Chapter 7: Shadow Play

Aladdin made significant progress through the twists and turns of the maze. A few times he crossed creepy monsters - snakes and scorpions in shadows made of Black Sand to name a few. He managed to outsmart a few of them to fight each other, while another encounter he avoided by reaching the underground path just before the shadow reached him. Fortunately for Aladdin, the shadow scorpion was too big to fit through the small underground passage, getting its head stuck in the entry before the creature gave up and went back the way it came.

The prince caught his breath once he reached the base of the stairs leading to the path he needed to take. His hands rested on his knees as he bent slightly at the waist, waiting for his head to clear and breath to calm.

"Shouldn't be too long now before I reach the end." He realized it had been quite some time since he'd been separated from his friends. "I hope they're okay. They must have reached the end of the maze by now. Maybe..." He couldn't finish the thought that came to him after that, because it made him too sad to think about it. "If we'd stuck together, we would have been able to get out of here in the same amount of time. But I can't regret Iago's choice if that's what he really wanted to do."

Aladdin stretched his arms over his head, keeping his focus on the path. He only took a few strides forward before his vision started blurring, the side of his head throbbing with so much pain that it made him stagger. He'd had a few episodes like this, but nothing that he couldn't recover from. This time the pain was more intense, made him bite the inside of his cheek until he tasted the sharp salt of blood in his mouth.

"I know I haven't felt great since arriving here, but feels like it's getting worse." He had an urge to check the scars on his hands. They didn't hurt, but he wanted to see if his former wounds had healed any further. When he looked at his palms, he'd noticed the once faint red scars were now a deep, smoky black, like ink stains criss-crossing over his palms. He winced at the sight of them.

"These might explain it; should've known that since we're in a magic realm, these wounds reflect that magic. They weren't healed at all; those thorns were probably just as poisonous as the flowers from before." He examined his palms one last time before clenching them into fists. "Might as well keep going as fast as I can manage. Hope it doesn't get worse before I leave the maze."

He walked along the winding path, trying as best he could to avoid any traps or sand monsters that he saw along the way. At one point, he narrowly avoided a flower that exploded, releasing the poisonous mist in the way he wanted to go. He saw two monsters fall where they stood, flickering in and out of view.

Aladdin backed away, holding part of his vest up to cover his nose and mouth. "Guess I'll have to find another way out."

It took him several more turns and dodging more exploding flowers before he was able to find a path above ground. He took a long, deep breath of the fresh night air, thankful to have the chance to breathe without worry.

A sharp cry echoed through the sky above him, all too familiar to Aladdin as it was followed by panicked squawks. "GET AWAY FROM US!"

Aladdin ran towards Iago's voice, into an area of the maze that appeared empty. He looked around quickly. "Guys, where are you?"

"Hit the deck, Al!"

Aladdin turned, just in time to see the flicker of a flying shadow monster. He wasn't sure if it was a bird, a beast, or both, but he barely had time to dive to the ground just before the creature soared over him, claws barely missing raking the side of his cheek.

He watched as the creature soared a distance away, angling to make a second pass at grabbing whatever prey it could from the ground.

"What in the world?" Aladdin muttered under his breath. He sat up to the point where he saw Iago coughing and shaking sand off his feathers. "That was a close call."

"Ya think?!" the bird snapped. "We almost got our heads taken off by a flying shadow beast!"

"Where's Abu?" Aladdin looked around the area frantically before hearing Abu screech a fair distance away from them. The monkey had half buried himself in the sandy floor of the maze to avoid the large bird.

Aladdin smiled at the monkey, relieved that his friend was okay, but realized that the monster above them soared overhead, its shadow a fair distance above them as it passed across the light of the moon. But Aladdin realized the beast's attention had gone elsewhere, somewhere above them. He squinted, holding his hand over his eyes to see what the monster was chasing so far above the maze, before recognizing the familiar figures from below. Panic rose in his throat.

"What's Rug Man doin' here?" Iago shouted. "And isn't that..."

