Hello everyone, Kenway here. So last time we left off, the Persian army has defeated the Indians and on their way to Azad with their spoils of war. Let's see what happens. Again disclaimers I don't own KP or POP.

B: Speech

I: Thought

BI: Voice-Over

A magnificent royal procession of hundreds of men, horses and animals cross the white sands of the Persian desert as they proceed to their destination. As the princess rides ahead of the army to join her father and the vizier who were stationed atop a dune overlooking the troops as they march on. The soldiers and carts bearing treasures, animals and slaves trailed out in a long line through the steaming dunes, marching slowly but steadily.

Trust not a man who has betrayed his master, nor take him into your own service…lest he betrays you too.

When the slaves passed by, Kimi's gaze was drawn to one of them, a young blond-hair man. He did not duck his head in defeat, but held it up high and as their eyes met; Kimi could see the defiance and determination burned in his brown eyes before the soldier pushed him on.

Kimi frowned but doesn't think much of it as they reach the palace of Azad

I learned the truth of this, to my sorrow, the day that we arrived in Azad as the Sultan's honored guests

1st person POV

As we entered inside the palace, we made our way into the royal hall to meet with the Sultan waiting to receive us. It was more beautiful than I could imagined, the hall was adorned with polished marble columns with brilliantly colored mosaics and precious jewels covering the walls and ceiling and in the center was a golden throne occupied by the Sultan.

"Welcome my friend! Your visit brings joy and honor to my poor and humble dwelling. If only you had given me time to prepare a proper welcome!"

The short round man greeted us with cheer and he embraced my father like a brother.

"The glories of Azad are famed throughout the world,"

My father responded gratefully to his friend as he led the Sultan toward the spoils of war as gifts

"I hope that in your palace there may still be room for a few paltry gifts from India."

With a flick of his hand, a dozen of the finest slave girls we had captured stepped forward and bowed before their new master. The Sultan's eyes glittered with childlike anticipation as my father led him to the cages. The Sultan was startled as the tigers threw themselves against the strong iron bars with ferocious roars while the monkeys and exotic birds chirped and chattered in their cages.

"Such magnificent specimens" He murmured as he inspects a brilliantly-colored peacock. "And so many fine gifts, I am quite speechless."

I noticed the pleased look in my father's eyes as he ushered the Sultan toward the crown jewel of our conquest guarded by two soldiers

"Ah, the best is yet to come! I give you…The Sands of Time!

With a snap of his finger, the soldiers pulled off the large cloth to reveal the Hourglass for all to see.

"May the friendship between our kingdoms endure as long as Time itself!" My father proclaimed triumphantly.

The sultan approaches the Hourglass awestruck by the glowing sands swirling inside the extravagant relic as he places his hand onto the glass for a better look.

"The Sands…why does it glows?" The sultan murmurs

My father visibly searched for an answer and could not find one, but the vizier took the opportunity to step forward

"Your Excellence, if I may" He bowed slightly as the sultan turned his head slightly to face him and continued.

"Inside the Hourglass is a marvel that no living man has seen. Alas only the Dagger has the power to unlock the Sands of Time and it belongs to a greater one than I: a young princess dearer to her father that all the wealth of India." The vizier turned to me and held out an inviting hand "Perhaps she would oblige?"

I glanced around at the expectant looks all around the room. Even the guards and slaves girls seemed eager to see the wonders the Hourglass contains. So I headed toward the hourglass and just as I was within reach, I drew out the Dagger and there in the middle of the hourglass was a slot meant for the Dagger. As I inserted the dagger into it, there was a commotion behind me as one of the slaves ran as he struggled with the guards holding him back

"No, stop…NOOO" He cried in agony as he tried to make his way towards me as I turn my head, but it was already too late.

Time seem to stop as a blinding stream of light fell from the heavens and cascaded the Hourglass and suddenly a fog of sands begin to spill out in the room. I pulled out the Dagger to prevent more sand from spilling but the damage was already done.

