Back to the story and the action now. It has only been four reviews I think but I'll be kind. Hopefully more of you will be willing to leave some feedback :-). Once again I didn't check for any spelling mistakes but I still hope you like it. :-)

Keyla was running. She had been running ever since she had left the palace and the princess behind. It was more than a mile from the palace to the main gate but she just had to be ther ein time. She had lost so much precious time and if only she had listened more closely she could have used that time to get to Dastan faster. Instead she had wasted it on informing the princess about a threat that she was never even endangered to. The Alamutians would never harm their royal leader... but the would harm the man that had invaded their city and was now forced upon them by a union thorugh marriage. She should have known it was Dastan they were after, not Tamina. But she had never seen that danger for him and now she was deeply worried she would be to late to help him...

Tamina had given her a quick description how to get to the main gate the fastest and Keyla was thankful for that now. As worried as she was - her thoughts evoling about what possibly had already happened to Dastan in all that time she had wasted - she probably would have gotten lost within the city's streets and alleys in no time. This way she was getting to the gate fast and she felt it was necessary. She had no idea what expected her there but she was sure Dastan needed her help.

She tried to remind herself that he was a warrior - trained since childhood, experienced from many battles... He would be able to stand his ground... at least for a while. She was sure the merchants were aware that Dastan was no spoiled prince but fierce and merciless in battle. They had talked about men they had sent which meant he was outnumbered. Any help that she could offer him would be grately appreciated and maybe even fit to save his life...

Keyla could see the city walls close by now. She had to be near the gate. It was just a few more small alleys down and she would have reached it. She abruptly turned from the main street - as Tamina had advised her. As it was closing in on noon it was very quiet outside, the streets mostly abandoned. Therefor she could hear the ongoing battle long before she saw it and she quickened her pace.

Her lungs were burning by now but she ignored the pain in her chest and went on. When she rounded the next corner she came to a slithering halt. She had found Dastan... but he wasn't alone. Malik's men had reached him and they were trying their best to make sure the task given by their master would be fulfilled. There were four of them, all heavily armed with either a buckler and a sword, or wielding two swords and they had managed to surround the Persian prince.

Keyla had never been more thankful to the fact that the Persian empire was one expanding through war and it's princes were trained for that kind of endavor. Had it been any different, she was sure Dastan wouldn't have left the palace to oversee the preparations for his father's arrival armed. He would have been completely helpless to the attack. This way he was unprepared but at least he was able to defend himself.

She watched the scene in sheer horror for along moment before she was able to even react. So far it seemed neither one - not the for men nor Dastan - had been able to win the upper hand in this battle. Dastan looked unharmed but so did the attackers - apart from one of them who had a bleeding cut on his thigh that didn't look serious though. Relief washed over her upon the realization that Dastan was fine. She had no idea how long this battle had been going on but judging from the beads of sweat on his forehead, Dastan had been fending his attackers off for quite a while.

She watched as two of the man attacked him simultaniously. But he was able to block their attacks, turned around just in time to fend off a third attacker coming from behind and - as the man taken by surprise let down his guard for just a moment - was able to crush his elbow into the man's face. The attacker let out a cry of pain and broke down with a groan, holding his face and his now bleeding nose. Dastan lost no time, sprinted to the side and plunged the handle of his sword down onto the back of the man's head.

He broke down unconscious immediately. There were now only three left of them but they were all the more furious after wittnessing what had happened to their companion... Keyla - frozen in terror - finally came back to life and grabbed the sword of her father and the small dagger she had been carrying ever since she had left Nasaf, jumping right out onto the street, yelling at the group.

"Traitors!"

All four - the attackers as well as Dastan - looked up in surprise at the sight of a young stranger who had plunged right onto their battle. The three men were grinning with amusement obviously not thinking her much of a rival but Dastan frowned. He only needed seconds to detect who was hidden underneath the clothes that hid her female features and his eyes widdened in surprise and slight horror. Keyla would have wished he had not seen right through her masquerade. It would have been easier if Dastan had just believed her to be some foreign traveler coming to his assitance. Now he would be worried about her... and he would reveal to those men that she was a woman.

"Keyla! What..."

"Not the time, Dastan. Look out!"

Keyla called out to him just in time for Dastan to duck. One of the attackers had tried to use his moment of distraction and had attacked him head on, rising his sword in the air. Wouldn't he have missed, the strike would have been capable of dicapitating the Persian prince, but Dastan reacted in time. Keyla had no chance to help him or even look out for him because the group now split up. Two of the attackers stayed with dastan, attacking him simultaniously, the third one had turned to her with an amused smirk on his face. He sneered at her, a glimmer of lust showing in his eyes that send a shiver down Keyla's spine. She didn't even want to think about what would happen to her if those men won and she would be captured by them... She swallowed hard and glared at her attacker, hissing back at him.

"A woman..."

"I'm more man than you ever will be you worthless bastard!