Aladdin didn't spare a moment's thought, running in the direction where Jasmine and Carpet fled the large shadow monster above them. Abu and Iago called out to him in warning, but Aladdin knew what he needed to do, fearing the worst of what was to come. He saw the moment when the monster's true body flickered into view, its jaws clamping down on the back of Carpet. Not only was Carpet unable to pull free of the monster's mouth, but the abrupt stop caused Jasmine to lurch forward, falling to the sands below. Jasmine hadn't been flying too far above the maze at the moment she fell, but Aladdin had to run and just barely get in place to catch her before she hit the ground. He held her tight against him as he caught his breath, kneeling on the sands.

"Aladdin?" Jasmine stared at him wide-eyed as she realized who saved her.

"Hey Princess, long time no see," he said with a small grin. But as he helped her stand upright, he recognized the danger they were in. His smile quickly faded. "Come on, we need to go. Don't think Carpet's going to be able to fly us out of here looking like that." He pointed to where part of Carpet's body remained in the monster's mouth, while the other half had pulled free and was flying around in a panic. Aladdin whistled, signaling for Carpet to follow them.

"Come on! Hurry!" Iago called from a distance away. Aladdin, Jasmine and Carpet caught up with Abu and Iago as they made their way to the next open turn of the maze, with the shadow monster flying after them.

The group didn't stop running even when they reached the entrance to the underground path. They ran down a set of spiral stairs, deeper underground until they reached an area that resembled the first place Aladdin, Iago, and Abu found themselves when they arrived in Mozenrath's domain. Aladdin knew they couldn't be far from the maze's exit, but they still had a fair way to go from the look of the path ahead.

Aladdin, Jasmine, Iago, and Abu all struggled to catch their breath, while Carpet used both of his remaining knobs in a gesture meant to mimic wiping sweat from his brow. The magic rug floated to the sands, exhausted.

Abu was the first to break the silence among them. "Bad idea. Bad, bad."

Iago gave the monkey a side-eye glance, folding his wings across his chest. "Oh, NOW you decide to hold it against me. How was I supposed to know that monster was gonna come outta nowhere after us?"

Jasmine looked between Abu and Iago. "If I had to guess what happened, you two were at the exit and that monster chased you back into the maze. I didn't see everything through the portal mirror, but I know you both separated from Aladdin a while back." She turned her attention to Iago. "I couldn't agree more with Abu."

Iago's jaw dropped. "Not you too! Okay, you know what, fine. Before Wonder Kid also starts jumpin' in with a lecture on my colossal failure..." Iago stopped short as his attention turned to Aladdin. He was the first to see Aladdin sink to his knees on the maze's floor. "Kid?"

Jasmine rushed over to Aladdin's side, placing a hand on Aladdin's back as he struggled to steady his breathing. "It's the poison isn't it?"

"Poison?!" Iago and Abu said at the same time.

Aladdin looked up at Jasmine, startled. "How did you know?"

She explained what Genie had told her earlier that evening, revealing at least part of Mozenrath's plan. Aladdin listened without saying much, clenching his fists as he tried to steady his breaths. When she finished, he nodded. "Mozenrath's 'test' was designed to make us fail from the start. Iago and Abu could've gotten out of here if it hadn't been for that monster waiting at the end. That was the type of trick I expected from him. Wasn't expecting everything else. If I knew those thorns were poisonous, I wouldn't have touched them."

Jasmine's shoulders slumped. "From what he told Genie, Mozenrath knew the poison wouldn't kill you, but it would make it a lot harder for you to fight the monsters here, which are direct manifestations of his magic. Genie's still creating a distraction. I came to help you guys out, but guess I didn't do as much as I was hoping."

Aladdin shook his head. "I'm glad you and Carpet came when you did. We'll have to improvise moving forward though." He slowly rose to his feet on his own, but Jasmine was at his side to help steady him. "I can keep going as long as we don't fight more battles than we have to. Faster we get out of here, the faster we can help Genie. I have a hunch he's in more trouble than we are right now."


