Chapter 12
"Sinbad?" Dermott called as he pushed his way through the foliage.
"Over here," was the subdued reply.
Dermott found the captain sitting morosely on a rock, staring at the stream. He walked to his side and sat next to the other man.
"It hurts huh?" he asked, softly.
Sinbad inhaled sharply and glanced at his green-eyed companion. "More than you can imagine," he murmured.
Dermott studied his fingers. "She's hurting too, you know. We all are."
Sinbad turned to him, hhis silver-blue eyes blazing. "Don't you think I know that? Don't you think that I can't look at all of you and see something of what I am feeling inside? Why do you think I left? All that pain and sorrow....." he broke off and buried his face in his hands. "I don't know how I'm going to live without her Dermott."
Dermott ran his hand through his hair. "Sinbad - we all feel the way you do. But do you want Maeve to know that? Do you want her to be unable to pass on peacefully, because she is bearing the weight of our selfish grief on her shoulders? I love my sister and I am going to miss her. It feels as if a part of me has been ripped out and bleeding....." his voice broke on a sob.
He composed himself and continued, "But for her sake I have to be strong. The time for tears will come later and when it does - I'll drown in my sorrow. But until then - I'll be there for her while she needs me, giving her my love. Something that I think you should be doing too. It's not too late."
Sinbad looked up, shame and guilt on his face. "You're right Dermott. I should have acted more maturely towards this situation. Thank you for showing me that there is always still time."
He jumped off the rock and offered his hand to his companion.. "Let's go and find that person who caused us all of this grief in the first place!"
************************
Maeve and Bryn were joined by the men shortly after. They were stunned to see Sinbad looking almost like his normal self - and it showed. Dermott and the captain laughed at their expressions and the sound was like music to Maeve's ears.
She stood and moved towards them. "So boys - what's the verdict?"
"We try to find this guy - lure him out in the open," Dermott replied.
"Oh, but I don't believe that it will be necessary," came a voice from behind them. The group spun around and stared at the person in the long robe that confronted them.
He looked to be about three hundred years old - with wrinkles and scares puckering over the parts of his face and arms that were exposed. Bryn made an involuntary sound of disgust and his eyes - blazing orbs of the palest gray, stared at her with hatred.
"Yes," he hissed. "Scorn me because I'm not as pretty as your boys over there." He narrowed his eyes. "Once I could have rivaled them though. Once I was known as Rayan the Fair. But my beauty was the price that I had to pay for my magic. It was a sacrifice that I was more than willing to do - beauty for power." He studied them. "Would it that I could have both. I would be unstoppable."
Maeve snorted indelicately. "You'd still be a pathetic waste of space," she retorted.
He turned to her and laughed maliciously. "Yes, my beautiful little spitfire - maybe. But it was I who killed you? Remember? I savor the memory of how that knife felt as I twisted it in your back, how your blood gushed out and stained my fingers." He smiled. "Such power in that blood, when I tasted it - and I was the one to bring about the downfall of Master Dim Dim's favorite."
Maeve gasped. "You were a student of Dim Dim's?" she questioned disbelievingly
"But of course. I was the best too until the old fool said that he saw a darkness inside of me - something that could not have been tamed and banished me." He frowned fiercely. "All because of a simple suggestion that I had made about sacrificing a woman in order to make a spell stronger. No one would have even missed the tramp - she was a worker in a brothel and more than willing to do anything that I wanted her to."
"Rayan, you are a monster AND a fool!" Maeve cried. "Don't you know that blood sacrifices are the most dangerous? That eventually the darkness that you have called will come to claim you?"
"Oh I am well aware of the risks my sweet. But I am not afraid. I keep the company of devils and demons every night - and I have come to love them!"
Dermott laughed sardonically. "I'm not surprised. With that face, you'd fit in with them perfectly."
Rayan snarled. "Careful, you arrogant, young pup - before I have cause to kill you sooner than I intended."
"Young pup?" Dermott repeated incredously. "Did you really call me that?" He began to laugh and Rayan's face grew even stormier.
"Don't you dare mock me!" he bellowed, losing control and firing a bolt of magic at the tall man.
Bryn stared in horror - knowing that there was no way for Dermott to get out of the way in time.
