Chapter 4
Alaric awoke to a splitting head that made him wince and shut his eyes again. The dull throbbing in the back of his head lessened long enough for him to open his eyes again. He suddenly jolted to find himself bound and gagged lying on his side. He couldn't tell much of where he was, except that he had to be in a wagon of some sort, he could tell by the hard wood under him.
He tried to turn and sit up but something stopped him from moving and he stiffened at the poke he received to the stomach. A person looked down at him then and the boy gave a shriek through the gag in his mouth. There was a small little bearded man looking at him! Alaric was sure that he probably came to about his knees and that wasn't counting the pointy red hat on his head. His face was covered by a long white beard and his beady green eyes stared at the boy intently. So intently that Alaric had to look away from the intensity and the fact that it made him uncomfortable.
"Is the 'Blue-eyed One' awake?" A small yet powerful voice called and the little man above Alaric nodded. He then jumped as another face was thrust into his own and was shocked to see that this man had a long red beard and dark black eyes.
"Greetings, Blue-eyed One." He said and Alaric only blinked. "I am Red-Beard, leader of the land of Gnome clan." Alaric's gag was removed them, and they waited for his response. After a moment of composing himself he spoke.
"Um…Hello?" They remained impassive and so he continued. "What exactly am I doing here and where is here?"
"You are in Hat's Land." Red-Beard told him and Alaric arched an eyebrow.
"H-hat's Land?" He asked, looking confused and the little man nodded.
"Yes, and the reason you are here is to win us the war."
"What war?" The boy asked confused as why small little creatures needed him in a war.
"The war between the Gnomes and Goblins."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"You are the Blue-eyed One from a faraway land. If we have you, then we will when for sure as it is prophesied." The gnome's face took on a deadly look that made Alaric gulp. "Then perhaps we can sacrifice you to our lord then he will grant us the power we need!" The gnome leader announced proudly and a cheer rose up from the other gnomes. Before Alaric could protest the gag was put back into his mouth and he started to struggle against his bonds.
"Don't struggle, Blue-eyed One." One of the younger gnomes stated bouncing slightly, Alaric could tell both by the sound of his voice and his shorter beard that he was young. "You'll need your energy."
"Take him inside." The leader commanded and Alaric was lifted off the wagon bed and tossed unceremoniously to the ground. Alaric looked around desperately as the gnomes lifted him again, ten in all were able to carry him, trying to figure out how far he was from Agrabah, but nothing seemed familiar to him. There were tall black looking trees and the ground was grassy and dark green. There wasn't a sign of sand anywhere. Alaric was utterly lost.
"Put him in the dudgeon until we are ready for him." The leader called out and the boy could only protest through his gag as they took him into a large pitch-black hole in the ground.
In the bushes nearby a clan of goblins chattered among themselves in hushed whispers before turning to their leader. He was a large goblin with heavy-set eyebrows and large pointy teeth with which he bared when he saw the small human boy the gnomes had.
"Looks like the gnomes are going to hand us a human, boys." He leered and the goblins chuckled evilly, some of them even drooling in anticipation. Their leader, Grinock the Horrible, gnashed his teeth in the moonlight before giving off a howl that sent the remaining gnomes diving for cover underground. Then he turned to his fellow goblins.
"Once the gnomes go to sleep, you will get the human and bring him to me." He snarled and grinned. "And I want him alive. Is that understood?" They nodded rapidly and then Grinock licked his lips. It had been a long time since he had had human…
"Don't harm him either." He spat and some of them gave him confused looks. "Then he won't taste as good." He added and they snickered and whooped for their leader's good thinking.
Red-beard remained and eyed the surrounding foliage once. He had heard correctly it seemed and frowned. If Grinock knew of the human then it was even more important to get to work immediately. As soon as the human had served his purpose then perhaps the great lord would grant them what they needed to defeat the goblins once and for all. That suddenly reminded him of something that had to retrieve for their lord.
"Greenlee." He called a smaller gnome poked his head up from out of the hole in the ground.
"Yes, sir?"
"We have a need to return to Agrabah. Alas I have left out an important request our lord asked for." Greenlee nodded and produced the same coat that they had used only hours ago in Agrabah.
"Will we be back in time to see to the human?"
"No. Send word for my son to start the human to work. This will not take long." He held up the magic dust that he had gotten from the lord. "This will be much faster." He tossed some into the air and a portal appeared. "Let us go." He commanded and they went through it.
Aladdin paced the hovel, getting more and more worried as the sun started to rise to morning. Alaric had been missing for hours and no one had seen him since yesterday. It was now officially Alaric's birthday. Sadira had gone home a few hours ago, saddened by Alaric's absence. Iago watched Aladdin pace, guilt coursing through him. If only he hadn't shooed Alaric away then the boy would still be around. Genie seemed to be the worst of them all, his pacing getting increasingly faster.
"Genie?" Jasmine said softly and the jinni paused a second. "It's not your fault."
"Yes, it is. If only I hadn't shouted at him." Genie replied solemnly and looked at the ground. Iago shifted on the table he was on.
"No, it's mine. I was the one who shooed away the kid." Aladdin sighed and patted Iago as Abu did too.
"No, Iago, it's none of our faults. I just wish we had a clue as to whom or what took Alaric."
"What is it, Carpet?" Jasmine asked and the group turned. He was pointing out the window and they realized that he wanted them to follow into the slowly brightening outside.
He stopped near the entrance to a nearby alley and pointed a familiar pair in the corner. Two sacks of gold rested at their feet as Abis rubbed his hands greedily.
"Finally, we've got enough to pay off that sorcerer." Abis hopped on one foot and then the other in his excitement. "And it's all thanks to that kid. Who knew he was worth that much?"
"What kid?" Aladdin asked loudly and the fat thief jumped ten feet in the air, stumbling back against Haroud and making them fall into the dirt.
"Oh, it's just you." Abis snapped and brushed dirt off himself as he stood back up. "What do you want?"
"What kid are you talking about?" Aladdin demanded and Abis folded his arms childishly.
"None of your business."
"Listen, Abis," Genie stated holding a finger in his face. "This is important. If you have done anything to that kid…." He left the threat dangling and Abis spilt his guts.
"I didn't do it!" Abis suddenly shouted, looking at Genie's angry face fearfully. "It wasn't me! Haroud bashed the kid on the head!" Haroud rolled his eyes at Abis Mal's stupidity and then was forced to back up as Genie and the rest of the gang gave the two thieves very angry looks.
"What do you mean you bashed him on the head?" Genie snapped and Abis gulped.
"Um, well…ya see…there was this…guy and he, er, wanted the kid."
"What guy?" Aladdin demanded, his mind racing to think which of their enemies would have gone for Alaric. When Abis didn't answer, he snapped forward and grabbed the thief by the scruff of his collar. "Look, I don't care where you got the money, I just want my brother."
"We don't know where they went." Haroud interjected. "The man never gave us his name, but he was very insistent on someone with blue eyes." Abis Mal suddenly saw something behind them.
"There he is!" Abis shouted and while Aladdin turned to see who he was pointing at, Abis Mal and Haroud ran for it, carrying their sacks of gold.
The group ignored the running thieves and went after a hooded figure.
