The Song of Cacophona
Part 2 of 8


Minus Two Days 

     Mozenrath probed gingerly at the confinement spells laid 
upon the stones of his holding cell, testing their limits. He 
winced as the tiny sparks produced as the spell-soaked stones 
short-circuited his power. There was not one crack or weakness he 
could find; the djinni had certainly done his homework. 
     Mozenrath paced the narrow confines of the cell. He sneered 
at the thought: Cell. To think that he, Mozenrath, Lord of the 
Black Sands, could be confined like a common criminal, sentenced 
to death by that fat little weakling!
     He paced faster and faster, becoming more and more 
frustrated by the moment. His anger built until it could no longer 
be contained. Turning sharply on his heel, he gathered his power 
and slammed it against the bars--
     And staggered back as a shock of pure power flashed through 
him, reflected as neatly as if he'd tried to blast a silvered 
mirror. He landed heavily on the cot and slipped to the floor 
dazed, as the cot overturned.
     He shook his head to clear it as he levered himself up onto 
the cot. His senses reeled and his head felt as if wrapped in 
cotton wool. "I've got to learn to control my temper," he muttered 
as he held his head in his hands.
     When the world had stopped spinning, he stood and righted 
the cot and sat, careful not to touch the wall. He took a few 
deeps breaths as he leaned back upon the cot, supporting himself 
on his elbow. He clenched his fist and studied the leather of his 
gauntlet as it folded itself into ridges and patterns. The fools 
had thought they were being kind by leaving the gauntlet with him, 
but it only added to his torment. To have access to his power but 
unable to use it--It galled him that they could unwittingly design 
so effective a torture.
     A rattling from outside the bars of his cell brought his 
head up sharply. It was only Xerxes, rattling the bars of the bird 
cage in which he had been imprisoned. He scowled and transferred 
his anger to his familiar. "Haven't you found a way out of there 
yet, you worthless eel?"
     "Bars sting," came Xerxes' plaintive reply. 
     Mozenrath shook his head in disgust. "Then the sooner you 
get out of that cage, the sooner they'll stop stinging, won't 
they? We've only got two more days until they try to kill me," he 
snapped. "I heard that," he said in response to Xerxes' suppressed 
hiss. 
     Taking a deep breath, he held it a moment then released it 
as an exasperated huff. Aladdin's djinni had truly done his 
homework this time, much to Mozenrath's chagrin. "Idiot," he 
grumbled to himself as he swung his long legs up onto the cot and 
stretched out upon it, uncertain who deserved the appellation 
more: Aladdin, his djinni, or himself.
     He closed his eyes and replayed the sequence of recent 
events over in his mind. He should never have let that woman into 
his Citadel, let alone let her talk him into playing errand boy 
for her. The thought of how easily she'd manipulated him made him 
clench his jaw until it hurt. Fool for trusting her, he thought. 
Fool again for falling for her schemes in the first place. 
     Fool.
     Unable to stop himself, he probed deeper, much like probing 
an aching tooth with his tongue. It pained him, but he couldn't 
resist. The pain would keep him from making the same mistakes next 
time--
     He swallowed abruptly. "If there *is* a next time."

