"Now, concentrate."
Xania sighed. "I did last time, and it didn't work."
"You didn't concentrate hard enough. Now try again."
Xania closed her eyes, and tried to make a ball of energy in her hands.
A few purple sparks flew, but nothing else happened.
"I can't do it," Xania pouted. "I've never been able to do it."
Mozenrath came over to her, and took her hand in his.
"Perhaps you're not used to having magic flow through your hands. Here." He sent a small amount of his bluish-black magic through her body.
"Ow!"
"Now, try to send that back to me," Mozenrath commanded, ignoring her cry of pain.
Xania closed her eyes, and concentrated hard. Mozenrath felt a little magic flow to his fingertips.
"It's a start. Try again."
She tried again, this time sending a slightly larger amount of magic.
"Better. Once more."
Xania closed her eyes, and gave it all she had. Mozenrath smiled in satisfaction as the magic climbed slightly past his knuckles.
"Excellent. You're making progress."
Mozenrath's sister smiled as she released her brother's hand.
"That's tiring. Did Destain make you practice like that?"
"No. I was much more advanced than that when I came here. I learned the low level magic with father."
"I wish I could have been able to learn magic with you and father. I could have lived here and been taught by Destane too."
"Believe me, you wouldn't have wanted to know Destaine."
"Why not?" When Mozenrath did not answer, Xania shrugged. "Well anyway, I'm going down to the kitchen. You want something?"
"Maybe later. Go on. And don't make a mess."
"I won't"
Xania skipped off down the hall with Xerxes close behind.
Mozenrath snorted in disgust. 'She still has too much energy. Hopefully it will be put to a good use in her magic,' he thought.
The sorcerer had decided to attempt to teach his sister some basic magic and study her healing power in the process. She was slowly improving, but at least she was making progress. Their father hadn't been able to teach her at all. Mozenrath smiled, realizing he was able to teach when his father had not. Actually, he was finding it pleasurable to teach. It was something new that he had never had the opportunity to do.
Xerxes flew into the room an hour later, and circled around the sorcerer.
"We fix lunch."
"Very well. Lead the way. But you two better have not distroyed the kitchen."
When Mozenrath entered the dining hall, he was amazed to see the table set with plates of delicious-smelling food placed upon it.
"Who taught you to cook?"
Xania smiled as she stepped out of the kitchen, carrying a bowl of rice.
"Mother taught me mostly. But I learned other recipes through our caravan. Sit down."
Mozenrath obeyed, noticing that there were three plates on the table.
"Who's that for?"
"Why, Xerxes, of course!" Xania smiled.
"No animals at the table," Mozenrath stated. "He hunts for rats around the citadel."
"Well, this will be a treat for him, won't it?" Xania giggled, patting Xerxes on the head.
The eel wrapped himself around her shoulders."Me like master's sibling."
"You like anyone who feeds you," Mozenrath shot back. "Ungrateful flying slug."
Xania scratched Xerxes' back before pouring some food into the plate she had set out for him. The eel launched himself from her shoulders, and practically dived into the food. Xania giggled at him as she walked over to her plate and gave herself portions of the food. Then she walked towards the other end of the long table and started dishing out food to her brother.
"I can serve myself," he snapped, taking the bowl from her.
"Suit yourself."
Mozenrath glared at her, angry that he couldn't make -her- angry. The 'happy' family ate in silence, thinking their own thoughts.
"So, what are we going to do after lunch?" Xania asked, taking the last bite of her meal.
"Well, I don't know or care what you're going to do, but I am going to look through Jafar's spell books."
"Can I go outside?"
"I thought I just said that I don't care what you do."
"Okay."
Xania stood up, and walked down the hallway to the citadel's doorway.
"Xerxes, go keep an eye on her," Mozenrath commanded.
----------
Outside, the land was just as dark - which was strange because it was the middle of the day. Xania sat under a tree, thinking her own thoughts.
"Master's sibling okay?"
Xania saw the eel come flying towards her.
"I'm fine, Xerxes."
He wrapped himself around her shoulders.
"Does my brother always act so grumpy?"
"Always."
"Well, I say he needs an attitude adjustment. I don't know what his problem is, but he needs to fix it."
A mamluck walked by, glancing at Mozenrath's sister as he passed. Xania shrank away from the undead servant, and wearily watched it pass.
"That one was a slightly different color than the other mamlucks. Why?"
Xerxes flew in front of Xania's face. "That Destain."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mozenrath looked through the old book carefully. One spell caught his eye. It said it was able to restore anything damaged. Mozenrath looked over the pages once more to be sure he had read it correctly and took off his gauntlet. He closed his eyes and chanted the magical words that he hoped would restore his skeletal hand.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xania watched as a errie blue light surrounded the mamluck. It grew brighter and brighter, and finally, the mamluck fell to the ground.
"Um, are they supposed to do that?" she nervously asked Xerxes.
Suddenly, something grabbed her from behind. Xania screamed, and Xerxes shouted in surprise as a hand grabbed him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mozenrath growled angrily when he saw his hand had not changed.
"Wretched book!" He shouted as he threw it across the room.
A low voice from behind the sorcerer spoke: "Oh, Mozey, look at what a mess you've made of my library."
A chill went up Mozenrath's spine as he recognized the voice. Turning around, he saw what he had feared.
"Destain? How did you..."
"Whatever spell you just tried restored me," he grinned. "Oh, and I believe this is yours." He motioned to someone behind him, and a guard entered the room caring a body. Mozenrath grew pale at the sight. There was Xania, with a dagger wound in her chest. She was dead.
Destain smiled evilly. "Oh, so sorry, Mozey. I didn't know the little urchin meant anything to you." He produced a blood-stained dagger from behind his back and admired it. "She was quite easy to kill. It just took one stab . . ."
"You lousy, flea ridden, decomposing jackal!" Mozenrath shouted. He launched himself at Destain, hurling magic at him.
The older sorcerer knocked him down after deflecting his magic.
"You thought you had rid yourself of me long ago, but now I'm back. Oh, and I'm going to make your life a living nightmare."
Mozenrath glared at his old master, his face clearly showing the hate he had for him. "You'll pay for this. When I get a hold of you, I won't be so kind as to turn you into a mamluck. I'll simply kill you."
