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[A young Persian PRINCE runs to a house where a girl in white dress sleeps.]PRINCE (offscreen): Most people think time is like a river that flows swift and sure in one direction, but I have seen the face of time, and I can tell you: they are wrong. Time is an ocean in a storm. You may wonder who I am and why I say this? Sit down, and I will tell you a tale like none that you have ever heard. Know first that I am the son of Shah Rahman, a mighty King of Persia. On our way to Azad, with a small company of men, we passed through India with a promise of honor and glory that tempted my father into a grievous error.
[We're taking a deep dive into the memories of the young PRINCE. The King's army is preparing to attack the city.]
KING SHAH RAHMAN: Now, my son!
[The young PRINCE, who stands near his father, begins the attack. In the heat of battle, the king rises his sword on an elderly man who has turned out to be a traitor-vizier.]
VIZIER: Your majesty! I trust you remember your promise. The Maharaja's treasure vaults lie within.
[When the young PRINCE hears that, he leaves.]
KING SHAH RAHMAN: See how he rides - ha! Ah! Like a warrior's son!
[Suddenly the wall behind him collapses and the young PRINCE is cut off from the main army.]
PRINCE (offscreen): Do you think I felt regret as I gazed upon the destruction we had brought? Or at least humility at the speed with which a world can be transformed from a good one into a hell? If you think so, you are mistaken. From that moment I thought of one thing only - the honor and glory I would bring my father by fighting like a warrior in my first battle.
[PRINCE climbs up the wall and climbs inside the building. He will fight with the soldiers of the enemy alone.]
PRINCE (offscreen): Many men that day sought to win honor and glory on the battlefield that their king might say to them as Khosrau said to Rustam: “You are the noblest of my warriors.” From the moment my sword tasted blood, I knew this would not be my way. I would win my father's praise not by killing, but by being the first to find the Maharaja's treasure vault and the wonders within.
[He continues to explore the palace and finds the treasury.]
PRINCE (offscreen): And there it lay, just out of reach. The Dagger of Time. There was a treasure I could carry with pride as a trophy of our victory. If I could only get there.
[He finds a way to get to the Dagger.]
PRINCE: Sand.
[Examining the Dagger he presses the button at the very moment when a piece of the dome falls on his head. Time is rewinded and the piece returns to its place.]
PRINCE (offscreen): I had what I came for. It was time to get out, now.
[He's going back to his father.]
KING SHAH RAHMAN: Oh!
Prince: Father! I have brought us honor and glory.
VIZIER: (coughs) Your majesty! You promised me my choice of the Maharaja's treasures… that Dagger!
KING SHAH RAHMAN: Surely, you won't deny the lad a souvenir for his first battle? You may have your choice of all the Maharaja's other treasures… except that hourglass.
[The Vizier quietly snarls with anger.]
KING SHAH RAHMAN: That will make a fine gift for the Sultan of Azad when we pass through his city. And some exotic animals for his menagerie… and two dozens slave girls.
[The Vizier coughs with blood. There's a girl in a red dress watching.]
KING SHAH RAHMAN: Yes! That should be enough. I want no animals or maidens harmed until I am chosen. Let it be known: King Shah Rahman is merciful in victory.
[One of the guards is grabbing the girl. Soon the king begins to take the looted treasures and slaves from the captured city - including the captured girl in a red dress.]
PRINCE (offscreen): Trust not a man who has betrayed his master, nor take him into your own service, lest he betray you too. I learned the truth of this, to my sorrow, the day that we arrived in Azad as the Sultan's honored guests.
KING SHAH RAHMAN: My friend!
SULTAN OF AZAD: My friend! Your visit brings joy and honor to my poor and humble dwelling. If only you'd given me time to prepare a proper welcome.
KING SHAH RAHMAN: The glories of Azad are famed throughout the world... and yet, the best is yet to come. I give you the Sands of Time. May the friendship between our kingdoms endure as long as time itself.
SULTAN OF AZAD: The sand! Why does it glow?
VIZIER: I can tell you. Inside the hourglass is a marvel that no living man has seen. Alas! Only the Dagger can unlock the Sands of Time… and it belongs to a greater one than I. A young PRINCE, dearer to his father than all the wealth of India. Perhaps, he would oblige.
[The girl's clearly excited about what's going on. PRINCE takes the Dagger out of the sheath and goes to the hourglass.]
GIRL: No! DON'T! STOP! NOOOO!!!
[PRINCE inserts the Dagger in the hourglass. The sky is tightened by clouds and the sand from the clock falls to the floor.]
SULTAN OF AZAD: Is it made to do this?
[The Vizier chanting a spell.]
PRINCE: FATHER!