*****     

The Present: Execution Day

Part 1

     Aladdin slowly approached the figure leaning upon the 
parapet. She leaned against it, unmindful of how it wrinkled her 
gown or the dust upon the railing and the smears they left upon 
the fine fabric. Had the pervasive mood been different, he might 
have made some comment on how beautiful she looked; Jasmine was 
the sort that could look beautiful no matter what she wore. 
But...recent events prevented him from joking. It was as if the 
world were unreal, a dream, an illusion that would be shattered if 
the fabric were strained.
     "Jasmine?" He made a question of her name. Gently putting a 
hand on her shoulder, he leaned against the parapet next to her. 
Dressed in what he habitually preferred for it's comfort, loose 
trousers, striped sash, vest, fez and boots, he didn't need to 
mind the dust that collected on the railing. 
     The Princess looked up at him, into his eyes. He could see 
clearly how indeed it was the Princess and not his Jasmine that 
was brooding. Not that it mattered; he loved the Princess as much 
as the woman. He had great respect for this woman who was to be 
his wife and whatever troubled her, troubled him. "What is it?" he 
asked gently.
     She lowered her eyes and looked down into the street below. 
The marketplace bustled with activity even though the sun was high 
and hot. For them, life went on undisturbed by the gloom that hung 
over the palace. 
     "I'm not sure that what my father is doing is right, 
Aladdin," she said in a quiet voice. No wonder the Princess was 
brooding; it wasn't like her to go against her father's wishes. At 
least not on official issues.
     Aladdin sighed and turned to look down into the garden 
rather than the marketplace. "What else can we do, Jasmine? We 
can't just let him go. Not after what he's done. Especially," he 
added, "since he has vowed to rule the Seven Deserts. He'll just 
keep coming back until he either succeeds or dies."
     "Yes, but he did help destroy Cacophona--"
     "After he helped release her," he finished for her. Aladdin 
sighed. He pushed away from the wall and took Jasmine's hand. He 
lead her down the steps and through the gates. The guards on duty 
saluted them with their swords as they passed and Aladdin couldn't 
help give them a little grin as they proceeded down the steps to 
the avenue and into the marketplace. The press seemed greater down 
here, among them, than it had from above.
     "Inadvertently," she reminded him, finally breaking her 
silence.
     "As if anything concerning Mozenrath were ever simply 
'inadvertent.'" He held up his hand to quiet her protest. "You 
could say I was just as responsible since I was the one that got 
the harp from the Cave of Wonders. Hopefully, the Sultan won't 
demand that I join Mozenrath on the execution block." He grinned 
at her to soften his words.
     Jasmine gave him a wry smile and shook her head. "But you 
were tricked, Aladdin--"
     "That doesn't change anything, Jasmine. 'Fool me once, shame 
on you; fool me twice, shame on me.' I should have thought twice 
before I did anything Mozenrath wanted me to do." His voice was 
bitter. 
     Jasmine put a hand on his arm. "You were trying to stop 
whatever scheme he was up to, and you did, in the end. Cacophona 
is gone, so is Tinnabula." She paused and looked up at him. "But 
do we have the right to kill him?"
     Aladdin looked down at her, holding her hand tenderly over 
his heart. "After what he's done to you, you can still say that?" 
     She gently took her hand from his and laid it upon his 
cheek. "In spite of what he's done to me, I can say it." With her 
other hand, she gestured around at the milling merchants, patrons 
and livestock. The hawking of the fruit seller mingled with a bray 
of a stubborn donkey. A crowd of children rushed by them.
     "Look at them, Aladdin. Do you really think their lives 
would be different if Mozenrath were dead? Most of them have 
already forgotten about the Dark Time"--she used the name that had 
become common among the people to describe Agrabah's brief 
annexation into the Land of the Black Sands--" save as a story to 
tell and retell around the fire at night. They don't know who 
Mozenrath is or was or will be or more importantly, what he could 
have been. Would it really be so bad if we just...let him go?"
     "Jasmine--" he said gently. "This *is* Mozenrath we're 
talking about. Evil sorcerer extrodinare, remember?"
     Jasmine pulled away and started walking again. "I know, I 
know, Aladdin. And for that reason we can't let him go. But--Can't 
Genie find a way to keep him out of Agrabah or something?" 
     From her frustrated tone, Aladdin could tell she was 
struggling with this decision. She wanted to forgive Mozenrath, 
but she couldn't if it meant he might return to harm the people 
she loved. She could, and already had, forgiven what he'd done to 
her, but she was not so lenient towards the hurts he'd inflicted 
on her people. Her duty warred with her emotions, a struggle 
neither would win.
     Aladdin took her hand and tucked it around his arm. "I don't 
think it would be possible to do that without taking his power 
away from him. Crippling him, in other words."
     Jasmine shuddered. "Which would be worse than killing him. 
In his eyes, at least. Oh, Aladdin, I don't know what to do. I 
don't hate him; I pity him, that he'll never change, and will 
continue to be and do evil, no matter what chance we give him." 
She paused and took a deep breath before turning to him. "I can't 
