Chapter 6: Struggle

Aladdin groaned, rubbing the small of his back as he sat up from where he'd landed. He realized that he couldn't go back up the way he'd came down.

Jasmine and Carpet are still trapped somewhere up there, while I'm stuck down here. Maybe I can find another way to get back to them. Question is: how far does this tunnel go?

Standing was a little harder for him to do, as he used the wall to ease himself to his feet. He was dizzy from the fall, and ached where he'd hit hard against several of the rocks. As far as he could tell though, he managed to be in one piece. No bruises or broken bones - and he'd fallen far enough to have more than a fair share of those.

How was that possible?

Before Aladdin could consider the answer, a voice broke through his thoughts. "Nice of you to drop in, Aladdin. I hope you didn't think I'd let you break your neck before dealing with you personally."

Aladdin whirled around as the familiar figure emerged from shadow. "Mozenrath?"

Mozenrath smiled a little, shrugging casually and scratching his fingers on his chest. "Yes, well, this might be the only time I decided to use my magic to save your pathetic life. Because let's tell it like it is: that was a long fall down. And without your magic carpet to conveniently pick you up - let's consider your position - shall we say - compromised?"

Aladdin folded his arms across his chest, not amused. "What are you doing here? Didn't we leave you and Xerxes running from the Hydra sand monster the last time we saw you?"

Mozenrath's guarded face faltered a moment, surprise turning to anger. "Not even a moment for us meeting again and you're insulting instead of thanking me?"

Aladdin realized then just how much Mozenrath had been a part of their problems from before, let alone the U-serpents. "I don't think I should be thanking you for causing those cave-ins from earlier. Especially since you were trying to kill us."

"Ah, so you noticed?"

"A little hard not to," Aladdin snapped. "Daleel mentioned that a certain sorcerer joined up with the U-serpents in order to get my attention. I'm guessing that's you?"

Mozenrath shrugged. "So it seems. You're here now, aren't you? I'd say at least that part of the plan worked according to schedule."

"You hurt a little kid just to get to me. That's low even for your standards, Mozenrath."

Mozenrath held up his hands. "Actually, I didn't touch the boy. Well, apart from keeping him from running off and telling you of the newly minted arrangement I'd made."

"Well you can consider that arrangement over," Aladdin said, standing to attention.

"Actually," Mozenrath said, his expression turning dark. "I would say it's just beginning."

That set off a warning in Aladdin's mind. He didn't see the U-serpent leaping for him from behind, but he did manage to sidestep the attempt, sending Garan stumbling forward awkwardly, until he landed flat on his face.

Aladdin gained ground, but not before arms clasped around him from behind, and Ajan hissed - his tongue flickering near Aladdin's ear. "It's-s not long before the street rat gets-s caught in the obvious trap, wouldn't you s-say, all?"

Faran came from his shadowy hiding place, hissing with laughter. "You fell for it well, Aladdin."

Aladdin grunted as he struggled against Ajan's grasp, but the U-serpent was much stronger, tightening his grip that made Aladdin wince, his body shuddering with the pain that shot up his spine.

Mozenrath clapped slowly. "Bravo. I must admit I'm enjoying seeing the life being crushed out of you, Aladdin. And the U-serpents have promised me that you'll have an agonizing death. I'm just the spectator."

"You should learn to fight your own battles," Aladdin said through clenched teeth.

Mozenrath pretended to yawn. "Arguments, arguments. You're on the losing end here. There's one of you, and four of us -"

"Make that five!" A voice came from a fair distance in the darkness. A panting Xerxes came into view, seemingly out of breath.

Mozenrath rolled his eyes. "Xerxes, you're late. I told you the schedule plainly - you get the herbs from the monkey and parrot, and then you arrive back here to watch Aladdin die. Is that too much to ask?"

At first Aladdin was weirded out by the morbid schedule that Mozenrath proposed, but the mention of Iago and Abu made his nerves stand on end.

"You did at least get the herbs from them, didn't you?" Mozenrath continued.

Xerxes looked hesitant. "Uh, plan did not go as planned."

"What?" Mozenrath's tone was flat and annoyed. "Must you always fail on the one little task I demand of you?" Mozenrath aimed a blast of dark sand magic with his glove at a rock that was near Xerxes. Xerxes made a shrill shriek, before darting away as the blast barely missed him.

Aladdin grinned. "Pretty pathetic when your lackey can't even steal a bag of herbs, Mozenrath."

