Chapter 3:
"So if we just turn right there, we should be good to head straight on from here" said Iago. "That's good, we'll reach the Abia Desert in an hour or two" Aladdin said confidently as he mounted Sadeek.
The journeyers had been left the Palace earlier that day and were now tiring from their first day's travel. "Well, I am going to nap in my lamp, good night all!" said Genie as he shrunk into his lamp before anyone could object.
"So Aladdin, where are we headed to now?" asked Jasmine as she halted Aamira. "Well, we've just got to ride east and we should reach there soon" he replied.
The afternoon sun was retiring and the sands dunes had begun to seem like mountains to the tired travellers. "Come on guys! Stay alert," ordered Aladdin. Abu shrieked in agreement, but he too, was succumbing to the exhaustion.
"Would ya quit ya squeaking! I'm about ready to melt here" Iago bellowed as he curled up on Carpet.
Jasmine giggled softly, she had no will to sleep. She remembered how she'd often wish for a chance to escape the confines of the palace walls. This was her opportunity to see more than the constant perfection of being a princess, she wanted to experience thrill and adventure, something she was never permitted in palace life.
"Jasmine, what are you thinking?" Aladdin asked as he reined in Sadeek. Jasmine smiled playfully and said "Oh nothing…Race you!"
She urged Aamira into a gallop and rode off into the distance. "Hey, you got a head start, oh well, Sadeek and I will still beat you!" yelled Aladdin.
He laughed then nudged Sadeek to join in the race she had started. Jasmine felt like she was soaring, like she had no limits, she felt as if a rush of freedom had possessed her and she didn't want to let go off that feeling.
"Go girl! We'll show them!" Jasmine told Aamira encouragingly, the mare seemed to understand, and surged forward with a burst of speed.
Iago, who had been peacefully asleep, awoke with a large yawn. "AHH that was a nice nap, now I'm up for a good meal of — hold it…where's Al? And Jasmine?"
Iago pulled at Abu's tail in effort to wake him up. Abu arose immediately, shrieking crankily. "Yeah, yeah, squeak your head off, but before you do, WHERE ARE ALADDIN AND JASMINE?" squawked Iago impatiently.
Abu froze in wonderment. "That's right!" said Iago "Carpet, step on it, we've got a find 'em, and BEFORE dinner, I'm starving!" said Iago.
"I win!" Jasmine announced triumphantly. "Don't worry, Sadeek and I will beat you next time!" Aladdin replied.
"I wouldn't count on it!" Jasmine said boldly.
Aladdin smiled then said "Well, we are here, the Abia desert, lets round up the rest of them and get the tents set up, aye?" he turned around only to notice none of the others were behind them.
He paused "Um, I guess we forgot about the others when we started racing so—"
"Look there they are!" exclaimed Jasmine. Carpet landed in front of them smoothly.
"Well, did somebody forget about us?" scoffed Iago in mock hurt.
"Sorry guys! We started racing and got carried away," explained Aladdin as he dismounted Sadeek.
"Carried away, yeah sure, carried away," replied Iago gruffly. Abu shook his head from side to side to express his disappointment.
"We better wake up Genie to help with the setting up" said Jasmine as she tied Aamira to a tall palm tree. Aladdin walked over to Carpet to retrieve the lamp.
"Genie we're here, wake up" he said. The lamp hovered for a moment and Genie burst out.
"Ahhh, I'm feeling relaxed, rejuvenated, and above all…hungry?" he said as his stomach grumbled.
Jasmine laughed "I'll get dinner going, you guys tend to the horses and set up the tents" she said.
"That includes you Iago and Abu!" Aladdin pointed out. Abu jumped up by Aladdin's side and followed him to help.
"Right, like I'm gonna get up and work! No way!" muttered Iago. Aladdin stared at him expectantly and he reluctantly trailed along.
A few stars had appeared in the sky and the moon's radiance grew ominously.
Aladdin entered the tent he'd set up. The gold cloth, of which the tent was made, stood motionless and seemed illuminated by the brilliance of the moon.
He walked over to the horses and left a pail of oats for each horse, "You guys worked hard today, rest up for tomorrow," he said. Jasmine sat down inside her tent and rested her head on a small cushion. She sighed, thinking about the pure freedom she'd felt when she and Aamira galloped earlier. A sudden squawk interrupted her thoughts.
"Alright monkey, this one's mine!" Immediately she stood up and walked outside. "Iago and Abu! What's going on here?" she questioned. The two animals turned around to face her.
"I'll tell you what's going on here, well, I found this little diamond in the sand, and, so I say, finders' keepers' losers weepers and the monkey wants me to leave it behind!" Iago screeched.
At first Jasmine couldn't see the diamond in question, but then noticed the small glittering thing Iago was clutching tightly. "May I see it?" she asked. Iago handed it over to her.