Next to her - Maeve let out an anguished wail and instinctively extended her hand towards her brother.
Golden light spilled from her fingers and collided with the dark spell that was headed in Dermott's direction. There was an intense explosion and everyone had to shield their eyes. When the light subsided, they found that Dermott was still standing, stunned but unharmed.
Rayan turned a disbelieving face to Maeve. "Your powers! They're still there!"
Maeve couldn't help but laugh. "Apparently," was her reply.
"But....." he stammered.
She faced him now - looking like the avenging angel that she was. "You tried to play God. You wanted power - the ability to choose who lived and who died. Messing around with people's lives and causing terrible pain in the process. You deserve a lifetime of suffering and torment - something that not even your twisted mind and body will be able to adjust to."
Rayan simply laughed. "Don't even dream of threatening me sorceress." He waved his arms and in a heartbeat, their surroundings faded and the group found themselves standing on the edge of a volcano.
From within his cloak, Rayan withdrew a shimmering crystal, which pulsed with life as it was clutched in his bony fingers. The four onlookers gasped as they recognized the material it was made of.
"The fate of the entire world lies in my hand," he cackled. "This crystal is made of the same material that you two," he nodded towards Bryn and Sinbad, "wear on your wrists in the form of the bracelets."
He paused to watch their expressions. "This material is extremely powerful magic - that takes the goodness inherent in someone and magnifies it. Only four people in this world have been fortunate enough to be granted the gift of wearing the bracelets and you two were amongst the lucky ones."
He stopped speaking and looked at them. "Normally, I wouldn't have concerned myself with that trifle matter - but then you," he pointed at Maeve, "had to fall overboard and our hero here just had to jump in after her and end up stumbling across you." He glared at Bryn.
"That upset all of my plans because then, I knew that when those two bracelets were united, they would emit a force so powerful, that I would encounter even more difficulty in summoning my demons. And so it was."
He extended his arm so that the crystal hung suspended over the molten lava. "When I drop this - the last remaining orb of the material - I will be getting rid of ten more people who could have foiled my plans." He laughed in glee. "You, sailor and Bryn are the only two left with the magic - my minions have destroyed the rest,"
Sinbad felt a deep, wrenching sadness at the madman's words, knowing that his friend - the warrior that had helped him liberate a country must be dead - as he also wore one of the wristbands.
Fury surged through him. "You son of a bitch! How could you? And for what? What good is your so-called power now? You look like a walking corpse, people shun and hate you, you have no one who cares for you. No one."
He looked Rayan in the eye. "What good is your power if you have no one to love?"
Rayan stilled and for a moment they thought that he would waver. Then he seemed to gather himself and sneered at Sinbad. "Thought that you had touched my heart there huh sailor? When are you going to realize that I don't have one? Not anymore."
He gestured with the crystal. "This here holds all of the world's hope and dreams. Without this, no one else will arise to stop me or others like me. And after I get id of you two, " he pointed to Sinbad and Bryn, "my plans will be complete."
He whipped out his hand and grabbed Dermott, the person who happened to be standing the closest to him.
Dermott struggled to free himself but could not break out of the other man's iron grasp. Maeve exclaimed in denial and took a step forward, her hand outstretched.
"Ah ah," Rayan chided. "One false move - one blast of your magic might send both me and your beloved brother over the edge. We don't want that now do we?"
Maeve hesitated and Rayan laughed triumphantly. "You can't best me!" he crowed. "When I throw this crystal into the lava, all will be lost and I shall be the victor!"
Dermott used his distraction to lash out with his leg and send the crystal flying - straight into Bryn's hands.
Rayan let out a howl of pure rage and flung Dermott aside - and over the edge. The group's collective cries of dismay were lost in the unearthly howl that Rayan emitted as he charged Bryn. She didn't think, just reacted and dodged to the side.
He ended up facing Sinbad, a very angry Sinbad, who had drawn his sword and now faced him. "Fight, you piece of scum."
Rayan laughed sardonically. "Do you really think that that puny sword can destroy me?" He conjured up a sword of black steel, deadly and huge. Waving it in front of Sinbad, he taunted, "Come sailor - meet your death."
