Jasmine

Jasmine - Part 4 - Blood of treachery

Swords raised in victory,

Blood drawn for makers of glory,

In the end, who lives, who dies ?

All in Maker's choice.

Lago poked his parrot beaked nose between his fingers, and suppressed a smile. The night was glorious, and was going to be substantially fruitful. Jafar had brought his 98 men to bloodstain the walls of the old abandoned stables. It was Lago who had secretly passed the message of the clandestine operation through the vines of the palace. It had worked like a miracle with Queen coming out vulnerable , along with Aladdin. All they had to do was, was check mate the Queen and strike.

The sky reflected the emotions that ran on the war on the ground – turning from clear blue to purple haze. The colours reflected on the faces on the people who were assembled. Jasmine was straddled on her mare, Sahari, which was a sentiment for all the victories. Both, Aladdin and she knew that this was going to be a tough fight. The odds of survival were bleak, but there was no room for sentiments or doubts. They had brought in more men than Jafar's , who were demarked by sacks heaped on each other. The animals were restless, neighing around in soft bleats, but the men of war waited calmly for the instructions from their superiors.

One of the horsemen from Jafar's side scurried forward.

"Queen! In blood and glory shall this ensue, are you ready? ", he screamed.

No one is ever prepared for a war. Jasmine wasn't. Aladdin was absolving himself in dread and guilt. He was very apprehensive about Jasmine being there.

'If it weren't for her pride. This isn't necessary at all'.

But he knew Agrabah belonged to the Sultanas. Not an ex-vizier who had turned into a black magic sorcerer and now, obtained a boon from the Queen of death. He stole side glances at Jasmine waiting for an answer. He just hoped she would say a no, but, she simply watched the silhouette of the soldier who had screamed.

'Please tell no , Jasmine. There must be a better way than this'.

Instead, Jasmine drew Rajah out , and screamed "charge!".

The soldiers from her side immediately pulled the reign on the horses and charged forward along with her. Aladdin was taken aback by this sudden response and meandered his horse in front of her.

Lago witnessed the Queen charge in all glory towards them. His sword was already drawn out, and his pulse raised in eagerness. Jafar looked at him and signalled to move forward. Taking the prompt, Lago signalled the soldiers to move frontward.

If the entire scene was to be painted on canvas, it would have been in blood red. The anger on faces, the will to destroy the other was all evident.

Jasmine charged very proficiently forward, dodging the enemies , heading straight for Jafar. Aladdin was not exactly fighting, but clearing the path for her. He stole a glimpse at every moment to ensure that she was protected. He hated defending her like this, but he knew she was no match for Jafar.

In sudden turn of events, Jafar's soldiers surrounded Aladdin in a semicircle. Jasmine, who was behind him, dodged out of the semicircle straight near the heap of sack. Aladdin felt a strong sensation of ill about this.

'This is what they wanted'

His apprehension dawned upon him, but to protect her, he needed to fight the six men ahead of him. He screamed the war cry, and began to swing his sword at them blindly.

Meanwhile, Jasmine had reached the heap of sacks that separated her from Jafar. She dismounted from the horse and stood on the heap with Rajah drawn out. Jafar was at her sword's end. Jafar drew his weapon out as well, but Lago came between them.

Jasmine raised her sword to attack Lago, but suddenly felt a numb sensation in her stomach. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, a long iron rod lay perched between her and Lago.

"Jasmineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....Nooooooooooooo", she heard love of her life scream somewhere near the stables.

Jasmine was digressing between conscious and unconscious state, and realised that one of Jafar's man had attacked her with the rod that went straight through her stomach. She could feel the end of the rod still being held by the attacker. She lost the grip on Rajah, and it fell on her foot. Understanding that the other end of the rod was sharp as well, Jasmine gained her strength and pushed the rod backside. She heard flesh tear behind her. The rod slid through the attacker's forehead. While she was losing conscious, she flicked Rajah from her foot in swift, and slashed Lago's head. As Lago's head rolled over, the surroundings were turning blurry for her. She went blank.

Aladdin was fighting the soliders in brutal manner, half screaming and half crying. His eyes were fixated on Jasmine. Tears were mixed with blood; some his own, mostly of the soldiers. He felt completely numb inside.

Jafar was extremely pleased that his target was sealed. He moved forward to finish the business.

"Jasmine, Jasmine, Jas...mine", Aladdin kept screaming her name loud when he saw Jafar move near her. She was still standing balanced on the rod right through her stomach.

As Jafar trotted forward, he was completely blocked a huge bellow and thump of chest. The force was so strong that his horse skidded back in defense making Jafar lose his balance.

He saw a Gorilla right in the middle of the fight between him and Jasmine. It stood there, guarding Jasmine , not allowing any one to come closer.

"Abuuuuuuuu... Jasmine", Aladdin shouted at the Gorilla.

The Gorilla looked at Jasmine, and in split second, lifted her along with the rod and began to run into the forest.

No one on the ground chased the animal. Jafar was screaming instructions to his soldiers who were stunned to even react. Aladdin diverted himself, abandoning the fight and followed Abu into the forest.