The Song of Cacophona Part 6 of 8 Part 5 Mozenrath stumbled as something in his chest twisted. Gasping for breath, he flailed out for something to support himself; it was Aladdin's arm he caught. The magelight winked out, leaving them in total darkness. Too startled to pull away, Aladdin put his other hand under the sorcerer's arm to support him. "What is it? Genie, how about some light?" "Roger Wilco, Al!" Several torches appeared and cast a stark light on the scene. "I--" Mozenrath couldn't draw breath enough to form the words. His grip on Aladdin tightened as his fingers spasmed. Aladdin gasped. "Aladdin!" Jasmine hurried forward, Asad hot on her heels, sword ready to deal Mozenrath a mortal blow. "No!" Aladdin gasped. The sorcerer slumped against the wall, both hands grasping Aladdin's arms now. "Don't," he said through gritted teeth. "It's not what you think." "Then what is it?" Jasmine demanded. She grasped Mozenrath's hand and tried to pry his fingers loose; they were frozen in a bruising grip on Aladdin's arm. Aladdin gasped; the other's grip on his arms sent agony up his arms. "It's as if he's holding onto you for his life!" Jasmine cried. Genie surged forward. He pulled a bag out of his sash and sprinkled it over the pair. The dust sparkled in the light like dustmotes in slanting sunlight. As it drifted around them, it brightened and thickened in patterns around the two men as the unseen power illuminated it. "Something is sucking his soul out of his body!" The bright cords defined by the sparkling dust looped around the sorcerer, pulling tight while the other ends drifted off into the darkness. Mozenrath gasped. As they watched, the gossamer strands leapt from him to encircle Aladdin, who in turn cried out as the strands tightened around him. The sorcerer threw his head back as he fought against the pull. He pulled Aladdin off balance as he dropped heavily to his knees. "Genie! Do something!" Jasmine shouted as she leapt forward to support him. "What's happening?" "Kill the sorcerer!" Asad cried. "It's his doing! He's betrayed us!" He leapt at the sorcerer, sword raised ready to strike-- "Are you crazy?" Iago squawked. "Kill him and Al's a dead man!" With a screech, Abu leapt at the guard and pulled his turban over his eyes. Iago flew at the guard, beating at him with his wings. Asad stumbled back, shoving his turban back so he could see. He looked at Genie, uncertain if he should believe the parrot or not. "Is that true, Genie?" Jasmine asked. She lowered Aladdin to his knees. Face twisted against the pull, it was a twin mask of Mozenrath's. Struck suddenly with how alike they looked, she shivered and tried harder to pry loose Mozenrath's deathgrip on Aladdin. "Their souls are linked somehow; normally, there wouldn't be any danger, but the link is active at the moment. Killing Mozenrath now would definitely be a Bad Thing." He wrung his hands and looked helpless. "*How* did their souls get linked?" Jasmine demanded. She felt so powerless! There was nothing she could do except watch and wait and how she hated waiting! "And what are we going to do about it?" Iago flew to her shoulder. "I know enough about magic to know that two people in a soul snare are dependent on the other for their survival. Harm one and the other suffers as well." Jasmine squelched the desire to demand *why* again. It was like watching Aladdin die, slip away from her clutching fingers, torn from her, while unable to *do* anything-- *** Mozenrath fought the pull on his soul with all his strength. He floundered helplessly, unable to find an anchor against the inexorable pull. He sought a purchase against the drag, any kind of purchase, but his questing mind could find none. Then, there was someone with him, acting as a drag against the pull. Yes! he crowed and seized upon that other presence with ruthless desperation. He recognized Aladdin as he threw all his strength behind breaking the hold of the Metabelis crystal upon his being. He clawed his way back along the link between the two of them, sorcerer and street rat, each inch a new victory. Combined with his iron will and Aladdin's anchor, he was able to resist the pull of the crystal. Honing his will into a weapon, he attacked the bonds. The pressure inside couldn't withstand a directed attack; they collapsed under the strain, exploding outwards-- *** A gurgle made Jasmine startle. Eyes snapping to Mozenrath's face, she saw something change. A flash of triumph through the veil of pain; a cry