[The King and his guards are beginning to turn to monsters.]
VIZIER: Give me the Dagger!
PRINCE: NO!
VIZIER: You have unleashed the Sands of Time. I can undo what you have done. GIVE IT TO ME!
PRINCE: ARGH!
[He runs away, and the aisle behind his back collapses. PRINCE finds himself face to face with several monsters created by the Sands of Time.]
GIRL (offscreen): Prince! Use the Dagger! Strike with the Dagger. Take his sand. Now! Finish him!
PRINCE (offscreen): Each time I struck with the Dagger, they rose to fight again. I soon realized that only by taking them into my own Dagger, the sands that possessed them, could I liberate them from their monstrous living death.
[Having defeated the monsters, PRINCE decides to use the sand vortex to save the game. He sees scenes from his future.]
PRINCE (offscreen): You think me mad. I can see it by the look in your eyes. You think my story is impossible. Perhaps I am mad. Who would not be driven mad by horrors such as I have lived? But I assure you, every word is true.
[He finds a way to get through the rubble.]
PRINCE (offscreen): The guest rooms, where my father, all our entourage and I should have passed the night, lay cold in silent. The Sands of Time had swept through, stealing life and warmth from everything they touched. And I, who unleashed the cataclysm, had been spared. Were there others like me, who yet clung to life, hiding in fear among the ruins? It did not seem so.
[Soon he sees the same two in the red dress.]
PRINCE: STOP! I won't hurt you. Had I really seen her?
[He continues to explore the palace and fight against the spawns of Sands of Time.]
PRINCE (offscreen): Or had my senses given way under the burden of horrors too great to bear and conjured up a phantom? Either way, I could not rest until I had found her again. I soon discovered that when I had collected enough sand, the Dagger gained the power to stop time… not for me but for the enemy I struck.
PRINCE (offscreen): The miracle I’d discovered by accident in Maharajah's treasure room I now discovered that I could triggered at will by pressing the switch on Dagger’s handle. I COULD TURN back time! Whence came these visions that assaulted me thus, like fever dreams. Each time, I awoke feeling drained and beaten. And each time, what I had seen came to pass. As if the Sands of Time were giving me a glimpse into my own future.
[He finds a strange room in the middle of which there is a fountain with several bridges leading to it.]
PRINCE: What the? Hello? Is anyone there? I have a feeling I'm not in Azad anymore. Water?
[PRINCE drinks water, hears otherworldly voices and teleports back to the palace as if it was just a dream. His health is increasing.]
PRINCE: What just happened? Strange… I feel… wonderful!
[When he walks through the palace, someone grabs his clothes and drags him into the room.]
GIRL: Give me the Dagger.
PRINCE: Who are you?
GIRL: I am Farah, the daughter of the Maharaja from whom you stole it. This is your doing.
PRINCE: I saw my father turn to sand!
FARAH: And we will share his fate if you do not give me the Dagger to undo what you have done.
PRINCE: Your traitorous Vizier used the same words. From now on, I trust no one but myself.
[Some giant beetles sneak to them.]
PRINCE: Run! Go back to the reception hall! Wait for me there! GO!
[He defeats the beetles and goes outside the palace.]
PRINCE: Now I remember her… Since we left India she's been there… In the desert I’ve felt her dark eyes upon me. Now, her she was again. She and I… The only two survivors. Did I say two? Excuse me. We were three.
[He sees two birds taking away the hourglass somewhere.]
PRINCE: The Hourglass! What…?
PRINCE (offscreen): I did not understand the meaning of what I had just seen, but I knew with a certainty I could not explain that those winged creatures had a master. The man who had tricked me into opening the Hourglass now had his prize, and for some unknown purpose coveted the Dagger as well; would stop at nothing to possess it. Well, I would give him what he sought - I would plunge it into his foul and treacherous heart!
[Having defeated another group of enemies and absorbed them with the Dagger, Prince comments.]
PRINCE (offscreen): It was indeed the “Dagger of Time”. I began to realize why the Vizier wanted it so badly.
[Soon he enters a huge cylindrical room with a platform in the center. There are several handles on the platform. From above, the guard's voice can be heard.]
GUARD: Oh, thank God! I was afraid you were one of them. Can you help me activate the Azad defense system? It'll take both of us to do it. I'll reset the axles for you. The man who's normally in charge of this got… Never mind. Ride the platform down to the bottom, then use those two cranks to bring it back up. Do you see those four axles? You'll need to pick them up one by one until you've got all four. Then bring them up to the top together. Make sure you pick them up in the right order! That's it! You've got the first axle - now pick up the other three. Remember: pay attention to the grooves! That's it! One crank turns the platform, the other one raises and lowers it. That's two. Just one more. That's four! Now - bring them up to the top, and line them up with their gears. That's it! I knew you could do it. Now, there's one last step. Do you see that platform? Throw your lever, and I'll throw mine.