let pity sway my feelings; he's done too much harm to this city to 
not extract some sort of price from him. For the people, at least, 
there must be justice. Even if they're not aware of it." They had 
come to the edge of the city by now, and she turned and looked 
back at the throng of people. The people she loved with all her 
heart, the people she was willing to die for. "But it just doesn't 
feel right." She hung her head, clearly miserable about the whole 
thing.
     Aladdin pulled her back to him once more and put an arm 
around her. Looking up at the sky, he measured the position of the 
sun. "It's nearly time. We should be heading back." 
     She nodded and straightened. "At least it will be over--" 
She was interrupted by the sound of hoofbeats on the dusty road. 
Turning, they looked through the city gates and down the road that 
led to them.
     Along the road, a white horse raced up to the edge of the 
city. Muffled within yards of enveloping white muslin, the rider 
was very nearly indistinguishable from the horse.
     A savage jerk on the reins brought the horse around 
abruptly. It danced and threw it's head up. Aladdin and Jasmine 
backed away as a fetid odor wreathed around them. Desiccated lips 
pulled back from its teeth, baring them in an eternal, hideous 
snarl. The horse's flesh was sunken upon its bones; in places, 
it's hide and flesh hung in ghastly strips from the bones. A 
sickly green glow came from it's empty eyesocket.
     From within the white robes, the rider pulled out a set of 
golden tubular bells. Dropping the reins, the anonymous figure 
gently tapped each of the bells in turn, producing three notes of 
startling purity. Before the notes had died away, the rider struck 
them again in reverse order.
     This time, the notes were discordant and uneven. The horse 
screamed and laid its ears back along its skull. The sand on which 
it stood shifted, causing it to dance backwards. Suddenly, the 
sand spouted upwards and it turned dark--black. A hand appeared, 
thrust upwards out of the ground in a fountain of black sand. The 
rest of the body appeared in quick succession. The animated corpse 
glared at Aladdin and Jasmine with eyes that glowed with 
corpselight. A tattered robe encrusted with black sand hung about 
its lank frame.
     "Mamluks!" they shouted in unison. Aladdin pulled his sword 
from his sash and pushed Jasmine behind him. More were sprouting 
from the sand to join the first; each wore a hooded red robe and 
each had eyes that glowed with the same green glow. Their 
shambling, stumbling steps brought them closer and closer to the 
city. 
     "*My Mamluks*," a voice said. Aladdin's head snapped around 
towards the veiled rider. A finely shaped hand reached up and 
pushed the twisted folds of the turban and face covering back to 
reveal a woman with golden skin and blonde hair. 
     "Cantera?!" Aladdin exclaimed, jaw dropping open in 
disbelief. "But--you're dead!"
     "No. They're dead," she said, indicting the thickening ranks 
of Tinnabulans that gathered around her. Aladdin heard a strain in 
her voice that had not been there before, a shrillness that was 
just a little too loud. The black sand that encrusted their robes 
fell away in drifts to reveal the ubiquitous red Tinnabulan robe. 
"All that's left of my people, an army of the Undead. But still 
effective, are they not? Take them." She gestured and they 
advanced on the two of them. 
     Aladdin turned and shoved Jasmine ahead of him. "Run!" he 
shouted, keeping himself between her and the Mamluks. Jasmine 
didn't have to be told twice. Hiking up her skirts, she sprinted 
up the avenue towards the palace. Aladdin was right behind her, 
and the Tinnabulan mamluks right behind him. 
     "Mamluks!" someone screamed. That caused others to stop and 
look around. The cry was taken up by others and spread like 
wildfire throughout the city. Soon everyone that had heard the 
alarm rushed towards the palace. 
     By the time Aladdin caught up with Jasmine, a crowd blocked 
the gates into the palace grounds. Panic spread like wildfire as 
they tried to get into the palace and away from the invading 
mamluks. Grabbing Jasmine's hand, Aladdin elbowed the frightened 
citizens none-to-gently out of the way. They turned to protest his 
rough treatment, but when they saw it was him and the Princess, 
they drew back to let them through. Once through the press, they 
hurried up to the baffled guards.
      "Mamluks are invading the city!" he shouted at one of them. 
The guards reacted instantly; they drew their swords and rushed 
past him into the fray. Aladdin took only a moment of his time to 
thrust Jasmine through the gates before hurrying back to help the 
guards. Jasmine clung to the gateway and called after him.
     "Aladdin!" Jasmine cried. "Where are you going?"
     "Get these people inside the gates!" he shouted back, 
pausing for only a moment. "We'll hold off the Tinnabulans until 
everyone is safely inside!" He gave her a salute with his sword 
before disappearing into the crowd.
     Jasmine tried to catch sight of him one last time, but her 
eyes were drawn towards the slowly advancing tide of red-robed 
Tinnabulan army. Cantera, still mounted on her emaciated white 
stallion, rode in the midst of them; her white robes stood out 
like a beacon among the cowled, red robes of her undead army.
     Someone jostled her and brought her attention back to the 
present. She turned to help an old woman up the last of the steps 
to the gates, glad to be able to put the Tinnabulans and their 
High Priestess out of her mind for the moment.

