Mozenrath25: Drown

Drown

You want to feel the cost of power that badly? Have patience, Princess. You will learn.

It was a little surprising just how effective the ploy with the gauntlet had been. He'd succeeded in upturning a slew of her arrogant preconceptions of him in one conversation, and despite the petty insults she continued to throw at him, he had seen the new respect in her eyes. Soon, fear would no longer be the dominant force driving her to meet his challenge.

He'd checked in on her a few times during her recent stretch of silence. She'd apparently gotten it into her head to negotiate with the sultan of Desrial over some triviality or another, still attempting to carry every burden on her own without letting a hint of her true motives slip to her father or Aladdin. The physical and mental exhaustion she was relentlessly pushing herself into only played in his favor.

Still, it was rather intriguing that she had chosen not to speak with him at all for nearly three days. Perhaps she had taken the intended lesson of patience a little too literally. In any case, he had few complaints, as uninterrupted sleep for three nights was infinitely preferable to putting up with self-righteous tirades from a spoiled princess.

The day's work had been taxing as he had reinforced the anti-illusion shields on his Citadel, ever aware of the deadline drawing near in a fluorescent trickle of sand. He knew his enemy all too well and the last thing he wanted was a gloating visit from the accursed goddess. Satisfied that the defenses were stable, he retired to his chambers to rest, and had just forced down a regular dose of the vile-tasting Elixir when a familiar voice shrieked into his mind.

Mozenrath!

He raised a brow and set down the vial, a smirk of amusement winning over the disgust he always felt after drinking the potion. What do you know, I actually kind of missed that petulant, grating voice.

He drew them both effortlessly into the special dimension he'd created for their meetings, wondering at the cause of her urgency. Perhaps she'd finally snapped under the self-imposed pressure and had decided to take her anger out on him.

The easy smile remained on his face as he greeted her in the darkness. "Well, Princess, it's been a while—"

She cut him off with a plea he only half-heard, wild desperation in her eyes. "Help m—"

She abruptly vanished, the dark air empty before him. With a frown he concentrated, now serious, and located her presence within seconds. A mild shock – she was in the middle of the desert, at an oasis, inside a body of water, restrained by an eight-legged sea creature.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes as he made the instantaneous journey there, chanting the necessary spells to block out the inevitable cold and allow himself to breathe.

"I see you've gotten yourself into quite a predicament, Princess," he commented in lieu of a second greeting. In the limited visibility of the water he saw her several feet away, her back turned to him. The water glowed pale yellow against her skin, her hair floating like a mass of smoke around her head.

"Who's there?" another voice snapped. A female voice even shriller than the princess', something he'd thought only Mirage was capable of. He sensed the woman's presence not far from Jasmine. It reeked of magic – the flowery, ostentatious type that he loathed.

He confirmed the frailty of her magic with a simple test, easily snuffing out the yellow light she had cast over the water. The water turned pitch-black and he fought another eye-roll as the woman blindly cast about her surroundings, trying to find the intruder.

A wordless command from his gauntlet and the water lit up once more, but in his preferred color. He ignored the princess for now, focusing on the other incompetent female in the vicinity. A mermaid whose hair was colored and styled after a lobster, absurdly clothed and wearing a vicious expression he'd seen on more than one spiteful sorceress. But the wild feel of her magic affirmed that she was definitely not a sorceress.

"Ah. A water elemental. With rather elementary magic, I might add."

The dismissive statement had the desired effect of making her bristle. Neither she nor the princess could see him as he had not revealed himself yet, and it was briefly amusing to watch them both search the water frantically for his whereabouts.

"I don't like strangers in my water insulting me, so if you know what's good for you…" she seethed, then paused as he stepped into visibility beside Jasmine.

The octopus holding the princess captive backed off in wary surprise, obviously a creature with a bit of intelligence. "Nice pet," he commented, wondering at the rarity of such a large specimen.

The princess seemed temporarily stunned by his appearance, though she had called him here in the first place. He suppressed yet another eye-roll, about to give her a pointed reminder of her incompetence when he noticed the elemental approaching.

The vindictive expression on her face melted away as she eyed him like a starving beggar would a piece of fresh bread. The inadvertent association with the street rat killed his amusement and he watched in silence as she swam toward him, swaying the portion of her body where her hips would have been. At the moment he could think of few things less attractive than a woman who was half-fish trying to seduce him with the fish part of her anatomy.

"And what might your name be, stranger?" she drawled, an oily smile stretching across perfectly rouged lips. He saw her hand reaching for him and decided on a whim to let this farce continue only to observe the princess' reaction, for she was definitely already reacting.

