Jim slowly turned his head as the figure knelt down at his side. At last, after more than 10 years apart, their eyes looked upon one another.
"...Dad?", Jim croaked.
"Jim, it's alright, I'm here." Leland answered his son with tears welling up in his brown eyes. He reached out his hand and touched Jim's forehead to examine the wound. "Jim, tell me: does it hurt bad?" Leland asked with concern that Jim could tell was true. He breathed a bit before answering, "...my head...my shoulders..." "Shhhh, just stay still, don't move," his father advised. Jim slowly nodded his head as much as the gripping pain could permit.
As Leland reached into his belt pouch, Jim took a deep breath before speak. "...that...witch...is she...dead?" Leland looked up as his hands produced a leather-bound bundle and then looked down at Jim. "It's alright; she's dead now. You're safe, son." He spoke the last word so tenderly and comfortingly that Jim was nearly overwhelmed with another piercing pain—one that he'd thought he'd left forever. Leland did not overlook the tears in Jim's eyes as he began to pour cold water over the open bleeding. "Jim," he spoke again as he gently touched his son's left shoulder. "...I'm...sniff...so...sorry...I was...so wrong. You...are more than...sniff...right to be...angry with me." Jim didn't answer except to inhale sharply as his father applied a simple antiseptic of 200 proof whiskey to his head and shoulders.
Jim tried to think straightly but his battered mind was now all the more cluttered with new thoughts and old emotions that were so long discarded. He turned his weary head to his right and immediately his eyes went wide. "Look," he croaked loudly. Leland looked up and saw as well.
Maleficent was slowly rising to her feet. And as she did, both father and son could see her grievous head wound rapidly disappearing until, finally, there was only a dark discoloration that too faded away into the evil fairy's pale white complexion. At last, taking up her staff, Maleficent stood tall and straight once more. She gleamed maliciously at the sight of the boy who lay singed and heavily-bruised on the sharp ground and the man kneeling next to him; Maleficent could see a strong resemblance between the two and realized in an instant whom she faced. "Well, so the boy does have one looking after his interest." Leland just stood and drew his enormous knife once more. "I know what you want. But you will not take him!", he spoke with strong authority and righteous anger coursing through his body. But Maleficent was not deterred and only chuckled oily in reply. "Of course, for what father does not wish only the best for his...foolish, water-bellied spawn." She chuckled once more before assuming a hard, evil countenance and grating, determined tone of voice. "But as you both can see, there is nothing to stop me from having what I WANT!! And No One—not even the mightiest giant or most cunning sorcerer—could ever destroy me!!!"
With that, she hauled back her arm. "Dad, duck!", Jim cried out as best as he could. And just as Maleficent thrust forth a lightening bolt, Leland bent down and dove over his son to the ground where he rolled under the beam. He came up when it stopped and, yelling ferociously, rammed his body into the witch's abdomen.
As they both went down, Jim jumped as he heard a noise like something landing near him. He slowly turned and saw Beth come kneel down next to him. "Oh Jim," she cried as tears burst through her already saturated pale yet lovely face. Morph also appeared and began to lick Jim's cheek in an effort to arouse him. But Jim could barely move; every part of his body still felt as though a fire was slowly consuming him. Beth continued to sob as she tried move Jim. But he just shook his head. "It's alright Beth...just go...get away while you still can." She shook her head in defiance. "I need...you, Jim. I don't want you to die!" she wailed aloud.
Meanwhile, Leland had nearly subdued Maleficent when she took her staff and touched his upper arm with the globular end. The stick sent a shock wave through his entire body and made him fall off unconscious. With that, Maleficent once more arose to claim her prize...until she saw a girl, no, wait...the princess attending to the boy.
Beth and Jim had both seen Maleficent get up and look their way. Beth immediately set her face to match the wrath rising up within her and stood with gladius in hand. Maleficent had to chuckle once more: here stood she—the mightiest, cleverest, and most fearsome of all beings—face to face with the tender, winsome little maid who thought to defend that suckling cur of a boy with only a sharp blade.
"So, we meet once more, Princess Bethany of Avalon!", spit the indomitable sorceress. "I can still quite remember how...perfect you seemed when you were but a newborn child...and now, look at you—all grown up and very becoming—and holding a sword no less!" Beth held her tongue wisely and placed her feet in a fighting stance that she'd observed from the Flint's and Jim. "Do you really suppose, little one, that there is any hope for you...or, this cripple? No, for you both belong to me.", she uttered with icy contempt. "NO!!!", screamed Beth, "He's MINE!!" She took a few more heavy breaths and then, "I'll kill You if you touch Him, Get Away from Us!!!" "Don't threaten me, shrew!! I alone have power here and I shall have what I've come for!" As Maleficent began to stalk towards them. Morph, seeing all this, quickly spurted forth and around to her backside. Once there, he sprouted into a torch and ignited Maleficent's robe. "What!?!?", Maleficent squawked in surprise as she used her staff to emit a thick water mist. Morph sped back to Beth as she tried to help Jim up to no avail. "Come on Jim, I need you, Please," she begged. Just then, a shadow fell across them and Beth looked to see Maleficent standing only a foot away. "You're faith in that weakling is sorely misplaced," she taunted, "Now...you shall see him no more." But as Maleficent stretched out her hand to grab Beth's arm, Beth let out mighty yell and swung her unseen sword—right through the demoness's wrist.
