Chapter 9: Weightless
Aladdin gripped his flaming sword in both hands, staring where the Deathseeker loomed on the edge of the beach. Jasmine stood not too far from Aladdin, catching glimpses of two of the sea demon's limbs above their heads. Most of the Deathseeker's body was covered in actively burning flames. While it howled with pain, it appeared fixated on the group in a trance-like focus.
Aladdin was certain the demon couldn't physically see them, but it definitely knew they were there.
"It's like we're watchin' a gigantic snake about to strike," Iago said in a panic, flapping his wings. "I don't wanna die!"
"Hush, Iago." Aladdin said in a low voice, his line of sight following Jasmine's. He realized the bird was right.
"The demon's already tasted our blood. I wonder if it's trying to choose familiarity over novelty." Arzin said under his breath, though Aladdin realized the man was referring to him as well. The wound on Aladdin's side pulsed with fresh pain. He wondered if sometime while fighting against the Deathseeker he'd reopened the wound.
"What do you think we should do?" Jasmine said in a low voice to Aladdin.
"Genie could come in handy right about now. I wonder what's taking him so long to get back to the surface," Aladdin said.
Jasmine's eyes widened. "You think he's caught in some kind of trap?"
"This whole thing screams TRAP!" Iago said, before realizing his loud voice made the sea demon more irate. Abu covered Iago's beak with both paws, leaving the parrot muttering incoherently.
"Precisely why I thought the bird would've made a perfect sacrifice," Arzin muttered.
Aladdin glared at Arzin out the corner of his eye. It wasn't lost on Aladdin that Arzin had admitted to what he'd done to Iago and Abu. He couldn't place whether or not Arzin had admitted it in a moment of weakness or if he didn't care about getting caught. He wondered if it had anything to do with Arzin's shifting humanity, something the Deathseeker mentioned in Aladdin's nightmare.
The Deathseeker's limbs turned and twisted in mid-air, their spines reflecting the steadily rising sun on the horizon. Aladdin couldn't help but draw parallels of the red light of the rising sun to blood, making think of the nightmare he'd had more recently. It made his skin crawl.
Know this, mortals. the Deathseeker said in a low rumble that made all who stood on the beach feel the weight of the words. Any sacrifice by my choosing will be a source of power for the rebirth of a god.
"Forgive me for being blunt, but I don't think being your sacrifice is such a worthy cause," Aladdin said, his brows narrowed.
The Deathseeker hissed, its teeth bared.
Jasmine stepped forward, nodding towards Aladdin. "None of us wants to be a means to your selfish ends. You underestimate humans if you think we'll fall that easily."
Arzin finally had a grip on his own sword, though his arm continued to bleed from the mangled flesh of his wound. "Do your worst, demon," he said through clenched teeth. "You've no wings to fly...have nowhere but to fall further into the abyss of ruin and the flames upon your flesh. You...are the definition...of a failed god."
ENOUGH! The Deathseeker roared as its limbs descended hard into the earth, kicking up enough sands to cloud over the group, making it hard to see around them.
Aladdin, Jasmine, Arin, Abu, and Iago all coughed from the plume of sand and dirt. Carpet tried valiantly to fly around to clear the murky air, but it was too great to clear but only portions.
Aladdin kept having to close his eyes because the air around them burned from sand and smoke. Of course it would do something like this, I can barely see two steps forward as it is.
"Aladdin?" He heard Jasmine call for him between her own gasps for air. He could just barely make out her form in the haze, but he quickly realized what was readying to strike behind her.
"Jasmine!" Aladdin shouted. Jasmine turned sharply, screaming as one of the sharp sets of teeth narrowly missed clamping down on her shoulder. The set of teeth caught a mouthful of her hair. Aladdin took the opportunity to strike it with his flaming sword, not hard enough to cut through it. It only did enough damage to catch the flesh of the limb aflame, making it release Jasmine's hair in a move that undid her braid.
Aladdin grabbed Jasmine's hand and ran as fast as he could on foot.
"I can't see anything, much less where we're running to!" Jasmine said, coughing furiously. "How do we know we're going the right way?"
Aladdin managed to get enough breath to whistle loudly. He knew Carpet wasn't too far away from the rush of air in front of them. He and Jasmine boarded the half torn flying rug, just before taking to the skies.
They flew above the clouded area, a miniature sandstorm from the sheer force of the Deathseeker striking the ground. They saw Iago and Abu crawl just to the edge of the clearance, coughing furiously. Aladdin directed Carpet to get close enough to them, Aladdin scooping Abu into his arms while Jasmine grabbed Iago by the tail.
"Ow, ow, ow! Easy on the plumage, Princess!" Iago complained just before Jasmine eased him onto Carpet's surface.
"That leaves most of us accounted for, " Aladdin said, but he gasped he saw Arzin lying on the ground, hand clutching his bloody arm as one of the remaining limbs of the Deathseeker hovered close.
"Carpet, take us over there, quick!" Jasmine said. Carpet gave a brief salute with one of his knobs before flying towards Arzin. But Aladdin realized quickly that the Deathseeker had other plans in mind, as two of its unburned limbs readied an attack.