"Dear boy," Destain laughed, "you will never get a second chance. I'll make sure of that. Kaval, take the girl's body away."
A large man, who Mozenrath recognized as a former mamluck, carried Xania out of the room. The older sorcerer laughed at the expression on his former pupil's face.
"What's the matter? Did you actually have feelings for your little sister? I thought you had been taught to care for no one. Going soft are you, Mozey?" A large black wolf strolled up to Destain, and licked his chops. "Oh, and your little flying eel made a tasty snack for my familiar."
Mozenrath could do nothing but sit numbly as he absorbed all that had happened in just those few minutes.
"Kaval? Lenat? Take little Mozey to his cell. Oh, and you won't be needing this anymore," Destain smirked as he hit Mozenrath with a blast of magic and then removed the gauntlet from his hand. "Don't worry. If you behave, I might consider turning you into a mamluck for a while - until I tire of you."
"I'd rather die than serve you," Mozenrath growled.
"So be it. Your execution will be tomorrow. I'll let your conscience drive you mad knowing that your spell killed the only family you had left."
The large men drug Mozenrath to the dungeon, with Destain lurking behind.
Destain grinned evilly as he watched Mozenrath being dragged away. He walked up the stairs and into the tallest tower of the citadel. He unlocked a door and stepped inside. Xania was sitting on the bed, with Xerxes around her shoulders.
"What have you done to my brother?" Xania demanded.
Destain smiled as he entered the room and locked the door behind him.
"He's down in the dungeon. You should have seen his face when he
saw you dead."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, not much. I only created a mirage of you with a dagger wound. He never did learn how to tell mirages from reality. He even believed his little eel was dead."
Xania jumped up, and hit him as hard as she could. "You monster!" she shouted.
Destain laughed, and threw her into the wall with a blast of his green magic.
"Be warned, girl. It is not wise to anger one who has control over your fate as well as your brother's."
Xania glared up at the sorcerer as he cackled evilly.
"Mozenrath preferred his death over being a undead servant. I have scheduled his execution for tomorrow. And you, my pretty one," Desdain grinned, taking her chin in one hand "will meet your fate afterwards."
He disappeared in a ball of green flames, leaving Xania alone with Xerxes.
Xania looked around the room, looking for a way to escape. Spotting the window,she ran over to it and crawled out. Xania hung on to the ledge, looking for a foothold. When she found one, she slowly started moving away from the window.
"Come on, Xerxes, we've got to save Mozenrath!"
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Mozenrath sat in the dark prison, silently thinking about all he had lost because of one little spell gone wrong. His citadel, his kingdom, his power, Xerxes, and Xania . . . all had been brutally torn away from him in just a few hours. That horrible feeling of being alone crept over him. He hated that feeling. One of the reasons he had obtained Xerxes was because he hated being alone.
Mozenrath watched a rat scurry across the floor of the dungeon as he absently drew a design in the sand with his skeletal hand. Desdain had taken away the gauntlet, so his magic was very weak, if he had any left at all.
He had to get out of here somehow, and take Desdain by surprise. That was the way he had done it last time; he could do it again. Mozenrath stood and walked around the dungeon, looking for any weaknesses in the stone.
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Xania let out a little shriek as she slipped on the slick roofing. She managed to catch herself before falling off of the citadel. Xerxes swam up to her.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine," Xania said as she pulled herself up. "Keep going."
Xania looked below her. "Okay, where do we go now?" She noticed an open window just out of reach and pointed to it. "If we can get to that window . . ."
"I carry you?" Xerxes offered.
Xania smiled, "I think I'm a little too heavy for you."
"No, I hold on back of dress, and carry you over."
"Xerxes . . ."
"I do that to master when he fall in evil black sand."
"You've carried Mozenrath?" When he nodded, she looked at the window once more. "Okay. Let's try it."
Xania held on as the eel grabbed the neck of her dress. When he signaled that he was ready, she slowly let go of the ledge. Xerxes lowered her gently towards the window.
When she came within a few inches of it, she grabbed it and pulled herself inside. Xerxes let out a sigh of relief as he glided into Xania's arms.
"Tired," he mumbled.
"I know. So am I, but we've got to keep going."
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"Curse this citadel!" Mozenrath shouted, kicking the wall.
There were no secret passages anywhere, and he couldn't even hurl a bolt of magic to relieve his anger. He leaned back against a wall, and lowered himself to the ground. This was looking more and more hopeless by the hour.
"If I do get out of this, I'm destroying all of my mamlucks. Starting with Desdain."
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Destain's large wolf growled when it spotted the girl and the flying eel walking through the hallway. Xania gasped and bolted down another hall with Xerxes close behind. She darted into a side room and, finding no better hiding place, crawled underneath a table. Xerxes swam to her, wrapping himself around her shoulders. Only when they were sure the wolf had lost them, did they slide out.
Xania looked around the room, seeing rows of books everywhere. "The library?" she asked Xerxes. When he nodded, she pulled out a book and flipped through its pages, hoping to find anything that she could use. Finding nothing useful in it, she put the book away and looked for anything else. She saw a small dagger on one of the bookshelves and picked it up, thinking she could at least defend herself against Destain's guards if they found them.
Suddenly, a howl erupted from the hallway, and Xania and Xerxes darted under the table once more. Three guards ran into the library. They tore apart the room and found the girl and eel hiding under the wooden table. The wolf stood proudly in the doorway, watching the guards seize the victims.
Remembering the dagger, Xania lashed out at a guard, managing to slice him on the arm. She got in a couple of good slashes before the weapon was knocked out of her hand and her arms were twisted behind her back. Xerxes bit at the guards, but was soon captured. The men dragged the girl out towards the throne room.
Destain was on the throne, smiling as he watched the guards bring the prisoners to him. He stood as they approached him, and walked down to be face to face with Xania.
"Well, well, well. What have we got here? An escape attempt? Through the window I suppose? I knew one might get out that way, but I didn't anticipate you being smart enough to figure it out." He laughed when Xania glared at him. "I suppose you might have a few brains in that pretty little head of yours. Guards, go board up that window and take these two back up to their room."
Xania was marched back up to her room and thrown into it. She picked herself up off of the floor and walked over to the window again. It was covered with a piece of wood that was nailed to the inside.
"We have to at least let Mozenrath know we're okay," Xania said as she tried to pull on the wood. It wouldn't budge.