of victory as the ephemeral strands that bound them shimmered and brightened. Flaring with dazzling luminescence, the strands exploded outwards, sending both men reeling backwards as if struck. Genie zipped behind Aladdin as he fell backwards. Morphing into a large pillow, he caught Aladdin before he could slam into the wall. Mozenrath fell into a heap in the dust, and lay still. *** _His will is strong, Cantera,_ the voice said. Gasping, the woman nodded. She sat down heavily on the block; the chains fastened to the rings clinked discordantly. He had broken the pull of the crystal. Not an easy task. _His defeat will be that much sweeter,_ Cacophona sang briskly; Cantera nodded curtly. Dropping to a whisper, the elemental continued. _Coaxing may prove a better course of action rather than coercion. See where he is and send the guards after him. Herd him towards this place; play with him the way a cat plays with a mouse. The sorcerer and this Aladdin of Agrabah._ She nodded and sent the ghuls after the sorcerer, praying the voice in her head would be silent for a time now. She could still hear the echoing sibilance that rolled through her head like thunder. She gasped when the areas of her mind were quiet once again. Sighing, she slumped against the stone. *** "Aladdin!" Jasmine snatched his hand and held it tightly. She brushed his hair out of his face. He lifted his hand to his head, found her hand there already and pressed it to his face. "Jasmine," he breathed. He struggled to sit up. Genie inhaled deeply, inflating himself, and lifted Aladdin to a sitting position while Jasmine plucked at his tunic. "Are you okay?" She stroked his face. Aladdin grinned groggily at her. "Yeah." He touched her face tenderly. "I'm alive." "So am I, if anyone cares," Mozenrath said hoarsely. They looked at him as he pushed himself to sitting. Aladdin squeezed Jasmine's hand briefly and gave her a tired smile before standing. "Wait here," he said softly. The princess remained kneeling next to Genie, still in the form of an inflated air pillow. The djinni released the breath he had been holding, deflating back to his normal size and shape. A slim hand on his arm stopped him when he would have gone to Aladdin's side. "Let him handle this," she said quietly. Standing over the sorcerer, Aladdin held out his hand. Mozenrath looked up, took it and pulled himself up. "Care to explain what just happened?" he asked in a quiet voice full of steel. "The truth this time." Mozenrath sighed irritably. "I've told you the truth all along, Aladdin. Why tell a lie when the truth works just as well? Easier to keep track of it that way." "You didn't tell me about this!" Aladdin snapped. The sorcerer mopped his brow with his sleeve, lacking anything better. The ever-present dust smeared on his skin did not hide the grey tinge behind his normally pale complexion. Nor did the irritation he projected hide the haggard look in his eyes. "All right, all right. So I didn't tell you *everything*." He took a deep breath and leaned against the wall, using one hand for support. "Cantera ripped half my soul from me while I was escaping from her. She's got a Metabelis crystal; it's similar to an Ix crystal, but does not trap the physical being of a magical being inside it, but the soul--" "A Soul Gem," Genie whispered. "I've heard of those." Mozenrath looked up at the djinni. "Yes, it's a Soul Gem. It doesn't just target magical power. With part of my soul trapped in the Metabelis crystal, she can use it to bring me to her any time she wants." Hearing the unspoken question on everyone's mind, he shook his head. "I have no idea how the soul link between us--" His words trailed off as a theory formed in his mind. Aladdin moved forward. "You think you know?" Mozenrath straightened and turned his black eyes on Aladdin. "Umarah." Aladdin's eyes widened. "Keshvar." "Keshvar?" Jasmine looked from one to the other. "How?" "A residual effect from the bond Umarah put us under, strengthened by the ordeal through the barrier." Aladdin shuddered at the memory. "Don't remind me." Mozenrath shook his head and covered his eyes. "I told you once, it wasn't exactly a picnic for myself. And neither is this. I don't like being in debt to anyone, especially not you." Aladdin sighed. "This is not the time for that, Mozenrath. Right now, we've got to stop Cantera." "Don't you think I know that?" Mozenrath snapped. "That crazy female wants my soul! To bring back that buzzing bug she calls a god!" "She's