PRINCE: What manner of machine is this?
GUARD: I told you, it's the palace's defense system. Stop wasting time. Throw your lever! We did it! Serve those accursed demons right. Oh, by god they'll rue the day they ever dared attack the Palace of Azad!
[Many traps are activated throughout the palace. The guard shouts and turns into the Sands of Time monster. PRINCE defeats him.]
PRINCE (offscreen): Oh no! Why did I listen to that madman? The palace's defenses had a twisted logic of their own. They could be circumvented by using the strategically placed switches which I soon learned to recognize. Yet it was hard to escape the feeling that I had made a terrible mistake, by setting in motion such a deadly system of traps… which seemed in truth more likely to claim my life, than that of an invader that was not flesh and blood.
[In the corridors of the palace, PRINCE finds a strange room... The way there leads through a series of veils hanging from the ceiling... and some bridges hangs over a bottomless abyss, leading to a fountain.]
PRINCE: Strange… I feel as if I've been here before. I HAVE been here before.
[He drinks magic water, loses consciousness and returns to the entrance to an unusual place. The passage is bricked up, as if it had never been there.]
PRINCE: I feel stronger than ever!
[He keeps chasing the weird girl.]
PRINCE: Farah! Can you hear me?
[Without getting the answer, PRINCE moves on, overcoming different traps. Soon he finds the girl. She fights a small army of the spawns of the Sands of Time by shooting at them with her bow. PRINCE is running to the rescue.]
PRINCE: FARAH! Farah, get back!
[He notices that one of the creatures is his father, King Shah Rahman.]
PRINCE: Father!
[He enters an unequal battle and wins only by a miracle.]
FARAH: I'm sorry.
PRINCE: Why?
FARAH: I know what it is to lose a father.
PRINCE: (strictly) That was not my father.
[He runs to the sand vortex to touch the future again.]
FARAH: What are you doing? STOP!
[When he wakes up, he rises from the floor and realizes that the Dagger of time has fallen out of his sheath and FARAH is reaching out to it. PRINCE grabs the Dagger swiftly.]
PRINCE: So… this is the thanks I get for saving your life?
FARAH: You don't understand. I need that Dagger, to undo…
PRINCE: ...To undo what I have done. Truly you must think I'm a fool!
FARAH: You are right to be cautious, but fight as bravely as you may, you cannot defeat this enemy! The Sands will spread… they will consume… everything. I have heard it said that you are kind as well as brave. Please believe me! Help me find the Hourglass.
PRINCE: It is in the Sultan's treasure vault at the top of the Tower of Dawn.
FARAH: How do you know that?
PRINCE: I just... know. Come with me then if you insist, but I warn you I move pretty fast. You'd better keep up.
[As soon as PRINCE finishes his sentence, FARAH runs away. PRINCE runs after her, almost losing the sight of her.]
PRINCE: Wait!
FARAH: And you were worried about me keeping up?
[They're encountering several sand spawns.]
FARAH: I'll cover you.
PRINCE: Please don't. You're liable to hit me.
[Having defeated his enemies, PRINCE notices a sand vortex.]
FARAH: Well, now what? Oh no. Please, not again!
[PRINCE runs to the sand vortex and wakes up with a headache.]
FARAH: Are you all right?
PRINCE: How long was I out?
FARAH: Long enough. What if the sand creatures came back?
PRINCE: They won't. Not here, anyway.
[The front door is closed. PRINCE has to use his agility to open it from the inside.]
FARAH: The switch to open it is on the other side.
[The platform on which PRINCE was hoping to jump crumbles and he falls to the platform below.]
FARAH: Are you all right?
PRINCE: Stay there! I'll try to find a way in!
[While our hero conquers the tops of acrobatics, he reflects on recent events.]
PRINCE: (speaking to himself) She tried to steal my Dagger, after I saved her life! She would have left me there to die, but here I am risking my life for her again. And why? Good question!
FARAH: Here I am! Open the gate! Let's try not to get separated again, shall we? It's so quiet out there. It's terrible, but also… beautiful.
PRINCE: Maybe to you.
FARAH: Look!
[She notices a crack in the wall and fits inside, then opens the door.]
PRINCE: You're a skinny little thing.
FARAH: (chuckles) What is this place?
[They come out to a huge room with broken stairs on the sides. The door they seek can be seen at the bottom.]
PRINCE: We'll need to find a way down to the bottom.
FARAH: I can't do that.
