Chapter 2: Visions
"Wait, no!" Aladdin struggled to block Warek from bringing his dagger down, but to no avail.
The only reasons the dagger missed its target entirely was because Carpet wrapped itself around the man's head, blinding him. Aladdin had a chance to dodge the blade that shot toward him. The dagger impaled the bark of the tree.
The merchant cried out, his hands flying up to his face. He staggered back, as Aladdin recovered.
Aladdin realized the man wasn't yelling anymore, he was whimpering. Like he was frightened. Really frightened.
"Carpet, let him go. "
Aladdin didn't have to turn around to see Abu's expression as he screeched in protest. Even Carpet seemed to think it was a bad idea. At least from the sudden questioning motion he gave with his knobs.
Aladdin shook his head. His body tensed, but he steeled against his nerves. "Trust me, just let him go."
Carpet released the merchant, who sank to his knees on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Please, please, please don't hurt me anymore. I can't take it. I can't...I can't..."
The pleading in his voice was enough to make Aladdin and Abu feel guilty.
Aladdin knelt down beside him. "Warek? Come on, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know what happened. You were supposed to arrive in Agrabah earlier today, right?"
The man seemed to respond to that, though the glassy look in his eyes still remained. "Yes, yes, Agrabah. My wares..."
"A friend of yours that was expecting you already has them in the city. And your camel too. They couldn't find you." Aladdin's tone was gentle.
Warek looked up, wiping the underside of his nose with his sleeve. "Oh my, I don't know what I would've done if anything happened to Dyna. She's a stubborn one, but I couldn't imagine traveling without her. Was a gift at my and my wife's wedding. Been traveling ever since." The glassy look from the merchant's eyes disappeared, and he seemed to notice Aladdin for the first time. "Who - Who are you, m'boy?"
"I'm Aladdin. And this is Abu and Carpet." Aladdin gestured to them respectively with a nod of his head. "We're just here to help, that's all."
"I'm sorry." Warek sighed heavily. "I thought you were the demon I saw last night."
Aladdin's brow lifted. "Demon?"
"Yes. It was at first a creature that came out of the sands from nowhere. It attacked me, and I think I passed out." Warek's voice trembled as he spoke, his arms wrapped around his body. "When I awoke, what looked like a man tried to come to my aid. I tried to tell him about the demon, but then he..." The merchant paused, shaking his head. "He turned into the same demon again and started attacking me. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I couldn't move...I couldn't breathe..."
Aladdin didn't know what to say. He looked at the man's tattered sleeves and trousers, which indicated he'd been in some kind of struggle, but he didn't look physically injured otherwise.
Abu gave Warek a reassuring pat on the shoulder as the merchant sobbed into his hands again. "There, there," Abu said.
Aladdin took a slow steady breath. "Don't worry, you're safe with us now. Let's take you to Agrabah, okay?"
Warek nodded. "Can I at least get a bit of water before we go? My mouth's so parched..."
Aladdin nodded. "Sure. I'll take you by the lake. Come on guys." Aladdin gestured for Abu and Carpet to follow him as he walked alongside Warek.
But neither of them noticed that something was watching their exchange from a distance away. Nor did they hear his low, hissing laugh.
Aladdin watched as Warek readily drank from the lake and ate some of the fruits that he and Abu gathered. Abu seemed happy for the chance to actually eat some of the fruit, and Aladdin didn't protest it.
The sky was dark, the full moon showing overhead over the water. Aladdin could see his reflection as he sat on one of the rocks nearby.
Aladdin's mind raced too much to think about eating the fruit himself. What had happened to the merchant in the last day? He'd been unaccounted for many hours and no one had seen or heard from him since. What exactly had attacked him?
When Warek had his fill, Abu and Warek boarded Carpet. Carpet motioned to Aladdin that they were ready.
"Just a second, let me finish filling this." Aladdin held up the half filled water jug at his side. He knelt by the water, filling it while glancing down at his own reflection in the moonlit waters. The waves lapped over each other, rippling steady and distorting the reflections as he filled the jug. But even as the silver beams struck the water, they seemed to shift into something beyond Aladdin's reflection. He stared as he held the jug beneath the water filling it, squinting at the sight.
That's when he saw the face. First it was the jagged row of teeth in its wide pearly grin. Then the dark sockets of the eyes, a long protruded nose and large brows. It opened it's wide mouth from behind Aladdin's reflection, seeming as if it were ready to bite into the side of Aladdin's neck.
"Whoa!" Aladdin leapt to his feet, dropping the jug into the water. He whirled around, lost his footing and fell into the shallow part of the lake. He looked around, but nothing was behind him, nothing except a worried Abu and Warek siting on Carpet.
"Aladdin, are you alright?" the merchant called.
"I'm fine, I'll be there in a second," Aladdin said, straining to keep the nerves out of his voice.
That was weird. Get a grip, Al, now's not the time to be spooked by weird visions, he thought.
He took to his feet again, squeezing the water of his soaked clothes. He'd have to change at the palace anyway.
He shook his head, picking up the mostly filled jug, corking it, and headed back to Carpet and the others.
A tiny imp emerged from the water, watching the one called Aladdin, his carpet, and the others fly off through the starry sky. He swam up to one of the rocks, laughing with low cackles.
"Well now, he's an interesting subject, much more than that pesky gent I encountered yestereve." The imp rubbed the top of its long nose and picked at its jagged teeth. "I need some fear essence to feed me, and I wasn't getting enough from that merchant. Not enough of a challenge. But that boy, he's young, hearty, plenty to feed on. And it seems he has plenty of company about him too. Now I just have to find a comfortable essence to take form in order to scare him, break down his guard. Let's see the profile of his fears I was able to grasp."
The imp conjured a spell, whispering a chant before materializing a ball of light in his long, crooked fingers. He started watching a series of scenes featuring Aladdin. The imp frowned. "Ugh, this is boring. He's far too happy. He's betrothed to a princess, he's got a loud parrot and that monkey and magic carpet..."
Then the imp's eyes widened. "He's friends with a Genie?" His laugh echoed through the night sky. "Oh-ho-ho! This is interesting, very interesting!"
The imp continued watching the ball of light, showing moments of Aladdin's life. His brow rose on a particular scene that intrigued him. "One of his fears centers around a sorcerer he was responsible for destroying, eh? Jafar, is it not? Hmm. He would be an interesting disguise. Good enough not only to scare the boy but his comrades. I could work with that." He allowed the ball of light to disappear. Putting a forefinger and thumb under his chin, the imp considered his options, while looking at the night sky.
"Another few nights of full moons to come. I'll have to act quickly or my powers will not be ripe enough to feed properly. But I have enough power to take on a foreign essence, based on my feeding with that merchant. Enough to see how it scares the boy. And if I can't scare him, then I'm not worthy of the name Jatika."
The demon stood on the edge of the water, placing his long clawed hands on the surface, allowing a warm light to envelop him, transforming his distorted appearance into the smooth form of a man with dark robes, a snake staff, and dark turban.
Jatika marveled at his appearance in the reflection of the water, his grin wide. "Yes, this is quite fitting - this Jafar character. Okay, Aladdin, prepare to meet your worst living nightmare."