A/N: Hi, everyone! I know you're sick of hearing it, but I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update. I started college in September, and the stress of that and life in general have left me with no free time to do what I love doing most. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to all the people who have reviewed and subscribed to the story while I've been gone. You kept it fresh in my mind and reminded me that there are people out there who care what happens and want me to finish this. And I want to finish it too. So, without further ado, here is Chapter 10! Enjoy, and as always, don't forget to review!

Chapter 10: Blood in the Sand

It was worse than any monster Aladdin had ever faced. It was enormous, its long curved spine nearly reaching the tops of the labyrinth's walls. It resembled a jackal, but it was at least ten times the size of the emaciated dogs that roamed the desert. And there was another difference – as it drew closer, Aladdin saw that it was made entirely of black sand. Obviously it was some sort of hybrid, created by the collective powers of Mozenrath and Mirage.

He drew his sword out of instinct, realizing too late that it wouldn't do much good. While the body of the jackal was made of black sand, his teeth and claws were as sharp as those of a real jackal. It shifted towards him slowly, its weight pressing heavily on the ground with each step. Drool dripped from its open, panting mouth. Whatever this creature ate, it acted as if it hadn't had a meal in days, and Aladdin was exactly what it had been searching for.

Aladdin began to move away, each step backward matching the jackal's step forward. His horror came not from the creature's size, nor even its sharp teeth and claws. It was the growling, that slow, penetrating rumble so loud against the silence of the maze. In the peaceful year or so after he and Jasmine were married, he had almost forgotten what it was like to feel this kind of fear. But the memory of it was returning with sickening speed.

The jackal's first move was so swift Aladdin didn't see it coming. It lunged forward and pounced, one large paw hitting him squarely in the chest and pushing him to the floor. His vision was blinded by a brief white flash as flesh and bone smashed against stone. The back of his head throbbed, but thankfully he did not lose consciousness. The jackal's face quickly swirled back into focus, and this time it was much closer to Aladdin than it had been before. It leaned its head forward and stared down at him, its yellow eyes gleaming with hunger.

As his awareness returned, Aladdin attempted to squirm out from under the creature's paw, but despite being made out of sand, it was much too thick and heavy to push off. The jackal grew angry as his dinner attempted to escape him, and pressed its paw harder into Aladdin's chest, cutting off his airway. His eyes widened as his body attempted to adjust to this new shock, and his squirming became more erratic. Every few seconds, he managed to push one gulp of air into his lungs, but it was not enough, not nearly enough. He felt himself growing weaker, and moved his eyes away from the monster that was suffocating him and up toward the night sky. He knew then that he would die, because the gulps of air were coming slower and slower and the last bit of fight within him was leaving.

The sky looked beautiful, covered in stars with the moon shining. And for no reason at all, his mind went back to the night he and Jasmine had flown through that same sky, past those same stars. He had loved her with a ferocity he had scarcely believed was possible, and only when they kissed for the first time on her balcony did he dare to think that she might feel the same way. Where was she now? Was she thinking of him too? Now he would never know. Unless…

It was in Aladdin's last few moments of lucidity that he remembered that his sword was still gripped tightly in his hand. Somehow he had managed to hold onto it when he was pushed down. He didn't know what good it would do him now, but he wasn't about to let himself die when there was still a chance he could get out of this alive. And he had promised Jasmine. That was the one thing he had forgotten in those last moments of despair; it was the one thing that had brought her anywhere close to accepting his decision. He couldn't give up now without at least attempting to keep that last promise, the one they held onto when they said goodbye.

With one swift swing that took the last of his energy, he drove the sword into the Jackal's ankle, and to his surprise, it worked. The creature shrieked in pain and dragged its aching paw off his torso. His body did the work from there, absorbing air into his lungs as fast as it could. He coughed at the effort – the desert air was so dry, and he was so thirsty. He pulled himself onto his feet, which took more effort than usual. The sword seemed to weigh so much more now than it had before as he lifted it into the air to keep the jackal away. He had angered it, and now it was stronger than ever. Apparently, it healed quickly with no flesh or bone to hold it together.

