Prince of Persia: Dark Destiny
Chapter 4: The Naval Docks and Open Sea
The briny water doused Farah, The Prince, Kaileena and Darius in turn. They surfaced, gasping and disorientated. Nadina's shrieks of rage were now distant echoes but the chilling power she possessed still echoed in their chests. She was too powerful, the despair was overpowering…
"There is my ship" Darius exclaimed as he pointed to the large vessel with the red sails. "It's the fastest on the seas! It won't fail us!"
"I hope you're right" Kaileena muttered as she swam towards a nearby platform. "We can't let ourselves be caught – otherwise Azarael and his monstrosities will be free. Our powers are all that stands in the way of his plan for world domination or destruction". She squeezed water out of her clothes. "I hope they aren't sand" she added.
"No, my boat is made of sacred wood and carved with protective symbols, Azarael was unable to touch it himself for some reason" Darius gave a self satisfied smirk. "I think it's pretty well handled, don't you?"
"We have to hurry" Farah whispered as the Prince lifted her into his arms. "I can sense them coming". Needing no more they ran towards the boat.
Black clad pirates leapt from the boats with cries for battle. "How delightful" Darius muttered as he drew his blade. He pivoted and flipped, performing a slash as he did he gutted a Pirate and then decapitated it. In that same move he removed the head of another and kicked a third pirate into the water.
Kaileena swung her blades elegantly, dancing around the four pirates, she stabbed out in opposite directions through the chests of two then swung them into each other, she twirled and scissored her blades to remove both heads. She somersaulted over the nearest man and stabbed a blade through his back, swinging him into his friend and running them both through in one swift move. "Here endeth the lesson" she hissed.
They thundered along the planks, Farah was barely conscious in the Prince's arms but they pressed on dealing with the occasional pirate by knocking him into the water.
Darius' ship stood stoically amongst the royal naval vessels. They leapt onto it… a sand pirate leapt at them – then seemed to hit a barrier and dispersed.
"Protected" Darius smiled. "Told you so"
"Yes, congratulations…it's time we left" Kaileena said. "Prince, where should we go?"
"Far out to see, hopefully we will not be followed" The Prince said. "But I believe that Azarael will follow us to the ends of the earth to be rid of us". He shuddered at the thought of the monster that was connected to him.
"Captain?"
Darius glanced over his shoulder at a man standing with a sword at the ready. "Yes it's me Kasham – these are friends of mine and we need to get out of here, quickly!"
"But captain" Kasham said as he scratched his beard. "They've blocked us in, the gates have been sealed by the – the – monsters". He pointed across the bay. Sure enough the huge wooden gates flanked by equally high walls were sealed shut. "None of us dare leave the boat sir, too dangerous"
He suddenly noticed Kaileena…or more particularly Kaileena's cleavage.
"Hello Miss" he murmured. "Welcome aboard"
Kaileena looked at him with a disgusted look reserved for perverts. Then turned away to address her comrades. "We must open the gates"
"Yes, yes of course we must" nodded the Prince as Darius led him to a cabin where Farah could sleep. "The gates are controlled by two levers in the towers they are linked to. We must pull them at the same time in order to open the gates"
"Then Darius must set sail, you and I will open the gates" Kaileena said.
The Prince stifled a comment about her not being in her kingdom and as such not being the Empress but he knew better then to reveal that fact about her. People had branded the Empress evil so it as best not to see if that had changed.
"All right" he said as he brushed a lock of hair off Farah's face.
Darius immediately gave orders to Kasham who scurried off, soon the boat was covered with human pirates hurrying to see to the running of the ship.
"Be quick, I'll start sailing, as soon as I can – you'll need to hurry to catch us" Darius warned. "Self preservation is my mantra"
"A good one to live by I suppose" The Prince nodded. "Very well, we'll make haste". He and Kaileena vaulted onto the docks and broke into a run. Kaileena checked the swords she held – with a satisfied nod she looked to the Prince who touched his amulet.
"Afraid?" she asked.
"For Farah" and that hurt Kaileena for some reason.
"Don't worry you can get back to carrying her as soon as we're done" she sighed. Kaileena then set her jaw in determination and continued to run. The Prince frowned, unsure of why she'd suddenly become more closed off then before.
They split at a fork in the docks. Kaileena raced to the gate dower. Two pirates stood in her way, she slowed time, slashed swiftly then kicked one into a wall where he dispersed, the snads gathered into her necklace as she cartwheeled over the other, grabbed him by the neck and twisted so it snapped.