Out of the blue, a searing pain pierced him from behind and his fingers loosened, the blade falling to the floor.
In disbelief, he spun around, to see Maeve and Bryn standing there, Bryn sword awash in a medley of golden and yellow light, sticking out of his body.
They both had wicked smiles on their faces and Bryn whispered as she slowly twisted the blade, producing even more agonizing pain, "I had loved him, you bastard."
Then she pulled it out and he collapsed to the floor.
Shakily, the three made their way to where Dermott had been tossed aside like a piece of trash. Tears streamed down the faces of the women as the came closer and closer to the edge. The sight that greeted them when they arrived however almost caused them to faint.
Dermott had fallen, yes, but he had landed on a ledge about five feet down. The fall had knocked him unconscious and he lay amidst the poisonous smoke, oblivious to the danger that he was in.
So close, Maeve thought. Her brother was so close to rescue - yet the acrid smoke that covered him prevented anyone of the two people who could actually hold him from going down and retrieving him. She knew that if he stayed down there much longer, he would die. Sinbad looked at Maeve's face and saw the desolation there. Instantly, he made up his mind. He would save her brother and prevent her any further pain than necessary.
Thus decided, he took a deep breath and jumped into the pit. "Sinbad?!" Maeve yelled. "What in God's name are you doing?"
He couldn't answer for ear of choking so he kept quiet. Quickly and efficiently, he gathered Dermott's limp body and raised him upwards. Bryn was quick to respond and grabbed the copper-haired man by the arms and pulled him up and over the edge. After depositing him on the ground, she turned back and helped Sinbad over.
He collapsed on the floor, his chest heaving for much needed air and turned to the side to see Bryn kneeling over Dermott, gently patting his cheek. He closed his eyes briefly and when they reopened, Maeve was standing next to him.
"Aren't you going to check on Dermott?" he asked her softly.
She smiled and shook her head. "No. He's in safe hands and I think that Bryn and Dermott need this time together to admit their feelings."
"Bryn and Dermott?" Sinbad choked out disbelievingly. "Are you serious?"
She did laugh then. "Perfectly."
**********************
"Sinbad?" Dermott called as he pushed his way through the foliage.
"Over here," was the subdued reply.
Dermott found the captain sitting morosely on a rock, staring at the stream. He walked to his side and sat next to the other man.
"It hurts huh?" he asked, softly.
Sinbad inhaled sharply and glanced at his green-eyed companion. "More than you can imagine," he murmured.
Dermott studied his fingers. "She's hurting too, you know. We all are."
Sinbad turned to him, hhis silver-blue eyes blazing. "Don't you think I know that? Don't you think that I can't look at all of you and see something of what I am feeling inside? Why do you think I left? All that pain and sorrow....." he broke off and buried his face in his hands. "I don't know how I'm going to live without her Dermott."
Dermott ran his hand through his hair. "Sinbad - we all feel the way you do. But do you want Maeve to know that? Do you want her to be unable to pass on peacefully, because she is bearing the weight of our selfish grief on her shoulders? I love my sister and I am going to miss her. It feels as if a part of me has been ripped out and bleeding....." his voice broke on a sob.
He composed himself and continued, "But for her sake I have to be strong. The time for tears will come later and when it does - I'll drown in my sorrow. But until then - I'll be there for her while she needs me, giving her my love. Something that I think you should be doing too. It's not too late."
Sinbad looked up, shame and guilt on his face. "You're right Dermott. I should have acted more maturely towards this situation. Thank you for showing me that there is always still time."
He jumped off the rock and offered his hand to his companion.. "Let's go and find that person who caused us all of this grief in the first place!"
************************
Maeve and Bryn were joined by the men shortly after. They were stunned to see Sinbad looking almost like his normal self - and it showed. Dermott and the captain laughed at their expressions and the sound was like music to Maeve's ears.
She stood and moved towards them. "So boys - what's the verdict?"
"We try to find this guy - lure him out in the open," Dermott replied.
"Oh, but I don't believe that it will be necessary," came a voice from behind them. The group spun around and stared at the person in the long robe that confronted them.
