Author's Note: The end is near, and so it is the story.

Chapter 10

Pandemonium-Part 2

The coliseum shook with the terrifying quake of menace as each of the footsteps of the unleashed beast thundered across the hard walls of the coliseum. The prince took in a deep breath and eyed the strange and unique creature that stood 20 feet above him, gazing down upon them while baring its yellow teeth. It looked hungry and Jamal was disgusted.

Fur covered most parts of the beast's body, except for arms. Both of the beast's arms were covered in scales which contrasted with its furry body. Muscles protruded from every part, making the beast look even more intimidating. Its face was shaped in a wolf like resemblance and its large red eyes, as big as the prince's fist, glared at the two men in tattered clothes. Its tail swung back and forth in a pendulum like motion.

There was silence in the coliseum, nothing so much moved except the wind that blew from the opening above, bringing in the pleasant presence of wind. The sand beneath the prince's feet blew into the air and instantaneously, the horns of war erupted from Zarul's seating Hall.

Following the beat of the horns, the beast lifted its head and gave a thundering howl which erupted from its vocal cords into the damp and dust filled air. The prince instinct took place and he immediately jumped to his left, barely avoid and blow from one of the beast's muscle bulked legs. Jamal rushed towards the prince aide, helping the prince up.

"It seems that luck is not on our side once again," muttered Jamal, picking the prince up by his shoulders. The prince nodded and pointed out at the now furious beast.

"Get ready, it comes once more!" the prince roared, pushing Jamal to the side. Rushing to the beast's left side, the prince ducked to avoid its tail that swung over him. Cursing, he took the chance to slice the tail with his dagger. Twisting his body in a spiral movement, he swung his hair to the beast's tail that was parallel to him and sliced tail. Blood splattered his clothes and an agonizing howl filled the coliseum. Afraid to lose his momentum, the prince landed on his feet rather haphazardly but he regain balanced and rolled under the beast through its legs.

Jamal ran towards a wall and in that instant, jumped and kicked it and he went flying into the air, hurtling himself towards the roaring monster. Jamal took out his weapon in mid air, ready to cling onto a part of the beast. The beast ears twitched and it turned and hit Jamal with its right arm. Jamal sputtered out a bit of blood from his mouth and as he was still in mid air, he was thrown straight into the wall with sickening force.

The crowd cheered at the sight. The prince was shocked to see what had happened and he ran to Jamal. All was in vain for the beast jumped over him, landing between Jamal and the prince. It turned its wolf like head towards the prince and lunged at him with its mouth wide opened. The beast was now on it arms and legs, lunging at the prince. The prince side-stepped the attack and plunged his bloody dagger into the cheek of the beast, missing its right eye by inches. Another sickening roar, followed by boos from the crowds in the coliseum seat filled the air once again.

Hoping to extract the dagger from the wound that he had created on the cheek of the beast, he pulled with tremendous effort, heaving breathlessly as the blade of the dagger did not budge. Sweat had made his clothes wet and fatigue was slowly starting to envelope him. The beast however, did not seem to falter and with one swing of its head, it threw the prince into the air. It caught him with its scaly fingers and brought the prince to his face.

The prince tried to pry his way out but to no avail, the beast's grip was too overwhelming. Bringing his dark and brown eyes upon the beast's own, he glared at it with unrelenting hatred, boring deep into the depths of the beast's own eyes.

He suddenly caught a glimpse of a man running toward them from behind the towering creature that held the prince in its firm grip. The beast suddenly tightened upon his grip and the prince felt the air in his lungs abandon him. His eye lingered upon the figure of Jamal which was by now was running up a wall. Hurry Jamal!

Jamal pushed his legs, muscles straining from the jump and hurled himself at the now oblivious beast. Jamal grabbed the fur on the back of the towering beast and held onto it with all his might, determined not to fall. He held his sword in between his jaw, climbing the body of the beast slowly. The beast had by now noticed him and was busy trying to grab him from the back with its other arm but Jamal was out of arms reach.

As Jamal neared the beast's neck, he took out his sword and stabbed the beast in the neck, hoping to damage its spinal cord in the process. The beast roared again, throwing Jamal of its back and letting go of the prince. The dagger which was still intact with the beast's cheek stood motionless in its position.

The prince dropped to the ground with the swiftness of a cat and ran to Jamal's side. The beast was busy howling in anger to notice them and the crowds were soon getting restless. Jamal lay motionless on the dust covered ground, groaning in pain. The prince kneeled down before him and inspected his wounds. Blood trickled from Jamal's head and there were small cuts from his forearms.

"Jamal, get up now!" said the prince, shaking Jamal. Jamal groaned even more loudly and surprisingly, bolted up on his feet. Brushing off the dust from his tunic, he took a glance at the now pained beast.

"Well, seems like we may have found our trump card," said Jamal, extracting another dagger from his waist belt. The prince nodded and they both rushed toward the beast, their pace swift and untarnished by their fatigue.

The prince noticed the swinging tail of the beast that was now in the air and with one tremendous effort from his legs; he jumped from the ground and onto the tail. He held on as the beast swung its tail even more fiercely than before, causing the prince's stomach to turned in many various ways.

Jamal ran to the front, distracting the beast with a flurry of blows from his sword to its legs. The prince maintained his grip and he soon pulled his way up to the beast's neck. Jamal was busily distracting the beast and now the prince grabbed the long and furry ears of the beast with his arms. The dagger was but a few feet away from his. Taking a long breath, the prince jumped over the ear and met with the dagger which was on the beast's cheek. He clung onto the snout and the beast, being more infuriated that it already has, threw itself up into the air, startling the prince and Jamal.

It was a good high distance from the ground and when the force of gravity reacted, the prince felt the inside of his body being hurled up towards his throat. He gasped fro air and suddenly, he felt the cool material of the dagger brush against his fingertips. He grabbed it immediately, wrenching the dagger out from the flesh. Blood gushed out and the beast roared in agony, losing balance and toppled to the ground with a sickening crash, dust billowing everywhere and with the sounds of crunching bone.

In the midst of the struggle, the prince stood up, the Dagger of Time in his palm and a triumphant feeling of slaying the now motionless beast. From the prince's point of view, the beast had died of several broken ribs and from plummeting into the ground from that incredulous height would only cause death.

The ground was cracked and deepened and the prince stepped of the now dead body of the slain beast. He turned his sight n order to find Jamal, heaving as his strength left him tired and weak.

Jamal was being held as a hostage to 3 men, who placed their swords upon Jamal's neck. Anger and frustration welled up in the prince as he started to move towards the 3 men, dagger in hand. One of the men pushed the sword a little deeper and Jamal winced in pain. A small trickle of blood ran down from his neck to his torso and with that, the prince gave up the idea of slaughtering the 3 men in order to save Jamal.

"Good, now you two," one of them, possibly an officer with higher authority, gestured at the two other men. "Tie him up and knock these two out. Zarul has more to do with these scums."

The prince felt something hard crash against his skull from the behind and he felt to the ground, unconscious.