The elemental seemed to have forgotten about the princess altogether as she drew her fingers up his chest and brushed his jaw. "Someone as handsome as you should be given time for a proper introduction. I have plenty of time tonight. My name's Saleen, goddess of the sea."

Now that was amusing. A mere elemental with powers more capable of decoration than destruction, claiming godhood. She made Mirage's boasts sound valid.

"My name is Mozenrath," he said, finally stopping the trajectory of her hand before it could touch his cheek. Even through fleshless fingers and the leather of the gauntlet he could feel how delicate her hand was. One twist and he could snap at least three of her prettily manicured fingers if he wished. But he had always preferred magical power over pure physical force.

"And I am out of your league."

He sent a current of electrifying power through the glove and into the mermaid's body. She gave a shriek that hurt his ears, but it was satisfying to see her cringe back in pain, the predatory look on her face replaced once again by unadulterated malice. It was even more satisfying to hear the princess let out an involuntary breath of relief beside him. So she had moved beyond fear already. He hid a smile as he faced her, wondering what else he might discover about her progress toward his goals.

"A pleasure to see you in person, Princess. But you have a bit of explaining to do; I hate having to leave the Citadel at this hour," he said coolly. He noticed then another point of intrigue. Even in the water he could catch the distinctive scent emanating from her, the aroma of Sejhai. An aphrodisiac.

He certainly looked forward to hearing her explain that, even more than her reason for crossing paths with an angry mermaid in the middle of the night.

"Just get me out of here," she huffed, clearly not as grateful for his intervention as she should have been.

"You must be another one of the princess' boytoys," the mermaid snarled before he could respond to the princess' insolence. She was still nursing her injured hand, glaring at him with utter hatred. "Didn't realize she had a sorcerer at her beck and call."

"And you've only got a cephalopod. How quaint," he retorted, narrowing his eyes. "It is painfully obvious that you are unaware of who I am. I am the Lord of the Black Sand, and I bend to no one's will."

She sniffed like a petulant child. "I have no interest in sandy places, whatever color they may be. And you can bet I've got more than an octopus under my command. I've got the entire sea."

"Please," he laughed, wondering just how long she had gone unchallenged and delusional in these waters. "I've turned elementals like you into Mamluks before."

"I'd like to see you try," she said angrily, clearly ignorant of what Mamluks were. No matter; he wouldn't waste his energy turning her into one since she'd be utterly useless on land.

He raised his gauntlet in anticipation of her first spell, curious as to what kind of offensive magic she was capable of. The water began to swirl rapidly as she grinned and floated back, directing the currents at him and the princess. He quickly rooted himself to the sandy floor, swaying only slightly in the growing vortex. The princess was not so lucky, crying out as she was swept off her feet and into a spinning tunnel. He was half-inclined to leave her there for the entertainment, but didn't want her brains scrambled more than they already were. Though it had been a while since he had manipulated water, he managed to remember the basic spells. Spinning currents of his own in the opposite direction of the mermaid's, he merged them together and freed Jasmine from the dizzying prison.

"Interesting. A land wizard with the power to control water," the elemental remarked. "Well, how about this?"

Obviously still disoriented, the princess edged closer to him as the mermaid retreated and the water began to swirl around them again. As they watched, the currents took form and solidified into sleek gray shapes. Sharks. Mozenrath had never seen a live specimen before, and he tracked their circling movements in fascination for a brief moment. They were clearly dangerous with all those rows of teeth, not particularly fast swimmers, but easily capable of overtaking a human.

He counted half a dozen of them and drew up an invisible barrier of jagged edges just wide enough that the princess wouldn't accidentally cut herself on it if she reached out. A second later one of the creatures turned with remarkable speed and dove straight for her. He winced as she screamed in fright, and found he'd taken a step toward her in case the defensive net failed for some absurd reason. Of course it didn't fail. The shark impacted the spikes just as he intended and reeled back, bleeding copiously. Too dumb to learn from its mistake, its fellows followed suit and soon the water was billowing with red clouds. It reminded him of the idiocy of Mamluks when left to their own devices.

Drawn by the scent of blood, the sharks abandoned their human prey and began to tear each other apart. Beside him the princess covered her mouth and he almost laughed at the look of revulsion on her pretty face.

"Fascinating beasts. Dumber than Mamluks, though," he commented. Then he raised his hand and put an end to the spectacle with a blast of power. Fins and jaws and unidentifiable chunks of flesh were propelled in all directions with the spreading cloud of blood. He made sure it stopped at the edge of the net, though Jasmine still found it too close for comfort. He smiled at her unease. "Can't let blood get on the princess."