Xerxes flew up to her, circling her frantically. "Try magic! Try magic!"
Xania obediently put her hands on the board and concentrated as hard as she could.
"Come on, come on," she whispered
The board gave way slightly, and a small space was created between
the board and window.
"Xerxes, can you fit through that?"
The eel cautiously stuck his head through the hole, and tried to pull his body through.
"Too small!" he whispered.
"Hang on, Xerxes." Xania pulled on the board, and pushed on him, finally managing to squeeze the eel through the small space.
"I out!"
"Okay, find Mozenrath. Let him know we're okay. Stay with him, but don't let anyone else see you. Oh, and try not to scare him to death; he thinks you're dead."
Xerxes nodded as he flew off towards the dungeons. Xania sat on the bed, trying to think of how she could get to her brother. Her magic was much too weak to do anything big. Perhaps there was a secret panel in the wall that would lead her somewhere.
Hours passed, and still she found nothing. As Xania continued to look around, Desdain unlocked her door and stepped in.
"There are no secret passages in this part of the citadel, if that is what you're looking for," he stated.
Xania quickly turned around to face the sorcerer. Desdain's black wolf gracefully walked into the room, and sat at his master's left side.
Desdain frowned at her. "You know, if you continue to attempt escaping, I might have to execute you along with your brother." He produced Xerxes from behind his back, who had blood dripping down his body. "And I believe this is yours." The eel weakly lifted himself into the air and swam over to Xania.
"He's lucky I found him before my familiar destroyed him," Desdain said heartlessly. Noticing the hole in the board on the window, he sent a blast of his magic towards it.
"No, no, no. We can't have any of that." When the magic dissolved, there was no window left; it had turned into a solid wall.
"Good day to you, sister of Mozenrath. Perhaps if you behave, I'll let you watch your brother's execution." He grinned as he and his familiar walked out the door. Desdain locked it behind them.
Xania heard Desdain command his wolf to guard her door, and to alert him if anything alarming happened.
Carrying Xerxes, Xania sank to the floor, tears spilling from her eyes.
"This isn't fair!" she cried, "I finally find my brother, and now I loose him two days after I find him!"
Xerxes squirmed in her arms. "I hurt," he moaned.
"Oh, Xerxes, I forgot I could heal. Here, hold still." Xania concentrated, and soon, the bleeding had stopped, but the cuts remained. "That's all I can do. The rest will have to heal on its own."
Ignoring the eel flying happily around the room, she walked over to the wall where the window used to be. After wiping her tears away, she placed her hands on the wall and threw out a small amount of purple magic. Nothing happened.
"Mozenrath's got only a few more hours to live. He's going to be executed in the morning. Maybe, if I use my magic on it all night, the window will return and we can crawl out again."
"Sound good," Xerxes agreed.
"All right. I'll get to work on the window, and you can look around the room for any secret passages in case Destain was lying about them."
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Mozenrath sighed. He had given up. There was no way out. He was cold and wet from the rain leaking in from the barred windows and had no desire to try to escape any more. The sorcerer
leaned against the cold, hard wall and closed his eyes. There was no hope of surviving this.
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The sun was starting to rise when Xania dropped to the floor in exhaustion.
"This isn't working!" she shouted in frustration. She pounded her fists on the wall and started crying. Xerxes glided over to her, wrapping himself around her shoulders to comfort her. "Try again?"
"No. I can't do magic. I never could do magic and I never will be able to do magic."
"But master teach you. You got better."
Xania sighed. "Yeah, but . . ." She stopped in mid sentence when a drop of liquid hit her on the head. She looked up to see a wet spot in the ceiling. "Praise Allah!" she shouted, jumping to her feet. "Xerxes, help me pile stuff under that spot. There must be a rotten board up there!"
They pushed the furniture around and soon they had a tower of it reaching up to the ceiling. Xania carefully climbed to the top while Xerxes kept close so that he could catch her in case she should fall. When she reached the top, she pounded her fists on the wet spot on the ceiling, causing pieces to break off.
"Yes!" Xania said as she continued breaking off pieces.
Soon, the hole was large enough for Xania to slip though. She jumped up and crawled through the hole, with Xerxes close behind. Xania did not wait to catch her breath; she crawled out onto the ceiling, and hung onto the ledge, looking for a foothold.
"Come on, Xerxes, the sun is rising higher. Desdain will be taking Mozenrath to the executioner's block."
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Mozenrath was awakened by the sound of the dungeon door being flung open. Desdain sent a burst of magic hurling towards Mozenrath, which dissolved into shackles that locked onto his wrists.
"Rise and shine, little Mozey," Desdain grinned. "It's execution time!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Desdain smiled in satisfaction as he marched Mozenrath up the narrow stairs to the executioner's block.
Mozenrath stopped as Desdain's familiar ran towards them.
"What's this?" Desdain said, agitated. "You're supposed to be on guard duty."
After trying to understand what the wolf was trying to say, Desdain frowned even deeper.
"They've escaped? How? I blocked off all the passageways. The eel couldn't slip through any of the holes in the building..."
"Eel?" Mozenrath questioned, looking back at his old teacher. "Xerxes?"
Desdain smiled evilly. "Yes. And you little sister too. They aren't dead."
"But...the body..."
"A mirage, boy. Gave you quite a scare, didn't I? Apparently your sister and your familiar escaped somehow, but no matter. We will hunt them down after we kill you."
Mozenrath instinctively made a fist with his skeletal hand.
"You lousy jackal!" He hurled all of the magic he had collected in his hand at the older sorcerer, but because he was not wearing his gauntlet, only a few small sparks came out.
"You are nothing without your gauntlet, boy," Desdain laughed as Mozenrath's magic faded before it touched him. "Why don't you just face the facts? You are defeated."
Mozenrath skowled as he was marched out of the citadel. Xania would try something here. She wouldn't have escaped if she hadn't planned to try to free him. Where was she? Had Desdain lied about she and Xerxes being alive?
Desdain hit Mozenrath with a powerful surge of green magic that knocked him to his knees. When the ringing in his head stopped, he saw that his old master had made him kneel in front of the chopping block.
Desdain smiled evilly as he held Mozenrath in place and held a large blade in the air with his magic.
"Any last words, little Mozey?"