All of a sudden, there was a blinding flash followed by a spray of black blood and an ear-piercing scream. Beth furiously blinked her eyes trying to see. At last, she was able to see Maleficent bent over on the ground but what was happening?? It looked as if her already thin and pale face was turning gaunt and skeletal! And the rest of her body appeared to be shrinking, especially her still-oozing forearm stump. Beth looked down to see the severed right hand lying in a growing pool of black, putrid blood.
But then she noticed something: the oversized, black emerald ring that graced the pointer finger was vibrating and pulsing with some green brightness on its own. Beth used her sword to sever the ring and then picked it up to study it. The moment she did, a wave of evil, terrible and cruel thoughts entered her mind and filled it with dark, terrifying images. She dropped it with a gasp and stared at it while breathing rapidly. She glanced back at the still-fallen Maleficent and back to the ring. She lifted her sword and brought it down as hard as possible on the jewel. Ging!, came the sound of the steel blade glancing off the precious stone. Beth stared at it wide-eyed before whacking at it again and again. GING, GING, GING, GING!!! In the end, she was left breathless while the ring displayed not even a tiny mark.
Just then, a groan emanated from Leland as he stirred back to consciousness. He slowly got up and stumbled over where Maleficent was still bent-over. He placed his right boot in her side and pushed her over on her back. Pulling out a long pistol, he pulled back the hammer. "Wait," Beth called to him as she used the sword tip to snare the ring. "She's not...invincible anymore; it's this ring.", and she held up the crowned blade. Leland glanced her way and saw as well. "Let me see it," he asked keeping his gun drawn. She slowly stepped over with her sword held vertically. "Don't touch it," she warned instinctively, "there's something...very bad about it." The two of them looked it over for about a minute. "It...cannot...be...destroyed...", rasped Maleficent from where she huddled on the ground. Leland glared down at here. "Is this how you've put Jim in so much pain?" he growled at her. Maleficent breathed heavily in her weakened state before nodding slowly. "Destroy it, quickly," Leland ordered Beth. "But it's not...my sword can't even...dent it.", she explained. Leland thought for a little bit before looking up with a bright gleam in his aged face. He turned to Maleficent and asked, "How did you make this ring? Where did it come from?" The fairy refused to answer until Leland fired right into her leg making her cry out with tremendous, fiery pain that nearly made her pass out. "Tell Me or I shoot again!", Leland ordered impatiently. In overwhelming agony, Maleficent consented: "From the pit of burning rock within my lair, out of great skill and the river burning made was it there." Leland bent down and picked up her staff. Glad to see it didn't hurt him anymore, he destroyed the globe with one pistol shot. Casting down the remnants, he turned to Beth. "Do you know where Jim's solar surfer is?" She turned to her right and pointed beyond the rock Jim was banged into. "Go get it and bring it over here," he said. As she left, Leland stepped over to Jim who'd fallen asleep under Morph's nervous eyes. He felt Jim's forehead, wrist and scalp wounds. Beth reappeared lugging the heavy, bulky surfer with all her might. "Set it down here, gently," he instructed. As she did, she took a closer look at the man. "You," she started to say slowly, "...you...look like...Jim." Leland nodded and confessed, "That's because I'm his father." "Oh," Beth gasped. "Here, help me carry him onto the surfer."
Nearly ten minutes later, Beth, Morph and Leland who was carrying Jim in his arms stepped into a room situated within a cave under the Forbidden Mountains. The space was as large as the throne room 3,000 feet of rock above them. And in the direct middle of the cavern was a bowl-shaped floor opening. About seven feet under the opening was an immense river of lava that ran under the mountain to another tube opening. Here Leland and Beth were on the brink of suffocation from the over-powering heat. It took all of their willpower to walk right into the wall of superheated air just to get a split-second glimpse of the magma before pulling back for cooler temperatures. "If that woman wasn't lying to us, then this is where it came from," Leland thought out loud and turned to Beth. "Throw it in and let's see if it disintegrates." Beth opened her hand, hauled back her arm and hurled the ring. It rose and then fell in an arc, down, down and down before landing in the flowing lava.
In that instant, there came a massive wave of some strange and unknown energy that rippled through the air and rock. Then, a rumbling and trembling within the walls and floor began to appear and grow. "Let's get out of here!", Leland yelled and Bethany followed him out. Once outside, they looked up to see the mountains and castle above them begin to crumble and break. "Quick, to the surfer," Leland urged. They ran for all they were worth until they found the board as they left it: sail up and power running. Leland helped Beth to tie herself and Jim to the board with floor straps before assuming pilot position at the sail. "Hang on, we're going to go real fast," Leland warned. "Oh, I know," Beth replied with a note of confidence. And with no more ado, Leland blasted the machine forward and higher into the sky.
The first thing Jim was aware of was the noises: birds twittering and calling; the sound of water somewhere nearby; the swaying sound of leaves and tree branches...and voices: a man and a young lady. His mind slowly continued its ascent out of the depths of R.E.M. sleep until he could sense that he was no longer in Maleficent's dungeon or castle. Inside, his hope and happiness began to stir anew. Gradually, he opened his Prussian blue eyes until he could see clearly; he was...in the same forest where he'd taken Beth when he busted her from the pirates. Then he remembered being in a terrible amount of pain before blacking out. But now, all he felt was a slight soreness in his head, like a lingering headache. He moved his arms and didn't feel a burning sensation. He pushed himself up into a sitting position but immediately got overcome by dizziness as he did. When his mind cleared, he heard the voices again and looked in the direction they were coming from. Over near a stand of bushes, he could see the outline of a well-built man with a spacer jacket and stringy, dark brown hair leaning against a tree. Jim slowly got up and walked towards the person unheard.