Her reaction managed to wipe the grin right of the man's face and with a now grim expression he attacked her. The force of his blow almost knocked her father's sowrd out of her hand. The blade was vibrating, causing her hand and wrist to throb in pain but Keyla gritted her teeth and held onto her weapon. It was her only line of defense. She blocked her attacker's blows but was pushed back further and further and closer to the wall of the nearest building. The self satisfied smirk returned to her attackers face as he obviously believed he had cornered her and would easily be able to kill her now but he was wrong about that.

Without a warning Keyla turned away and ran straight on right to the wall. Only half a meter away from it she used the drive she had, jumped up against the wall and ran a couple of steps upwards before pushing herself away from it. She managed a loop and landed right behind her dumbfounded attacker. Without another thought Keyla wrapped both hands around the handle of her father's blade and - with a cry - plunged the sword right through the man's chest. The attacker gave a surprised gasp and a gurgle when she pulled the sword back out, then he broke down without another sound.

"Keyla, behind you!"

She had no time to react when one of the two men that were still attacking Dastan now turned to face her. She jerked around, having her sword up to protect herself just in time, thanks to Dastan's cry. She tried hard to fight of her attacker's blows yet again but this man was even stronger than the last one. She could only hope she would be able to trick him as well. A quick glance to Dastan told her the second attacker still had his attention focused on the Persian prince. He glared at him, pure hatred in his eyes and held on tighter to the two blades he was wielding.

"Persian bastard..."

"Treacherous swine."

The main yelled a cry of war and Dastan stumbled back as the man attacked him with both swords at the same time. His attacker was taller than him and a lot stronger but he was also less agile. Dastan managed to duck and avoide the deathly blows his attacker was dealing him but he had been defending himself for quite a while and even though his concentration was still fully alert, he was losing strength. It wasn't helping that he tried to keep an eye on Keyla at the same time.

When Keyla's attacker suddenly got a hold of her wrist - the arm she was wielding her sword with - Dastan was distracted for just a second. Even though he had learned to never lose focus in battle because that could get him killed, he did it none the less. He could not just let his best friend die. But instead of being able to help Keyla with his desperate cry he just managed to give his own attacker the one chance he had been waiting for The man broke through his defense, his sword barely missing Dastan's sword arm, which the blade would have cut right into but dealing him a deep cut to the side.

"Keyla!"

Dastan gasped, swore under his breath and changed the sword into his other hand while pressing down on the wound to his side. He glared at his attacker and gathered all the strength he still head, lunging forward and completely surprising the man. Dastan managed to strike one of the swords right out of the man's hand but he quickly recovered. As he lunged at Dastan himself now, the Persian prince took a step aside, letting the man run into thin air. He stumbled, fell and turned around with a glare in his eyes, his face contorted in anger. Dastan did the one thing he could to keep his foe from attacking him again He swang his arm back and let go of the sword, letting it fly through the air. Before his attacker could do anything to defend himself, Dastan's sword plunged into his throat. The man's eyes widened in shock, then he broke down - dead. The last man remaining - the one that had managed to throw keyla to the ground immediately refocused his attention from the - as he thought - helpless woman to the injured prince.

"Now you'll die Persian."

"You have to get to me first, traitor."

The man gave a growl that seemed to radiate deep from his throat and was on the attack immediately. Keyla's eyes widened as Dastan hurried to the third fallen attacker but he was able to pull his sword from the fallen body just in time to block the last attacker's blow. He barely managed though. She could see he was losing strength. It was time for her to help him - save his life...

She picked up a rock from the ground where she had fallen down after the last attacker still standing had pushed her off him at the same moment that he lunged forward to attack Dastan one more time. Keyla watched in horror as Dastan - having let is concentration falter for just a second as he was looking at her, making sure she was alright - was unable to keep his defense up. The blade of his rival crushed down on his sword and while Dastan was trying hard to fight off the attack, the men had risen his other arm wielding the knife.

The next few seconds seemed to slow down before her very eyes. Dastan was unable to fend off his attackers blow and being completely unprotected for just a second before he would have been able to rise his sword again, the attacker plunged down the knife that burried itself deep into Dastan's shoulder. The prince gasped, first in surprise, than in pain and stumbled back. She could see the contorted expression on his face as the pain of the injury washed over him and he was unable to keep standing on his feet any fell to his knees right in front of his attacker who rose his sword with a vicious smile on his face.

"Dastan!"

Keyla had no time to think. With a furious roar she picked up the stone and threw it at the attacker with all the force she could come up with. The man - distracted by her angry sound - jerked his head around into her direction. It was the last mistake he made. The stone she had thrown hit him right in the middle of his forehead and he broke down with a groan. Keyla didn't lose any time. She got up from the ground where she had fallen, rushed to the fallen man, wringed the sword from his hand and plunged it deep into his chest. The man gave one last wihtering gasp and then he lay still. She had killed the last of the attackers... But her little victory turned to ashes knowing that she had not succeeded in her quest to protect her friend. Dastan was hurt...

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