Carefully she held it up and examined it. It was very small, but so clear and near flawless. It appeared like it was part of something, because of its perfect diamond shape. She handed it back to Iago, but still felt odd the diamond.
"Alright, now, how about Genie tells everyone…" Genie paused to put on a mysterious voice "…Myths of the Arabian Nights!" Jasmine, Aladdin and Abu walked over and sat in a circle around him.
"Iago, carpet, come join us" called Aladdin.
Carpet flew over swiftly with Iago close behind him. "So Genie, what story are you going to tell?" Jasmine asked cheerfully.
"A tale that many a traveller such as, all of you, have told, but only on a night fit for the occasion" replied Genie. "Well, this tale is a tale that has been deeply buried in the sands of time, forgotten, and never brought up again, so listen carefully,"
In ancient times, so ancient, people cannot remember, there lived a young sorcerer. This sorcerer went by the name of Wazir. Wazir was a mere 15 years old when he was taken captive by the Witches of the Sand.
He was their prisoner for 3 years, then at age 17 Wazir discovered he could do magic. Then at age 18 his power strengthened so much, in just that year, he broke free of the witches clutches by using his magic. Then he—
"Would you get to good bits please" squawked Iago. "Hold your tongue bird!" replied Genie "Anyway, as I was saying,"
Then he found himself a lair, distanced from everything, where he made his own little world. Wazir became very wise with magic. He soon started enchanting objects. Little things, he would give a quill the ability to write what he said and even make his shoes put themselves on his feet.
But the first thing he enchanted was the amulet he always wore around his neck. He was just experimenting, to see if he could make his amulet turn into a sundial when he needed it to. However the spell went horribly wrong…
"Continue!" everyone said in unison. Genie grinned mysteriously.
Wazir had put a far, far more powerful spell on his amulet than he'd intended to. Instead of giving it the ability to turn into a sundial, he'd given it the ability to…
"YES…" they all said at once.
He gave it the ability to change time, turn it back, to rewrite history, to change the past which would alter the future. Wazir did not know he'd done this. He'd simply assumed the spell didn't work because nothing happened. After awhile he'd become good at using his magic.
He decided to move on to bigger things. He craved power and wanted to rule. So he found a city, a small city, it was only half the size of this desert.
It had no name, and the folk that lived here were peaceful villagers. He thought he could enchant the city, make it his own and rule the people. He did manage to.
He became King and the people were under his spell. He built a tall tower where he kept his most precious possessions. Including the amulet, because, even though he thought it had no magic, it was an important thing to him.
When Wazir was in his twenties, he fell in love with a beautiful gypsy, Sameena, he tried to put her under a love spell but couldn't, so he thought he could at least impress her with magic.
So he spent days in his tower with his star charts, calculating when it was the best time to perform his magic. He did it when the stars were in a combination that could only happen once, at least that was what he thought.
It was an unusual combination, one that was supposed to grant him ultimate power.
"Genie, keep going!" begged Iago. "Well, I would if you didn't interrupt me!" said Genie.
He decided to conjure up a huge sandstorm, which he thought would gain Sameena's love.
For everyone believed Sameena was an Elemental, that she had powers of the element, wind.
He wanted to blow her away (Sorry for the pun Iago!) with his tremendous sandstorm. So the day came when he wanted to perform his conjuring, the starts were in their phenomenal combination and he felt his power rising.
Before he performed it, he wanted to wear his amulet, which he believed was good luck.
The gypsy Sameena sat behind a rock, a safe distance away, to watch the magic begin. Now, before he performed his magic, he always performed a prayer, that he'd created, also the first thing he'd tried to use when he enchanted his amulet. It went like this:
"Oh Allah, grant me strength
The power to control
Rise above others,
Give me the power from the sands of time
The timely magic buried deep within
Grant me the ability to rule it all"
So after Wazir said this, he also wished he could have gone back a couple of minutes so he could have double checked the star combination of the night. Instantly, he went back 2 minutes.
He was shocked, but thought his powers were just getting stronger and he'd done something without meaning to. So then he proceeded to perform his sandstorm in front of Sameena.
He recited his spell and he did indeed conjure a great sandstorm. But Sameena could see more than that, she felt the mysterious sense of déjà vu come over her, then, Wazir felt he'd messed up his sandstorm and could make it bigger, he recited his prayer, as he often did when he was upset, and wished to go back to the start of the sandstorm.
He did, instantly, and this time Sameena, who was a very crafty and cunning Elemental, saw that it was the amulet and prayer that brought her back for another sense of déjà vu, she wanted that amulet.
So this time when she watched his sandstorm, she went over and snatched the amulet off his neck and said she'd marry him if she could have it.
He didn't want to give it up, but he wanted her, this made Sameena mad, so she pushed him into the sandstorm, amazingly, the amulet flew from her hands, and back into its tower of safety, where it was protected by the numerous spells, that Wazir had cast.
