Authors Notes: Wow! I should complain no-one is reading more often! I got an amazing response to the last chapter and I want to thank each of you! I think I've gotten my muse back, so as long as I don't get weighed down by school, I should have a new chapter every 2 weeks or so.
Responses:
Starfish - Thank you so much for your review on the last couple of chapters. Especially your last one. It made me smile :)
Wierdchik - Goll-ie -shucks, I've updated! :P
xoxoktk - Thanks for the review! Great to know you're still reading!
SilenceCat - They might. ;) Find out below!
Max - You shouldn't have to wait too much longer for the end! A handful more chapters! Stay tuned...
Sorree - Yay. And another reward for your patience is below :P
ElaineDex - Glad to know you're still interested! One of the things a writer worries about is their readers loosing that, so it's great to know you're still into it!
Naina - :( I know. Writing the last part of the last chapter broke my heart a little. Aww just sums it up perfectly!
Enjoy the next chapter!
Woffles92
Chapter 16 - Destiny
Through all the madness, the blood, the sweat, the tears, and all that damnable sand, something good had finally happened. Dastan kept his eyes closed, almost afraid to open them and discover that the previous night had been nothing but a wonderful and vivid dream. However, when he did finally open them, his heart ceased its rhythmic beating for a moment. Then he laughed at his own ridiculousness. She had probably gone outside to relieve herself, and her movements had woken him. He began to settle again, telling himself that in just a few moments she would be back beside him, her warm body next to his. Warm…
His trail of thought immediately moved and his heart began to hammer again. Surely if she had just left he would still be able to feel her warmth from her body? Thoroughly disorientated now, Dastan crawled from the tent and looked around. The fire had burnt to cinders and the sky was that particular colour of blue that meant the sun would shortly rise. Seso was asleep by the ashes, and with a pang of guilt he remembered that he had been supposed to be the one to relieve him of his watch. He shook the manservant awake.
"Have you seen Tamina?"
Seso smiled knowingly.
"I was under the impression she was with you."
Too anxious to be embarrassed, Dastan replied, "Not anymore."
A million possibilities began to race through his mind. Each with a more gruesome outcome than the last.
"What if she's been kidnapped?"
His hand flew to his belt and although he thought it impossible for his heart to sink lower he was proved wrong. The dagger was gone too.
"It's my fault. If I hadn't fallen asleep…"
Seso grabbed the prince by the shoulders with his powerful hands.
"Persian, think. Could anyone have gotten her from the tent without your knowing?"
"No." He was fairly certain any forceful taking of her body would have woken him from even the deepest of sleeps.
"And she is not stupid. If she had gotten up in the night and seen my sleeping she would have woken me."
With a force that was equal to that of a punch, it finally dawned on him. A glance towards where they had tethered the horses only confirmed his fears.
"It would seem that the princess has left of her own desire," The African stated with an impossible calmness.
"What is all this noise?" Amar demanded, fixing his askew turban as he appeared from his tent, "Don't any of you understand the idea of a good night's sleep?"
"Tamina's gone," Dastan informed bitterly as he began packing his saddle bag.
"Hold on a moment! She promised me a reward! Bloody typical. You know I think that…"
"Shut up!" The prince yelled.
Amar narrowed his eyes, in a way that was surely meant to look threatening, but had an almost comedic effect.
"Boy, I would remember carefully who didn't hand you over to the Persian army if I were you. If you think that…"
Catching the look that Seso was giving him, the Sheik quickly stopped talking. Although the African was indebted to Amar, it didn't stop the latter being intimidated.
Seso cleared his throat. "Do you know where she may have gone?"
"She's gone to the temple at the top of the mountain. It's where she's been leading us all this time."
"Temple? What temple?" Amar chirruped, "I don't know about her but if the gods are on Nizams side, then I don't think a prayer is going to be much help. Never did me any good."
Dastan paused in momentary deliberation, then with a sigh he asked, "Do you know about the dagger of time?"
"Everyone knows that one. It's something to make the kids quiet down before bed right?"
"At the Oasis, after the attack, you asked me how I had known where the snakes had come from, yes?"
An excited gleam sparkled into the Sheik's eyes.
"It's real? That's why Nizam is after you?"
The prince nodded.
