Chapter 4: Darkseer
Daleel hadn't expected the many visions that flew before his sight. He was sure he wasn't dreaming. His normal vision was hazy, yet he could see the images clearly. The vision of Genie fleeing a half-eagle, half-bear beast, of Iago and Abu being chased by scorpions, and Jasmine falling from Carpet after an arrow pierced the fabric, and Aladdin calling out for her.
He wondered why he had the feeling they were more than just idle visions.
He sat upright quickly, and the last image of Jasmine falling disappeared just as soon as he caught his breath, clutching the blanket Safir had put over him in his hands. His body felt hot all over, his clothes damp with sweat.
"Daleel?" Safir called. He appeared in the doorway, and studied the boy who'd sat up in his sleeping area. Daleel could barely make out his form. "Oh, you are awake - thank goodness. I was beginning to worry. Is your vision any better?"
"No, I-I still have a hard time seeing anything." Daleel managed.
"Look up at me." Daleel felt Safir's hand tilt up his face. "It is as I feared. You really are losing your vision."
"Safir, something's wrong."
"You're telling me. The fact you're still holding this fever isn't looking good. Not good at all." The merchant mystic's frown deepened.
"No, that's not what I mean. I keep having these...visions of things. I don't know what to make of them. They're the only things I see clearly, clearer even than what's in front of me."
"I'm sure they're just nightmares, Daleel."
"No, they're more than that...You have to believe me!"
Safir sighed. "Right now, I want you to rest. Do not argue with me." He eased the boy back in a lying position, putting a cold cloth on Daleel's forehead.
"But Aladdin and Jasmine, and the others..." Daleel trailed off with the thought, not sure how he could explain to Safir the content of his visions. There had been so many, he wasn't sure where to start.
"I'm sure they're all right. They'll be back soon. Don't worry yourself, m'boy," Safir said, his voice calm.
Daleel relented enough to lie down as Safir left the room, with the door half parted. But the boy was anything but calm. In his heart, Daleel knew those visions meant something more, and he couldn't shake the feeling that his friends were in trouble. He couldn't help but think that in part, it was his responsibility.
Genie was the first one back with his part of the cure. It would've been cause for him to celebrate, only he wondered what was taking the others so long.
At least Safir was happy to see him. "Genie! Good, you've come just in time, I finally have the potion heated and ready to take the materials."
"How's Daleel?" Genie asked, handing the small handheld sack to the merchant mystic.
"Still with fever. He can see somewhat, but it's in and out and steadily getting worse. The sooner he takes this cure, the better."
"And I'm guessing a certain parrot and monkey and Prince and Princess haven't stopped by for a chit-chat?" Genie asked, frowning.
"No, they haven't." Safir's shoulders slumped as he groaned. "Which is odd, because I would think that Abu and Iago..."
Before Safir could finish his statement, they both heard a loud crash from near one of the windows in Safir's workroom. Genie and Safir turned toward the noise to see Iago and Abu in the midst of a few fallen books from where they'd come in through the window.
"Okay, that's the last time I do any favors having anything to do with the U-serpents or a certain sorcerer that will go unmentioned," Iago said, his breaths coming in loud pants.
Abu agreed in a series of screeches, but handed over the sack of herbs to Safir.
"Are you both all right?" Safir asked, his brow narrowed.
"What does it look like?" Iago brushed himself off, coughing from the dust that came from the knocked over books. "We just barely managed to get the herbs, and then we had to steal them back from Mozenrath's stupid lackey."
Genie's eyes widened. "Mozenrath?" Iago explained the whole story to Genie, which caused him to scratch his head. "Why do I get the feeling that you guys encountering Xerxes wasn't a coincidence?"
"Hello? Even your big blue brain should be able to figure that one out." Iago flew and gave Genie a few knocks in the head with his wing. Genie glared at him, rubbing his crown. "Mozenrath's probably in on what happened to that kid, and tried to stall us."
"Wait, could that mean that the sorcerer Daleel saw was the one you call Mozenrath?" Safir asked.
"If that's the truth - that means...Oh no." Genie said, wincing. "If Mozenrath and the U-serpents are working together, Al and Jas are in big, big trouble."
"Punch it, Carpet!" Aladdin said as he gripped Carpet's edge. He had to dive past a barrage of arrows, but he maneuvered Carpet straight toward Jasmine, who fell rapidly through the darkness beneath the underground of the Cave of Wonders.
But Aladdin wasn't expecting one of the U-serpents to catch Jasmine with ease a distance below. Jasmine scrambled to get out of Faran's grasp, but he wouldn't release her.
