The Song of Cacophona Part 7 of 8 Part 6 Aladdin pulled against the manacle, but it was no use. The metal was twisted tightly around his wrist, as it was around Mozenrath's. The sorcerer never took his eyes from Cantera. He turned his own attention to the woman, trying to determine what Mozenrath found so fascinating. He leaned close and asked in a whisper, "What are those bells?" She fussed over them now, adjusting the way they hung. He startled as he heard his voice come back to him as strong as if he had shouted the question. Mozenrath hissed at him, but not before Cantera turned. She crossed the stage, looking all the world as if hosting one of the Sultan's garden parties. Even with her face smeared with plaster dust and sweat, her hair dusty and hanging in limp tendrils around her face and her robes in tatters, she retained the regalness of a queen. "Why don't you tell him, Mozenrath?" she said. Even her voice was even and cool. The light in her eyes, however, belied her calmness. That and the lines of strain that marked her once beautiful face. The sorcerer did not answer her, but instead addressed Aladdin, though his eyes never left Cantera's face. "I don't know," he said flatly; a simple statement of fact, with none of the venom Aladdin would have expected at being forced to admit ignorance. She smiled, something far removed from anything resembling mirth. Cold and distant as the wastes of the Far North, when she turned her eyes upon him, it made Aladdin shiver in his boots. "These bells, all that remain of the once great Tinnabula, have been imbued with the power of Mozenrath's kingdom." Aladdin felt the sorcerer stiffen beside him. "Dipped into the very founts of death, they have the power to raise the dead. As you have witnessed." She turned and strode away from them; Aladdin thought her rant was at an end. But her voice came to his ears as clearly as if she had been standing next to him, addressing him directly. "They will bring life to Cacophona once more." Aladdin looked at Mozenrath, who had not taken his eyes from Cantera, staring as if fascinated by her. "How can I hear everything down here? It's not natural." "It's the amplification crystals in the walls," the other man said, gesturing with his skeletal hand. "It's what made this place famous; no matter where one sits or stands within the amphitheatre, everything said on the stage can be heard." He turned and looked at Aladdin with a sly gleam in his eyes. "Don't you know *anything*?" Aladdin stiffened. The hot retort died on his lips as Mozenrath elbowed him hard in the ribs. "*Everything* can be heard." Aladdin nodded, keeping his comments to himself. Cantera whirled around and flung wide her hands. "The crystals will amplify the harmonics of the bells, reflecting them back onto themselves, building up the complexity until she can regain her physical form." Looking at her two captives, she pointed at them. "And you will provide the keys to bring her into existence. Your magic, your soul--" _Enough Cantera,_ the voice in her head ordered with a thunderous swell. _It is time._ Cantera twisted in on herself as if in pain. Lasting but a moment, the fit passed and she straightened. The lines on her face had deepened, but underlying it all was an expression of triumph. "It is time for Cacophona to be reborn," she whispered. Strangely enough, her voice did not echo, though both sorcerer and street rat heard her clearly. Aladdin felt his blood go cold. *** "This way, Jas!" Genie shouted into the darkness. He paused and waited for the princess to catch up with him. "They're in there." He pointed towards a gaping hole, beyond which was firelight instead of darkness. Xerxes hovered near the edge of the hole, gazing forlornly at his master down below. Jasmine leaned against the wall and panted. She peered cautiously through into the wide expanse below. "Geez, Louise!" Iago whispered near her ear. "What is this place?" "The Agrabah Theatre, it appears." Her eyes were focused on the three figures at the center of the stage. Like some sort of ancient play, the two men faced the red-robed woman. She could hear whispers, but could not make out the words. "What is she doing?" Genie asked. "I thought she only wanted Mozenrath." "It looks as if her plans have changed." Jasmine pressed herself against the wall as Cantera screamed. She pressed forward hopefully, perhaps Mozenrath had been able to free them-- Her heart fell as Cantera straightened. Clearly, this time, Jasmine heard her. "It is time for Cacophona to be reborn." Helplessly, Jasmine watched the play unfolding below. She hoped that it wouldn't turn into a tragedy. *** Cantera drew the Metabelis crystal out of her robe. Holding it in her hand, she turned to face her captives. Aladdin felt Mozenrath stiffen next to him. Cantera smiled. "Yes, the Metabelis crystal." She turned her back on them to give