She opened her mouth to retort but the elemental chose at that moment to voice her displeasure. "You killed my beautiful creatures! You're going to pay for that!"

He raised an eyebrow, wondering why she hadn't stepped in to defend her precious pets if she cared for them so much. If this dimwitted mermaid was representative of the opponents that Jasmine and her street rat routinely faced, it was no wonder why they constantly underestimated him. He was the slightest bit offended that the heroes had it so easy, but perhaps it came as no surprise that he was the only one who gave them a challenge.

"Saleen, you can't win," Jasmine asserted. "Just let us go."

The princess' bold assumption kicked his annoyance up a notch; she spoke as if she were the one holding the power. And what was that about 'letting us go,' as if he were as weak and stupid as she was, needing to be rescued from a second-rate water elemental?

"Intriguing that you trust me to win. What happened to believing that enemies would only bring you harm?" he said testily.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll get me out of here," was her haughty reply.

He was about to cut her down succinctly when the elemental suddenly appeared beside him, a maniacal grin on her face. The wild magic around her consolidated in the completion of a spell and Mozenrath realized she had encased them in a water prison. The bubble's surface distorted everything around them, and the mermaid's grin looked even more psychotic than before.

"Try to get out of this one, sorcerer. Before the water pressure crushes you," she tittered.

He ignored her and reached out to erase his own barrier spell, testing the bubble with his gloved hand. It held fast, bending but not breaking no matter how much he tried to stretch it.

"The bubble lets nothing escape. It only lets water enter, until it crushes the life out of whatever unfortunate souls may be trapped inside!" the elemental gloated. "Don't worry, Princess. I'll tell Aladdin that you died in peace…in the arms of another man!"

As he felt the weight of the water press in on his lungs, he decided the first thing he would do when he got out of this stupid prison would be to rip out the mermaid's vocal cords. Then he'd torture her at his leisure, not having to hear her infernal voice. If the princess weren't vital to his plans for survival, he'd consider silencing her as well. She was currently pounding on the walls in futile rage, being absolutely useless as usual.

"Don't waste your energy!" he snapped, keeping his temper contained until he could get them out of this trap. "We have to push the walls in opposite directions in order to get out. The elasticity of this bubble is limited. If we stretch it enough, it will break. Here." He took her arm and transferred a small measure of power through his gauntlet into her body.

She cried out in pain and flinched back instinctively, but he grabbed her by the shoulders with barely checked frustration. "No time to be delicate. Take that energy and shove it against your side of the bubble as hard as you can. On my count."

He turned to the opposite side of the bubble and raised his gauntlet to the barrier, counting them off. For once she listened to him properly and they struck the barrier at the same time. He shouted further instructions and she again obeyed, throwing her body weight against the prison as he sent even more power through the walls.

The barrier finally broke and they lurched forward into open water, able to breathe freely once more. As he straightened up, he had to bite back the urge to take out all his irritation on the princess, no matter how much she deserved it. To put him through this amount of trouble and tax his already depleted reserves of energy when his days were numbered…he gritted his teeth and swallowed several curses. Threatening her would only set her back from reaching his goals, and he couldn't have that.

He settled for the mildest reprimand he could deliver under the circumstances, catching her gaze with a cold stare. "Let those skin burns be a reminder never to ask me—"

He abruptly stopped at the feel of magic consolidating behind him, having forgotten about the elemental's presence in his annoyance toward the princess. Before she could spring another aggravating trap on them, he cut off her spell with a concentrated blast into the patch of darkness where she was hiding. His aim struck true and she shrieked in her grating voice, bound tightly by his magic. A simple pull and the mermaid tumbled forward into view, sprawled unceremoniously on the sand.

"I hate being interrupted, especially by weak elementals who think I can't see them weaving spells," he said curtly. His right arm had begun to burn with that familiar fire of emptiness and exhaustion. He ignored it.

She dared to defy him still, lashing out at his legs with her tail. He put an end to her struggles with a more potent blast, crippling her from the waist down. An answering pain flared in his own arm as he forced more power through the gauntlet, but again he bore it with gritted teeth. The satisfaction he'd get from killing her would more than make up for it.

Hissing in rage, she tried to sit upright and failed miserably, too weak without the use of her tail. "I hate strangers entering my water to meddle with my prisoners!" she spat at him, then directed her whining at the princess. "You never play fair, do you? Always have to have a loyal defender come to your rescue."

