Author's note: Thanks to everybody who commented. The last chapter was really long, wasn't it? Anyway, third chapter. everybody. Read, review.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. I just write about them.
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When most kids wake up, they often see their mom or dad or another loved one, be it their dog or genie. For Dhandi, however, it was a mamluk. Eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, the girl shrieked, crab walking away from the corpse that stood listlessly in front of her. She curled up against the wall of dingy gray and shivered.
"Allah, protect me-Allah, protect me..." she prayed, expecting the creature to attack. A pause occurred and Dhandi looked up, realizing the mamluk didn't budge from the spot all. With a sigh of relief, she stood up and looked around. The shackles attached to the wall as well as the abundance of cobwebs in the crevices and the dim light coming from a lone up high window gave her the impression that she was in a dungeon, very much like in the tales she told Eden and whenever a person in those tales is put in a dungeon, the ones who put them there wasn't too far away.
"Hey," Dhandi turned to the mamluk, "where is this place? Am I still in Agrabah?"
"Ur," the mamluk grunted in response. Dhandi looked it, confused.
"Um, was that a 'yes' or a 'no'?"
The mamluk grunted again. Dhandi sighed. The conversation was going nowhere and she still didn't know where she was. She looked up again and a hopeful smile appeared on her face.
The window! Even if it were too small for an escape, she would still be able to have an idea where she was.
"Could you please give me a boost?" she asked the mamluk again. The mamluk grunted, inquiringly.
"Um, lift me up to the window?" She waited for it to answer. "Please?"
Suddenly, the mamluk reached down and grabbed Dhandi by the waist. The girl yelped, but then realized that it was merely doing what it was asked as she rose above its head towards the window.
"Thanks!" Dhandi stretched her arms towards the window and, gripping the ledge, pulled herself up the rest of the way. As was expected, the window was only a few feet high and a few inches wide, not big enough for her to escape. However, she leaned closer to the opening. To her shock, the entire city below her seemed to be covered in a dismal aura, as if created by the black sand that it rested upon. The sky would have been called night if there wasn't a sun shining over in the horizon.
Dhandi clung to the ledge, mouth agape. She had only heard of the Land of Black Sand from the boastings of elderly travelers in the streets and on the piers, of how a wizard of great cruelty ruled the city, draining those who lived in the city of their emotions and their humanity. She looked down at the mamluk.
"I gotta find the bottle and get out of here," she thought, "if I don't wanna be all wrinkly like this guy." She lowered herself from the ledge until she was just barely clinging to the window.
"Please put me down," she asked. Suddenly the mamluk walked away from the wall and over to the door.
"Hey! Come back!" She stared down at the floor. A long way down. Dhandi gulped as her grip loosened. She had a feeling the landing was going to hurt as her fingers gave way.
Just then, she heard a ripping sound as she crashed to the ground. Surprised that she wasn't sore, she looked around and her eyes widened when she found the cause underneath her. Her fall had been broken by the mamluk. Well, the mamluk's arm anyway, which was squirming around like a beached fish.
"Uh," Dhandi said to the mamluk, squeamishly picking up the writhing arm, "you might, uh, need this." The mamluk grunted, grabbing the arm from her and fastened it back into its socket.
"You're welcomed?" The mamluk stared blankly at the girl. Dhandi waved her hand quickly in front of its eyes.
"Um, hello?"
Suddenly the mamluk lunged at her, tightly wrapping her in its decaying arms.
"Hey!" Dhandi protested, struggling to get free of its embrace but to no avail. The mamluk carried Dhandi to the door.
"What are you doing?"
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Xerxes gurgled, making faces at his reflection on the Bottle's surface. Mamluks around him were trudging along large pots of clay, scratching the ebony tile of the bathroom. Clay broke as they emptied the contents into the large intricately decorated bath. Suddenly, Xerxes shrieked as palm wine splashed from its container. The eel chattered angrily at the clumsy mamluk, some words like "buffoon", "no spill", and "smell gross" are coherent in his dialogue.
"Are we having a tea party?" Mozenrath, or rather the mummy that used to be him, limped in. He leaned over the bath. The scent of myrrh, palm wine, camphor and cassia made him dizzy, forcing him to lean on his staff. In his head, he had wondered if it was deep enough. No chance of turning back now, he thought.
"Is he ready?" he asked, glaring at his familiar.
"Boy?" Xerxes asked.
"Is there anyone else in the dungeon? Get him here sometime before I'm a pile of dust!"
However, before his familiar was an inch away, Mozenrath grabbed Xerxes by its throat.
"You know what to do once I begin the ritual."
Xerxes gurgled in affirmation and upon his throat's release, he swam out the door. The sorcerer knelt down, mumbling to himself as if rehearsing a verse. The sounds of Dhandi struggling echoed down the hall. One can only hope the boy wasn't going to fight back. Mozenrath couldn't afford it.
Dhandi, along with the mamluk that held her, entered the bathroom and the first reaction was Dhandi's face twisted in repugnance, her nose overwhelmed with the vapors of strong oils. Mozenrath chuckled as he limped towards a broken pillar. On top of the pillar, there stood two discolored ivory decanters, a flickering crimson candle, and an elegant silver blade. When he held up the blade, Dhandi squirmed, terrified of what he might do to her with it. He, however, held up his bare hand and, wincing, pressed the sharp edge against his now leather tough skin.
Dhandi silently gagged when Mozenrath balled his freshly cut hand, blood trickling down from the fist and into one of the decanter. In his gloved hand, he swirled it, the blood sloshing with other liquids that Dhandi couldn't make out from afar.