the *only* one who wants it," Iago muttered. Abu stifled a snicker behind his hand. "Iago, don't provoke him," Jasmine whispered to him. But a smile played around the corners of her mouth. Mozenrath stiffened, then forced himself to be calm. Pointedly ignoring the parrot, he motioned for everyone to follow him. "Hurry. We don't have much time before she's bound to try again." Without waiting for an answer, he swept out of the area. Asad rushed forward. "Stop! You are not in charge here!" Aladdin grabbed the guard's arm to stop him. "He's right. We have to find Cantera, and he's the best one for the job." "We've got bigger problems than that, Al," Iago shouted as a loud crashing sounded behind them. "Ghuls!" Aladdin caught Jasmine's hand and hurried after Mozenrath; Asad brought up the rear. They found the sorcerer waiting for them at a junction of tunnels; he waved them past before sweeping the area behind them with a blast of power. The explosion shook the mudplaster walls around them, and brought dust and debris raining down on the ghuls' heads. "Let's get out of here before the whole place comes down on us," Aladdin said. "This is possibly the first and last time we'll ever be in full agreement," Mozenrath said. He chose a tunnel and scanned it with his undersenses. Shaking his head, he chose another one, rejected it, chose another. Nodding, he held up his hand. "This way." They hared down the narrow and twisted street just as a patrol of ghuls appeared. Hanging back, Mozenrath brought down the already unstable infrastructure with a judiciously placed blast of power. As the timbers crashed down on the undead, he whirled and dashed after the rest of the group, not even sparing an angry glance for Asad, who hung back with the sorcerer. The guard gripped his sword and followed silently. The alleyways and passages of the ancient city were suddenly filled with the red-robed Tinnabulan ghuls. One patrol would appear, forcing them to take a quick turn down another dark alleyway, only to be confronted with another patrol. Driven, they took turn after turn in a desperate attempt to outrun the ghuls. Stopping briefly for a breather after eluding a patrol, they leaned panting against the walls. Mozenrath drew Aladdin aside. "We're being herded," he said, not bothering to lower his voice. Aladdin looked up at the sorcerer. "Do you know for certain?" Mozenrath nodded. "We're allowed to travel east, but if we turn in any other direction, the patrols appear and turn us back." "And if they're wanting us to go in this direction, it's a good bet we *don't* want to." "My feelings, exactly--" He was interrupted as the wall collapsed, throwing them all backwards. Eyes glowing malevolently, the ghuls rushed in and seized both Aladdin and Mozenrath. "Aladdin!" Jasmine shouted. A cold hand on her shoulder shoved her backwards into the wreckage. Her head connected with something hard, light flashed in front of her eyes before everything went black. *** Cantera turned at the sound of shuffling feet. The sleeve of her robe brushed lightly against the bells on the tripod, setting them clinking together. Quickly, she stilled them; it was not time to unleash the magic in them. Turning her attention to the ghuls that had arrived, she smiled as she saw the prisoners they held. Sweeping forward towards them as the ghuls dragged them down the stairs towards the stage, her ragged robe and dusty skin and hair could not hide her arrogant bearing. The ghuls dumped the two men on the stage at Cantera's feet. A poisonous light lit Cantera's eyes from within. She prodded Mozenrath's side with her foot before kneeling and slipping his gauntlet off his hand. She stared briefly at his decimated hand then dropped it with a grimace of distaste. Rising, she tucked the gauntlet into her robe. "Chain him to the block," she said over her shoulder while she returned to her bells. The ghuls picked the sorcerer up by his arms and dragged him to the block. Dumping him ungently against the stone, they jerked his arms up to fasten the manacles around his wrists. The rough treatment roused him; he looked around blearily for a moment before the circumstances registered. Pulling angrily against the manacles, he jerked himself to standing. "Cantera!" he roared. The amphitheatre shook with the thunder produced by the echoes. He winced and cringed helplessly under the onslaught of pure sound. Dust and debris rained down from the straining ceiling. A timber dislodged and fell upon the