Mozenrath was about to shout a few curses at the man, when he saw a small, feminine figure behind Desdain. She held a finger to her lips as she snuck behind him.
"Well, my dear old teacher, I'd just like to thank you for instructing me in magic all those years...and advising me to wear the gauntlet."
"Ah, yes, the gauntlet," Desdain smiled. He made it magically appear in his hand, and looked it over. "You must be grateful to be rid of it. The horrible thing must have been painful."
Xania crept towards the sorcerer, and waited silently behind him.
"Well, I'm afraid you time here is over, Mozey," Desdain announced. "Prepare to meet your doom."
Before he could do anything, Xania grabbed the gauntlet from him. Desdain whirled around and spotted the thief.
"YOU!"
The blade dropped, but not before Mozenrath moved out of the way. Desdain grabbed Xania, and she threw the gauntlet in the air.
"Xerxes, catch!" she shouted.
The eel caught the glove sailing through the air, and tossed it to Mozenrath. It hit the ground at his feet. He swiftly placed it on his hand, and the shackles melted from his wrists and fell to the ground.
"Sweet revenge," he smiled.
"Not so fast, boy," Desdain snarled. "I have something you might be interested in."
Mozenrath looked up to see Xania's shoulders being held tightly by his old teacher.
"Give me the gauntlet, and you can have the girl," Desdain said roughly. To make his point, he sent a wave of magic through Xania. She gritted her teeth against the pain.
"Come on, Mozey." Desdain taunted. "You know how much it hurt when I did this to you. Do you really want her to suffer like that?"
When Mozenrath didn't answer, a stronger wave of green magic went through the girl and she let out a cry of pain.
Mozenrath glared as he held out his gauntleted hand. "Here, take it."
"I'm not stupid, boy. Take it off yourself and hand it to me."
He pulled the gauntlet off of his skeletal hand and held it out to Desdain. The older man grabbed it and grinned evilly down at the girl in his arms. He sent a powerful surge of magic through her body and then released her as she let out a small cry and fell unconscious to the ground.
"Now, where were we?" the sorcerer said as he grinned at Mozenrath's angry face. "Ah, yes. I was about to kill you, wasn't I, Mozey?" He stepped over Xania's motionless body and advanced towards his former student. A blast of green magic hit Mozenrath, sending him flying backwards several feet. He picked himself up and dodged another blast that was coming straight for his head.
Behind the commotion, Xerxes was nudging Xania's face as she fought to regain consciousness. The girl groaned and sat up, gasping when she saw the flashes of green magic directed at her brother. She looked around for any way to help, her gaze finally falling on the gauntlet in Desdain's hand.
"Xerxes, get the gauntlet," she said weakly as she struggled to stand up.
He obediently swam over to the sorcerer and snatched it from him. The eel tossed the gauntlet to Xania, and it landed at her feet.
Destain growled as he turned to face the girl. "You are beginning to get annoying, little witch."
Doing the only thing she could think of, Xania grabbed the gauntlet and after hesitating a moment, put it on her hand.
Instantly, an enormous surge of pure white energy engulfed the gauntlet and her body, momentarily blinding everyone. She let out a screech as an overwhelming burning sensation ripped through her body. As the light dimmed to a faint glow and then flickered out, Xania wearily dropped to her hands and knees, gasping for air. Taking advantage of the two men being in shock at the magical display, she raised her gauntleted hand and sent a blast of purple magic hurling at Desdain. It knocked him several feet in the air, and he landed on his back on the sand. Mozenrath, just then regaining his wits, stood and ran over to Xania.
"Get that thing off, NOW!" he shouted.
Xania collapsed, exhausted from her magical outburst. Mozenrath caught her just before she hit the sand. He knelt beside her and practically ripped the gauntlet off of her hand.
"NEVER put this thing on! Do you understand me?!" he demanded, supporting her head with one arm and waving the gauntlet in her face with the other. "This thing will distroy you! Don't you EVER touch it again!"
"Since when do you care about me?" she asked, smiling.
Mozenrath ignored her question, pretending to be more interested in Desdain's unconscious form. He gently laid his sister's head on the sand and strutted over to the older man. He smiled sarcastically as he held out his hand.
"Here, let me help you up, old friend."
Desdain, just then starting to regain consciousness, growled as he grabbed at the gauntlet, but before he could pull it off, Mozenrath sent a large wave of bluish-black magic through him. Desdain, not expecting the attack, yelled in pain. Mozenrath glared at his old master.
"Don't -ever- call me Mozey."
In a bolt of magic of enormous power, Desdain and the former mamlucks were nothing more than piles of black dust, hardly noticeable in the swirling black sand.
Mozenrath wearily dropped to his knees, his whole body burning from the blast. He felt totally drained. That had taken a lot out of him.
Xania made her way over to him, and dropped to her knees at his side.
"Are you okay?"
"Could be better," Mozenrath groaned.
"Here, let me heal you."
Xania started to try her magic, but her brother stopped her.
"No. You've already used way more magic than you're used to. You're going to kill yourself if you do much more."
"But, you're hurt."
Mozenrath shook his head. "I'll be fine."
Xania hugged her brother tightly as she looked over the black soot that had been Desdain. As she did so, Mozenrath started to pull away in discust, but he stopped as he felt an odd sensation in his chest. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. It wasn't a pain, although his chest was also burning from his magic. It was more of a pleasurable feeling. Could it be the peace knowing that his former master was gone forever? Or was it something more than that? Whatever it was, he remembered had not felt it in a very long time.
Mozenrath sighed as he awkwardly hugged her back with his good arm, feeling somewhat foolish. But somehow, the kingdom didn't seem quite so empty anymore. Perhaps Xania had been the special magic he had been searching for.
"You know," Xania said as she smiled up at her brother, "now that all the mamlucks are gone, you are going to have to hire actual -live- guards and servants. Unless you plan to do all their jobs yourself."
"Perhaps," Mozenrath commented and smiled. "However, there is always an alternative. We just have to find it. Care to join me in the study?"
Xania released her grip on her big brother and took off towards the citadel.
"Race ya!"
Mozenrath smiled as he watched his sister's retreating form. He then used the last bit of his energy to open a black hole in the air and transport himself to the library.
As the black sand covered up the siblings' deceased enemy, the citadel echoed with a sound it hadn't heard in many years . . . laughter.
