Mozenrath slept sound, his dreams had at last come true; he was fully restored and immune to the gauntlet, his laboritory had been upgraded several generations beyond normality with all the tools, books and ingredients he could ever dream of, and his genie now awaited him in the Cyrstal of Ix so he could be phenominally cosmic.
It had been a good day.
And his genie didn't complain about anything he said. His familiar was pleased because she even inluded a more luxurious perch he could curl up on in the lab if his master chose to pull an all-nighter. But if he really did become all powerful, then perhaps he wouldn't need the lab anymore.
So many choices . . . deal with them later.
But his first stop would be Agrabah to get rid of the street rat.
Hannah watched from the Crystal of Ix as her master came into the chamber the following morning after her first day of being a genie. His dark eyes scaled the crystal as if taking the power within was like climbing a mountain.
"Good morning, my dear genie," he was smirking, and not afriad to prove it, "How are we feeling today?"
She shrugged. What was she supposed to feel?
"Of course, you actually had to stay in here-perhaps not the best of accomodations, but I don't need you running back to Agrabah. Despite all the great things you could do and become, this clearly was not mean to be for you." his gloved hand reached out, and touched the crystal's surface.
It was instantanious the power that rippled through her core. The crystal was doing it's job giving Mozenrath power, but it felt as if someone was skinning Hannah alive. She clawed at the inner surfaces of the crystal trying to not scream, but if she didn't feel like being skinned then it was fifteen times worse than the process she had to face to become one.
She screamed.
Radu signaled for the horses to stop, as they reached the land of the Black Sand.
"You're certain this is where you camped out?"
"Yes," Radu insisted, "We camped just inside those gates."
"What drove you to camp here?" Razul growled.
"Look, if I knew what this place was then, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Radu snapped at his brother.
From where they sat on their horses they heard something that made their spines tingle.
A scream.
"We must hurry," Aladdin said putting his heels into the horse he was on. Iago sitting on his shoulder.
"Why did you have to bring me?" Iago protested.
"In case we need you to mock his voice-like you did with the wind jackals." Razul answered before Aladdin made an attempt to hush him again.
"Oh yes, 'Sharako do as I command'," testing his voice for it's mocking power.
"Shut up!" Aladdin snapped.
They rose into the city, the three of them and four of Razul's finest, bowling over various mamluks as they rode straight for the Citadel.
Mozenrath pulled away as the magic started to only trickle into his grasp. As his captive collapsed within the crystal, he heard the distinct sound of horses and swords clashing.
"Well well well, just in time to see how powerful all of this magic can be," he laughed maniacally as he ans Xerxes left the chamber, "Oh and by the way, since I am the only one who can release you from there . . . Ix Callar," the small spell he said in a powerful voice and the genie collapsed into a heap on the floor, "I do have one more wish left but I will save it for after the battle."
He turned and vanished out of the Ix chamber, curious if genies recharged their power if most of it had been zapped.
More for me then when I return.
Radu was never meant to be as big as his brother but it did grant him some advantages when in combat. He was a decent swordman but he was best with a bow. As the small army entered the dead city, Radu made note that the corpses of his compatriots were no longer there.
Had they been turned into some of those strange undead things?
He leapt across from one rooftop to another alongside his brother's men and watched as they drew nearer to the Citadel that most of the ememies forces had grouped together to face the attack. He pulled an arrow, nocked it and drew aiming for the head of one of the undead.
He waited for his sultan in charge and Razul to let loose some sort of battle cry. But there was no shout as Aladdin and the small army of men began to fight against the mamluks.
He let loose his arrow.
Down on the ground Aladdin fought alongside his finest warrior, Razul who was more coordinated than usual when it came to dealing with mamluks. Perhaps it was because they were actually trying to prevent something from happening.
For once.
Aladdin put it out of his mind focusing on trying to reach the chest if Huratim before Mozenrath had a chance to unleash the full power within. The true sultan had found the answer once in one of his books stating that to unleash it would open a permanent gateway to the dead.
Something that neither the enemy nor they themselves should use.
Just protect.
Aladdin wasn't certain how it would really beackfire against the dark wizard, but he figured that the former mamluks would want to give their master a piece of his mind.
Including Destaine.
He chopped through another mamluk as a couple of the undead minions began to sink back into the dirt in fear. What Aladdin wasn't seeing though was the undead's leader.
Mozenrath.
Don't make me come chase you, you jackal!
As if Aladdin's thoughts had actually been heard there came an answer from the main entrance into the Citadel.
"Why Aladdin, what a pathetic army to send against me." he shot out an extreamly powerful blue ball of fire at the Arabian army.
On instinct Aladdin snatched Razul, and both dropped to the ground, Mozenrath's attack missing them by inches.
"What the hell was that?" Razul asked.
"Mozenrath," Aladdin answered.
Radu drew his bow again, deciding to go against his lessons and drew three arrows on the string and aimed at the wizard. The man who attacked his party, and his mentor.
He let loose his arrows, seeing immediatly why it was exactally why he was never to draw more than one.