her full attention to the bells. She laid her hand on them, a tender gesture, a caress. Looking downwards at the floor, she shoved the rubble aside with her foot. Crouching, she scrabbled in the dust for a few seconds until her hand closed around what she sought: A slim wooden sliver, about the length of her forearm. Raising it like a baton, she straightened and once again faced the bells. Carefully, she struck the first bell. The peal spread outward like a ripple. Soft at first, it strengthened as it returned from the reflecting crystals. A single note now became an orchestra. She tapped the second bell; it's peal joined with the first, and was reflected back from the crystals, swelling to fill the Theatre. The third note joined the others. Mozenrath winced and leaned forward, covering his ears against the sound. Aladdin covered his ears as well, but didn't take his eyes off Cantera. The vibrations produced by the bells shook the timbers overheard; Aladdin could hear the stones in the walls grind against one another. Yet Cantera seemed oblivious to it. She stared in rapture as the reflected music grew until it filled the space with sound. She raised her hand and struck the first bell again, then the second twice, first, then the third. Each note returned strengthened, magnified, splintered into a thousand notes both too high and too low to hear. Aladdin's teeth ached from the vibrations; out of slitted eyes he could see Mozenrath was suffering the same. She struck the bells over and over, adding more notes to the raging symphony. Small rocks danced around them, so strong were the vibrations. The whole Theatre shook with them; a wind whipped around the enclosed space as they shifted. Aladdin felt a hand on his arm and he forced himself to look up. The sorcerer pointed above them; Aladdin craned his head around to look. There, along the wall, the reflecting crystal glowed brightly as it pulsed in time to the dreadful shimmering of the air. Mozenrath put his mouth close to Aladdin's ear and even then had to shout to make himself heard. "*It's working!*" he said. "*We've got to destroy those crystals!*" Cantera held the blue Metabelis crystal aloft. "*METABLA!*" she shouted. Mozenrath suddenly slumped against Aladdin; the sorcerer's good hand clutched at his chest as his face twisted. Aladdin caught the taller man before he fell, and lowered him to the block. He felt a twisting in his own chest as the crystal began to suck Mozenrath's soul from his body. The sorcerer gasped and sank to his knees as strands of darkly glowing gossamer leeched out of his body. The pain in his own chest grew to agonizing proportions and he, too, dropped to his knees in the dust. "*METABELOR*!" she cried, thrusting the crystal up into the air over her head. Almost as if he could see the sound waves rippling the air, Aladdin watched the crystal lift from her hand to float several feet above her head. The glow which pervaded it seeped out, teased out like yarn spun from cotton wool. The glow spread, illumining a great webwork of sound waves with the crystal at the center. He felt Mozenrath tremble as a huge shape began to take form around the crystal: A huge scarab beetle. *** Jasmine ducked as a huge piece of plaster barely missed the little group. The muted thunder that had begun in the amphitheatre spilled over into their hiding place and down the tunnels. Plaster dust coated their clothes and turned Jasmine's hair white. Xerxes zipped underneath a nearby beam that had been wedged between two others. Creeping forward to the opening again, they peered down. "We've got to do something!" the princess shouted. "What can we do against this thing?" Iago shot back. "There's got to be *something*!" Jasmine examined the Theatre below in a desperate attempt to see some possibility to thwart Cantera's scheme. The thunder grew, until it wasn't just a sound, but something she felt in her bones. Her complete attention snapped to Cantera as the blonde priestess pulled a blue crystal out of her robes and held it up. Abu chittered a question. "I dunno. I've never seen anything like that before," Iago said in response. "Mozenrath mentioned she had some sort of crystal with which she had tried to trap him. What was it?" Iago cleared his throat. When he spoke, it was in Mozenrath's voice, imitating his arrogance and cadence, not just the sound of the young man's voice. "'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--'" "Metabelis crystal..." she mused, staring at the crystal the woman held. Suddenly, Cantera held the crystal above her head. It floated out of her hand and into the center of the Theatre. Jasmine heard the word "Metabelor" clearly, but as if from far away. Strands of energy snaked from the crystal into the cacophonous maelstrom, elongating and brightening into a web of sorts. A shape formed, that of a huge beetle. Jasmine gasped