Xania sighed. "I did last time, and it didn't work."
"You didn't concentrate hard enough. Now try again."
Xania closed her eyes, and tried to make a ball of energy in her hands.
A few purple sparks flew, but nothing else happened.
"I can't do it," Xania pouted. "I've never been able to do it."
Mozenrath came over to her, and took her hand in his.
"Perhaps you're not used to having magic flow through your hands. Here." He sent a small amount of his bluish-black magic through her body.
"Ow!"
"Now, try to send that back to me," Mozenrath commanded, ignoring her cry of pain.
Xania closed her eyes, and concentrated hard. Mozenrath felt a little magic flow to his fingertips.
"It's a start. Try again."
She tried again, this time sending a slightly larger amount of magic.
"Better. Once more."
Xania closed her eyes, and gave it all she had. Mozenrath smiled in satisfaction as the magic climbed slightly past his knuckles.
"Excellent. You're making progress."
Mozenrath's sister smiled as she released her brother's hand.
"That's tiring. Did Destain make you practice like that?"
"No. I was much more advanced than that when I came here. I learned the low level magic with father."
"I wish I could have been able to learn magic with you and father. I could have lived here and been taught by Destane too."
"Believe me, you wouldn't have wanted to know Destaine."
"Why not?" When Mozenrath did not answer, Xania shrugged. "Well anyway, I'm going down to the kitchen. You want something?"
"Maybe later. Go on. And don't make a mess."
"I won't"
Xania skipped off down the hall with Xerxes close behind.
Mozenrath snorted in disgust. 'She still has too much energy. Hopefully it will be put to a good use in her magic,' he thought.
The sorcerer had decided to attempt to teach his sister some basic magic and study her healing power in the process. She was slowly improving, but at least she was making progress. Their father hadn't been able to teach her at all. Mozenrath smiled, realizing he was able to teach when his father had not. Actually, he was finding it pleasurable to teach. It was something new that he had never had the opportunity to do.
Xerxes flew into the room an hour later, and circled around the sorcerer.
"We fix lunch."
"Very well. Lead the way. But you two better have not distroyed the kitchen."
When Mozenrath entered the dining hall, he was amazed to see the table set with plates of delicious-smelling food placed upon it.
"Who taught you to cook?"
Xania smiled as she stepped out of the kitchen, carrying a bowl of rice.
"Mother taught me mostly. But I learned other recipes through our caravan. Sit down."
Mozenrath obeyed, noticing that there were three plates on the table.
"Who's that for?"
"Why, Xerxes, of course!" Xania smiled.
"No animals at the table," Mozenrath stated. "He hunts for rats around the citadel."
"Well, this will be a treat for him, won't it?" Xania giggled, patting Xerxes on the head.
The eel wrapped himself around her shoulders."Me like master's sibling."
"You like anyone who feeds you," Mozenrath shot back. "Ungrateful flying slug."
Xania scratched Xerxes' back before pouring some food into the plate she had set out for him. The eel launched himself from her shoulders, and practically dived into the food. Xania giggled at him as she walked over to her plate and gave herself portions of the food. Then she walked towards the other end of the long table and started dishing out food to her brother.
"I can serve myself," he snapped, taking the bowl from her.
"Suit yourself."
Mozenrath glared at her, angry that he couldn't make -her- angry. The 'happy' family ate in silence, thinking their own thoughts.
"So, what are we going to do after lunch?" Xania asked, taking the last bite of her meal.
"Well, I don't know or care what you're going to do, but I am going to look through Jafar's spell books."
"Can I go outside?"
"I thought I just said that I don't care what you do."
"Okay."
Xania stood up, and walked down the hallway to the citadel's doorway.
"Xerxes, go keep an eye on her," Mozenrath commanded.
----------
Outside, the land was just as dark - which was strange because it was the middle of the day. Xania sat under a tree, thinking her own thoughts.
"Master's sibling okay?"
Xania saw the eel come flying towards her.
"I'm fine, Xerxes."
He wrapped himself around her shoulders.
"Does my brother always act so grumpy?"
"Always."
"Well, I say he needs an attitude adjustment. I don't know what his problem is, but he needs to fix it."
A mamluck walked by, glancing at Mozenrath's sister as he passed. Xania shrank away from the undead servant, and wearily watched it pass.
"That one was a slightly different color than the other mamlucks. Why?"
Xerxes flew in front of Xania's face. "That Destain."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mozenrath looked through the old book carefully. One spell caught his eye. It said it was able to restore anything damaged. Mozenrath looked over the pages once more to be sure he had read it correctly and took off his gauntlet. He closed his eyes and chanted the magical words that he hoped would restore his skeletal hand.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xania watched as a errie blue light surrounded the mamluck. It grew brighter and brighter, and finally, the mamluck fell to the ground.
"Um, are they supposed to do that?" she nervously asked Xerxes.
Suddenly, something grabbed her from behind. Xania screamed, and Xerxes shouted in surprise as a hand grabbed him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mozenrath growled angrily when he saw his hand had not changed.
"Wretched book!" He shouted as he threw it across the room.
A low voice from behind the sorcerer spoke: "Oh, Mozey, look at what a mess you've made of my library."
A chill went up Mozenrath's spine as he recognized the voice. Turning around, he saw what he had feared.
"Destain? How did you..."
"Whatever spell you just tried restored me," he grinned. "Oh, and I believe this is yours." He motioned to someone behind him, and a guard entered the room caring a body. Mozenrath grew pale at the sight. There was Xania, with a dagger wound in her chest. She was dead.
Destain smiled evilly. "Oh, so sorry, Mozey. I didn't know the little urchin meant anything to you." He produced a blood-stained dagger from behind his back and admired it. "She was quite easy to kill. It just took one stab . . ."
"You lousy, flea ridden, decomposing jackal!" Mozenrath shouted. He launched himself at Destain, hurling magic at him.
The older sorcerer knocked him down after deflecting his magic.
"You thought you had rid yourself of me long ago, but now I'm back. Oh, and I'm going to make your life a living nightmare."
Mozenrath glared at his old master, his face clearly showing the hate he had for him. "You'll pay for this. When I get a hold of you, I won't be so kind as to turn you into a mamluck. I'll simply kill you."
"Dear boy," Destain laughed, "you will never get a second chance. I'll make sure of that. Kaval, take the girl's body away."
