Author's Note: Ok, I got bored sitting around, doing nothing, so I decided to make one more chapter up just to kill some time. Hope you guys enjoy it, and I hope that this time my writing skills will how you say…marvel your senses, but I doubt that. Sighs Well then, enjoy and happy reading.

Chapter 10 – Pandemonium

Part 1

The prince awoke, only to realize once again that he was trapped, like a rat inside a cage. His head throbbed painfully from last night, or w it day? He didn't know, but he remembered vaguely about the broad man, the man named Zarul. Jamal was still snoozing and the prince had no intention of waking him up again. He was too confused, and somehow, he felt as if his life had just taken a turn for the worse.

Now he had more things to worry about, his burden of his throne, and the burden of saving himself and his kingdom from the abomination, the vizier and he didn't have the dagger of time with him. It could, or it was the only thing that could aid him. And now, where is it? It was in some godforsaken storage room for who knows what. He thought the dagger would disappear forever from that incident during with the dark prince. But no, it had not. It suddenly returned, materialised if the prince could put it in, and he kept the dagger safe inside his throne. He hadn't even needed it. Until the day the goddamned Dahaka came.

Farah. Her image swirled into his mind for a fleeting second and he felt as if he could feel her, right there, right now. But when he opened his eyes, she disappeared and all that was left was the image of a darkened cell and Jamal. He pushed himself up with his hands and felt some life return to him. And then there was a knock at the metal door. The prince froze while Jamal woke up. Jamal hurriedly wiped away his drool and checked once again if that his chin was still in place. Assured that it was alright, he waited for the door to open.

There was the sound of the key turning, the turn of the knob, and the creak of the door. Two hooded men with chains in their hands came into the cell. The prince felt a sudden panic and immediately stood on his feet, which felt wobbly. He was thrown to the ground by the two men, and the men quickly wrapped the chain around the prince's arms, with the difficulty from the struggle that the prince was producing. They did quick work with the prince and moved on to Jamal. Jamal wasn't that all reluctant to be tied up in chains and he put up a fight. He punched the man that was about to grab him and kicked the other that had dived in for him in the left.

He shouted something, but he lost his footing and the two men grabbed him, and one tied him up. They finished and ordered the prince and Jamal to walk out of the cell.

"Get out. Now," said the shorter man. He pushed the prince to the front. Anger rose inside the prince but he fought it back.

"Where are we going?" the prince asked, channelling his anger into thoughts of ripping the man apart. He didn't answer but just followed behind as the taller man led the way.

They passed through a number of tunnels, each tunnel with its very own distinct feature. One tunnel showed human heads, cut off, and stuck onto poles. Jamal shuddered as he came close to one of the heads. The tunnel, however, was not the dirt and dust covered tunnels the prince had imagined. Instead, marble floors covered their ground, walls were covered with dark tiles and torches were lit across the tunnels. The prince felt eerie walking through the tunnels. Jamal felt no less the same.

They stopped suddenly at a door, which was twice the size of the man, and each of them. The prince heard, chanting which was getting increasingly louder from the door. The two hooded men nodded to each other and pushed the doors opened. They pushed the prince and Jamal into the room and they both felt to the ground, under the restraint of the chains.

They lifted their heads to the cheers, jeers and roars around the room. The only thing was that they weren't in a room. They were in a coliseum. Jamal got up his feet and whistled at the view of the grand arena. The prince struggled with his chains, forcing his hands to break them. But he could not, and so he took a look around the coliseum.

"Amazing…how did they create such a place…" said Jamal awed.

"Well, if we just stand here, like idiots, we may not be able to find out how," the prince said as his eyes scouted the arena. Around there, were rows and rows of seats, which could have accommodated at least a thousand spectators. Each spectator was shouting, their voices reverberating around the cold air. In the very middle, a large balcony was built. And low and behold, was Zarul, who was sitting on a chair made out of stone. His minions stood behind him and one minion, a beautiful lady, fed him with fruits. He took them happily and he waved his hand and the woman retreated back into the shadows. Now, Zarul got up.

"Welcome, my followers!" he said in a booming voice. Everyone went silent including the prince and Jamal. "Tonight, shall be a night of entertainment! There you see, at the door, are our two entertainers tonight. They have been chosen as worthy enough, because they had killed 4 of our best guards. Namely our brothers, Armant, Grodul, Freyt, and Balim."

The crowd, gasped and after a minute a of whispers they crowd booed at the two men standing inside the ring. Zarul clapped his hand a few times and the crowd fell silent once again.

"But not to worry everyone, we made this special for both of them. And another surprise is that JAMAL is here with us!" He laughed and everyone brought their eyes upon Jamal. Even the prince did so, shocked.

"They know you…?" the prince muttered. He was too shocked to feel anything else. Jamal held his head down. He then turned to the prince with regretful eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think it would have been alright for you to know," Jamal said, his spirit broken.

"Jamal was once our best scavenger, picking out the best heist and killing upon Babylon." Zarul was speaking directly to the prince now. He had to shout, but he was audible. "Very valuable asset, sadly, he left us around…4 years ago. We've never seen him since and now, he has returned and we wish to give him a heart warming welcome."

He snapped his fingers and a few men turned a lever which started to open a door that was beneath the coliseum. The prince now felt enraged at Jamal.

"What were you thinking, joining them? They're cold-blooded killers dammit!"

"That's the reason I stopped. I didn't want to kill anymore innocent people! It sickens me, but it felt good to leave. It was not easy, trying to run from the all time conquering bandits in Babylon!" Jamal was heaving now, out of breath.

The prince suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Jamal. He then felt his hands being grabbed.

"What in.." and he felt the chain clinging on his hand drop. It was the two men that had gone to get them earlier. They released Jamal and gave them both weapons. One man took out a small dagger and the prince instantly recognized it. He stretched his hand to grab it and when he felt it in his fingers, safe and sound, he felt more confident. They gave Jamal the weapon he had previously used as well. They left and as they were closing the door behind Jamal and the prince, there muttered, "May God be with you," and the door closed.

Now only the prince and Jamal was left inside the ring. The waited for what was about to come out of the door from the ground.

"Look, it looks like we are in a terrible situation. We need to work this out first before we can find anything out," the prince said, gripping the dagger tighter. Jamal nodded and got into battle ready position.

A thundering roar filled the room and a large beast climbed out of the door.

Zarul grinned, clapped his hands and said, "Let the festivities begin."

-END-

Part 2 in the process!