Author's Note: Haha! The exam is finally over and I can breathe a little easier now. Come to think of it, this chapter or POP totally slipped my mind. Well then, the chapter is out and here comes the entertainment! Enjoy! Review please!

Chapter 8-Captured by Bandits

The Prince and Jamal walked across the blazing desert, the sun scorching them from above. Their clothes were wet with sweat and their thirst for water was building. Jamal shook the thought off, he wasn't thirsty, and he just wanted something to cool him down. That had to wait until they reached the so-called labyrinth that holds the hiding place of the bandits of Zarul. The Prince had never heard of them, not even once, not from his father, and certainly not from his fairy tales. He had to find out if they really existed.

Jamal struggled with his bag pack; its weight seemed to grow heavier with each plunging step into the burning sand. The Prince took a glance upwards. He saw a long stretch of blue sky, a few clouds, but they were no birds before he tore his face away from the blinding light of the sun. Jamal and the prince were drenched in their own sweat now. The heat was getting to a level which was barely bearable. Jamal finally broke the silence between them.

"Where in the world is this stupid labyrinth?" he said, feeling annoyed by the sand, the heat, and the sun. The Prince shrugged. He had no idea where the labyrinth was and how they were going to find it at all.

"We will just have to see whether the words spoken by those two back there," he pointed towards the direction they had left the oasis, "and hope for the best."

"Hope is something I do not have right now," growled Jamal, lifting up his bag pack another time. The Prince laughed it off and they both continued on their trudged across the desert sands.

After walking a few more hours, their water bottles finally empty, they felt the sun going down and the temperature falling. Jamal muttered something under his breath which the prince couldn't catch, but it sounded somewhat satisfied. The sun soon was gone, only to be replaced by a beautiful full moon. This time, the temperature went from blazing heat, to freezing. The Prince and Jamal quickly covered themselves with a few more clothing, hoping to keep their bodies nice and warm. The Prince wanted to sit in front of a warming bonfire more than anything now.

Suddenly, Jamal stopped dead in his tracks, which surprised the Prince very much; his eyes were locked onto something in the distance. The Prince was surprised but nonetheless, he stared straight to where Jamal was staring. At first he needed to focus his eyes so that he could see much more clearly in the night. And then he saw it. Out into the distance, four distinct figures were moving at a fast speed. The prince saw that they were riding on horses. Jamal had his face turned towards him as the prince recoiled from the image.

"You see what I see?" asked Jamal. He placed his bag pack down, took out a dagger and got into battle ready position mode. The prince did the same, but his dagger was different. This time the dagger spoke to him once more, in a more panicked and fearful voice.

"Prince, you must not let your guard down, these men are dangerous!" shouted the dagger. The voice inside the prince's head resonated with fear. The prince stared at his dagger in amazement, realizing that is was the first that he ever heard the dagger panic. "Bandits of Zarul are not to be toyed with my prince, they are elites, and you should run now! Who knows what will happen?"

The prince kept his calm. Clenching the dagger tightly, he told it not to worry. He took another glance up towards the rampaging riders. Each and everyone one of them had covered their faces with strange masks, masks the prince couldn't understand and recognize. Jamal had his teeth clenched and blade ready.

"They must the bandits of Zarul," said the prince, not taking his eyes of the oncoming riders. Jamal nodded.

"Let's do it," he replied and both he and the prince sprinted towards the bandits. The bandits noticed them and each of them unsheathed their hidden swords, which the prince noticed was somewhere behind their cloaks. Jamal noticed that each of the rider's swords bore a different shape.

They were meters away now, the prince could feel his adrenaline pumping and with a sudden burst of speed, he launched himself up onto one of the rider's horse, causing the horse to neigh in fear and surprise. The prince fastened himself onto the back of the saddle and was now at war with the rider. The rider tried to elbow the prince in the ribs but missed by inches. The prince somersaulted over the rider and landed in the front of the rider's saddle and countered back with a blow into the rider's chin. The rider spluttered blood out of his mouth and went toppling down off his saddle and onto the desert sand. The prince jumped off the galloping horse and went to confront the man that was sprawled on the sand surface.

