Part 12 (1/2)

29.

”You know me,” you say to the crowd. ”You know my love for my father. Why would I murder him? I would have nothing to gain!”

”Believe him!” Princess Tamina strides onto the stage. You can tell the crowd is taken with her beauty and her spirit. ”Nizam orchestrated the siege against my city, a sacred site. All to take possession of this Dagger. He thought it would give him unlimited power!

”Dastan has behaved with honor,” Princess Tamina continues. ”I believe him innocent of any crimes of which he is accused.” She whirls and glares at Nizam. ”And accuse you of the most base treachery!”

Now a cry goes up: ”Dastan! Dastan! Dastan!”

At first, you fear they are calling for your head. Then you spot Seso and Amar in the crowd, egging everyone on.

You take center stage. ”Princess Tamina,” you say, holding out the Dagger. ”I believe this belongs to you.”

She takes it from you, blinking back tears. You take her hand and turn so you're both facing the enormous crowd. ”My family will not have died in vain!” you declare. ”I make this vow to you that we shall forever live in peace from this day forward.”

As the crowd cheers and shouts around you, you look at Tamina. ”Your father would have been proud,” she says. ”This moment is what you were destined for.”

You smile. For once, you think, the princess might be right!

THE END.

You pull back the blanket to reveal dawn breaking over the desert. You help your horse get back up onto its hooves.

”Dastan,” Tamina says, her voice urgent. ”The sands contained within the Sandgla.s.s are volatile. Opening the Dagger while it's in the chamber breaks the seal. It could destroy the Sandgla.s.s. The Sands of Time would no longer be contained. And all of mankind would pay for Nizam's l.u.s.t for power.”

You look into her dark eyes. Is she finally telling you the truth? Or is this just another trick to get the Dagger back?

”The secret Guardian Temple outside Alamut is a sanctuary,” she continues. ”The Dagger must be delivered back to the safety of this sacred home. It's the only way to stop this Armageddon.” She gazes up at you, her eyes filled with worry and pain. ”That's the truth, Dastan. Give me back the Dagger so I can take it there.”

You breathe in and out trying to decide. Then you slip the Dagger back into your belt. ”I'm sorry, Princess. I can't do that.”

Tamina stumbles back a step, her face flushed with fury and outrage.

Before she can light into you, you say, ”I'm coming with you.”

78.

It suddenly occurs to you that the village is awfully quiet. It seems . . . empty. Sheikh Amar goes to look around. You spot a hut with its door open. Tamina sees it as well and runs toward it.

You follow her and come across a horrifying sight. Four dead bodies are slumped against the house. They look to be priests.

Tamina gasps and drops to her knees. Clearly these people meant something to the princess. You put your hand on her shoulder.

Seso utters what sounds like a prayer, then says, ”They have been dead a long time. Tortured first.”

You study the bodies more carefully. ”These wounds aren't from normal weapons.”

”Ha.s.sansins?” Seso asks.

You nod grimly. ”They were here. Nizam knows about this place.”

Amar returns. ”All dead,” he reports. ”The entire village.”

93.

That night, all but two guards are asleep. Although you're still bound, you try to think of some way to get the Dagger back and escape Sheikh Amar's grasp.

Seso has made himself a pillow by wrapping your sword and the dagger in his cloak. You're going to have to come up with something pretty amazing to get out of there alivea”and with the princess and the dagger.

Wind blows through the camp. Aksh whinnies, disturbed by something.

Then you see why. A pit viper emerges from the sand in front of Seso. It rises up, forked tongue flickering. It coils to strike. You leap up and hurl a smoldering log. The snake goes flying into the darkness.

Seso stares at you. You can see that he knows you just saved his life. But there's no time for a thank you. Four furrows of sand weave through the camp.

”Give me the Dagger,” you demand.

You hold out your bound hands. Seso hesitates, then his eyes grow wide when he sees the undulating furrows.

”If you want to live, give me the Dagger!” you insist.

Seso slashes the rope binding your hands and tosses you the Dagger.

Just in time!

Three vipers burst from underneath the sand.

Do you use the Dagger to rewind time? 106.

But what if you use up all the sand? Do you battle them yourself? 100.

The minute you step inside the city gates, you're swept up in hand-to-hand combat with an Alamutian sentry. He comes at you with his sword, and you meet it with yours, blocking it. You use your blade to push him back. He stumbles, but quickly recovers and charges at you again.

You spin around to gain momentum, then clank! Your sword hits his again. This time with so much power he's thrown off-balance.

Movement above you catches your attention. That's when you notice the archers up on the parapet.

Your split second of distraction gives your opponent his opening. He scrambles back to his feet.

Should you keep fighting him or should you run away, to try to find your men?

If you want to keep fighting, GO TO PAGE 51.