Chapter 1: Messenger in the Night

The great waters of the Tigris flowed magnificently along the steeped banks of the City of Baghdad. It was a night like any other and the waters were peaceful calm, their surface as still as a reflecting mirror revealing the image of the moon and stars in the sultry Arabian sky. The City was fast asleep. Just when the last candle burnt out its feeble flame on the narrow window-sill, a strange low rumble began and resounded through the tiny, winding lanes. The Palace horse tore through the streets in full gallop egged on by its rider in urgent distress. The pounding hoof steps awakened many a street-dweller who fumbled out of his shrouds to see the queer sight.

A knock, which threatened to break down the stout wooden door brought the inn-keeper down in tumultuous haste. The inn-keeper unlatched the locks and stepped back wide-eyed as the imposing form of the messenger from the Palace filled the door frame.
"Where is Captain Sinbad?", he bellowed, loud enough to be heard right across the street. Outside, the lights appeared at the windows and anxious faces peeped out to determine the source of the midnight clamor.

"I am here", answered Sinbad, swiftly descending the inn stairs. His eyes sensed trouble and his right hand wavered readily upon the hilt of his sword. He noticed the royal insignia on the stranger's vest and slackened his pace in surprise. "The Caliph's messenger!"
"The Royal Caliph of Baghdad has requested your presence at the Palace, Captain Sinbad. You and your crew are to come at once!", barked the messenger, ending his announcement with a tight bow.
Sinbad looked mildly bemused. Obviously it had to be something really big for the Caliph to fetch him like this in the middle of the night. Doubar, Firouz, Rongar and Maeve gathered behind him, stirred from their slumber by the commotion.
"Well, you heard the man!", chimed Sinbad, alertly. "We have a mysterious appointment with the Caliph. Let's not waste any time!"

Dermott gave an impatient screech. He took to the air and made a slow circle above the deserted moon-lit Court. His eyes shrewdly absorbed every detail in the room. The hawk finally settled on his perch up a high sill just above the throne. Maeve stifled a quiet yawn and waited silently beside Doubar and Firouz. Sinbad paced steadily across the tiles. A few servants padded noiselessly down the great Hall, lighting large torches and fixing them at strategic locations that best afforded visibility. The Caliph arrived, dressed in a simple tunic, without his turban and accompanied only by his closest aide. He sat down wearily upon his throne, looking haggard and his brow lined in sorrow.
"Sinbad, I know this is a late hour to have dragged you out here-",he began, with customary formality but Sinbad quickly interrupted him.
"Sire, we know that you would call us here only in the face of utmost , tell us...What harm has befallen our kingdom?"
The Caliph's eyes softened in gratitude upon hearing Sinbad's gracious words."My son Casib and his brothers were on a sea voyage a few moons ago,Sinbad. They were overseeing the transport of precious cargo - gold, piles of it, as payment for the debts owed by the Sultans in the eastern territories. There were three ships in all - the finest vessels that money could buy made by the most skillful hands in Yemen"
Sinbad listened, his head tilted forward and his eyes in narrow slits, intently hanging on to Caliph's every word.
"Then in the blink of an eye, the ships were wiped out!"
The crew stared aghast at one another.
"Three of my sons escaped, along with a few members of the crew but the ships were ground to bits, washed up like driftwood on some isolated strip of sand-" The Caliph's voice trembled with grief and anger. "There were three hundred men,Sinbad.. three hundred men! And only twenty survived! An unspeakable tragedy!"
Sinbad gazed open-mouthed as he struggled to imagine the horror of the survivors."Why did I not hear of this before?",he mumbled.
"One of the crew, managed to survive in deep sea long enough to be rescued by a passing boat. He arrived just now. His family could hardly get news out of him-"
"I see.. Did he give any description at all of the enemy that attacked them?"
The Caliph took a deep breath and nodded to his aide. The minister beckoned a guard who pulled a cowering man into their presence.
"Err.. the trial seems to have robbed him of his wits but upon closer inspection you will find he bears the clue to the enemy's identity"
The guard released his unwilling captive and the man immediatly curled down on the floor in a frightened heap. His hands shook hard as he clutched them about his head and his eyes squeezed tight in terror. He whined pitifully as if he were about to receive a flogging.
"His name is Tawfiq. He was in the same ship as my son Casib during the night of the attack"
Sinbad knelt down and took hold of Tawfiq's wrists in a steady grip. He endeavored to pull the man up to a sitting position."Tawfiq,my brave friend, you have made it this far. There is no need to be afraid any longer. Tell us of-"
Sinbad stopped in shock. He peered down on the man's head and gasped. There was a dark red patch burned deep into the quivering man scalp right above the base of his neck.
"By the seas!",cried Doubar, incredulously. "Sinbad!"
"It can't be!", said Sinbad in a stunned tone of voice.
Firouz picked up a torch from nearby and calmly dropped down on his knees beside Sinbad. He gently parted Tawfiq's hair. "The hair has been scorched with precision and something like a branding iron has been used to scar this poor man for life! What monster could have done this?"
"I have only heard tales-",said Doubar, shaking his head in disbelief. "Sinbad is the only one who has actually seen him before-"
"Aye",nodded Sinbad, still speechless with astonishment. "But I thought he had perished.. long ago- The seas were free of his cruelty and dominance for so many years!"
"Looks like he is haunting them once again,little brother"
"He is a ghost?",questioned Maeve, speaking up for the first time. Her eyebrows arched upwards quizzically.
"Hardly, by the looks of it",said Sinbad, breathing hard and rising up to his feet to address the Caliph. "Your Highness, the demon who did this is the pirate lord known by many names in the Seven Seas. I believe the most popular one is Nazaar"
"The evil-eye of Nazaar",wailed the Caliph. His spirt was shattered entirely. "We are doomed,Sinbad!"
"Be of good courage, your Highness.", comforted Sinbad."For Nazaar still has to face Sinbad if he is to venture into the waters of Baghdad. His cruelty will be put an end to..once and for all-"
"Brave words,Captain Sinbad!",cried the Caliph, struggling to place his faith in the sailor. "Ohhh, I wish my Vizier DimDim were here to aid you! Alas, he remains hidden in obscurity!" The Caliph gazed in a mixture of sadness and pride at the bowed head of Sinbad as the Captain prostrated himself before the throne. "I pray fervently for your safety and the safety of your ship. May you slaughter Nazaar for the lives he has taken! You are Baghdad's last shining hope!"
Sinbad nodded once and with a look of steely determination, he hastened quickly with his crew to ready the Nomad for battle ahead.