***

     Aladdin joined the ranked guards around the last of the 
populace of Agrabah as it tried to squeeze through the palace 
gates. They faced the advancing Tinnabulans, ready to protect the 
citizens should the undead soldiers attack. However, the red-robed 
invaders surrounded them but made no move to attack. Instead, they 
seemed to be herding the people into the palace. Aladdin got the 
uneasy feeling this was exactly what Cantera wanted. Still, what 
else was there to do? He glanced over his shoulder at the crowd 
clustered around the wall surrounding the palace. Several of the 
guards were busy trying to get people inside the walls, but the 
press bottlenecked at the gates. The rest stood off against the 
ring of Tinnabulans.
     A bright blue streak arced through the air to strike the 
ground at his side, followed closely by a red blur of feathers. 
Iago dropped Abu, who scaled Aladdin's side to sit on his 
shoulder. "There are Mamluks everywhere!" Iago screeched as he 
flapped around in front of the group. "Mozenrath's escaped! Help 
me!!" Aladdin lunged after the bird and caught him, wrapping his 
hand firmly around Iago's beak. 
     "Quiet!" he hissed at the bird as he him tucked under one 
arm to keep him silent. Things were tense enough already without 
Iago adding to the furor. "I know there are mamluks everywhere; 
everyone knows that. But they aren't Mozenrath's!"
     "If it isn't Mozenrath, then who is it?" Iago shouted as he 
managed to pull his bill from Aladdin's grasp. "You could 
suffocate a guy doing that, you know." He glared at Aladdin.
     "They're Tinnabulans."
     "Tinnabulan?" Genie exclaimed. "But you said Tinnabula was 
destroyed! Buried under a sand tsunami and the army was taking a 
dirt nap!" Genie floated into the air in a prone position, arms 
crossed on his chest and a daisy sprouted from between his 
fingers.
     Before Aladdin could comment, the red wall parted and 
Cantera rode out of the mass of her undead army. Her horse pranced 
perilously close to Aladdin. He stood his ground, sword ready and 
gazing defiantly up at her. Forgotten, Iago flapped over and 
landed on Genie's shoulder. Agrabah's Guards pulled in close 
behind Aladdin. The woman ignored them and concentrated her 
attention on Aladdin.
     "So, we meet again, slave."
     Aladdin raised his sword. "I told you once, I am *not* a 
slave!"
     Her smile could have melted bricks. "So it seems." Her eyes 
traveled up and beyond the wall behind them to the great palace. 
"Very nice."
     "Uh, Al, who's your friend?" Genie asked.
     "It's Cantera, the Priestess of Cacophona," Aladdin answered 
tightly.
     "Cantera?!" Iago squawked. "But you said she was dead!"
     The woman laughed. Low and throaty and strangely echoed, it 
sent shivers of ice up their spines.
     "It seems the boy should have made sure of his facts before 
he went spreading rumors about my demise," she said softly. Again, 
Aladdin heard that strain in her voice. He saw it in her eyes, 
this time, too. "Oh, no, I'm not dead. Not by a long shot. But you 
will be, soon." She turned her horse and brought it close to 
Aladdin so she could look down her long nose at him. 
      "Who are you, so that I may know who it was that aided the 
duplicitous sorcerer in attacking Cacophona."
     "I'm Aladdin, and Cacophona was destroyed! I saw it with my 
own eyes!"
     Cantera's eyes glittered with a strange light as he 
mentioned Cacophona. "How little you know, boy," she purred. She 
looked at the city around her. "What a lovely city you have here, 
Aladdin. How fitting: It will be all the sweeter when it becomes 
mine." She threw her head back and flung her arms out. "How 
fitting that yours will be sacrificed to restore Cacophona!"
     "Not without a fight, Cantera. I defeated you once, I'll 
defeat you again."
     She smiled a poisonous smile at him. "Brave words from a 
mere mortal. Tell me, where is the sorcerer? Where is Mozenrath, 
that arrogant, spoiled brat of a princeling?" Her tone did not 
bode well for Mozenrath should she ever get her hands on him.
     "He's--" Iago started.
     "Genie!" Aladdin barked. The djinni zapped the parrot before 
he could say more. "OW!"
     To Cantera, Aladdin said, "He's not here. He's returned to 