PRINCE: Stay there.
FARAH: I can reach this one. I'll just wait here then, shall I? Are you all right? I heard strange noises...
PRINCE: No permanent damage, thank you.
FARAH: There's another lever in that corner. Do you think you can reach it? I've got it. Your turn now. Over here! Now pull the lever.
[Several sand creatures appear.]
PRINCE: Stay there!
FARAH: Please be careful.
[PRINCE quickly deals with the creatures and uses another sand vortex.]
PRINCE: I'm all right.
FARAH: Stop doing that!
[After leaving the room, the heroes get outside, to a huge cage for birds. They have to go up to the next door.]
FARAH: Try that lever. Where are we?
PRINCE: This was the Sultan's Zoo.
[He uses yet another sand vortex.]
FARAH: Be careful. Last time you were out for more than a minute. Are you all right?
PRINCE: Yes.
[They approach a barred wall to the bird cage.]
FARAH: Do you think you could climb that wall?
PRINCE: It's too high. Wait here. I'll see if I can find a way over the wall.
[He jumps over the wall using a palm tree.]
FARAH: You did it! Birds… I wonder how they survived the Sand?
PRINCE: I don't think they did survive.
[FARAH grasps. Some zombie vultures attack them.]
FARAH: Look, a crack. Here I am!I'll pull the lever. There's another crack. I'll see where it goes.
[She opens the bird care for PRINCE. While he climbs we hear his voice offscreen.]
PRINCE (offscreen): The fabled menagerie of Azad, the Sultan's pride and joy. It had been one of the wonders of the world; as a child I had dreamed of it and longed to see it with my own eyes. Now it was a place of terror, an abandoned ruin laid waste by the Sands of Time.
FARAH: Here I am!
PRINCE (offscreen): If you have believed the rest of my tale until now, perhaps you will also believe me when I tell you that as we made our way through the moonlit ruins, I began to feel strangely drawn to the girl at my side. My reason told me to distrust her, for she had good cause to hate me. Yet she had proven herself a loyal companion. And I confess I was grateful for company of someone who, like me, was flesh and blood.
FARAH: Hey, there's no door.
PRINCE: Stand on that pressure plate will you?
FARAH: Now how do I get through?
PRINCE: I don't know! Can't you crawl through a crack or something?
[They continue through a little garden and get back to the palace.]
PRINCE: Baths…
[There's a lot of sand creatures there… PRINCE and FARAH deal with them after which PRINCE uses the vortex.]
PRINCE: I'm all right.
FARAH: I know. (finds a crack) Look! I'll see where it leads.
[PRINCE goes out to the sultan's bath chamber.]
FARAH: I'm up here. There's something glowing up there, I saw it from the ledge. Look. At the end of those three doors, there's some kind of lever. That's two doors open. You did it! Hurry - before it closes. The water...! It's going down! I wonder what those levers do? That gate. It's moving.
PRINCE (offscreen): A broken section of wall caught my eye. Perhaps a warrior with the strength of Rustam might have smashed through it, but alas I had not strength enough in my arm… nor in my sword.
FARAH: That door doesn't look so strong. Do you think you could smash it with your sword?
PRINCE: Who do you think I am, Rustam?
FARAH: Look!
PRINCE: Stay there!
FARAH: Don't worry about me. I'll be fine here.
PRINCE: I think I see that glow you were talking about.
FARAH: Be careful.
[PRINCE solves some environment puzzles and find himself a fine new sword so strong that it can break through stone. He smashes a cracked wall.]
FARAH: You do have the strength of Rustam. That's not the same sword you had before… Where are we?
PRINCE: It's said this palace was built on the ruins of an even more ancient one, but I thought that was just a story...
FARAH: Now what do we do? (sees a crack) I'll go! Here I am! I can't open the gate...
PRINCE: Stay there, I'll come down to you.
FARAH: There's a ledge, right below you. There you are! Careful! Look, a crack! Here I am!
[PRINCE need to cross huge tunnel without a floor.]
FARAH: Can you make it?
PRINCE: Don't step off that switch!
FARAH: You made it!
PRINCE: We'll need to open this door. Look for a switch.
FARAH: The door's open. I'm going in!
PRINCE: Don't! Wait for me!
[In pursuit of FARAH, PRINCE enters the room where the king's soldiers were resting. Now only creatures of sand dwell there.]
PRINCE (offscreen): A soldier's mess hall. The smell of food still wafted from the kitchen. Scant hours ago these tables had been filled with men, joking in camaraderie over their evening meal, just as my father's men do back home in Seraph, at ease because they think themselves safe within the castle walls with no enemy to fight. How could they know the enemy was already among them?