He looked to be about three hundred years old - with wrinkles and scares puckering over the parts of his face and arms that were exposed. Bryn made an involuntary sound of disgust and his eyes - blazing orbs of the palest gray, stared at her with hatred.
"Yes," he hissed. "Scorn me because I'm not as pretty as your boys over there." He narrowed his eyes. "Once I could have rivaled them though. Once I was known as Rayan the Fair. But my beauty was the price that I had to pay for my magic. It was a sacrifice that I was more than willing to do - beauty for power." He studied them. "Would it that I could have both. I would be unstoppable."
Maeve snorted indelicately. "You'd still be a pathetic waste of space," she retorted.
He turned to her and laughed maliciously. "Yes, my beautiful little spitfire - maybe. But it was I who killed you? Remember? I savor the memory of how that knife felt as I twisted it in your back, how your blood gushed out and stained my fingers." He smiled. "Such power in that blood, when I tasted it - and I was the one to bring about the downfall of Master Dim Dim's favorite."
Maeve gasped. "You were a student of Dim Dim's?" she questioned disbelievingly
"But of course. I was the best too until the old fool said that he saw a darkness inside of me - something that could not have been tamed and banished me." He frowned fiercely. "All because of a simple suggestion that I had made about sacrificing a woman in order to make a spell stronger. No one would have even missed the tramp - she was a worker in a brothel and more than willing to do anything that I wanted her to."
"Rayan, you are a monster AND a fool!" Maeve cried. "Don't you know that blood sacrifices are the most dangerous? That eventually the darkness that you have called will come to claim you?"
"Oh I am well aware of the risks my sweet. But I am not afraid. I keep the company of devils and demons every night - and I have come to love them!"
Dermott laughed sardonically. "I'm not surprised. With that face, you'd fit in with them perfectly."
Rayan snarled. "Careful, you arrogant, young pup - before I have cause to kill you sooner than I intended."
"Young pup?" Dermott repeated incredously. "Did you really call me that?" He began to laugh and Rayan's face grew even stormier.
"Don't you dare mock me!" he bellowed, losing control and firing a bolt of magic at the tall man.
Bryn stared in horror - knowing that there was no way for Dermott to get out of the way in time.
Next to her - Maeve let out an anguished wail and instinctively extended her hand towards her brother.
Golden light spilled from her fingers and collided with the dark spell that was headed in Dermott's direction. There was an intense explosion and everyone had to shield their eyes. When the light subsided, they found that Dermott was still standing, stunned but unharmed.
Rayan turned a disbelieving face to Maeve. "Your powers! They're still there!"
Maeve couldn't help but laugh. "Apparently," was her reply.
"But....." he stammered.
She faced him now - looking like the avenging angel that she was. "You tried to play God. You wanted power - the ability to choose who lived and who died. Messing around with people's lives and causing terrible pain in the process. You deserve a lifetime of suffering and torment - something that not even your twisted mind and body will be able to adjust to."
Rayan simply laughed. "Don't even dream of threatening me sorceress." He waved his arms and in a heartbeat, their surroundings faded and the group found themselves standing on the edge of a volcano.
From within his cloak, Rayan withdrew a shimmering crystal, which pulsed with life as it was clutched in his bony fingers. The four onlookers gasped as they recognized the material it was made of.
"The fate of the entire world lies in my hand," he cackled. "This crystal is made of the same material that you two," he nodded towards Bryn and Sinbad, "wear on your wrists in the form of the bracelets."
He paused to watch their expressions. "This material is extremely powerful magic - that takes the goodness inherent in someone and magnifies it. Only four people in this world have been fortunate enough to be granted the gift of wearing the bracelets and you two were amongst the lucky ones."
He stopped speaking and looked at them. "Normally, I wouldn't have concerned myself with that trifle matter - but then you," he pointed at Maeve, "had to fall overboard and our hero here just had to jump in after her and end up stumbling across you." He glared at Bryn.
"That upset all of my plans because then, I knew that when those two bracelets were united, they would emit a force so powerful, that I would encounter even more difficulty in summoning my demons. And so it was."