his kingdom. You can find it if you go west and keep going. Can't 
miss it; gloomy place full of black sand."
     Cantera's smile soured. "Strange. I've just come from the 
Land of the Black Sand. Mozenrath was conspicuous by his absence. 
He's been gone for some time, too. The place is a dreadful mess." 
She grinned slyly at Aladdin. "One can learn all sorts of 
interesting things in the library of a sorcerer." She gestured at 
the soldiers that surrounded them. "How else do you think I 
learned how to raise the dead of my beloved city to create this 
army? Since the two of you left Tinnabula together, it's my guess 
that you have him locked up here somewhere." Her voice dripped 
honey; her expression, however, did not reflect the exaggerated 
sweetness. "That's quite all right. I have all the time in the 
world. You, however, do not. I want Mozenrath handed over to me 
before dawn. If not, I'll tear the place apart looking for him." 
She raised her hand imperiously and motioned to her undead army.
     Aladdin backed away as the front ranks shuffled forward, 
swords held menacingly. They did not rush; they merely pushed the 
defenders back before them, herding them into the palace. The 
guards and Aladdin were the last ones through the great gates 
before they were swung shut and barred.
     Hurrying to the top of the wall, Aladdin found Jasmine, her 
father and Rasoul already there. "That gate isn't going to hold 
them if they decide to attack us," he said.
     Jasmine went to his side and took his hand. "Who was that, 
Aladdin? And what's going on?"
     "That was Cantera," he said shortly, getting more than a 
little tired of having to explain things. "No, she's not dead as 
dead as we thought. Her army is; somehow she's learned how to make 
mamluks out of them."
     "Mamluks?" the Sultan asked. "But how?"
     "I don't know. She says she's been to the Land of the Black 
Sand and learned its secrets." He looked at Genie. "Whatever that 
means." The djinni shrugged.
     "She also wants Mozenrath," Iago piped up, unasked. "I say 
we let her have him. Good riddance to bad rubbish."
     Aladdin glared at Iago. "We can't do that."
     "I agree," the Sultan said, stroking his beard. "Mozenrath 
still has many things to answer for and he *will* answer for 
them."
     Aladdin bit his lip and looked at Jasmine. He could see in 
her eyes she knew what he was about to suggest. "I agree, but for 
a different reason." He paused as she continued to gaze 
meaningfully into his eyes. "Whatever Cantera wants Mozenrath for, 
I can guarantee that it won't benefit Agrabah."
     The Sultan shook his head. "What are we going to do?" he 
asked.
     "There is powerful magic at work here, Sultan," Aladdin 
said. "I'm not sure there's much we can do."
     "But you defeated her once, did you not?" the Sultan said.
     Aladdin nodded. "With help. We're going to need that same 
help to defeat her again."
     The Sultan started as he realized just how Aladdin had 
manipulated the turn the conversation had taken. The little man 
looked him full in the face. "You mean Mozenrath." It was not a 
question; Aladdin nodded. The Sultan sputtered in outrage. 
"Absolutely not! We will not allow that benighted sorcerer to 
escape justice again!" Rasoul drew himself up behind the Sultan.
     "I agree with the Sultan," he said as he put his hand to the 
hilt of his sword meaningfully.
     Aladdin pleaded with them. "We *need* him. It was only with 
his knowledge of magic that we were able to defeat Cacophona the 
first time!"
     "Yet, it appears you didn't defeat her after all!" Rasoul 
said.
     Aladdin drew himself and looked the Captain full in the 
face. "All the more reason we need Mozenrath's help! Who else 
knows more about magical entities than a sorcerer?"
     "Al, you're forgetting big blue here," Iago said from his 
shoulder.
     Genie shook his head. "You know how well mixing magicks 
works. I'm afraid that I won't be much help against elemental 
magic." 
     The Sultan glared at Genie then transferred that glare to 
Aladdin. "Just how do you propose to persuade Mozenrath into 
helping us?"
     Aladdin grinned his lopsided grin. "Leave that to me; I 
think I know the perfect incentive for Mozenrath.

*****

MORE TO COME...