Chapter 12 : One of us has to stay behind
Once Sinbad accomplished the feat of driving through to Abdullah's thick skull that they were not out to get his gold, he found in him a willing and helpful guide who knew his way expertly to the Dragon's teeth. They climbed over rocky terrain, finding footholds and handholds, frequently clawing at them to avoid a slippery slide to the rocks below. At one vantage point, Abdullah pulled Sinbad over and pointed excitedly to a narrow cave in the rock face. "If you can make it to that cave, you can use your nails and ropes to lower yourself to the deck of the White storm. She the sturdiest wreck in the entire lot! She's been holding her innards together for nearly fifteen years now!"
"You said, "Halden the hunter"..",said Maeve, slowly."But so far we have known him only as Halden the conqueror. Was he a hunter as well?"
"Oh, he is known by many names in these parts. Halden the Brave, Halden the Conqueror, Halden the Great.. he made quite a name for himself where ever he went. But he was also an avid hunter with rare taste."
"Meaning?"
"The usual monsters and ghouls didn't interest him. He set his sights on truly rare jewels.."
"Such as the song of the sea?", pressured Maeve, testily.
"Perhaps", acquiesced Abdullah. "Perhaps not. I only know that several years ago, Halden the Hunter came to this very spot to retrieve the conch shell and he was successful. But then again he didn't have the constant fear of being impaled alive on these moaning wrecks or getting eaten alive by the tentacled monster."
"So, these things are new additions to the scenery, eh?",said Doubar, angrily.
Maeve moved behind Sinbad and whispered in his ear, "Sinbad, is it possible that Halden retrieved the conch shell to woo the Enchantress and when their love was gone, she returned it back here? Perhaps her bitterness caused her to contaminate this area with shipwrecks and train the deep sea monster to hold onto the shell forever?"
Sinbad thought a moment and shrugged. "Sounds plausible. But.. why would she ask Kaylan to retrieve it?"
"Perhaps its a challenge?", tried Maeve unconvincingly.
"Well, whatever it is, we've only got four more days to do something about it."
They reached a point in the cliff-side where the landscape folded into itself and ended in a steep rock face. The dragon's teeth appeared as large boulders fused into one another, steeping pillars rising jaggedly from the sea. In-between the teeth, jammed into one another were the pitiful skeletons of the ships, wrecked years ago in the sea. "There isn't a sight worse than the wreck of a good ship", mourned Sinbad, shaken by the sight. Doubar laid a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. He spied the oblong mouth of the cave. Just a few meters down, rested the top mast of the Whitestorm. The ship leaned towards the rocks and remained unmoving inspite of the waves.
"I think Abdullah is right. That ship does look stable than the rest of the lot.",mused Sinbad. He scanned the terrain nearby. "There! You see that ridge that passes directly over the cave? That's our way in-"
Doubar peered at the ridge. "But it's too narrow. One false step and you could fall and smash your head in the Dragon's teeth!"
"That's why I'm taking only Rongar with me. The rest of you stay behind. I'm not putting your lives in danger as well"
Doubar's face showed a mixture of anxiety and fear as he watched Sinbad make a large coil of rope and lift it on to Rongar's arm. "Once we reach just over the mouth of the cave, you brace yourself against the face and lower me down on the rope",instructed Sinbad. He crossed arms with Rongar for good luck and they ran to the start of the ridge. It was wide enough to walk but clearly wasn't reliable at all.
"Sinbad,be careful",called out Doubar,worriedly. Maeve clasped Doubar's arm in her hand to give him strength.
"Steady,Rongar",soothed Sinbad. "Put your feet exactly where I place mine. We have plenty of time to reach that cave"
"I can't stand this",cried Doubar, feeling helpless to aid his brother. "There must be some other way into that wretched cave!"
"We could go look for it?",offered Firouz. He nodded to Abdullah and they both left together to explore the cliffside.
Rongar lowered Sinbad carefully down to the mouth of the cave. Once the Captain's feet were firmly on the solid floor, Rongar tied the rope to a rock projection and rappelled down as well. "Now we just need to repeat this to get me down to the deck of that ship.",said Sinbad. "You think you can do it?" Rongar nodded. Suddenly both men jumped out of their skins when they heard a loud thud at the back of the cave.
"Quick! Duck!",shouted Sinbad ,pushing Rongar down as a hoard of bats flapped their leathery black wings and flew out in fright. "What was that?!"
Sinbad drew out his sword and Rongar, raised his hands to the dirks on the belt across his chest.
"Sinbad! It's us! We made it",cried Firouz, his voice sounding muffled from within the darkness of the cave.
"Firouz?!",cried Sinbad in shock. He laughed and ran to hug his friend. Abdullah stood next to the inventor, rubbing his aching head from the fall. "How did you get here?"
"Well, we ..err..", Firouz hesitated sheepishly. "..discovered the tunnel.. quite by accident"
"You fell through"
"Point of fact.. yes"
"But you made it here in one piece.",smiled Sinbad. "Good going, my friend!"
Soon Maeve and Doubar joined the group as well. They all went to the mouth of the cave. "That is one nasty drop to a watery grave",remarked Doubar. "Sinbad, I'll be the one to lower you down to that wreck." He laid an arm on Rongar's shoulder. "No offense Rongar, but just watching my little brother risk life and limb performing his daredevil stunts is quite plainly nerve-wracking. I'd rather be in on the action-"
Rongar nodded understandingly and they set up the ropes once again.