Aladdin was almost too stunned by the sight to catch Garan, who wasn't standing far from Faran, aiming one of their arrows at him. But instead of an arrow dipped in poison, Aladdin saw that the arrow had a burning flame at the end around the arrow tip. The U-serpent fired, and Aladdin barely had time to motion Carpet down to avoid the arrow skewering them both.
"Hold s-still! I can't kill you if you're s-squandering around like a fish," Garan hissed.
"That's exactly my plan," Aladdin snapped. He was careful not to reveal too much of his next move, which came to him quickly as he maneuvered Carpet from the next round of arrows. His timing came quick with a motion above them, towards a catapult held with ropes. Apparently this was some kind of fortified area the U-serpents had found, despite the dips of the underground chasms in the Cave of Wonders. If he could get those arrows to hit the ropes...
"Aladdin, look out!" Jasmine cried, as another flurry of flaming arrows looked like they would strike them.
"Carpet, down!" Aladdin shouted, and the timing was just right. The arrows flew past them safely, two of them hitting the ropes, which caused the catapult to fire straight toward the U-serpents...and Jasmine.
The U-serpents were shocked enough for Jasmine to scramble away and leap to where Carpet and Aladdin flew to catch her. But the U-serpents had to scramble themselves to avoid where the rock from the catapult hit the side of a nearby rocky column, causing large bits of it to fall their way.
That kept them busy, and Aladdin and Jasmine were relieved at their reunion, but it didn't last long for Jasmine as her expression yielded to panic.
"What's wrong?" Aladdin asked.
"The herbs for Daleel...they must've fallen when I got away."
Aladdin looked around where the U-serpents were, his eyes scanning the path, and though they were now a distance above where the U-serpents scrambled, he saw the pouch of herbs lying a fair distance away from them.
"I'll handle it. Carpet, take care of Jasmine and meet me at the ledge over that way." He pointed a far distance ahead. "The exit towards the surface of the Cave of Wonders is there. I can keep them distracted."
Jasmine's eyes widened. "You can't. What happens if they catch you?"
Aladdin winked. "They won't. They're quick, but I'm much faster."
Aladdin made the fair distance leap, rolling as he touched upon the solid ground and grabbed the herbs. But the U-serpents, who weren't as far away as Aladdin had judged, saw him. Ajan pointed a clawed hand towards him.
"Get him! He has the herbs-s!"
Not exactly the getaway I had planned, Aladdin thought, but he ran as fast as he could along the path, with the three in pursuit. Faran still attempted to shoot flamed arrows over toward Jasmine and Carpet as he ran, but his aim was off and the arrows flew past them, from what Aladdin could observe. Jasmine clutched Carpet's rim and flew safely away, managing to go faster than Aladdin could on foot.
Aladdin had to time his running as careful as he could, because large areas of the path ahead of him were missing, and one false step could lead to him falling to certain death in the darkness. That seemed to slow the U-serpents down, because not all of them were able to make the jump just right. 3 pursuits turned to two when Garan realized he couldn't make the jump safely, leaving Ajan and Faran in pursuit.
Yet, when Aladdin reached a gap he knew he couldn't leap across, he skidded to avoid nearly falling over the ledge.
He looked back behind him to see the two U-serpents closing in on him, claws drawn at the ready.
"There's no way for you to escape now, s-street rat!" Ajan hissed. "We'll be cutting those herbs-s from your cold dead hands-s."
Aladdin looked over his shoulder, his nerves on edge, but he managed a smile. "That's what you think."
And he leapt over the edge, plunging into darkness.
At first the U-serpents were stunned by Aladdin's actions, until they looked down the ledge where they saw Jasmine and Carpet had safely caught him a distance down from where he'd leapt. They hissed with irritation.
"You're lucky we didn't go too far ahead of you," Jasmine said, folding her arms across her chest. "I had a feeling you would need us."
Aladdin smiled sheepishly. "Well, at least it worked out okay. Let's get outta here, Carpet."
Carpet gave a thumb's up with one of his knobs before speeding away, leaving Faran and Ajan far behind them.
"I can't shake the feeling the U-serpents were expecting us to be there." Jasmine smoothed a strand of hair away from her face as they sped through the underground tunnels on the way back to the treasure room of the Cave of Wonders.
"Yeah, I felt the same way. I hope Genie and the others didn't have any...Carpet!" Aladdin swallowed back his words when a sudden blast shook the area, and large rocks started to descend upon them. Aladdin and Jasmine both fell a fair distance to the ground of the tunnel. Though safe, they were stunned long enough to realize a section of the path had caved in, blocking them from moving forward.
"What was that?" Jasmine cried when she got her bearings, moving with Aladdin to push a rock that had pinned Carpet to the ground.
"Something caused that cave-in on purpose. I don't know where exactly it came from, but..." Aladdin trailed off, his mind finishing the sentence. We aren't alone.