A large man, who Mozenrath recognized as a former mamluck, carried Xania out of the room. The older sorcerer laughed at the expression on his former pupil's face.
"What's the matter? Did you actually have feelings for your little sister? I thought you had been taught to care for no one. Going soft are you, Mozey?" A large black wolf strolled up to Destain, and licked his chops. "Oh, and your little flying eel made a tasty snack for my familiar."
Mozenrath could do nothing but sit numbly as he absorbed all that had happened in just those few minutes.
"Kaval? Lenat? Take little Mozey to his cell. Oh, and you won't be needing this anymore," Destain smirked as he hit Mozenrath with a blast of magic and then removed the gauntlet from his hand. "Don't worry. If you behave, I might consider turning you into a mamluck for a while - until I tire of you."
"I'd rather die than serve you," Mozenrath growled.
"So be it. Your execution will be tomorrow. I'll let your conscience drive you mad knowing that your spell killed the only family you had left."
The large men drug Mozenrath to the dungeon, with Destain lurking behind.
Destain grinned evilly as he watched Mozenrath being dragged away. He walked up the stairs and into the tallest tower of the citadel. He unlocked a door and stepped inside. Xania was sitting on the bed, with Xerxes around her shoulders.
"What have you done to my brother?" Xania demanded.
Destain smiled as he entered the room and locked the door behind him.
"He's down in the dungeon. You should have seen his face when he
saw you dead."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, not much. I only created a mirage of you with a dagger wound. He never did learn how to tell mirages from reality. He even believed his little eel was dead."
Xania jumped up, and hit him as hard as she could. "You monster!" she shouted.
Destain laughed, and threw her into the wall with a blast of his green magic.
"Be warned, girl. It is not wise to anger one who has control over your fate as well as your brother's."
Xania glared up at the sorcerer as he cackled evilly.
"Mozenrath preferred his death over being a undead servant. I have scheduled his execution for tomorrow. And you, my pretty one," Desdain grinned, taking her chin in one hand "will meet your fate afterwards."
He disappeared in a ball of green flames, leaving Xania alone with Xerxes.
Xania looked around the room, looking for a way to escape. Spotting the window,she ran over to it and crawled out. Xania hung on to the ledge, looking for a foothold. When she found one, she slowly started moving away from the window.
"Come on, Xerxes, we've got to save Mozenrath!"
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Mozenrath sat in the dark prison, silently thinking about all he had lost because of one little spell gone wrong. His citadel, his kingdom, his power, Xerxes, and Xania . . . all had been brutally torn away from him in just a few hours. That horrible feeling of being alone crept over him. He hated that feeling. One of the reasons he had obtained Xerxes was because he hated being alone.
Mozenrath watched a rat scurry across the floor of the dungeon as he absently drew a design in the sand with his skeletal hand. Desdain had taken away the gauntlet, so his magic was very weak, if he had any left at all.
He had to get out of here somehow, and take Desdain by surprise. That was the way he had done it last time; he could do it again. Mozenrath stood and walked around the dungeon, looking for any weaknesses in the stone.
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Xania let out a little shriek as she slipped on the slick roofing. She managed to catch herself before falling off of the citadel. Xerxes swam up to her.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine," Xania said as she pulled herself up. "Keep going."
Xania looked below her. "Okay, where do we go now?" She noticed an open window just out of reach and pointed to it. "If we can get to that window . . ."
"I carry you?" Xerxes offered.
Xania smiled, "I think I'm a little too heavy for you."
"No, I hold on back of dress, and carry you over."
"Xerxes . . ."
"I do that to master when he fall in evil black sand."
"You've carried Mozenrath?" When he nodded, she looked at the window once more. "Okay. Let's try it."
Xania held on as the eel grabbed the neck of her dress. When he signaled that he was ready, she slowly let go of the ledge. Xerxes lowered her gently towards the window.
When she came within a few inches of it, she grabbed it and pulled herself inside. Xerxes let out a sigh of relief as he glided into Xania's arms.
"Tired," he mumbled.
"I know. So am I, but we've got to keep going."
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"Curse this citadel!" Mozenrath shouted, kicking the wall.
There were no secret passages anywhere, and he couldn't even hurl a bolt of magic to relieve his anger. He leaned back against a wall, and lowered himself to the ground. This was looking more and more hopeless by the hour.
"If I do get out of this, I'm destroying all of my mamlucks. Starting with Desdain."
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Destain's large wolf growled when it spotted the girl and the flying eel walking through the hallway. Xania gasped and bolted down another hall with Xerxes close behind. She darted into a side room and, finding no better hiding place, crawled underneath a table. Xerxes swam to her, wrapping himself around her shoulders. Only when they were sure the wolf had lost them, did they slide out.
Xania looked around the room, seeing rows of books everywhere. "The library?" she asked Xerxes. When he nodded, she pulled out a book and flipped through its pages, hoping to find anything that she could use. Finding nothing useful in it, she put the book away and looked for anything else. She saw a small dagger on one of the bookshelves and picked it up, thinking she could at least defend herself against Destain's guards if they found them.
Suddenly, a howl erupted from the hallway, and Xania and Xerxes darted under the table once more. Three guards ran into the library. They tore apart the room and found the girl and eel hiding under the wooden table. The wolf stood proudly in the doorway, watching the guards seize the victims.
Remembering the dagger, Xania lashed out at a guard, managing to slice him on the arm. She got in a couple of good slashes before the weapon was knocked out of her hand and her arms were twisted behind her back. Xerxes bit at the guards, but was soon captured. The men dragged the girl out towards the throne room.
Destain was on the throne, smiling as he watched the guards bring the prisoners to him. He stood as they approached him, and walked down to be face to face with Xania.
"Well, well, well. What have we got here? An escape attempt? Through the window I suppose? I knew one might get out that way, but I didn't anticipate you being smart enough to figure it out." He laughed when Xania glared at him. "I suppose you might have a few brains in that pretty little head of yours. Guards, go board up that window and take these two back up to their room."
Xania was marched back up to her room and thrown into it. She picked herself up off of the floor and walked over to the window again. It was covered with a piece of wood that was nailed to the inside.
"We have to at least let Mozenrath know we're okay," Xania said as she tried to pull on the wood. It wouldn't budge.