Sinbad padded as light-footed as possible along the sagging,moss-covered wood of the Whitestorm. He took off his bandana, his blue vest, his leather boots and rolled up his pants and shirt sleeves. With a small wave to the crew, he dived into the sea. He opened his eyes underwater and saw the sharp poles of broken masts and ropes obstructing his path to the sea bed. The rock face seemed to curve down gradually to the sandy floor. Sinbad swam upto the surface and wiped his eyes from the salty water.
"How does it look down there?",asked Doubar.
"Not good",replied Sinbad. "I couldn't even see bottom of the bed- There's too much debris!" He heard a splash next to him and Kaylan pushed to the surface. "Climb on to my back. I can take you down to the floor",he cried, quickly bobbing his head down for oxygen. Sinbad grabbed onto the large fin on Kaylan's back and took a deep breath. "Ready?",asked Kaylan. "Here we go"
The mer-man swum strongly through the waters. He easily avoided the twisting wood, coiling through narrow holes and slipping behind the snag of ropes. They reached the bottom and Sinbad pointed excitedly to the large shell sitting openly on a large flat rock. Kaylan made a gesture to fetch the shell and Sinbad nodded in reply. He swam right over the shell and put out one arm to scoop it up. Suddenly a huge shadow fell upon them. Sinbad felt his skin prick up at the sight of the large monster squid, it's eight muscular arms poised to squeeze and kill! A large muscular tentacle covered in reddish-white suction cups shot out with remarkable agility and tried to ensnare Kaylan's outstretched hand. Kaylan reeled back in terror and more tentacles sprang out all around him. He kicked out and tore for the surface of the sea. Sinbad clung on for dear life. Suddenly Kaylan felt a painful jerk on his tail. One of the tentacles had coiled fast and he could not pull free. Kaylan wriggled and slammed the appendage with his fists but it was no use. Then Sinbad swam down and taking out his knife, he sliced hard at the tentacle. It immediately released hold of Kaylan and both men shot out to the surface. Sinbad coughed and took long rasping breaths of the friendly sea air.
"Sinbad!",yelled Doubar. "What happened? Did you find the shell?!"
"We found it all right", wheezed Sinbad, between gasps. "It's under the protection of a monster squid! It came out of no-where and attacked us!"
"Thank heavens you are safe.",exclaimed Doubar, in relief. "You are not going back down there until you have a better strategy!"
The mood was decidedly sober, that night, as Sinbad and the crew gathered around the fire for their meal of roast fish and bread. Sinbad brooded alone, only pecking at his fish for loss of appetite. Only Abdullah was chatting endlessly about his grand life in the abandoned village.. growing his own vegetables, raising his own animals, no worries at all! He carried big bottles of liquor stolen from the wrecks and shared it generously with the crew. This put Doubar in a mildly happier temper. "This is your idea of paradise?", quizzed Maeve, annoyed at Abdullah's complacency.
"Why not?", asked Abdullah, happily. "I am comfortably well-off than all my comrades who still labor and toil at sea. I don't have a worry in the world, sweetheart"
Maeve turned away, disgusted. Sinbad quietly rose up and pulled Firouz up as well. He laid an arm on the inventor's shoulder and led him away from the others. Doubar stared after them suspiciously. "He's up to something",he guessed, looked very concerned. "Something dangerous by the looks of it!"
"Firouz, you remember I asked you to bring those blasting sticks?", asked Sinbad, gravely.
"I have five with me"
"Good.", said Sinbad. He hesitated and continued, "I need to blast them underwater"
"WHAT?!",exclaimed Firouz in shock. "Sinbad, you are not seriously thinking of attacking that sea-monster with blasting sticks? It's too risky. You wont get out alive!"
"Can you make them work underwater?"
"Well.. its very risky but.." Firouz looked guilty at the knowledge he was about to divulge.
"FIROUZ!",snapped Sinbad, angrily.
"If the explosive material can be kept from moisture long enough so the fuse can burn through completely, then yes.. it can be done!"
"So, we need to contain the blasting sticks in something-"
"That's right", agreed Firouz, reluctantly.
"Like what?", pressed Sinbad.
Firouz didn't answer. He stared straight ahead at the wine bottle which Abdullah was laughing and raising to his lips for a long drink. Sinbad understood immediately and quickly stomped over to the fire. "Abdullah, how many of those wine bottles do you have?!"
"I could give each of you five bottles and still have plenty for me", raved Abdullah, in drunken stupor.
"Sinbad, what do you have in mind?", asked Doubar, anxiously.
"I think I know why the sea-squid happened upon us so fast. There must be another cave, similar to the one we were in. But this one is under the sea. The monster is hiding there and appearing only when it senses the presence of an intruder. So, tomorrow morning, when Kaylan swims down for the shell, I'm gonna plant five of Firouz's blasting sticks just over the mouth of the squid's cave so that when the blast occurs, the undersea avalanche of rocks can seal the entrance and trap the monster in its den forever!"
Sinbad turned to Firouz but he felt Doubar's arm roughly hauling him towards himself. "Are you out of your mind?!",he began.
"Doubar, it will work I promise you", assured Sinbad, impatiently.
"It's too dangerous", yelled Doubar, his nostrils flaring with anger. "Those infernal sticks could blow up in your hands.. or..or just before you leave, your foot could get stuck in a rock or the monster somehow makes its way out and pulls you behind-"
"Then I'll stay behind!",yelled Sinbad. He paused in stunning realization of what he had just said. "I don't have no choice, Doubar. One of us has to stay behind!"