Suddenly the stars changed without warning, and were causing the sandstorm to completely swallow the city but not its people. Wazir's spell on the people broke and they were free again.
But the city and the tower were completely swallowed by the sandstorm. So deep, it would never be uncovered again. The stars had made sure of that, because of its sudden shift, all of Wazir's plans were never carried out.
Sameena lived to see it all and people think she told all the gypsies and that is how this tale became what it is.
She never got over not getting the amulet and when she died, rumoured that it was here in the Abia Desert, the winds would change suddenly and mysteriously, almost ominously. People thought it was the spirit of Sameena and her desperate desire for revenge.
To this day, any villain who knows this tale wishes it was true, so they could take hold of Wazir's ultimate power.
Genie had stopped speaking. Everyone sitting around him had their mouth open in shock. Iago and Abu stared in complete surprise and Aladdin, Jasmine and Carpet, simply gazed in wonderment. "Good myth?" asked Genie.
"It was…wow…amazing" said Jasmine. Aladdin shook his head from side to side quickly, almost as if to snap himself out of a daze.
"Genie, that was, a great myth" he said.
Jasmine was still curious. "Genie what did that amulet look like?" she asked.
Genie stopped in his thoughts. "Well, it was a very interesting amulet, it was a circle shaped pendant made of bronze with the words "sands of time" engraved on the back for some reason, and had a very small but very perfect diamond on the front, in fact, it had four perfect diamond shaped diamonds facing the four main points of a sundial. I recall one of my masters told me about the diamonds, she said they were as near flawless as you can get from a diamond"
Suddenly a shiver ran up Jasmine's spine. She looked at Iago ad Abu, they had the same expressions she did. She got up, feeling a bit odd, after hearing the description of the amulet.
"Is anyone else feeling a little…cold?" she asked almost nervously.
Aladdin looked up at her "We are in the middle of the desert, and your feeling cold?" he asked in a puzzled tone.
Jasmine considered that "Umm, I'm just really tired and I'm going to go to my tent" she said.
She gave Aladdin a quick kiss on the cheek and wandered off towards her gold tent. Iago ad Abu followed her.
She sat inside her tent and pulled a cushion up to her chest and hugged it tight. Iago entered with Abu.
"Jasmine, the diamond…the amulet…the myth!" he puffed. Abu squeaked quietly.
"Look guys, maybe it was just a little diamond a jewel merchant's camel's sacks dropped when he was travelling through the desert…because what Genie told us was a myth!" she said.
"But Jas, think, wouldn't it be interesting if it—"
Suddenly a gust of wind passed through the tent. "The wind changes…" muttered Iago. Abu squealed in disbelief.
"Look, it was the wind not the 'Spirit of Sameena' and there is no such tru—" Another strong breeze blew through the tents. Jasmine heard Aladdin tell Genie to strengthen the tents.
The sky had grown completely dark and the only light came from the moon and the stars. It was late, and Aladdin was awake, going around to everyone's tents to make sure they were alright. He quietly walked over to Jasmine's tent.
"Jasmine…May I come in?" She nodded and he sat down beside her.
"Are you ok? You look a bit frightened." He said. Jasmine sighed and explained about the diamond they found earlier.
"Jasmine, I doubt it was from the amulet after all, that was just a myth it's not true" Aladdin assured her.
"I know Aladdin, but it's still a little odd, anyway, I'm really tired, good night" she said as she gave him a hug.
Aladdin left her tent and entered his own. The next day would bring more travelling, he needed to rest. Slowly he found himself drifting into sleep. Everyone else had fallen asleep, except Jasmine.
She found herself trying to fall asleep but couldn't seem to let hr mind rest. Quietly she tip toed of her ten and wrapped a sheer shawl around her head. She walked around their camping area but found it didn't help.
In the corner of her eye she could see the horses, tied up at the palm tree. She wandered over and stroked Aamira.
"Oh girl, something is bothering me, I don't know what though, I can't get to sleep" she said softly. Aamira nickered quietly. Suddenly a sharp blast of air shot past her.
Sadeek whinnied loudly. "Hush boy, its ok" she crooned, but not believing herself. She looked up into the night sky and saw the clouds moving suddenly they began to swirl.
Jasmine mounted Aamira, bareback and rode around softly, to calm herself and her horse down. She looked back up at the sky and the swirl of cloud had begun to spurt sharp winds.
Aamira nickered loudly and reared. "Easy girl, it's nothing, it's ok" she said with nervousness creeping into her voice. The moon disappeared behind the clouds and the desert appeared dimmed.
The sharp winds had begun to fell blade like and were shooting out in larger bursts. Jasmine saw the sands in the distance, begin to churn. They grew larger and larger, Jasmine now knew what was happening.
"SANDSTORM" she screamed.
hello reader! I know this story is finished, and well, i am actually going through and spacing out my gigantic paragraphs, so please bear with me asI continue to edit! Oh and Reviews are appreciated... :)