[After defeating all the monsters in the room, PRINCE climbs the ruined pillars to the second floor.]
FARAH: You know that I can't climb like you can.
[After opening the door, PRINCE walks out to a large bridge which is unfortunately raised. PRINCE returns to the soldier's mess hall and finds a way to lower the ladder for FARAH.]
FARAH: Thanks!
PRINCE: Don't mention it. We're above the Zoo. We'll need to cross that bridge. Now what?
[FARAH crawls under the slightly open door and pushes the button that opens it.]
PRINCE: Yes, I was just going to suggest that.
[PRINCE pulls the lever and lowers the bridge.]
FARAH: You did it!
[PRINCE uses the sand vortex again and sees another vision. They move on. PRINCE climbs the ruined stairs.]
FARAH: I'll just wait for you here then, shall I?
[Having made a mistake, PRINCE has to rewind time.]
FARAH: That's strange… I almost feel as if I've lived this moment before. It's stopped! Pull it again.
PRINCE: I think I see how this works. Try pulling yours now.
FARAH: Now pull the lever. Whoa! Here I am. I'll pull the lever.
[PRINCE continues to climb. Noticing that his sleeve is finally torn, he tears it off without much regret.]
FARAH: Hang on, I'm pulling mine. I'm coming!
PRINCE: If you can fit under this gate… I'll really be impressed. I knew that hole was there - I just wanted to see if you knew.
[They walk out onto a terrace that has sand vultures sitting on each side of it.]
PRINCE: Keep running!
[When FARAH runs out to opposite sides of the terrace she stands on a small wooden platform and shoots the vultures with her bow. PRINCE doesn't even have to draw his sword from its sheath.]
FARAH: Look out!
[The terrace collapses behind PRINCE's back.]
FARAH: The switch is broken!
PRINCE: Very funny. Come on, open the gate.
FARAH: No, I mean it! It's really broken.
PRINCE: All right. You go on down. I'll find another way in.
FARAH: Try not to take too long.
[PRINCE goes down his way, and FARAH goes down hers.]
FARAH: I'm up here! Down below, there's a great open balcony. Come on, I'll show you!
PRINCE: That's easy for you to say...
FARAH: Here I am.
PRINCE: Stay there. I'll come down to you.
FARAH: I know where I am. This gate leads to the baths. Do you think you could you find your way there?
PRINCE: Of course, finding my way to the baths from here should be easy.
FARAH: Good, I'll meet you there.
PRINCE: I'll just ask the first Sand Creature I run into... Could you direct me to the baths, please? Well, thank you. Don't mention it, I used to be a bath attendant back when I was alive… 'I'll meet you at the baths!' She orders me around as if I were a servant! It's my own fault. With women you need to show them you're in charge right from the start or they'll walk all over you. I've been too indulgent - probably because I felt sorry for her. Well, it stops now! From now on, she'll have to toe the line. That is… assuming that I can find her.
[PRINCE solves an acrobatic riddle and enters the caves.]
PRINCE: Oh, have you been waiting here all this time? I didn't realize you meant these baths! I went to the other baths clear across the other side of the city. I had a lovely wash and a rub with fragrant oils. Too bad you weren't there… Stop talking to yourself!
PRINCE: Farah? Farah, are you there?
FARAH: Where are you?
PRINCE: Stay there, I'll come to you.
FARAH: I'm in here!
[PRINCE pulls the lever and opens the door, letting FARAH inside. Together they begin to fight the sand creatures. After victory, PRINCE enters the sand vortex to see the future. When he comes to, he lies on the floor. FARAH strokes his hair.]
FARAH: Don't leave me... my love. Please don't leave me.
PRINCE: What did you call me?
FARAH: It doesn't matter. The important thing is, I know how we can reach the Tower of Dawn.
PRINCE: Of course, the Hourglass. All right, but this time stay with me and pay attention. Can't spend all day chasing after you. Well? What are you waiting for?
FARAH: I'm afraid… What if I get into trouble and you have to come chasing after me?
PRINCE: Please…
FARAH: Do you mean to say you actually need my help?
PRINCE: Yes.
FARAH: Oh well. In that case… The gate is open!
PRINCE: (mockingly) I'm afraid... What if I get into trouble?
FARAH: Over here! There you are. Are you sure I'm not slowing you down?
PRINCE: All right, all right.
FARAH: What? Please don't look at me like that. We must have come out the wrong side of the baths. We'll need to go back through the Royal Palace.
PRINCE: All right then. Let's find a way out.
FARAH: Where are they coming from?
[He defeats the sand creatures in the library, then pushes back one of the mirrors on the stand.]
FARAH: There's a crack! I'll go.
