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.

If you get out of there to try and find your men, GO TO PAGE 84.

You slowly turn to discover a group of men dressed in the dark clothes and turbans of the Ha.s.sansins. They have surrounded you, and their cold eyes peer from wind-blasted faces.

"You disappoint me," you say to them, squaring your shoulders and tightening the grip on your sword. Princess Tamina stares at you. You ignore her and take a step toward them.

"I came here to train with the deadliest of fighters. Yet we were able to infiltrate your compound. We were here for some time be-fore your pets"a"you tip your head toward the dead vipersa""came to greet us."

One of the men comes forward. "Who sent you to us?" he demands.

You smirk. "You don't recognize me?" you ask. "I was sent by the very one who brought you back together. Who created this training camp." You hope this ruse will get you the information you need.

The man raises an eyebrow and then nods. "Of course. You are Dastan. But I thought your uncle Nizam had kept our existence a secret from your family."

You force yourself not to betray your shock at his words. "Uncle Nizam isn't going to be pleased if I tell him I caught you all unawares."

You see his jaw clench and his hand go to his weapon. "I will be happy to tell him you have been training hard and training well," you add.

"Who is the woman?" another man asks. "Why would Nizam want you to bring a woman among us?"

Why indeed?

123.

You cannot take your eyes off the bundle. Odd. A strange light seems to illuminate the fabric from within.

Glancing around to make sure no attackers lie in wait, you drop into a crouch and open the bundle. Inside is a beautiful ceremonial dagger. It looks ancient and somehow . . . otherwordly. An intricate pattern decorates the jagged blade. The gla.s.s handle is filled with white sand so unnaturally bright it seems to glow. You raise the Dagger to the light and watch the sands shift.

You feel frozen in time, as if you were hypnotized by the beauty of the object, the trickling grains of sand.

A cry of victory snaps you out of your reverie. The Persian army has taken the city!

You slip the Dagger into your belt and head out to find your brothers.

Join in the victory and GO TO PAGE 6.

"She is to be trained as well," you say. "A woman can sometimes accomplish things a man cannot."

The Ha.s.sansin looks skeptical, but he doesn't ask any more questions.

"May we have a tour?" you ask. You want to get a lay of the land. You're going to need to get out of there quicklya"get word to your brothers about Nizam's betrayal.

"I'd like to see the weapons," Princess Tamina says, her voice cold and haughty. "I'm trained in many already. I'd like to try something new."

"Trainees don't give orders," the Ha.s.sansin growls. He turns to you. "I'd like to see your weapons. That Dagger is most unusual."

Something glints in the sunlighta"all of the men have drawn weapons.

"In fact, that Dagger looks exactly like the one Nizam has charged us to find," he adds.

They're on to you!

You know they'll chase you and not the princess, since they're after the Dagger. You spin around and bang into hera"and secretly slip it into her hands. "Run!" you cry. She takes offa"and you race in the opposite direction.

As you suspected, they're all on your trail. You'll never beat them; you won't outrun them, you can't outfight them.

But at least the princess will get the Dagger to safety.

THE END.

You make your way into the cave, the sound of fighting growing fainter. Finally you come to a deep natural pool. Tamina stands in the water in front of a rock altar. She lifts the Dagger, about to plunge it into the sacred stone.

Vwhip! A whip wraps around her wrist, yanking her backward. The Dagger goes flying!

You pull out a sworda"just in time. You block another whip blade before it can cut Tamina in half.

You turn, gripping your sword, ready to face the a.s.sailanta"a Ha.s.sansin. You need to get him away from Tamina and the sacred stone.

You somersault under more whip blades, then leap up and retreat back outside. You leap onto the roof of a farmhouse. The Ha.s.sansin follows you, his whips hissing as they flick and curl.

You raise your sword and catch one of the whips. It wraps around your blade and you tug hard, leaning out with all your weight. The other whip blade slashes at you, slicing open your shirt. You twist, turn, and sever the blades from the rest of the whips.

But the Ha.s.sansin doesn't give up. He pulls out a sword and charges.

95.

"I'm not," you protest. "And that's what I'm here to prove."

Bis's sister backs away from you and sits. You kneel in front of her and take her hands in yours. "Bis died protecting me," you say gently. "He knew I would never harm my father. Your brother was a brave man. And my good friend."

"Bis loved you like a brother." She gazes at you with tear-filled eyes. "I never believed the talk," she a.s.sures you. "What do you need? How can I help?"

"I need all the news about Nizam," you tell her. "And a place to stay for the night."

The next morning, wearing Bis's clothes and carrying several of his weapons, you head for the palace courtyard. Bis's sister has told you Nizam is to be crowned king today.

Not if you have anything to say about it, you think.

Your fists clench as you take in the scene. There is a great deal of security, you note. Nizam stands on a platform surrounded by bodyguards, and archers are positioned on rooftops. You sneak through the crowd, keeping your head down until you reach the edge of the platform.