makeshift tripod on which Cantera had hung her bells. "No!" she screeched and leapt forward, grabbing the tripod and the bells. Another timber slipped from the mass above and fell on the woman. Her screech cut off abruptly. As the last echoes died away, Aladdin sat up and pushed aside a few timbers and ran a hand through his hair. "What happened?" The ceiling groaned and creaked ominously above them. Mozenrath uncurled himself from the protective position he had assumed. "Never mind that, get me out of these!" he hissed. Aladdin nodded. He crept close to Mozenrath and tugged at the manacles. "The locks are ruined," he said with a shake of his head. "Like they've been twisted together--" Mozenrath jerked his wrists away. "Get my gauntlet," he ordered. Ignoring the curtness with which Mozenrath ordered him, Aladdin stood and crawled over the fallen rubble and timbers towards the last place he had seen Cantera. Turning his attention away from Aladdin, Mozenrath grabbed the manacle on his right hand in his left. The ghuls had twisted the metal close around his wrists, but only enough to close them. Gritting his teeth, he folded the bones of his hand together as tightly as he could and pushed the manacle over them. Metal scraped against bone, sending a jolt of fire up his arm. He ignored it and pushed harder. Hissing with the pain, he pulled his hand through the manacle; the world went white before his eyes. He leaned against the stone and waited for his vision to clear and his stomach to stop heaving. Gathering up the chain that still held him to the block, he turned. "What's keeping you, Aladdin?" he demanded. His question turned into a noise of indignation as he was seized roughly by cold, inhumanly cold hands. The ghuls' eyes glowed balefully at him. "Your friend is somewhat...occupied," a smooth voice said. The ghuls stepped aside to let Cantera approach. A ghul followed her, dragging the street rat with him. "He's not a friend," Mozenrath said with a vicious twist of his mouth. Cantera smiled and shook her head. "It doesn't matter to me or Cacophona. You will both give your lives to bring her back." To the ghuls she said, "Chain him to the stone. He will share Mozenrath's fate." She stepped back to watch as the ghuls chained Aladdin with the chain the sorcerer had just escaped from. "Some street rat you are," Mozenrath snarled. "You couldn't have done any better," Aladdin shot back. "Silence," Cantera ordered. The ghul twisted the manacle around Aladdin's wrist with bruising force, and stepped back. The Priestess looked them over coolly a moment before turning with a swirl of her tattered skirts. "Prepare yourselves for Cacophona's Becoming." *** "Jasmine! Wake up!" She groaned and tried to sit up. "I'm up, I'm up..." she said. Putting a hand to her head, she looked around blearily. "Genie? What's going on? It's the middle of the night." She closed her eyes and covered them with her hand. Her head ached horribly-- Iago flew to her shoulder and pulled on a lock of her hair. "Jasmine! Wake up!" Irritated, she pushed him away. "Iago! Stop that!" But it had done the trick; she looked around at the fallen timbers and dust of the ancient city and remembered-- "Aladdin?" she asked, already knowing the answer. "Gone," Abu chittered morosely. Jasmine held her hand out to the monkey; he climbed to her shoulder and hugged her. "As is the sorcerer," Asad declared. "We should have never trusted him." "Asad, there's a saying that upon reflection, everything becomes clear," she said tiredly as she climbed to her feet. "But now is not the time for reflection. We've got to find Mozenrath and Aladdin and stop Cantera. And I have a feeling that where we find Cantera, we'll find the others." "But where?" Iago muttered. "These tunnels go on forever! Hundreds and hundreds of twisty, windy little tunnels, all alike-- " A dark shape slid into view. She lurched towards it. "Xerxes!" The eel started and reared back before flying closer. "Cantera have Master. And Aladdin." "We suspected that much, Sluggo," Iago said. Xerxes hissed at the parrot. Jasmine took Iago from her shoulder and handed him to Genie. "Genie, keep him quiet!" Turning to the flying eel, she beckoned him closer. "Can you lead us to them, Xerxes?" The eel nodded vigorously as he did an excited flip. "This way. This way!" He streaked off into the darkness. "After him, Genie! Don't let him out of your sight!" She waved Asad to follow her as she hurried after the eel. ***** MORE TO COME...