[PRINCE climbs up in his own way, and, as usual, ponders alone…]
PRINCE: She said 'my love'... I know she did! I didn't dream it... At least I think I didn't. It's quite natural really. Her kingdom's conquered, she has nothing, no one to protect her... She needs me, I can see it in the way she looks at me. All I'd have to do is reach out and take her hand, and she'd be mine! ...Why am I talking to myself?
FARAH: You did it! I'm up here!
[PRINCE notices a sword lying on a stone pedestal. We have to get to it somehow.]
PRINCE: Stay there! I'll come to you.
[PRINCE finds a way to get to the sword. He pulls the lever opening the door to the far side of the library.]
PRINCE: There should be a way to make this thing go up. See if you can find a switch.
FARAH: What makes you think...? Never mind… I found one! Shall I pull it?
PRINCE: Not yet! Wait till I'm on the platform. Now!
FARAH: Come on! Look, a crack.
PRINCE: Wait! Let's see where this corridor goes… All right, you can take the crack.
FARAH: See you soon. I'm up here!
PRINCE: Try pulling that lever!
FARAH: Do you think I can jump it?
PRINCE: Go on, try. What's the worst that can happen? There you go. I'll meet you on the other side of that gate.
FARAH: Careful!
PRINCE: You be careful!
FARAH: Here I am! I can't open the gate. Be careful. What are you doing?
PRINCE: I don't know. I'm working it out as I go.
FARAH: I'm out!
PRINCE: I could marry her! After all, she is a Maharajah's daughter - a conquered one, but still, her blood is royal. Besides, what better way to tame her insolence? It's not so bad for a woman to have a little spirit. It's a challenge!
FARAH: There you are! I'll see if I can find a way down.
[When PRINCE tries to cross the bridge, it suddenly collapses. PRINCE falls several stories down into the basement part of the tower.]
PRINCE: A prison? In my father's palace was a prison much like this, I had never set foot inside. Now, here I was, myself a prisoner seeking an escape.
[He tears off his scraps of clothing, exposing his injured torso. He walks downstairs to the cells.]
PRINCE: All right, I've decided - I will marry her. I'll tell her the first chance I get. It's time to put an end to all this fencing about and not saying what one really means. We've made it this far... it's foolish to deny what we both feel!
[Having solved the puzzle, PRINCE enters the next room.]
PRINCE: A torture chamber. It was the first time I had seen such devices at close range. Close enough to touch. Where were the men whose trade it had been to apply the question; to extract the answer their king sought... if indeed there was one. In the end they had met the same fate as their victims. Guards and prisoners made equal by the Sands of Time.
[PRINCE escapes from the dungeon through the well. Just as he emerges, FARAH fights the sand creatures.]
FARAH: Over here! Be careful!
[After defeating the monsters, PRINCE uses the sand vortex again. He sees FARAH stealing the Dagger of Time. When he wakes up, he is perplexed to see if the Dagger is still there.]
FARAH: It's all right, it's me. It's me. Look. At last we're here... The Tower of Dawn.
[PRINCE finds another secret fountain of magical water hidden behind a passageway in the wall.]
PRINCE: How long have I been gone?
FARAH: Gone? What are you talking about?
PRINCE: Never mind.
[They walk out to a huge elevator.]
PRINCE: That was easy!
FFARAH: Too easy...
PRINCE: You know, not everything is a trap.
[Sand creatures appear…]
FARAH: Where are they coming from?!
[The sand creatures seem to have no end. PRINCE uses the temporal time-stop ability and deals with them quickly. The elevator arrives at the top floor.]
FARAH: It's stopped. Try that lever.
[PRINCE pulls a lever and a small silver platform decorated with a beautiful pattern descends.]
FARAH: Come on! Hurry!
[They get up on the platform and climb even higher on it.]
PRINCE: The Hourglass is nearby. I can feel it.
FARAH: Feel it? How?
PRINCE: I can't explain it.
[PRINCE and FARAH go up to the sultan's treasury. In the corners of the room are piled a huge amount of gold coins and various treasures. At the far end of the corridor stands a huge hourglass.]
PRINCE: There's no one here…
FARAH: Now get on top of the Hourglass. You did it! Take the Dagger… strike it into the centre of the dome!
[PRINCE hesitates.]
PRINCE: My father's army sacked your palace, captured you as a slave!
FARAH: What?
PRINCE: You have every reason to hate me...
FARAH: What are you talking about?
PRINCE: Now you want me to trust you?
FARAH: Go on! There's no time!
[At that moment the VISIER enters the treasury. He reads a spell and creates a tornado in the treasury. FARAH and PRINCE are swept aside. They grab onto the pillars surrounding the hourglass.]