"You lied to me!" Mozenrath shouted as he pointed his finger at Genie's form. Xerxes looked equally angry as they all watched Jasmine and Carpet narrowly escape the monster, following behind Aladdin, Iago, and Abu as the vision faded away.

Genie only responded with a shrug and small smile. "Well, it's not like you have a history of keeping your promises. Matter of fact, you said that you would let them go if I willingly went with you. I can't control what Jasmine does. I think she changed her mind after we split apart. So if it was her goal to help Al and the others, then that's on her."

"Enough with this! I see your actions for what they are - a distraction." Mozenrath aimed his magic glove at Genie, firing off several magic blasts that ricocheted around the room. Genie did his best to dodge the magic. Xerxes wasn't expecting to get caught in the magical crossfire, with one of Mozenrath's stray blasts hitting the creature and sending him spinning into a corner of the room. The one blast Mozenrath needed to hit connected with Genie just before he was about to fly out of the room. Genie felt the full effect the blast, gasping in pain before he collapsed at the doorway.

"Did anyone tell you that your magic's gotten stronger since the last time we met, Mozenrath? Hate to admit it, but that's kind of impressive," Genie said, speaking through his teeth.

Mozenrath smiled. "That was the intention. Now, let's try this again. My original plan was completely wrecked. Yet, now I have two out of the three original prisoners I planned to get from the royal banquet tonight. I can thank you for that much. Xerxes, the dome!"

Xerxes, still sore from the magic blast he was hit with, reluctantly flew over to a button on the side of the wall. "Yes, Master," he hissed.

Genie saw the trap coming and tried to move out of the way. An anti-magic glass dome dropped over him before he could get too far.

"Just to make you aware, that magic dome keeps magic contained within it and funnels it directly into my nightmare realm. Combined with my command of the Black Sand, the pieces are already in place to create a deathtrap for Aladdin and his friends. I'm especially looking forward to the unfortunate fate of Agrabah's most precious lovebirds." Mozenrath laughed, which made Genie flinch as it echoed through the room. "As they say, the couple that stays together meets their end together."


"Did you need to take a break?" Jasmine asked Aladdin as the group moved through the maze. They'd walked for a while underground, a deceptively long route considering the more straightforward pathway in the maze above them. Carpet lingered behind all of them, his bottom half still tattered after the run-in with the flying shadow monster.

"Not at all. Really, Jasmine, you don't have to keep asking me. I'd feel better if we found a way out of here."

Iago glared at Aladdin while perched on Jasmine's shoulder. "Oh yeah, sure. Easy thing to say when we're forced to go the long way around. If ya had any bright ideas, they're way past due at this point!"

Abu screeched softly, equally worried and intimidated by the long paths ahead of them.

Aladdin thought for a long moment, surveying the branching underground twists of the maze. "Mozenrath told us that all we needed to do is survive and reach the exit. He didn't say that we couldn't take shortcuts there. Iago had the right idea by trying to go above, but I wonder if there's a shortcut that'll take us to the exit from here. Maybe we can avoid the flying shadow or find a way to fight it."

Jasmine frowned. "If everything is poisonous, then I don't see how we can use anything down here to help us without hurting ourselves."

Aladdin looked at her over his shoulder. "That's what I thought at first too, but no one said we needed to get hurt to fight back against these shadows. I only used the thorny vines before when Iago needed help in the moment. It was also when I thought that Mozenrath's magic was healing me. But," He trailed off a moment as he turned back to the path ahead of them, motioning his head. "If we found some way to lure and trigger the traps already scattered through the maze, that'll make it easier for us to move through. We have more than enough of us now to create that kind of diversion. Even Carpet can help out as he is."

Carpet seemed to perk up at the mention of being helpful. He flew around Aladdin in an excited flurry, making the Prince smile.

"Okay guys, before we go anywhere else, let's lay out a plan. Better that we do that and beat Mozenrath at his own twisted game," Aladdin said with a nod.

Iago groaned. "Yeah, better we have a plan than bein' puppets in Mozenrath's own version of a shadow play. I'd rather keep my feathers than become a Black Sand minion any day."