They didn't even hit their target, the fletching glanced off one another, but dropped on mamluks below. He drew again, as a ball of blue flame raced up towards him. Radu had just enough time to untense the armed bow and dodge the attack.
He rose again and with one arrow drawn yet again, took aim and fired as the magician shot another bolt of fire loose at the crowd, the intensity of his attacks far from what his commrades had once told him.
How do you beat someone like this? Radu wondered until he saw the black lamp at the wizard's hip.
Hannah clawed at the floor hearing the battle outside hearing how her magic that she had been forced to give was being used, and knew she had to stop it. But how?
She pushed herself to her knees, her dark hair brushing against the floor as she rose to her feet. She knew that she had to turn the tables against her master, and stared at her hands. So pure and unaged, she knew that if she could undo her genie-ness she could age like a normal being.
She had to destroy her own lamp.
She could remember the day Aladdin had destroyed Jafar's lamp. She could remember how relieved she had been to know that Jafar had been defeated for good. There was a chance that she could die, but something in her heart told her that by destroying her own genie self, Mozenrath would lose the cosmic phenominal powers since he hadn't taken it all in the first place.
Your loss, she smirked, and weakly took form of a hawk like she used to be able to before being a genie, and took flight.
Xerxes hovered beside his master knowing that he was winning and smiled wickedly seeking his own opponent. His tail twitched as he saw the far too loud Iago. Quickly he shot out catching the bird by suprise.
"What the-Get the heck away from me!" he shouted, fighting back.
Xerxes laughed snapping at the parrot until he heard his master's voice.
"What are you-How dare you defy me!"
Xerxes turned to see a hawk pull away from Mozenrath and start towards the sky. Before he could go aid his master, Iago snatched his tail and in one fast action, flew the eel into the nearest wall causing him to fall unconscious.
Radu watched the sudden commotion at the face of the Citadel as the mamluks became nothing but a pile of limbs. He had run out of arrows, and was preparing to drop down and help his brother when he heard the enemy have his own problems.
There was a pale falcon starting to ascend up to the sky as Mozenrath shot an extreamly powerful fire ball at the hawk.
Radu blinked wondering if the wizard realized what he was doing.
The hawk clearly knew what it was doing and angled itself just so, so the lamp took the full force of the blow, exploding into shards of metal, saphires flew about descending to the earth below the high arched stone catwalk.
There was a red fire ball then that engulfed both the hawk and the wizard and the sudden obvious realization hit the wizard.
"No!"
A fire as red as blood vanished from Mozenrath and shot up into the sky. The enemy Mozenrath dropped to his knees clasping his chest as if in pain.
How I wish I had an arrow now.
"No!"
The genie power was suddenly gone, and his own unlocked genie had self destructed its own lamp. Pain seered through his chest as if someone was pulling at the powers within, and he knew that it was the genie entitiy leaving him, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to touch such pure power for a while. It pulled at every muscle causing him to drop to his knees, and without an moments notice knowing that he had suddenly lost the fight, made himself vanish into the Citadel.
Damn that savage, Mozenrath cursed knowing that he had been beat by the female heathen. I should have made her a mamluk when I had the chance. He had done that to the rest of her commrades, why not the lady soldier?
But I wasn't been beaten by Aladdin-that street-rat.
Hannah took form of a human, knowing that by destructing the lamp, all her power was gone. It wouldn't even hibernate into her blood again. She felt the rush of air suddenly and knew that she was falling instantly.
She reached out seeing the catwalk below her. She prayed that she could catch the ledge before she fell to her doom. She would take all the consequences for her actions, and would accept any broken bones from this drop.
Aladdin watched as the wizard vanished and then the mamluks followed in suite-at least what was left.
"Come on-we have to find that chest!" Razul shouted to his men who despite Mozenrath's fury seemed unscratched.
There was a scream, and everyone looked up at Radu whom was watching his mentor fall.
Deep down Aladdin regretted not bringing Carpet or Genie for that reason, but watched as the former soldier slammed into the ledge, her finger's dug into the hard surface of the bridge trying not to die.
"Someone get up there!" one of the other soldiers shouted.
Aladdin raced forward knowing that their hunt for the chest would at least go by quicker if she lived. His feet pounded against the dark sand, and snatched her finger tips just as she lost her grip.
From behind him Razul caught up to him and took a firmer grip of the knight's arms and hoisted her back over the ledge.
"Not today, ser," Razul grunted as he dropped her onto her feet.
She flashed her superior a quick grin, "Thank you, sir." she turned to Aladdin, "And thank you, my'lord,"
Aladdin shrugged not truly comfortable yet with the term, but smiled.
"Now, we need to get that chest," Razul said at the former genie.
"The lab,"
"Hannah," a voice said from behind Aladdin.
Radu.
Hannah had barely a moment to breathe, as her squire embraced her, "Oh how happy I am that you're alive!"
Aladdin caught Razul's distaste in Radu's manner and made a sound to get everyone's attention.
"To the lab,"
Hannah pulled out of Radu's grip, and with Aladdin behind her, they all went within the Citadel to get the Chest of Huratim.