VISIER: Give me the Dagger!
[FARAH does not manage to hold on long; she is blown away by a gust of wind. PRINCE lets go of the Dagger and grabs FARAH's hand without a second thought.]
FARAH: The Dagger! He must not get the Dagger!
[PRINCE releases the column and grabs the Dagger in flight. He and FARAH fly out the window together.]
PRINCE: (offscreen) I had faced my enemy. I had looked into his eyes and I had lost… everything.
[They land in some dark basement. PRINCE deftly grabs the falling FARAH. She twists out of his arms with a disgruntled face.]
PRINCE: A tomb?
FARAH: You were there! The Dagger was in your hand! Why did you hesitate?
[PRINCE lowers his head.]
FARAH: You think you're cleverer than everybody but you're just like the rest of them. Those soldiers! All they can do is fight. Destroy. Why did I trust you? Why didn't you trust me?
[Suddenly it gets dark in the tomb.]
FARAH: Ow!
PRINCE: Sorry...
FARAH: Where are you?
PRINCE: I'm right here.
FARAH: Hold my hand… Don't let go. I didn't mean what I said...
PRINCE: No, you're right. All that's happened is my doing. I wanted honor and glory... I brought this on us.
FARAH: You are brave and good. If this tomb is to be ours, at least the Dagger will be buried with us. And… we are together.
[PRINCE begins to breathe frequently, as if he were suffocating.]
FARAH: What is it?
PRINCE: Nothing.
FARAH: You're trembling.
PRINCE: I just don't like closed spaces. There must be some way out of here.
FARAH: When I was small my mother taught me a secret word. She said that when I was afraid, all I had to do was speak that word and a magic door would open. I've never told that to anybody.
PRINCE: I can see why. It's the most childish thing I've ever heard of. What was the word?
FARAH: Kakolukia.
PRINCE: Kakolukia?
[The sound of stone rubbing against stone can be heard.]
PRINCE: You did that, didn't you? ...Farah?
[The tomb is illuminated slightly as FARAH has pushed back the cover of one of the sarcophages. The tomb turns out to be a secret exit. PRINCE climbs into it and finds himself in a long corridor with veils hanging from the walls, like the ones he saw when he visited the fountains of magic water.]
PRINCE: Farah?
[It goes down a seemingly endless flight of stairs.]
PRINCE: Where are you?
[He emerges to a circular hall with many entrances, each of which leads back to the same hall! PRINCE, perplexed by what is happening, tries to solve this strange riddle.]
FARAH: (voice) Oh, isn't it beautiful?
PRINCE: Isn't what beautiful? Where are you?
FARAH: If only we could stay here… What are you doing? Shall we take a bath?
PRINCE: What are you talking about? Where are you? Where are you?
FARAH: Take me in your arms.
PRINCE: I don't see you! What the--? All right, this is getting ridiculous. Farah?
FARAH: Just take me in your arms… Why do you act so distant?
PRINCE: Farah?
[Finally, PRINCE comes out to a large pool of golden water. FARAH is already bathing in it.]
FARAH: It's beautiful… Come on.
[PRINCE removes his equipment and clothes and places it nearby, and then he dives into the water as well. They swim for a while, then sit on the edge of the pool.]
PRINCE: Kakolukia…
[They realize how much they have fallen in love during their journey together and kiss, after which they spend some time with each other. The prince comes to his senses at the sarcophages.]
PRINCE: (offscreen) Was it real, that magical cavern? If it was a dream, then it was a dream we both shared. I know it was!
PRINCE: Farah? Oh no!
[His weapon and the Dagger of Time are gone. FARAH is not nearby either. Having solved the riddle of the light, PRINCE obtains a new sword. He goes outside and notices FARAH running through the upper levels of the citadel.]
PRINCE: FARAH!
[PRINCE climbs to the top battling sand creatures and strong winds. He climbs up the half-broken bridge.]
PRINCE: Farah, come back! She must be using the Dagger! Farah, be careful! Don't use up all the Sand!
[Finally, after many deadly jumps, PRINCE manages to climb to the top. He sees FARAH fighting a huge sand monster with his sword. The forces are clearly not equal.]
PRINCE: Farah!
[PRINCE runs toward her chopping up the monsters with a single blow. One of them manages to throw FARAH into the abyss. She barely grabs hold of the edge.]
PRINCE: Farah!
FARAH: Aghhh!
[PRINCE manages to hand her the hilt of the Dagger and grabs the blade himself. Blood flows from his hand. FARAH sees that he can't hold her for long…]
FARAH: Kakolukia...
PRINCE: Farah, no!