"And Tamina is taking it to the temple to return it to the gods, offering herself as a sacrifice."
"Tough break," Amar nodded sympathetically, "But it's better than letting Nizam get his greedy hands on it!"
"There has to be another way. I won't let her kill herself. You're welcome to come with me."
"Thank you for the kind offer Persian," was the sarcastic reply, "but I think Seso and myself will stay here, won't we?"
The African did not reply, but simply smiled and set about gathering his things also.
"Who's side are you on exactly?" Sheik Amar mumbled, realising his defeat, "You've gone soft you have. All I can say is there better be some payment for all our trouble, you mark my words!"
As Tamina and her horse ascended the steep path, she looked over her shoulder at the midmorning sun and wondered wistfully if Dastan was awake. By now he probably would have noticed her absence. What would he think? Would he know where she had gone? Feeling the tension in her body suddenly increase, the animal beneath her skittered nervously. She grabbed the reins tight and pulled to regain control. Slightly apprehensive now she kicked her heels and urged the horse into a quicker gait. If by some small chance he did know how to find her, she wanted to make sure the deed was done. It had taken all her strength to walk away from him once, and she wasn't sure that she would have the will to do it a second time.
When the temple finally came into view the sun was directly overhead. Part of her was anxious, while the other part was relieved to soon be in the company of likeminded priests. They would understand her motives.
As she trotted into the little settlement, the lack of activity alarmed her. Chickens clucked angrily from their coup, annoyed to still be caged at this time of the morning. There wasn't a person in sight.
"Hello?" she called out hesitantly, dismounting the horse. She didn't bother to tether it as she would no longer be in need of its services. She slapped a hand on its rump to encourage it to leave. It trotted a few paces forward, then began to graze on the patchy grass.
"Is there anyone here?"
When there was no reply, she put her hand instinctively to the hilt of the dagger. Although it was almost useless as a weapon, turning back several moments could give her a precious advantage against a foe.
Tamina pulled back a curtain from the entrance to one of the buildings that had been crudely formed into the side of the mountain. Her hand flew to her mouth. A dozen or so bodies lay littered around the small room. The pungent aroma of blood filled her nostrils and she forced her lips tightly closed against the waves of nausea. Some of them had their throats cut, while others lay prostrated in an eternal expression of agony, the same way she had seen men who had fallen victim to snake bites. She deduced that the priests had been killed at prayers, meaning that their deaths had been relatively recent and the perpetrator was probably still here. Not wanting to wait and find out, she immediately made her way to the cave where the dagger had been pulled from the stone all those years ago.
The familiar sound of the gently trickling waterfall greeted Tamina as she entered. There was a deluge of emotion as she looked around. She had been brought here many times as a child by her mother, and she could vividly remember dipping her feet in the cool water while she listened to the story of the great sandstorm that never was. She swallowed at the lump in her throat and moved towards the crevice in the rock, which glowed slightly as it invited her to her destiny.
"I wouldn't do that, Princess," growled a voice. Tamina gave a gasp of surprise as the speaker stepped noiselessly out of the shadows. He was dressed from head to foot in black, with impossibly pale skin and eyes of the most unsettling shade of blue she had ever seen. Her heart hammered loudly as she searched desperately for her voice.
"You killed them."
The stranger shrugged, and a fire of injustice began to burn away her fear.
"Those priests were unarmed!" she spat.
The piercing stare moved to her belt and a gruesome grin spread across his face, contorting the burned skin on the right side of his face.
"Give it to me."
She closed her fist protectively around the dagger. No doubt he was working for Nizam, and she would have to do everything in her power to stop him from possessing it. Not wanting to draw attention, she slowly moved her thumb over the ruby and pressed.
The killer lurched forward, a strangled cry of 'no' catching in his throat. Then, almost as quickly as he had sprang forward, he stopped. For a moment, nothing happened, and then a triumphant smile graced his hideous face again. Frantically, Tamina pushed the hilt again, twice, three more times, only to have her heart sink as she accepted the bitter truth that the sand chamber was empty.
With her safety net wrenched from under her feet, she now began to feel truly afraid.
"Give it to me and I won't hurt you," he said, with a greedy glint in his eyes that only made her more anxious.
