James Ponti - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

The foul stench of rotting garbage filled the air. It came from a sprawling garbage heap on the edge of Nasaf. This was home to the waste of an entire city. It was also where poor, homeless children scavenged for leftover scraps of food.

One of those children was Dastan.

His hazel eyes scanned the piles of trash until he spotted a half-gnawed piece of meat. It was covered with flies but was the closest thing to a meal that Dastan had seen in some time. He scooped it up, and three other boys tried to wrestle it away from him.

They only stopped when they heard a nearby shopkeeper call, Messenger!

In an instant, Dastan and the others scrambled off the heap and raced to the shopkeeper. The man was holding a package and would pay one of them to deliver it. He eyed them suspiciously.

Youre the fastest one of these scags, arent you? he finally said to Dastan.

Dastan nodded confidently. Thats why you pay first.

If this man wanted the fastest, Dastan was determined to get paid for it.

The shopkeeper stared at him for a moment before he relented. Then he handed Dastan the packageand a coin.

Moments later, Dastan was racing through Nasaf. Actually, he was racing over Nasaf. Rather than push his way through the crowded streets, Dastan ran freely across the rooftops, jumping from building to building without fear.

This is what made Dastan so much faster than the others.

He delivered the package to a small shop, where he spied a stack of apples. Unlike the food he scavenged from the dump, these apples were clean and ripe. Tossing the owner of the shop a coin, Dastan grabbed an apple, his mouth watering in anticipation. But before he could take a bite, he heard a commotion outside on the street.

Dastan stepped out into the bright sunlight just as a group of Persian soldiers marched through the marketplace. They were impressive in their gleaming uniforms. This was especially true of their captain, who rode alongside them atop a large stallion.

Nearby, a boy named Yusef was playing with his brother. Unaware of the danger, Yusef ran in front of the captains horse. The stallion reared up on its back legs and dumped the man onto the muddy street.

When the captain stood up, his once spotless uniform was covered in filth. Enraged, he grabbed Yusef and slapped him across the face. He continued to beat the boy until someone stepped out from the crowd to challenge him.

Stop! commanded the voice.

The captain turned and saw... Dastan.

A mere boy? Daring to give him an order? The captain laughed and started to strike Yusef again.

Acting impulsively, Dastan took his apple and threw it at the man, hitting him right in the head. This time the captain was not amused.

He turned his rage on Dastan. You filthy piece of street trash!

Im not the one wearing horse manure, Dastan replied.

The crowd laughed, which only made the captain angrier. He charged at Dastan. Run! Dastan yelled at Yusef.

Both boys scurried away from the soldiers to the edge of the marketplace. Dastan helped Yusef climb up onto the roof of a shop and they began racing across the rooftops as the soldiers pursued them from the street. They were about to get away when Yusefs foot slipped on a tile.

Just as he was about to plunge down to the street, someone snatched him out of midair.

Yusef looked up to see that Dastan had grabbed him with one hand and was holding on to a rain gutter with the other. They were dangling from the edge of the building.

Summoning all of his strength, Dastan swung Yusef up to safety on the roof. But when he did, the gutter pulled off of the building and Dastan plummeted to the ground.

Dastan scrambled to his feet and started to climb back up, but it was too late. Within seconds, he was surrounded by soldiers. There was no escape.