[She releases the Dagger and flies into the abyss to her doom. The saddened PRINCE falls to his knees. Several of the sand creatures reappear in the hall. PRINCE's sadness changes to anger. He mercilessly slaughters them, despite their sheer numerical superiority and vast differences in strength.]
PRINCE: (offscreen) Bravely I have fought and slain my enemies… honor and glory are mine. But though I fight until the desert sands themselves were red with blood, I could not bring back the dead…
[PRINCE goes down to FARAH's body. She fell not far from the hourglass.]
PRINCE: (crying) No… no! Don't leave me…
[Suddenly the VISIER appears.]
VISIER: The girl is unimportant!
[PRINCE attacks him in a rage.]
VISIER: Give me the Dagger and I will give you power! Eternal life will be yours.
PRINCE: Live forever, when those I loved are dead and I to blame? I choose death!
[He jumps onto the Hourglass with the speed of a cheetah.]
VISIER: Noooo!
[PRINCE screams and pierces the Hourglass with the Dagger of Time. A tremendous force bursts out. The Sands of Time is pulled back inside. Time begins to slowly backtrack... and stops the night before the attack on the Indian city. PRINCE wakes up in his tent as if he has had a bad dream. In his hands lies the Dagger of Time. The clouds are gathering outside. PRINCE leaves his tent and sneaks out of the camp. He runs through the jungle toward the royal palace. At this time, FARAH in her white dress wakes up to the noise and looks around in horror. PRINCE approaches her from behind.]
PRINCE: Do not be afraid. This belongs to you.
FARAH: The Dagger of Time! ...But it is locked away within my father's treasure vault. How...?
PRINCE: Most people think time is like a river that flows swift and sure in one direction. But I have seen the face of time and I can tell you: they are wrong. Time is an ocean in a storm. You may wonder who I am and why I say this? Sit down, and I will tell you a tale like none that you have ever heard… (a few hours later) ...and that is why I have come... to warn you and your father to arrest this treacherous Vizier before he betrays you and brings ruin on us all. His signal is a flaming arrow shot into the air. Prevent him, and my father's army will know the traitor has been unmasked. They will turn back!
[Suddenly the VISIER enters the room.]
VISIER: A wild tale indeed! I have a simpler version. A Persian soldier lusting for glory entered the chambers of the Maharajah's daughter, and was slain... by me! Princess, for your own safety I suggest you flee.
[PRINCE draws his sword. The VISIER jumps aside.]
VISIER: I will handle this intruder!
[He reads a spell and splits. The battle begins!]
FARAH: What sorcery is this? Stop this at once!
VISIER: My lady, he came here to abduct you. Surely you do not believe him?
PRINCE: He will betray you! All will happen as I have foretold.
VISIER: How inventive! Do not forget - he is a Persian soldier.
PRINCE: What I have told you is no story! It happened... I mean, it WILL happen!
VISIER: Your exertions are most amusing.
FARAH: Let him be brought before my father. He will judge. Vizier! I have commanded you to stop! Do you disobey?
VISIER: I have taken orders long enough from a senile old fool and a sniveling brat! Your father was a great warrior in his youth, or so he would have the world believe. A pity his son does not take after him. Then again, perhaps father and son are alike? It would appear that both share a taste for easy plunder.
PRINCE: You waste your breath! What little you possess.
VISIER: Did you really think you can defeat me? (coughs)
PRINCE: Careful, don't tire yourself.
VISIER: I will end this intruder!
[However... PRINCE defeats the sorcerer. The final blow throws the VISIER onto the balcony. As PRINCE approaches him the VISIER grabs his staff and knocks PRINCE to the floor.]
VISIER: And so it ends… How will the Maharajah feel if he finds his only daughter slain by the son of his enemy? Do you have any last words you wish me to communicate to the Princess, before I kill her? Words of love perhaps?
[PRINCE finishes the insolent with a few blows.]
VISIER: I could have been… immortal.
[He dies.]
FARAH: Then it's true… he was a traitor!
PRINCE: Take this. Return it to your father's treasure vault. Guard it well.
FARAH: I owe you thanks. But why did you invent such a fantastic story? Do you think me a child, that I would believe such nonsense?
[PRINCE tries to kiss FARAH, but she quickly pushes him away.]
FARAH: I said I owe you thanks… You presume too much!
[PRINCE rewinds time with the Dagger…]
FARAH: ...such a fantastic story? Do you think me a child, that I would believe such nonsense?
PRINCE: You're right. It was just a story.
[He jumps off the balcony onto a palm tree.]
FARAH: Wait! I don't even know your name?
PRINCE: Just call me... Kakolukia.
[Taking advantage of FARAH's moment of shock, PRINCE leaves.]
THE END