Maeve glanced at her cloak once and decided to let it stay folded in her cupboard. The air was pleasantly warm, even if it was the middle of the night!. From the shuffle of feet above, she discerned that Sinbad was getting his crew ready in a great hurry. She was still in the dark about the sudden appearance of the mysterious Nazaar. Who was this pirate-lord? And why did the Caliph fear him? Maeve felt a shiver run down her spine. "Brother, I have a bad feeling about this-",she said to Dermott in a soft whisper. She made her way up on deck and stood next to Sinbad. The latter acknowledged her presence with a nod but it seemed to Maeve that there were a lot of things weighing the Captain's mind that hindered him from discoursing freely with her on the subject of Nazaar. Understanding his silence, she moved to Doubar who maintained his resolute stance at the tiller.
"Doubar, exactly who are we up against?", she ventured, cautiously.
Doubar started to reply. Then he stiffened and glared past Maeve at the curious face of a sailor who had paused his work with the rigging to listen in on the conversation. "Look alive there, sailor! Or do you want to incur the Captain's wrath upon your sloppy powers of concentration?!"
Stung by the harsh rebuke, the man lowered his eyes to the ropes. He tied the last few knots and pushed away.
Doubar shook his head. "We could do without false rumors, Maeve. Even the mention of Nazaar's name strikes fear into the hearts of the bravest of men-"
"Who is he?"

"Well on a night much like this, a mighty sea vessel set out on her maiden voyage from Aquaba along with her passengers and her cargo holds bursting with heavy shipments of spices, silk, ivory and gold. She was headed for the Indian Seas to trade with the Eastern Countries. Then suddenly, mid-voyage, out of nowhere, a mysterious fog crept up upon the vessel. The man at the crow's nest shouted that there was a black presence lurking just up ahead but that was all the information he could give . It was too dark and misty to see clearly. The captain strained hard, struggling to identify something.. anything.. a hulk of blackness, a looming mass. anything... anything at all... Soon,he heard unnaturally high-pitched voices of sailors laughing through the mists... they seemed to arise from all directions around the ship like devils! But he could hardly make out anything in the fog that was growing thicker all the time!"
Doubar stopped and hesitated a little.
"Go on,Doubar",pressed Maeve, hardly able to contain the wild beating of her heart. "What happened then?"
"The ship was destroyed. Stem to stern, reduced to flotsam floating on the foamy waves. Most people on board died instantly. Of course, Nazaar always left his calling card on a hapless few. Signs of his queer sense of humor I suppose. He ruled the high seas, swallowing ship after ship in endless hunger. They say his hideaway is built on foundations of gold! No one dared challenge his dominance! His blade was quicker and swifter than the talons of a giant Roc. His evil eye inspiring madness in his victims. But... there was justice in the end! His ruthlessness and tyranny eventually became the reason for a powerful curse being placed upon him"
"A curse?"
"Aye. His heart was black with evil and greedy to the rotten core! Somewhere in his dirty line of work, he incurred a terrible curse upon himself. His death was to come slowly, his blood turning day by day to poison. But Nazaar was not to be outdone so easily! He still had tricks up his sleeve. He knew the one thing that would save him or at least extend his life by ten to twelve years- the perspiring horn of a karkadann!"
Maeve drew a sharp intake of breath.
"The karkadann was a monster, merciless in hunting down his enemies and stomping them to death. But the man who could challenge its fierceness and bring back even a broken tip of the horn could rejuvenate the dying Nazaar. The cursed pirate-lord would combine the perspiration of the healing horn with a life-extending incantation which he learned from a dark master and he could live for another ten to twelve years!"
"How did Sinbad come to know of Nazaar?"
"You better hear that tale from Sinbad himself! You remember I told you he captained his first ship at fifteen?"
"Well,yes.."
"That was after a battle with a karkadann!"
With such an enigmatic end to the hair-raising tale, Doubar handed over the tiller to Rongar who was next in turn for the nightly watch and joined Sinbad to plot the course to meet Nazaar. Maeve stared pathetically after him, feeling torn apart by raging excitement and fear. She wondered about Nazaar even more. In feverish desire to satisfy her all-consuming curiosity, the sorceress even considered barging into the brothers' conversation and demand a complete and satisfactory explanation. But she knew she would have to wait. Sinbad was the right one to continue the tale! She must remain patient. It would be worth the wait! Yet what a terrible wait it was going to be!