"Carpet, swerve! Swerve!" Aladdin cried. But it was too late as the two limbs, like battering rams, knocked Carpet at full force, causing everyone the rug carried to fall from the sky. Jasmine hit the ground hard enough to rattle her senses. Abu hit the ground not far from where Arzin lay, but recovered quick enough to catch Iago just before the bird crashed into him. Iago heaved a sigh of relief, using his wing to wipe his brow.
Carpet was pinned to the ground by one of the Deathseeker's heavy, though seemingly immovable limbs. Aladdin never made it to the ground, as the one remaining limb that the Deathseeker used caught him midair and coiled around his body like a snake - spines digging hard into his body. He yelled, struggling against the grip of the demon, but for every movement he made, the Deathseeker's grip tightened.
The Deathseeker's laugh echoed along the beach. I warned you, foolish mortal. I will gladly squeeze every last drop of life you have left.
Jasmine watched in horror as blood blossomed on Aladdin's tunic where the demon wrapped its limb around Aladdin's body. But the demon didn't realize that Aladdin had managed to keep his grip on his flaming sword. She watched as Aladdin plunged the sword into the demon's flesh, catching the limb aflame. Jasmine took the opportunity to grab Arzin's flaming sword, plunging it into another part of the Deathseeker to help Aladdin weaken it.
The Deathseeker howled. Before Jasmine could process what the sea demon would do, it released its hold on Aladdin, throwing his body like a limp rag doll towards the ocean.
"Aladdin!" Jasmine cried as he disappeared beneath the waves.
Genie wasn't sure how he became trapped behind the portal he'd fallen through. One moment he'd been tossed into the sea by the Deathseeker. The next a whirlpool underwater had sucked him rapidly onto dry land beyond a magic portal. He realized he was in an underground cove with water lapping against a red clay shoreline. The caves and rocky pathways held the same hue, leading to a twisted pathway that Genie could only see a few lengths beyond. He thought about exploring it for another way out, but he was convinced there had to be a way through the portal that brought him there. He could see the ocean from which he'd come within its shimmering light. However, each time he tried to leap through it, the portal shot him backward like a boomerang. There were at least two rocky impressions of Genie's body in the area opposite the portal where it had slammed him into the wall.
Genie watched as his teeth shattered, leaving his mouth empty. He used his magic and replaced his teeth with a gruff motion. "I've been trapped down here for way too long. Hmmm." He looked down the pathway behind him, noting a long, winding cavern that led the way above ground in whatever dimension he'd landed in.
"Maybe if I give myself enough momentum, I can shoot myself past the portal sucking me back in. It's a little tricky, but it just might work," Genie said. He used his magic to make a series of boomerang bands along the length of the pathway. He pulled himself as far back as he could with all the bands, readying himself to vault through the portal.
After counting to three, Genie launched himself through the portal at a furious speed, hurdling past the pull of the portal trying to suck him into the other dimension. He realized he was a safe enough distance from the portal that he heaved a sigh of relief underwater (after all, Genies can breathe - and speak - underwater).
"Finally! That took way longer than I thought it would." He stopped short as a massive shadow passed close by, blocking what little light that shown through the water. Genie yelped, finding a group of sea barnacles to hide behind as the shadow passed overhead and out of his range.
"The Deathseeker, great!" Genie said under his breath, his voice carrying all the sarcasm he could muster. He removed himself from his hiding place to watch as it drifted away. "So the sea demon managed to get back in the water? Man, after all that time and effort, it's probably weak but not to the point of destroying it...man." He stopped short, his eyes widened in horror. "Wait, if it's down here, then that means...Al...the others! I gotta get back up there!"
Genie began swimming upwards, his legs and feet transforming into webbed animal limbs much like a frog's. It propelled him quickly, enough to where he could've made it to the surface in a good amount of time. Yet, another shadow passed by him, something that Genie caught out the corner of his vision. It wasn't just the shadow that caught Genie's attention, but rather what surrounded the shadow as it quickly descended past him.
"Is that blood?" Genie realized whatever or whomever drifted past him, they were badly wounded. He had a good guess as to what happened.
Genie bristled. "If the Deathseeker did that to them, who knows what else it might do. Better see if I can help them out, if they're even still alive." Genie turned around, realizing that the wounded figure was drifting back down towards the way Genie came. Back to the vortex leading to the magic portal and the other dimension. Genie started swimming faster.
"If I don't get to them soon, they're gonna be stuck in that other world, just like I was! Come on, feet, don't fail me now!" Genie said, picking up his speed as the distance between him and the figure increased. It wasn't until Genie reached a close enough, but just out of reach motion that he was able to finally see whom he was trying to save. The light from the surface of the ocean was dim, but enough to reveal the figure's familiar, tattered, blood stained tunic.
Genie's eyes went wide as he yelled for Aladdin, but it wasn't just the sight of his friend being near death that scared him. The Deathseeker had noticed them at that very moment.
With a howl that vibrated through the deep waters, the sea demon and former sky god headed straight for them.
