratches on the Prince's arms while he blocked every attack. "You can't even land a hit on me!"
The Prince gave a growl of rage - and went into Frenzy. His rage had started his powers off, the powers - on their own, unbidden. He spun and slashed and hacked away...Jafar blocked a multitude of blows...then a slash caught him across the chest. He stumbled away as the Prince came from his frenzy.
"Foolish boy" he hissed. "You've angered me now..." he sprinted forwards and ducked a slash. "Now my King will deal with you" The blow struck the Prince across the back of the head and he collapsed, his blade held tightly.
Kaileena cried out...and everything went dark...
To Be Continued in the next Chapter: The Persian Naval Academy