Kiri: damn! I had some nasty writter's block again, but i'm now over it, thankfully.

Ravan: Yeah, and I'll bet the next update will be in about another two months...

Kiri: Shut up and get back in the story.

Ravan: Kiri also wishes to announce that this story might be taking a sharp turn soon. And I mean soon. ...I know she's gonna do something to me...

Kiri: (innocently) now, ravan, dear, what makes you think that?

Ravan: You already blinded me and made me like that sicko Erik! I can just immagine what's next!

Kiri: you are paranoid, deary. now, onwards with Chapter eighteen! And don't forget to reveiw!

Chapter Eighteen

That comment I made about Erik caring so much about me must've really rubbed him the wrong way. He was giving me the cold shoulder, not speaking, ignoring everything I say, the usual.

The loss of my sight wasn't entirely horrible, I soon discovered. Even though I couldn't see, my other senses were sharpening themselves very acutely. I knew Erik was just upset since I could hear his footsteps, and I could just faintly hear his breathing. That, and I could still smell the blood on his clothes.

I wasn't sure where we were or where we were headed, but I knew we were somewhere outside… and I also knew we were high up somewhere. Erik wouldn't tell me. Hesam was also gone.

Speaking of Hesam, I kept coming back to what he told me. He said that the waters did nothing but record the events in the timeline, and the Sands are used to manipulate those events. The Sands and the Waters are opposites… but one can't go on without the other… they both need each other to keep harmony in the timeline, but they are both adversaries. All this begs the question: if my body contains only the waters of ages and they have no powers of manipulation, then how am I able to control time flow?

Even before the Sands blinded me, I was learning from Hadi about slowing time, speeding it up, stopping it and so on, but how? The Waters record and nothing else, so therefore, I should be carrying part of the timeline within me, like Father Time told me, but I should have no control over it. The Sands do the controlling, so I must have some of the Sands in my body as well. But I don't. Curious… Very curious.

Another thing I can't figure out is why the heck we ended up here in Babylon during the first siege (which father never thought to tell me about, and I'm still rather angry about that). Then again, I wasn't sure about much of anything anymore. Ever since this whole mess started, I've looked everywhere for answers and found only more questions, and quite frankly, it was starting to frustrate me.

Then I thought about Erik. If it hadn't been for him, none of this would've ever happened. I would still be in my own time, probably making plans to rebuild Babylon like I should be. No, instead, I was here, wherever that was, blind as a bat, tainted by a supernatural substance, having to follow the bastard around like a lost puppy because I was too weak to defend myself.

But I couldn't bring myself to be mad at him. Even though he had caused all of this in the first place, he had stayed with me and protected me. He had saved my life a few times… Despite the taunting, despite the humiliation, despite everything he had done, I think I was starting to like him a little. But ONLY a little.

Unfortunately, while I dwelled on all this, I lost track of what was going on around me and when I came back to the real world, I had no idea where I was. I waved my arms around and searched for something that would, hopefully, tell me my position. When I couldn't find anything, I called for Erik.

"Erik? Where are you?" I called, but received no response. "Erik?" Still nothing. Great. Alone again. Now what the hell was I supposed to do? I couldn't go looking for him… Knowing my luck, I would wander right in the middle of a mob of sand monsters. No… I suppose the best thing to do in such a situation is to just stay there and hope someone (mainly Erik, or my mother or father) would find me.

I sighed and seated myself on the ground, wishing I could still see. I focused on listening to my surroundings, trying to place familiar sounds, and hopefully piece together my location in the city. I heard a curtain flapping in the breeze, a small fire burning up rubble, the far-off sounds of fighting… nothing really distinctive. A little disappointed, I bowed my head and dragged my finger along the cobblestone ground. I'd just have to wait until I heard familiar footsteps. If I heard enemies coming, I'd just get up and run for it. I can hear pretty well now. Surely I could heard bad guys coming and run away—run where?

It hit me like a kick in the ass. I had no idea where I was. For all I knew, I was on some kind of bridge, and if I ran in the wrong direction, I'd run right off the edge. Uh oh. Well… I guess I'll just have to hope someone on my side finds me first…even though there's only about a three in a hundred chance… and most of the guards were probably out looking for their escaped prisoners… and anyone that would or could help me could've been on the other side of the city… I am so screwed.

I sat there for what could've been hours, trying like mad to figure out what to do, every minute expecting Erik to come and chew me out for wandering away. I wished he would. I was starting to get a little nervous, sitting here all by my lonesome.

Suddenly, my ears perked up at the distant sound of footsteps. My heart skipped. Finally! Finally, someone was coming to get me! I was saved! I quickly stood up and listened hard. Yes, they were coming in my direction. I wondered who it was… Erik? Daddy? I didn't know, but I really didn't care. Someone had finally found me!

I would've leapt in the air with joy, but another thought came to mind and stopped me. What if it wasn't a friendly? What if it was a guard? I felt my heart sink. If a guard found me here… I was all but dead. They'd string me up and… My heart started bouncing around in my belly. The more I thought on it, the closer I knew they were coming, and the more certain I was that if they found me it wound mean bad news. But what could I do? I didn't know where I was! I only direction I now know was same was the direction in which the footsteps were coming, but I couldn't run there! What the hell was I going to do?

"Hey! You!" Panic took over immediately and my legs just started working on their own. I just ran. I had no idea where I was running to, but I just wanted to get away from whoever had just discovered me. "Stop!" I heard them start running after me.

Remember what I said about princesses and not having much endurance when it comes to running? Well, that still applies. I quickly got tired, although the adrenaline from my panic attack kept me going much longer than usual, and I had to slow down. I was out of breath and my muscles were screaming at me for rest. But if I stopped to rest, I would become sand monster meat. I urged myself faster, acutely aware of the heavy footsteps behind me drawing ever closer.

Maybe I would've gotten away if it hadn't been for my lack of vision. After running and running like I had been, the guard was still on my tail, and so far I had been luck enough to not run into of off of anything. The only problem was that my luck quickly ran out and I ran smack into a wall.

For a moment, I thought I saw stars, and I lay there dazed for a moment, momentarily forgetting about the impending danger I had just been running from. That one moment of disorientation, however, was all my pursuer needed to catch me. He grabbed my arms in his icy, steely grip and hauled me to my feet. My survival instincts took control again and I started kicking, screaming and clawing, desperately trying to get free. But whoever had me was much stronger and I was quickly overpowered and restrained.

"LET ME GO!" I screeched at the top of my lungs, "LET ME GO!"

"Shut up, you blind wench!" The voice was that of a sand monster. A guard, just like I'd feared. I was done for now. Any limb that I managed to free flailed wildly through the air for a few seconds before being restrained again.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" I continued to bellow as loud as I could, "LET GO OF ME!" But despite my best efforts, he was stronger than I was (surprise, surprise) and against a brute like him, I was as helpless as a baby.

"Leave her alone!" It all happened so suddenly that I couldn't register what was happening. I just know that I heard another voice then the sound of a chain whipping through the air and all of the sudden I was free. I was so shook up that all I could do was sink to the ground while my heart slowed down and my good sense regained control over my instincts. It was no surprise that my fisted hand shot out and connected with my savior's jaw when he tried to ask if I was all right.

"OW!" he yelped. I heard him stagger back. I buried my face in my hands, still shaky, but calm enough to speak.

"Sorry, but I can't see you," I explained.

"Ravan, it's me!" His voice was different; it sounded like that of a sand monster… but even though his voice had changed, I knew almost right away who he was.

"Prince?"

Kiri: Once again, don't forget to reveiw!!!