as Iago gripped her shoulder hard. "That crystal. We've got to get that crystal!" "How?" Genie asked. Iago gulped. "Leave that to me." He launched himself off Jasmine's shoulder and into the maelstrom. "Iago!" Jasmine cried. "You'll never make it!" "Listen to her, Birdman! It's certain death to fly into that!" Beaten back by the buffeting sound waves, Iago squawked. "Thanks for the moral support!" he shouted at them as he soared by. "I expect a BIG reward for this!!" He took a deep breath and dove back into the storm. *** "How do I get myself into these things?" Iago muttered as he plunged into the storm. --And flapped wildly as the air melted out from under his wings. "I hate *freefallllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!*" the parrot yelled as the stage rushed upwards at an alarming rate. Closing his eyes, he pumped his wings, clawing the air for any purchase he could find. Without warning, he found it and shot upwards. Recovering, he strained to keep himself aloft long enough to reach the crystal. He was panting by the time he got close enough to the crystal to see it clearly. The winds buffeted him, the air dropped out from beneath his wings without warning, shears sent him spinning wildly off course. A sudden shift in the sound waves thrust him within snatching distance of the crystal. Swallowing his heart, he stretched out his feet and grabbed it. A loud droning screech from below sent him spinning out of the heart of the storm and towards the margin. Tumbled head over wings, he lost all sense of direction. He clutched the crystal in a deathgrip, and hoped he landed on something soft. Braced for impact, when it finally came, he screeched in surprise. After a moment, when he realized he was still breathing, he peered through his wingfeathers. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. "Hoboy, Al! Am I glad to see you!" *** Alerted by the screech, Aladdin looked up as the red- feathered missile came hurtling towards him. Hitting him in the side, he slumped over against the stone block and gasped for breath. Something tickled his nose and he brushed it away. Opening his eyes, he found several bright red feathers drifting in the air currents around him. Brushing them away he sat up and peered down at Iago. "Iago!" he cried, cradling the dazed parrot in his arms. Iago uncovered his eyes to look up at him. "Hoboy, Al! Am I glad to see you!" He hopped up to Aladdin's shoulder. "Here, take this. I don't wanna be caught dead with it on my person." He dropped the crystal into Aladdin's hand. "And if you don't mind, I'm gettin' the heck outta dodge!" He launched himself from Aladdin's arm and headed back into the maelstrom. Aladdin lost sight of him almost immediately. Aladdin sat up on his knees and reached for Mozenrath, slumped against the block looking very lifeless. "Mozenrath!" "What?" he croaked. "The crystal! I've got the crystal!" Mozenrath's eyes snapped open. Reaching for it with his skeletal right hand, he grasped Aladdin's vest with his left. "Give it to me," he snapped. Aladdin pressed it into the other's hand, ignoring the dry warmth of the bones against his skin. Mozenrath's eyes turned hungry as he closed his fingers over the crystal. "*Metabalix*," he whispered. The gossamer strands that surrounded him gathered themselves and returned to the crystal. The crystal glowed in his hand; the glow spread to include his hand as the strands quickened their inward journey. Levering himself to his feet, Mozenrath whirled around to face Cantera. The winds tossed his cloak and drapes of his headdress about; angrily, he ripped his turban off and let it spin away in the wind. "You've lost, Cantera!" His cry of triumph was cut off abruptly by the sight before him. A network of glowing lines defined the shape of the scarab beetle. The creature nearly filled the amphitheatre; its legs touched the walls opposite each other. Lightnings flashed around it as the energies gathered and solidified into place. The harmonics shifted wildly, threatening to bring down more of the unstable structures around them. The thing flexed its legs and wing casings as if testing its new shape. Standing at the center of the vortex of sound, and yet untouched by it, Cantera regarded them with her cool stare. "You are too late, Mozenrath," she said softly. They heard it plainly, as if she stood next to them. "Cacophona is reborn." *** Cantera stood in the center of the vortex of Cacophona's _becoming_ and watched the sorcerer and the slave that had worked with him. She relished the look of disbelief on their faces as they realized that stealing the Metabelis crystal had made no difference. Cacophona was strong; she did not need the energies from the sorcerer to sustain her form any more. She was not yet completely corporeal yet, and still needed the reflecting crystals and bells to sustain her harmonics. _Intruders, Cantera,_ she sang to her acolyte. The elemental flexed her limbs, shattering the upper levels of the stage as she moved. _Deal with them._ Cantera bowed her head and turned away from the two prisoners. She gestured to the leader of the ghuls, waiting for her signal. They filed out of the amphitheatre through the entrance they had made. A quick march through the tunnels would bring them up behind the intruders. *** Flying high above the whirling storm, Iago saw the red-robed ghuls move out of the Theatre. He redoubled his efforts to reach the entrance to the room in which the Princess and Genie waited. Once he was in position, he folded his wings and dove for the opening. *** "Ambush!" Iago shouted as he hurled through the opening and into Jasmine's arms. Jasmine whirled at the shouted warning. The flash of a red robe drew her attention; she backed away as the ghul advanced on her, sword drawn and eyes glowing hatefully. Retreating before the undead Tinnabulans, she backed into Asad. "Genie, isn't there anything you can do?" she called desperately. The djinni whirled around, his form shifted, melted, expanded to several times his normal size. Once the transformation had finished, Jasmine and Asad backed away nervously. Several times more massive than even Rasoul, the djinni had taken on a truly horrific appearance. Hulking, heavily muscled, he stood at least a foot taller than the tallest of them; the unruly mop of black hair he'd grown made him appear even taller. Odd clothing added to his appearance: Heavy boots, close-fitting trousers and tunic, and something that looked like a leather caftan swung around his legs. Strange tools hung from a belt around his waist. His normally pale blue skin was a shade paler; stark black markings around his eyes and mouth gave him a feral look. His eyes, though...Jasmine gasped as he looked around at the encroaching Tinnabulans. They glowed red in the darkness. With a non-chalance that made Jasmine nervous, Genie pulled a thick tube from the air, put it in his mouth and lit the end with a flame he created on the end of the finger. He inhaled and blew out a breath of smoke, as if he had been smoking a hookah. "So ya wanna play?" he said, his voice deep and menacing. The ghuls did not hesitate; they continued advancing on the djinni. Genie stuck the burning cylinder between pointed teeth, and growled in a low voice, "Come get some, Clyde." Over his shoulder, he said to the others, "Ya might wanna get back; this is gonna get ugly." Prudently, Jasmine put Iago on one shoulder, picked up Abu, and motioned for Asad to follow her. They put several corridors between themselves and the djinni. "Prepared to be fragged!" they heard him shout. A rapid series of retort ripped through the silence in the tunnels, and physically battered the princess and guard. They crouched by the walls, ears covered, to block out the sound. When the echoes finally died away and the silence deafening after the sonic assault, Jasmine looked up. Glancing at Asad, she levered herself up and crept back towards the entrance to the Theatre. The guard was close behind her as she peered around corner. She felt him stiffen at the sight that greeted them. Jasmine left the corner and cautiously approached Genie. He stood in the middle of a pile of body parts and tattered red robes; the instruments he held in either hand glowed from heat and smoked drifted from the ends. "Genie? What did you do?" She looked on in horror at the carnage. He shrugged, the muscles in his shoulders rippling like a small mountain range experiencing a violent upheaval. "Like th' kid said, how d'ya kill somethin' that's already dead? Hack, smash or blow the suckers to bits." He blew the smoke off the end of one of his contraptions and grinned in satisfaction. "I prefer to frag 'em." Iago stared at Genie. "You've been reading too many comic books," he muttered. Jasmine shivered and stepped over a pile of something hidden under a tattered and stained red robe. "We've got to hurry. Something's happening." Genie nodded and reached into his leather caftan. He pulled out his lamp and tossed it away, zapping it as it fell. It changed form, growing larger, more elongated; twin projections sprouted near the spout end and curled backwards, while the handle stretched upwards and flattened. The djinni swung a leg over the now huge lamp and settled himself astride it, as if it were a horse or camel. "Jes follow th' Main Djinni, and we'll have Al rescued in no time. And that's a promise!" He gripped the new projections and twisted one savagely. The front end of the lamp reared into the air, looking as if it was about to tip over backwards. Lurching forward, the front came down and leapt forward, crashing through the wall. Jasmine, Asad, Abu and Iago gathered around the enlarged opening into the ancient Agrabah Theatre to watch. ***** MORE TO COME...