On the other side, Jamal was struggling furiously with his opponent that was already off his saddle. Jamal had thrown a rock straight at the rider's head and the rider fell of too. Now, they circled each other cautiously, trying to find any sudden movement to counter them. His opponent acted first, lunging straight at him like a bloodthirsty hound, with his sword swinging around the air madly. Jamal gripped his dagger tightly and waited for the precise moment. He found it. Crouching down, he missed the sword by a few inches, but because of that he was able to knock his opponent's sword out of the way. The opponent's hand flew upward and his sword went flying back. His opponent took a glance back behind him in horror as he watched his sword falling far from him. He turned his head back once more, but it was too late. Jamal's fist made contact with the man's nose, clearly breaking it. Blood splattered on Jamal's knuckles and the man went unconscious. Three more to go, thought Jamal.

He turned his body around and saw the prince fighting with three other bandits. The prince twisted and turned his body as three hurtling blades flew straight at him from every direction. Jamal ran up to him, wanting to give help. The prince saw a glance of Jamal running up to him and with his keen reflexes and instinct; he spun and blocked two swords at once with his dagger. The dagger of time saved him from another dangerous situation once again. Problem is, he'd forgotten to block the third bandit. He braced himself for the pain that was about to come for his side where the third bandit was going to slice him up. He didn't feel any pain.

The third bandit was being held back by Jamal. The prince felt a sudden rush of power and threw the swords he was holding onto back. Both bandits staggered behind a few steps. The prince punched the sword of the bandit that was on his left and sliced his body so fast that the other bandit on his right didn't see the leg that came into contact with his face. The prince heard the sound of crunching bone and stood there as he watched the two men fall. He heard a shout from behind and noticed that Jamal was being overpowered by the bandit he was dealing with. It was understandable though, the bandit was bigger than Jamal. The prince took a sword from the bandit that he knocked out, took aim, and flung it towards the bandit Jamal was dealing with.

Perfect hit. The blade went through the bandit's head and Jamal kicked him away as it happened. Jamal, realizing that all the bandits were dealt and finished with, couldn't help but smile at the prince. The prince smiled back.

"Well, that was a tough one," said Jamal, keeping his dagger back into place. "That last one there almost severed my head."

"At least I severed his for you," replied the prince who also kept the dagger of time back. Jamal laughed. He then wiped the blood off his dagger, hands and even his face with a small cloth he brought along. The prince remained cautious, scanning for any signs of anymore enemies. Silence.

"What are you doing there? Get your self cleaned up," said Jamal, after noticing the prince's silence. "I taught they'd be more trouble than this." Jamal pointed towards one dead, and three unconscious bandits who were all lying around them.

"Yes, it seems strange though," the prince said, scanning his surroundings again. He found nothing eventually and gave up on it.

"Yes, it does, but do you see anymore enemie-ARGGHH!" Jamal dropped to his knees, clutching his neck in pain. Blood trickled down and the prince hurried next to Jamal. The prince had the look of panic on his face, he turned, spun around but couldn't see any signs of an enemy. Jamal pulled out a dart-like needle off his neck and thrust it onto the ground.

"What in the world…," Jamal suddenly looked dizzy and he dropped unconscious in the next. The prince tried to shake Jamal up.

"Jamal! Wake up, you have to-ARGHH!" The prince felt a searing pain surged across his neck and he dropped to his knees. He tore the dart-like needle off his skin and felt the tears fill his eyes. He suddenly felt dizzy, as if a hammer had just hit his head and as he felt his body got numb and his brain shutting down, he saw a silhouette of a man in black clothing.

To be continued…

Author's note: Phew! That was a tough fight scene to write! Hope you guys like it!