He extended his arm so that the crystal hung suspended over the molten lava. "When I drop this - the last remaining orb of the material - I will be getting rid of ten more people who could have foiled my plans." He laughed in glee. "You, sailor and Bryn are the only two left with the magic - my minions have destroyed the rest,"
Sinbad felt a deep, wrenching sadness at the madman's words, knowing that his friend - the warrior that had helped him liberate a country must be dead - as he also wore one of the wristbands.
Fury surged through him. "You son of a bitch! How could you? And for what? What good is your so-called power now? You look like a walking corpse, people shun and hate you, you have no one who cares for you. No one."
He looked Rayan in the eye. "What good is your power if you have no one to love?"
Rayan stilled and for a moment they thought that he would waver. Then he seemed to gather himself and sneered at Sinbad. "Thought that you had touched my heart there huh sailor? When are you going to realize that I don't have one? Not anymore."
He gestured with the crystal. "This here holds all of the world's hope and dreams. Without this, no one else will arise to stop me or others like me. And after I get id of you two, " he pointed to Sinbad and Bryn, "my plans will be complete."
He whipped out his hand and grabbed Dermott, the person who happened to be standing the closest to him.
Dermott struggled to free himself but could not break out of the other man's iron grasp. Maeve exclaimed in denial and took a step forward, her hand outstretched.
"Ah ah," Rayan chided. "One false move - one blast of your magic might send both me and your beloved brother over the edge. We don't want that now do we?"
Maeve hesitated and Rayan laughed triumphantly. "You can't best me!" he crowed. "When I throw this crystal into the lava, all will be lost and I shall be the victor!"
Dermott used his distraction to lash out with his leg and send the crystal flying - straight into Bryn's hands.
Rayan let out a howl of pure rage and flung Dermott aside - and over the edge. The group's collective cries of dismay were lost in the unearthly howl that Rayan emitted as he charged Bryn. She didn't think, just reacted and dodged to the side.
He ended up facing Sinbad, a very angry Sinbad, who had drawn his sword and now faced him. "Fight, you piece of scum."
Rayan laughed sardonically. "Do you really think that that puny sword can destroy me?" He conjured up a sword of black steel, deadly and huge. Waving it in front of Sinbad, he taunted, "Come sailor - meet your death."
Out of the blue, a searing pain pierced him from behind and his fingers loosened, the blade falling to the floor.
In disbelief, he spun around, to see Maeve and Bryn standing there, Bryn sword awash in a medley of golden and yellow light, sticking out of his body.
They both had wicked smiles on their faces and Bryn whispered as she slowly twisted the blade, producing even more agonizing pain, "I had loved him, you bastard."
Then she pulled it out and he collapsed to the floor.
Shakily, the three made their way to where Dermott had been tossed aside like a piece of trash. Tears streamed down the faces of the women as the came closer and closer to the edge. The sight that greeted them when they arrived however almost caused them to faint.
Dermott had fallen, yes, but he had landed on a ledge about five feet down. The fall had knocked him unconscious and he lay amidst the poisonous smoke, oblivious to the danger that he was in.
So close, Maeve thought. Her brother was so close to rescue - yet the acrid smoke that covered him prevented anyone of the two people who could actually hold him from going down and retrieving him. She knew that if he stayed down there much longer, he would die. Sinbad looked at Maeve's face and saw the desolation there. Instantly, he made up his mind. He would save her brother and prevent her any further pain than necessary.
Thus decided, he took a deep breath and jumped into the pit. "Sinbad?!" Maeve yelled. "What in God's name are you doing?"
He couldn't answer for ear of choking so he kept quiet. Quickly and efficiently, he gathered Dermott's limp body and raised him upwards. Bryn was quick to respond and grabbed the copper-haired man by the arms and pulled him up and over the edge. After depositing him on the ground, she turned back and helped Sinbad over.
He collapsed on the floor, his chest heaving for much needed air and turned to the side to see Bryn kneeling over Dermott, gently patting his cheek. He closed his eyes briefly and when they reopened, Maeve was standing next to him.
"Aren't you going to check on Dermott?" he asked her softly.
She smiled and shook her head. "No. He's in safe hands and I think that Bryn and Dermott need this time together to admit their feelings."
"Bryn and Dermott?" Sinbad choked out disbelievingly. "Are you serious?"
She did laugh then. "Perfectly."
**********************