"Blood guides the soul," the sorcerer whispered, pulling out from a pouch white granules of natron, "Salt of the body binds it." He sprinkled the natron into the decanter. A hissing sound resonated from the vessel. Staff in a shivering hand, he paces over to the squirming child. He held it up to Dhandi's lips, which are firmly pressed together. She did not want to taste what was in there.
Rolling his eyes, Mozenrath suddenly swung his staff swiftly against her leg. Dhandi yelped and the sorcerer took this moment to pour it down her throat. Tearing up, the child retched at the saltiness of it, the potion reaching her gut, and pain began to stab her in her abdomen.
"Cassia divides, myrrh leads," he continued, reaching for the other decanter. "Osiris bids it, Ereshkigal demands it." Mozenrath gulped down the contents. Shaking, he drops the decanter. Dhandi sobbed hysterically, pain within intensifying. A wave of his hand and the mamluk released Dhandi, who collapsed to the tile floor writhing. Unsympathetically, the sorcerer grabbed her arm and dragged her to the edge of the bath.
The whimpering child at his feet, Mozenrath yanked his cape off as Xerxes swam back into the room, pulling the cape away with his teeth. Removing his turban next, his limp snow-white curls tumbled down his skeletal collar. Dhandi grabbed her stomach, beads of sweat rolling down her face. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be with Eden.
The bottle!
And it was right there in the corner! A sliver of hope still existed in Dhandi's head. All she had to do was rub the bottle and Eden could take her away from this place and make her feel better.
Would he see her trying to get away?
Dhandi couldn't wait to find out, so, grasping her stomach, she began crawling quickly. The bottle was within her grasp. She smiled, hopeful. She was going to be saved.
An inch away, however, she yelped as she was jerked back. Her fingernails clung to the tile, but not for long. Turning her head, Dhandi's heart nearly stopped, realizing that a bleached skeleton's arm had her by the ankle. In spite of the gauntlet in his mouth, Xerxes cackled as Mozenrath pulled the rebelling child back to his side. As frail looking as he had been reduced to, the sorcerer had a grip likened to a vise.
A wave of his hand and Dhandi swung to her feet, nearly knocking the sorcerer into the foul-smelling bath. Balance regained, Mozenrath wrapped his arms around Dhandi, his slumping form engulfing hers like a very menacing shadow.
"Soul, ready to depart," he rasped into Dhandi's ear, "the vessel chosen, let blood lead it there."
Dhandi could feel her feet summersault above her as she and the sorcerer leaned back, collapsing into the bath, a rush of sensations invading her body. The sorcerer gripped his bony hand against her chest, making her struggle to the surface more difficult. The mixture stung her closed eyes and seemed to burn her nose. The orgasmic groans of Mozenrath echoed in her head. His grip on her lessened.
Yet she couldn't breathe. Of course, she was holding her breath, but something was pressing against her lungs like lead. She was so panicked; she couldn't even hear that eel shriek and the hissing smoke above her.
"Why is this happening to me?" Dhandi thought, very frightened, "Why isn't anyone saving me?"
Suddenly, something grabbed her and pulled the child straight up, a speed rivaling that of a firework.
"Whoa there!" a voice bellowed, "Mus' bay a fave pounda!"
The liquid splashed and Dhandi was limply dangling on a fishing line.
"Got me a marlin!" The angler's exaggerated accent prompted Dhandi to look and a smile of great relief appeared on the child's face.
"Eden!" Indeed, it was her djinn, dressed in a pink plaid cotton shirt and a massive pair of green wader, with a fishing pole in her hand and a comforting smile on her face. However, gazing awhile at the dripping wet girl, Eden's smile turned into a worried frown.
"Don't scare me like that, baby!" Eden grabbed Dhandi by the shoulders. "If that stupid worm hadn't-"Suddenly, her mistress clung against her waist and broke down crying.
"I was scared too! I thought I was gonna die!" Eden poofed a box of tissues and handed to Dhandi. The girl grabbed a handful and wiped her face, new tears replacing the ones wiped away.
"I was scared that you weren't gonna-"
Eden shook her head. "Ah, come on kiddo. You know I'll always be there for you. I know. You wished it."
Dhandi's crying subsided and a small smile appeared on her face once more. She looked back at Eden's bottle in the corner, the sorcerer's familiar all tangled up in its long body and looking very disoriented and pieces of mamluk writhing about on the floor.
"He'd put up quite a fight," Eden commented, looking into the bath and a look of disgust appeared. "Ugh, he's so not goin' anywhere for a while."
"Who was that guy?" Dhandi asked, picking up the bottle. Xerxes squirmed towards the child's leg, trying to grab a bite. However, he failed as she walked out of range and bit into the tile instead.
"Do you know?"
Eden picked her charge up.
"No one you should be worried about now. Now let's get out of here. The place has a vibe that screams 'Manson family'."
Dhandi smiled as Eden morphed into Mary Poppins, opened her umbrella, and vanished. Xerxes gurgled and, uncoiling himself, swam over to the bath. The eerie outline of a decaying corpse reached the eel's mismatched eyes. The familiar of the late sorcerer began to chuckle low and mischievously.
"Master back soon," he cackled. "Xerxes be sure." With a motion of his head, the remaining pieces of mamluk exited the bathroom. Swooping down on the gauntlet, the eel hovered towards the pillar, the crimson candle still alight. With a flick of its tail, the candle went flying. As Xerxes at last left, a burst of fire exploded from behind.
The fire slowly smoldered, whatever left behind surely burned in that makeshift kiln.