To Aladdin's surprise, Mozenrath smiled. "We may not have been able to take theirs, but we can certainly take yours. After all, yours is just one of the pieces determining whether that brat lives blind or dies."

Aladdin shrugged casually, but his insides turned at the mention of Daleel's condition. He didn't want to give Mozenrath or the U-serpents the satisfaction. "Well, you might be disappointed then. I don't have them."

Ajan hissed, tightening his grip around Aladdin, which made the Prince wince. "S-stop lying, fool. We s-saw you earlier grab them when the Princess-s dropped them."

"Might've had them then, but I don't have them now. For all you know, Carpet and Jasmine are heading back now to give Daleel their part of the cure, and there's not much you guys can do about it. " Aladdin recalled giving the herbs back to Jasmine when they'd reunited. Part of him was glad he hadn't held onto them, knowing the situation he was in at present.

Mozenrath scoffed. "Your bluffing might work on these snakes, but not on me." At that moment, Mozenrath used his magic glove to send a spiral of dark magic, striking Aladdin even as Ajan held him. The blast was so great that it knocked both of them against the wall, even as Aladdin took the most of it.

"Watch where you're aiming your magic, s-sorcerer." Ajan snapped, recovering faster than Aladdin, who coughed as he knelt on the ground. "You're fortunate that I have thick s-skin. Besides, we had an agreement about who was to kill him."

These guys talk too much, Aladdin thought, wondering also if there was any clear way he could get out of there before they decided to do anything.

As if on cue, an odd melody started to play, echoing along the walls of the underground. It caught Mozenrath and Xerxes by surprise, but didn't seem to have any effect on them.

On the U-serpents, however, the melody might as well been a series of explosions. The snake beings held their hands over their heads, as if to block out the melody.

"Make it s-stop!" Ajan hissed, holding his own head.

Okay, I guess that's a lucky break, Aladdin thought, and used his momentum to run to the nearest turn in the path. Mozenrath noticed.

"He's getting away!" Mozenrath aimed another timely blast toward Aladdin's direction, but Aladdin had the advantage of speed and dodging behind one of the hissing U-serpents. So the blast ended up hitting Garan's leg instead of its intended target. And from the hiss the U-serpent gave, Aladdin figured Garan wasn't happy about that.

But he wasn't going to stick around long enough to find out.

Daleel realized his snake disenchanter flute had its intended effect from the shouts and hisses he heard a distance away. He realized he needed to do something since his magic had teleported him close to where Aladdin had been, though it'd taken him some time to figure out what to do after seeing a brief vision of events. It wasn't easy crafting such a careful spell when he could barely see the path in front of him and felt dizzy enough to fall over.

He leaned against the wall of the Cave of Wonders underground, playing the melody carefully. Closing his eyes helped, but every so often he would open them to make sure that no one was too close to catch him off guard.

He realized that someone was indeed approaching his direction from the sound of steps echoing through the way. He wasn't sure whether it was friend or foe, so he stopped the melody and retreated into his hiding place. It was hard for the boy to scramble up the rock and get into a position where he could look over anyone that might be coming up the path, but he managed to just get on the ledge when he saw Aladdin running into the area. Xerxes wasn't far behind him. And that meant Mozenrath wouldn't be too far either.

Daleel tried to think of another spell he could use to stop the flying creature. It didn't take him too long. Something quick, easy, and - more importantly - sticky.

Xerxes was close enough on Aladdin's trail that Daleel decided he'd throw the spell ahead of when he originally wanted to. He chanted a few words, cupped his hands in front of him, and threw the ball of light down into the area.

The magic spread into a net of sticky web that trapped Xerxes against a nearby wall.

"Hey! Stuck. Let out! Let out!" Xerxes cried.

Aladdin turned around, scratching his head at the sight of Xerxes. "Where did that come from? If I didn't know any better, I'd say someone was definitely helping me. I wish I knew who." Aladdin seemed to look around the area to see if anyone was there, but he didn't notice Daleel's hiding place.

"In any case, I need to find Jasmine and Carpet before anything else happens. We've gotta get those herbs back to Safir before Daleel gets any worse."

Daleel felt a knot in his gut twist further at Aladdin's words. He was glad to be there to help Aladdin, but he felt guilty leaving Safir, Genie and the others behind. But he knew what he had to do.

At a safe distance, the boy followed the Prince, determined to make sure that none of the terrifying visions he'd come to see of their demise would happen. He just had to hold on long enough to make sure of it.