Xerxes flew up to her, circling her frantically. "Try magic! Try magic!"
Xania obediently put her hands on the board and concentrated as hard as she could.
"Come on, come on," she whispered
The board gave way slightly, and a small space was created between
the board and window.
"Xerxes, can you fit through that?"
The eel cautiously stuck his head through the hole, and tried to pull his body through.
"Too small!" he whispered.
"Hang on, Xerxes." Xania pulled on the board, and pushed on him, finally managing to squeeze the eel through the small space.
"I out!"
"Okay, find Mozenrath. Let him know we're okay. Stay with him, but don't let anyone else see you. Oh, and try not to scare him to death; he thinks you're dead."
Xerxes nodded as he flew off towards the dungeons. Xania sat on the bed, trying to think of how she could get to her brother. Her magic was much too weak to do anything big. Perhaps there was a secret panel in the wall that would lead her somewhere.
Hours passed, and still she found nothing. As Xania continued to look around, Desdain unlocked her door and stepped in.
"There are no secret passages in this part of the citadel, if that is what you're looking for," he stated.
Xania quickly turned around to face the sorcerer. Desdain's black wolf gracefully walked into the room, and sat at his master's left side.
Desdain frowned at her. "You know, if you continue to attempt escaping, I might have to execute you along with your brother." He produced Xerxes from behind his back, who had blood dripping down his body. "And I believe this is yours." The eel weakly lifted himself into the air and swam over to Xania.
"He's lucky I found him before my familiar destroyed him," Desdain said heartlessly. Noticing the hole in the board on the window, he sent a blast of his magic towards it.
"No, no, no. We can't have any of that." When the magic dissolved, there was no window left; it had turned into a solid wall.
"Good day to you, sister of Mozenrath. Perhaps if you behave, I'll let you watch your brother's execution." He grinned as he and his familiar walked out the door. Desdain locked it behind them.
Xania heard Desdain command his wolf to guard her door, and to alert him if anything alarming happened.
Carrying Xerxes, Xania sank to the floor, tears spilling from her eyes.
"This isn't fair!" she cried, "I finally find my brother, and now I loose him two days after I find him!"
Xerxes squirmed in her arms. "I hurt," he moaned.
"Oh, Xerxes, I forgot I could heal. Here, hold still." Xania concentrated, and soon, the bleeding had stopped, but the cuts remained. "That's all I can do. The rest will have to heal on its own."
Ignoring the eel flying happily around the room, she walked over to the wall where the window used to be. After wiping her tears away, she placed her hands on the wall and threw out a small amount of purple magic. Nothing happened.
"Mozenrath's got only a few more hours to live. He's going to be executed in the morning. Maybe, if I use my magic on it all night, the window will return and we can crawl out again."
"Sound good," Xerxes agreed.
"All right. I'll get to work on the window, and you can look around the room for any secret passages in case Destain was lying about them."
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Mozenrath sighed. He had given up. There was no way out. He was cold and wet from the rain leaking in from the barred windows and had no desire to try to escape any more. The sorcerer
leaned against the cold, hard wall and closed his eyes. There was no hope of surviving this.
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The sun was starting to rise when Xania dropped to the floor in exhaustion.
"This isn't working!" she shouted in frustration. She pounded her fists on the wall and started crying. Xerxes glided over to her, wrapping himself around her shoulders to comfort her. "Try again?"
"No. I can't do magic. I never could do magic and I never will be able to do magic."
"But master teach you. You got better."
Xania sighed. "Yeah, but . . ." She stopped in mid sentence when a drop of liquid hit her on the head. She looked up to see a wet spot in the ceiling. "Praise Allah!" she shouted, jumping to her feet. "Xerxes, help me pile stuff under that spot. There must be a rotten board up there!"
They pushed the furniture around and soon they had a tower of it reaching up to the ceiling. Xania carefully climbed to the top while Xerxes kept close so that he could catch her in case she should fall. When she reached the top, she pounded her fists on the wet spot on the ceiling, causing pieces to break off.
"Yes!" Xania said as she continued breaking off pieces.
Soon, the hole was large enough for Xania to slip though. She jumped up and crawled through the hole, with Xerxes close behind. Xania did not wait to catch her breath; she crawled out onto the ceiling, and hung onto the ledge, looking for a foothold.
"Come on, Xerxes, the sun is rising higher. Desdain will be taking Mozenrath to the executioner's block."
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Mozenrath was awakened by the sound of the dungeon door being flung open. Desdain sent a burst of magic hurling towards Mozenrath, which dissolved into shackles that locked onto his wrists.
"Rise and shine, little Mozey," Desdain grinned. "It's execution time!"
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Desdain smiled in satisfaction as he marched Mozenrath up the narrow stairs to the executioner's block.
Mozenrath stopped as Desdain's familiar ran towards them.
"What's this?" Desdain said, agitated. "You're supposed to be on guard duty."
After trying to understand what the wolf was trying to say, Desdain frowned even deeper.
"They've escaped? How? I blocked off all the passageways. The eel couldn't slip through any of the holes in the building..."
"Eel?" Mozenrath questioned, looking back at his old teacher. "Xerxes?"
Desdain smiled evilly. "Yes. And you little sister too. They aren't dead."
"But...the body..."
"A mirage, boy. Gave you quite a scare, didn't I? Apparently your sister and your familiar escaped somehow, but no matter. We will hunt them down after we kill you."
Mozenrath instinctively made a fist with his skeletal hand.
"You lousy jackal!" He hurled all of the magic he had collected in his hand at the older sorcerer, but because he was not wearing his gauntlet, only a few small sparks came out.
"You are nothing without your gauntlet, boy," Desdain laughed as Mozenrath's magic faded before it touched him. "Why don't you just face the facts? You are defeated."
Mozenrath skowled as he was marched out of the citadel. Xania would try something here. She wouldn't have escaped if she hadn't planned to try to free him. Where was she? Had Desdain lied about she and Xerxes being alive?
Desdain hit Mozenrath with a powerful surge of green magic that knocked him to his knees. When the ringing in his head stopped, he saw that his old master had made him kneel in front of the chopping block.
Desdain smiled evilly as he held Mozenrath in place and held a large blade in the air with his magic.
"Any last words, little Mozey?"