Excuse me?

"I believe I'm the only one with ranting privileges here," he said darkly, his tone absent of all humor. "Called out of my Citadel in the middle of the night only to be caught in a catfight between a spoiled, magicless princess and a tasteless, weak elemental."

Her defiant gaze told him she still hadn't gotten the point. He would have to correct that. Another blast from his gauntlet and she was screaming and thrashing on the floor, blue and black bolts of energy scorching her skin.

The princess shouted at him to stop just as he sensed the mermaid's cephalopod pet racing toward them from above. With a sneer he directed an arc of energy upwards and sliced off two of its tentacles. He ignored the princess' gasp of pity and turned back to the half-conscious mermaid, ready to silence her for good.

"Stop!"

He held back his power just in time to avoid killing the princess as she recklessly threw herself on his arm. How pathetically predictable. He met her pleading eyes with a warning glare, about to shove her off and finish the job when he saw the expression of pure fear on her face. She had made a full retreat into the disgust and horror she had always felt toward him, and the sight stopped him cold.

He pushed her away as nausea curled his stomach at having to bow to her will, to curb the acidic hate itching to unleash itself in a death spell. But necessity dictated it. He had to adhere to priorities, even it meant taking the sickeningly noble route and sparing the bitch who'd tried to drown him.

"As I said, I'm out of your league," he said to the incapacitated mermaid, fury simmering just beneath the cool tone of his words. She stared dazedly up at him in exhaustion and pain. "In a second I'll be out of your water, and you better thank the gods that I have no wish to return."

He didn't wait for a response or any more simpering pleas from the princess, quickly transporting them both onto dry land. He stood in silence as his temper cooled and the phantom pain in his arm subsided, watching the princess struggle to warm herself while her clothes were still drenched.

"I won't ask what business you had with that elemental. Or why you're even out here in the middle of nowhere by yourself. It seems you're better than I am at making enemies in random places," he said flatly.

She seemed unable to meet his eyes, actually looking chastised and repentant as she shivered before him. Her reply was almost a whisper, and he wondered if he'd misheard. "Thank you. I'm sorry for the trouble."

"The princess, thanking me? And apologizing? Now this is rich," he scoffed.

"You just saved my life. Of course I have to thank you," she snapped.

"And now she's back to normal," he said dryly. Her rare show of humility had actually managed to take the edge off his anger, and the insecure jump back into hostile mode was merely amusing, Especially her indignant glare at the fact he wasn't going to dry her clothes as he had his own.

"It has not yet been thirty days," he continued. "Take care not to die before then. I hate to see my opponents bow out of the ring without my consent."

"I'll try not to die before you tell me to, Master," she sneered.

Now in the clear desert air he was reminded of the question he'd tucked away earlier. The scent of Sejhai was still strong. She'd taken a large dose of it, and he was truly curious as to what had prefaced such a predicament. He could partially guess; she had just traveled to Desrial, which was known for popularizing the herb. But she certainly wouldn't have indulged in an aphrodisiac willingly.

The most likely scenario gave him pause. Another form of nausea coiled inside him, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. His hand was steady as he drew an item out of an invisible store he hadn't opened in years.

She tensed as he held the bottle out to her.

"Take this. It'll get rid of the lingering effects of the potion you drank," he said.

"Potion?" The wariness in her eyes shifted to plain confusion.

"I smelled it on you the moment I arrived," he clarified. "It must have been a strong dosage for its scent to have remained on you in the water."

She stared at him for a moment, seeming to search his face for some hint of deception or malice. Her bewildered gaze left her even more exposed than usual as it inadvertently lingered on his lips. It was strange to see her this way, for once completely unguarded and not putting up a fight, unaware of the real enemy in her bloodstream.

"Drink this," he repeated. "It'll clear your head."

"What potion are you talking about?" she asked hesitantly.

"There is an aphrodisiac in your system. One of the stronger brews, I believe, native to Desrial."

The statement of fact, absent of spite or self-satisfaction, undid her. As she reached for the potion she was already shaking, no longer from the cold alone. Her face was once more full of fear, but not fear of him. He let go of the bottle and floated it over to her, giving her space to sort through the range of emotions flitting through her eyes.

With trembling hands she managed to remove the cork and drank the potion quickly. He took the empty bottle back with a vanishing spell and stored it back in its old place.

Her knees seemed to give out and she sank down bonelessly, covering her face with her hands. There were no tears yet; it seemed she still had enough pride to hold them back as long as he was there.

"Another firsthand lesson, Princess," he said without emotion. "Never allow another to have power over you."