It lunged for him again, but this time he dodged it and missed by inches. His luck didn't last very long – the creature was clever and knew how to bring him down. A lightning fast paw raced through the air and its claws slashed Aladdin's rib cage. He fell to the ground again, this time face forward. One arm wrapped around his wounds tightly; he hadn't felt them at the first strike, but now they began to burn – and bleed.

His heart was pounding, which only seemed to make him bleed faster. He tried to calm his breathing as he got back up, one arm out against the nearest wall to support him, the other clutched tightly around the gashes across his midsection. He and the jackal circled one another for a few moments, until for once Aladdin was the first to strike. The sword struck the creature's jaw this time, and again it seemed to feel pain. But within moments, the wound was healed, and his yellow eyes glared in Aladdin's direction again.

He was losing hope now, starting to feel stupid for not letting this thing kill him before. The loss of air had not been nearly as painful as the scratches were. As he kept moving, backing further and further into the maze to keep a safe distance away, he tried to think. Mozenrath and Mirage were both evil, but for this challenge, they had added a hint of fairness – they had said these creatures were beatable. Or at least they had implied it. So though it seemed impossible, there was a way to defeat this thing, if only he could figure out how. There was only one thing he hadn't tried, one place he could wound it where perhaps it would not heal. For all its magical properties, this thing was still at least part animal, and an animal had to have a heart.

They continued to circle one another for what seemed like an eternity, each occasionally attempting to strike the other without actually landing any blows. Aladdin tried to steady his breathing and calm his nerves. The aching pain had slowed down to a dull ache now that his focus was on something else. He knew his next move would be a huge risk, but he could not play this game forever. It was time to see if his years on the streets had taught him enough to survive this.

He allowed them to pace for a few more moments, then used the element of surprise to swiftly slide under the beast's belly and throw the sword straight into his chest. He ran under the jackal's hind legs to get out of the way in case it didn't work, but it took only a few moments to realize that it had. The beast staggered and stumbled in a twisted dance, panting and growling the entire time, until finally it collapsed on its side, and everything was still.

Aladdin did not move for several minutes, for fear that the moment he did, the beast would wake up and the nightmare would begin again. But then he took one small step forward, then another, and another, until finally he stood near the head of the beast. Its eyes were closed, its mouth opened slightly to reveal its many sharp teeth. There was no breath, no panting, and he knew then that it was dead. He grabbed his sword, which was still protruding from the jackal's chest, and with a rough pull that killed his ribs, he yanked the sword out. The moment it left the body, it disintegrated into a sea of black sand, spreading all over the floor and covering Aladdin's ankles. His victory was complete. He collapsed on his knees, the black sand providing the closest thing to a soft surface he'd had since he arrived, and turned his attention to finding a way to patch up his wounds.

Mirage stared in disbelief at the portal before her. This couldn't be possible. He was half dead by the time he finally killed her precious creation, and still he survived! She and Mozenrath had both thought that he would never find a way to defeat the jackal. He would be so focused on heroics, on landing blow after blow in his attempts to kill it, that he would be dead before he had a chance to land the one blow that would save him. But they were wrong. Mozenrath was not going to be happy about this. Mirage had assured him that Aladdin was as good as dead, and that was hardly true anymore.

But why worry about him? Mozenrath had been missing for days, never bothering to visit again after his awkward trip to Morbia a few days before. She was sure the Princess was somehow involved, but there was not much she could do now. It wouldn't matter if she found Mozenrath in Agrabah and defeated him, as she so longed to do. If Aladdin survived, all her hard work would come to nothing. No, she would not face Mozenrath just yet. Instead she would focus her time, her anger, and her energy on making sure Aladdin did not live. As long as he did, she had no guarantee that her dreams of being queen would ever come true…

A/N: It's nearly 2AM, and I'm finally finished! This was a big step out of my comfort zone – before this chapter, practically all of my writing was Romance/Angst related. Hopefully my first attempts at writing action scenes have been successful. I really hope you guys liked this, and please review! I'll be home for awhile on Christmas break, so I don't think you'll have to wait as long for an update this time.