"Is it supposed to do that?" The sultan fearfully said as he and the entourage began to back away

But then the vizier raised his staff up and began to speak imperious word of command in a foreign tongue and suddenly it became a maelstrom as the sand swirls inside the throne room. I watched as my father and his men pulled out their weapons to fight the sands back but to no avail

"FATHER!" I cried but to my horror watched as the sands consumed them, sucking the water in their bodies and transforming them into sand.

Pandemonium reigned throughout the room as the sands began to consume many of the occupants in the room. The sands then enter into their bodies like parasites but the horror was yet to come as their bodies began to transform. Their skins took on a greyish cast of corpses and their eyes glowed with an unnatural golden light. Their terrified screams became bestial roars as great tremors shook the foundation of the palace sending down a rain of dust and falling stones.

As I watch the nightmare I've unleashed consumed and morphed everyone into an abomination, I wondered why I did not share the same fate. It was then I realized the Dagger was protecting me but I saw the vizier stalk towards me like a predator and sneered

"Give me the Dagger" he commanded over the rumblings and garbled cries

"No" I replied as I kept the Dagger close to me as I began to back away with a chill in my heart. This man knew what would have happened if I opened the Hourglass.

"You've unleashed the Sands of Time. I can undo what you have done. Give it to me!" He demanded as the ceiling began to crumble and collapse. So I turned and threw myself headlong through the archway as it blocked the passage, leaving the deceitful vizier behind.

Third POV

Kimi found herself inside a magnificent hall off the side of the throne room, lined with fluted pillars holding up ornate balconies. A mosaic worked with gold and sapphire led down the length of the hall to a delicate ivory fountain which tinkled and flashed before a massive glass window. But she had no time to admire such beauty as the sands continue to spread like a plague consuming and twisting its victims into monstrosities while some of the survivors begin to run away hoping they would be spared. Kimi was astonished to see the young man they captured still alive running from the sand creatures.

"How could he be still alive?" She thought

As he was running through a small doorway to the side, he slammed a metal gatebehind him. The sand creatures howled in rage as he escaped their grasp, then turned their rancor toward the princess. Kimi pulled out her sword as the creatures began their assault, they once had been servants and royal guests but now they are monsters bent of killing.

Kimi was fighting for her life, using all the skills she learned to parry the creatures' attacks with her sword, dodging, twisting and dancing around while taking them down. But she realized that every time she killed one, the sands would begin to heal the wounds and reanimate the creature back to life.

"Is there no way to kill them?" Kimi thought as she struck down another creature. Then she hears someone calling them.

"Use the dagger, kill it with the dagger!" The young man who escaped yells out to her.

So Kimi pulls out the dagger and stabs the lifeless corpse she killed earlier and pressed on the switch. The creature howled in pain as its body disintegrates into sand and was absorbed into the dagger's hilt. Kimi had no time to marvel at this as another one converges from behind. Kimi twisted around the creature and thrust the dagger into his back and just as before used the dagger to destroy it.

After killing the other creatures in the same manner, Kimi sigh in relief and sheathe her sword and to the door where the slave had escaped and to her surprise he was still there with wide eyes. Just as Kimi stepped toward him, another tremor shook the palace and he fled with his arms over his head as enormous blocks fell from the ceiling, blocking the gate.

Kimi then heard a rushing sound and immediately pulled out her sword to defend herself until she saw the fog of sand swirled up on the platform near the window into a small tornado and begin to glow. She then notices the dagger glow as well as if it was telling her to go forward.

As she'd step into the tornado, the sands began to swirl around her and a thousand spectral images flashed before her eyes as she sees herself running through the halls of the palace, fighting through more of the sand creatures that are neither alive nor dead, chasing after an elusive prize that seem out of reach. Then Kimi passed out.

The Hourglass has been opened and all hell has been unleashed, how Kimi will fix this and what she will do with the images she saw and who was the young man. Please Read and Review. Constructive Criticism is welcome.