With her options fast depleting, she turned and ran.
She was a streak of white against the grey mountains as Dastan rode fiercely for the temple. His heart soared. Although he had been praying to arrive in time to save her, he had been almost certain she had too much of a head start. But then, as quickly as his mood had lifted, it fell right back down into the depths of his chest as he saw the black figure perusing her. After everything, she was still within his grasp, and he couldn't allow her to be yet another victim of Nizam's madness. He kicked his heels into the sides of his horse, summoning the last of its speed.
"Dastan!" Tamina screamed with both surprise and fear, as she saw him approaching fast. She had expected never to see him again, but couldn't have been more thankful to be proved wrong. The stony ground tore at her feet through the same thin beaded slippers that she had been wearing ever since their escape from Alamut, but she knew that she couldn't stop running. The villain's laboured breathing seemed impossibly close, but she dared not to look back for fear she would catch her foot on a stone.
Just a little closer…
Dastan was planning how he would launch his attack when suddenly the horse beneath him reared up. Caught off guard, the prince was thrown. Disorientated and winded, he scrambled to his knees, only to come face to face with the black asp which had spooked his horse. As it struck he dived sideward. It was a narrow miss. He jumped to his feet and drew his sword. The Hassansin flew at him. Dastan blocked and the two began to fight.
Seso and some of Amar's men approached from the right, but were halted by a row of snakes that sprang from the sand.
"Give it up, Prince!" hissed the serpent master.
"Never!"
Each blow was matched equally, and with Dastan's reinforcements held at bay, it seemed as though the pair would be locked in an eternal stalemate. However, soon his muscles began to ache, and he could feel the stiffness in his limbs slowing him down. Again, the side effects of the fever he had taken were rearing their ugly head.
Tamina watched the fight with tears in her eyes. Every time the stranger took a swipe at Dastan the tension of it made her want to scream. He was tiring, and she wasn't sure that she could bear to watch. If he was hurt on her behalf, she would never be able to forgive herself. Clasping the dagger tightly, she dashed back towards the temple. There would be no more fighting when the wretched thing was returned to the gods.
"Persian!" Seso called in distress, "Behind you!"
Half expecting to be facing another Hassansin, Dastan glanced around. But what he saw was worse. Tamina was climbing back up the path.
Caught off guard, his opponent swung his blade close, and although Dastan managed to block, the force of it knocked his blade from his hand. It clattered nosily to the ground. Dastan watched helplessly as the Hassansin reared back for the killing blow.
There was a flash of silver and the snake charmer dropped his own blade with a yell of agony. A bone handled dagger with the mark of the Ngbaka was imbedded in his arm. With a mad look of both fury and something close to fear, he made a dash after Tamina, cradling his wounded limb.
Knowing he wouldn't have time to stop them both, Dastan made a most difficult decision. As painful as it was, he had to put the needs of others before his own. He grabbed his blade and sprinted after the Hassansin. Grabbing him by his injured arm, the prince wheeled him around and put the blade to his throat.
"She must be stopped!" he screeched.
"I can't let you have that dagger. If that means losing Tamina, so be it," Dastan growled.
"Then you have killed us all! The dagger is only thing that can destroy your crazy Uncle!"
The ground seemed to shift under his feet as everything he though he knew changed in a moment. He let go of his arm.
"Tamina!" he yelled suddenly, "Stop!"
On an uneven, yet strangely equal plain now, the prince and Hassansin raced after the princess.
As she stood before the temple, the tears ceased to flow. This was her purpose, her destiny. She had been brought up for this singular purpose, should it be required of her, and now it most certainly was.
Suddenly, he was there.
"Tamina, don't do this!"
"I'm sorry Dastan," she replied with a weak smile.
"You don't understand!" he panted between breaths as he clambered down the rocks towards her as quickly as he could manage.
It was now or never. The more she allowed him to speak the more vulnerable to doubt she would become.
"I wish we could have been together."
Her same last words pierced him deeper than any blade.
"Stop!" he pleaded, wading through the water with an infuriating slowness, reaching out for her, "You can't, the dagger is the only thing that…"
But he was too late. Just as his outstretched fingers grazed her arm, Tamina slid the dagger into the crevice and the whole cave was swallowed up in a brilliant white light.