Mozenrath was about to shout a few curses at the man, when he saw a small, feminine figure behind Desdain. She held a finger to her lips as she snuck behind him.
"Well, my dear old teacher, I'd just like to thank you for instructing me in magic all those years...and advising me to wear the gauntlet."
"Ah, yes, the gauntlet," Desdain smiled. He made it magically appear in his hand, and looked it over. "You must be grateful to be rid of it. The horrible thing must have been painful."
Xania crept towards the sorcerer, and waited silently behind him.
"Well, I'm afraid you time here is over, Mozey," Desdain announced. "Prepare to meet your doom."
Before he could do anything, Xania grabbed the gauntlet from him. Desdain whirled around and spotted the thief.
"YOU!"
The blade dropped, but not before Mozenrath moved out of the way. Desdain grabbed Xania, and she threw the gauntlet in the air.
"Xerxes, catch!" she shouted.
The eel caught the glove sailing through the air, and tossed it to Mozenrath. It hit the ground at his feet. He swiftly placed it on his hand, and the shackles melted from his wrists and fell to the ground.
"Sweet revenge," he smiled.
"Not so fast, boy," Desdain snarled. "I have something you might be interested in."
Mozenrath looked up to see Xania's shoulders being held tightly by his old teacher.
"Give me the gauntlet, and you can have the girl," Desdain said roughly. To make his point, he sent a wave of magic through Xania. She gritted her teeth against the pain.
"Come on, Mozey." Desdain taunted. "You know how much it hurt when I did this to you. Do you really want her to suffer like that?"
When Mozenrath didn't answer, a stronger wave of green magic went through the girl and she let out a cry of pain.
Mozenrath glared as he held out his gauntleted hand. "Here, take it."
"I'm not stupid, boy. Take it off yourself and hand it to me."
He pulled the gauntlet off of his skeletal hand and held it out to Desdain. The older man grabbed it and grinned evilly down at the girl in his arms. He sent a powerful surge of magic through her body and then released her as she let out a small cry and fell unconscious to the ground.
"Now, where were we?" the sorcerer said as he grinned at Mozenrath's angry face. "Ah, yes. I was about to kill you, wasn't I, Mozey?" He stepped over Xania's motionless body and advanced towards his former student. A blast of green magic hit Mozenrath, sending him flying backwards several feet. He picked himself up and dodged another blast that was coming straight for his head.
Behind the commotion, Xerxes was nudging Xania's face as she fought to regain consciousness. The girl groaned and sat up, gasping when she saw the flashes of green magic directed at her brother. She looked around for any way to help, her gaze finally falling on the gauntlet in Desdain's hand.
"Xerxes, get the gauntlet," she said weakly as she struggled to stand up.
He obediently swam over to the sorcerer and snatched it from him. The eel tossed the gauntlet to Xania, and it landed at her feet.
Destain growled as he turned to face the girl. "You are beginning to get annoying, little witch."
Doing the only thing she could think of, Xania grabbed the gauntlet and after hesitating a moment, put it on her hand.
Instantly, an enormous surge of pure white energy engulfed the gauntlet and her body, momentarily blinding everyone. She let out a screech as an overwhelming burning sensation ripped through her body. As the light dimmed to a faint glow and then flickered out, Xania wearily dropped to her hands and knees, gasping for air. Taking advantage of the two men being in shock at the magical display, she raised her gauntleted hand and sent a blast of purple magic hurling at Desdain. It knocked him several feet in the air, and he landed on his back on the sand. Mozenrath, just then regaining his wits, stood and ran over to Xania.
"Get that thing off, NOW!" he shouted.
Xania collapsed, exhausted from her magical outburst. Mozenrath caught her just before she hit the sand. He knelt beside her and practically ripped the gauntlet off of her hand.
"NEVER put this thing on! Do you understand me?!" he demanded, supporting her head with one arm and waving the gauntlet in her face with the other. "This thing will distroy you! Don't you EVER touch it again!"
"Since when do you care about me?" she asked, smiling.
Mozenrath ignored her question, pretending to be more interested in Desdain's unconscious form. He gently laid his sister's head on the sand and strutted over to the older man. He smiled sarcastically as he held out his hand.
"Here, let me help you up, old friend."
Desdain, just then starting to regain consciousness, growled as he grabbed at the gauntlet, but before he could pull it off, Mozenrath sent a large wave of bluish-black magic through him. Desdain, not expecting the attack, yelled in pain. Mozenrath glared at his old master.
"Don't -ever- call me Mozey."
In a bolt of magic of enormous power, Desdain and the former mamlucks were nothing more than piles of black dust, hardly noticeable in the swirling black sand.
Mozenrath wearily dropped to his knees, his whole body burning from the blast. He felt totally drained. That had taken a lot out of him.
Xania made her way over to him, and dropped to her knees at his side.
"Are you okay?"
"Could be better," Mozenrath groaned.
"Here, let me heal you."
Xania started to try her magic, but her brother stopped her.
"No. You've already used way more magic than you're used to. You're going to kill yourself if you do much more."
"But, you're hurt."
Mozenrath shook his head. "I'll be fine."
Xania hugged her brother tightly as she looked over the black soot that had been Desdain. As she did so, Mozenrath started to pull away in discust, but he stopped as he felt an odd sensation in his chest. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. It wasn't a pain, although his chest was also burning from his magic. It was more of a pleasurable feeling. Could it be the peace knowing that his former master was gone forever? Or was it something more than that? Whatever it was, he remembered had not felt it in a very long time.
Mozenrath sighed as he awkwardly hugged her back with his good arm, feeling somewhat foolish. But somehow, the kingdom didn't seem quite so empty anymore. Perhaps Xania had been the special magic he had been searching for.
"You know," Xania said as she smiled up at her brother, "now that all the mamlucks are gone, you are going to have to hire actual -live- guards and servants. Unless you plan to do all their jobs yourself."
"Perhaps," Mozenrath commented and smiled. "However, there is always an alternative. We just have to find it. Care to join me in the study?"
Xania released her grip on her big brother and took off towards the citadel.
"Race ya!"
Mozenrath smiled as he watched his sister's retreating form. He then used the last bit of his energy to open a black hole in the air and transport himself to the library.
As the black sand covered up the siblings' deceased enemy, the citadel echoed with a sound it hadn't heard in many years . . . laughter.