CHAPTER ONE

The early morning sun rose up in the distance as a single boat could be seen moving in the direction of the city of Babylon.

To many, just the sight of seeing such a place alive and bustling with life was a thing of beauty.

But that was not on the Prince's list of priorities at the moment as he walked up from the cargo hold below, lost in thought and dressed in his royal armor as he took in the natural sea air.

'No matter how many times I attempt to force it aside, that vision I had on the night we left the island continues to haunt my every-waking moment,' the Prince said quietly to himself. 'I manage to challenge and escape death countless times, only to find myself back exactly where I started! How am I to truly find inner peace, to keep Kaileena and my loved ones safe, when an enemy I don't even know yet is ready to take everything from me that I hold dear at a moment's notice?'

He punched his right fist on a side of the boat in frustration, before placing his left hand near the armor section which housed the Amulet he'd had since the Azad incident that never happened.

He remembered Farah, how she had died for a mistake he'd made in good conscious and the now long-dead Vizier who had profited off their misfortunes in a timeline he ensured to undo after her misguided sacrifice. No-one but him even remembered the events of Azad after plunging the dagger into the hourglass, not even her and the love they'd secretly harbored for each other.

He then remembered the years of pointless and unfulfilling wars, running from the Dahaka and the previous few weeks spent on the island, intending to escape the fate so cruelly forced upon him after many sacrifices made along the way for the sake of his own self-preservation.

The Prince contemplated why he was even still fretting over all of this. He'd managed to prove Kaileena's visions wrong once already by choosing to not kill her as he had previously intended to do, when bringing her into the present along with him and effectively make it so the Sands of Time would cease to exist.

But something inside him, perhaps a feeling of admiration in a conflicted soul so similar to his own, caused him to have second thoughts and instead chose to fight destiny head-on, slaying the monster which had caused him so much grief and torment for so long. And Kaileena had been by his side throughout that gruelling battle, both watching in fear as the beast disintegrated before their eyes after falling into the water below the combat arena.

So if they could finish off a titan like the Dahaka together, they'd deal with whatever came their way next at the hands of this shadowy figure in the same fashion. The Prince was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the distinct voice of Kaileena coming up to join him on deck, dressed in her usual red robes as she wrapped her arms around his chest.

'What troubles you, my Prince?' she said. 'Is it that vision again?'

'I'm afraid so,' he replied. 'I just can't shake the feeling that we're being pulled into some kind of trap. That this unknown enemy is plotting methods in taking over my kingdom as we speak and planning to harm anyone close to me, all for the sake of getting back what he claims as his own.'

'And as I've said to you before, you'll know what to do when the time comes,' Kaileena said. 'You are a brave and formidable warrior, Prince. Do not allow your doubts and fears to take hold of you. Believe me, that's a lesson I took too long to learn myself.'

'Thank you Kaileena.' the Prince said. 'As always, your counsel provides me great relief in these uncertain times.'

'A pleasure.' Kaileena said as she kissed him on the cheek and moved towards the sails.

For a moment, the Prince settled himself as he braved a quick smile, preparing to see his home in all its glory after all the trials and tribulations of the past several years. To his utter horror, what he saw next was not a bustling cityscape but instead his city in flames, as was so ominously prophesied in the vision he'd hoped to never come to pass.

'No!' the Prince said in a reserved panic as Kaileena made a gasped shock in kind.

'This cannot be!' the Prince said loudly. 'Babylon's defences are unequalled across the world. No enemy should be able to take control of it so easily.'

'Perhaps we'll find out more once we reach...' Kaileena cut herself off as she saw incoming fire arrows targeting them. Doing the best she could to redirect the ship's sails in a direction far from their attackers, their luck run out when a spiked cannonball was shot at them and in a split second, the ship they'd traversed many miles on was destroyed.

The Prince recovered quickly on a piece of floating wood, looking desperately for Kaileena. Fearing the worst, he saw her body laying on a bigger portion of wood.

Refusing to lose another person he'd grown to appreciate in his life, the Prince took a chance and swam as hard as he could, fighting against the strong water currents as his entire body cried out in objectionable strain to rest. But he refused to give up, continuing to fight the elements and his own fatigue, just to get to Kaileena.

And once he managed to reach her and climb onto the large ship chunk of which her unconscious body laid, he checked her pulse, relieved to discover she was still breathing. But before he could comprehend the full gravitas of the situation, fatigue completely won out and he collapsed in exhaustion near Kaileena, the last thing he saw being his kingdom... in flames.