Kaileena stepped on a button to open the door to the tower and strode in. More pirates flitted about, blocking the stairs. Kaileena looked up, a broken scaffold… she laughed and grabbed a horizontal pole, she flipped up the scaffolding, kicking off walls, spinning and vaulting until she landed on a top platform. A sand creature rushed her. She dodged aside, the blade nicked her side painfully but she subdued her pain and performed a spinning kick that knocked it into the vertical pole stretching up the centre of the tower – it stayed flattened against that for a moment before sliding back down.
"What pathetic creatures" she muttered. A Naval Sand Creature and a Pirate hurried up the steps, Kaileena leapt and grabbed the switch, pulling it down and then swinging, she kicked the two zombie creatures down the steps sending their cohorts to land in a pile at the foot of the steps or fall to their deaths. "I pray you have done your part prince" Kaileena whispered as she leapt out onto a balcony.
The Prince had dispatched the villains he encountered easily. He snatched a blade from one, decapiutated it with its own weapon and then hurled it into the head of a Naval Cadet. He raced up the steps. "I have to hurry" he breathed. "For Farah's sake!" with renewed determination he ascended the tower.
Suddenly a monster lurched from the shadows and shoved him off the steps. The Prince focused, the amulet glowed and…
Suddenly a monster lurched from the shadows; the Prince decapitated it swiftly and collected its sands. He bounded up the steps and leapt onto the central pillar, he climbed it with gritted teeth and then kicked off to grab the switch. There was a groan of gears and cogs as they creaked into action. "Yes!" The Prince laughed as he climbed out through a small doorway onto the balcony.
His face fell, Darius was sailing towards them. He looked around – the flash of crimson caught his eye. "KAILEENA!" he shouted.
"PRINCE! I AM GLAD YOU COULD MAKE IT" she laughed. And with that she leapt off the balcony. Her hands caught a pole jutting from the crows nest, she dropped onto the horizontal bars from the mast and slithered down the trunk.
The Prince followed suit. He landed on the crows nest however…from there he could see everything…including the black ship coming from the underground docks built into the cliff face…his fathers private vessel, it was fast and well armed.
"AZARAEL" The Prince shouted. "HE'S IN A ROYAL VESSEL"
Darius snapped some orders and activity was instantaneous, pirates hurled themselves into work with renewed zeal and determination, they wouldn't risk sinking or capture again – their answer was to escape and they'd not go down without a fight.
The boat sliced through the waters like a knife with Darius at the wheel. The Prince slid down the ladder and landed in a crouch. "I can sense many sand creatures on that vessel" Kaileena whispered. "My powers have diminished slightly but I can know that much! Azarael is on board along with Nadina… I have a plan but I need time."
"We can stay ahead of them, don't worry" the Prince said.
"I hope you are right" murmured The Empress.
Jafar roared orders at the men. Failure was not an option, if he failed he would be turned into sand or his consciousness would be taken and he'd become a mindless thing like those he commanded.
This pumped more energy into his shouts. The boat ahead was faster but it was against the wind while Nadina's sorcery filled the sails of the vessel they had chosen. He laughed. "Archers! To your positions! Load the grapples! Prepare to board once we're alongside!"
He touched his blade with anticipation, running his fingers along the blade, sand flecked his blood but the wounds soon healed…
Kaileena sat in the Lotus Position with her mind focused on the book she had once read. Murmuring the spells quickly under her breath – earning odd glances from the sailors – she let the sands gather and trickle from her fingertips, they wound around the spike that pointed the ship into a weapon like shape. The mermaid underneath that ramming point glowed…
The sands whirled around the boat, spreading out in a golden cloud that didn't touch the ship but formed a heavy wind. Kaileena opened her eyes. The waters were churned, flecked gold and glowing, by the spell cast sands. "By Rustam!" exclaimed Darius.
The Prince looked at Kaileena as the storm struck down on the ship behind them. The waves grew stormy. "Hang on!" Darius roared.
Kaileena rose as they sped through the waters, she hurried to the wheel to speak with the others, they had left Babylon far behind now but Jafar's ship was still just visible nearby…then it was gone.
"You can vanquish the storm now" shouted Prince.
Kaileena raised her hands and cast the ending spell…the water gave a violent jolt. Kaileena shrieked as she fell off the side into the still churning sea.
"Kaileena!" shouted The Prince. He rushed to dive in after her…Darius grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him back.
"Are you mad? That water will drown you!"
"I have to save her!" The Prince exclaimed. But Kaileena's form had vanished under the waves…
Kaileena opened her eyes…golden sands lay before her, she pushed her dried-sand matted hair off her face and discarded the seaweed strand she found. "Where am I?" she looked around.
A vast jungle and the sound of thundering water greeted her senses with the smell of fragrant flowers and taste of saltwater on her lips.
Kaileena checked for her blades but they were gone…she advanced on the jungle and plunged into the foliage.
To Be continued: The Island of Waters