"So Sinbad, how is this wife of yours?" Rumina asked, chuckling evilly as she circled the table. "That's right, she's dead. I had completely forgotten. Poor thing. You're probably looking for another wife, aren't you? I'd be willing to take her place."
"In... your... wildest... dreams, Rumina." He said, with difficulty.
Even talking hurt.
Rumina chuckled.
"I see you haven't learned your lesson yet. Guards, whip him!"
The whips stung and Sinbad closed his eyes, trying desperately to block the pain. But it didn't work. He thought of Maeve. She wasn't dead, he could tell. Because when she was dead, a part of him was dead also and right now, that part of him was definetely still alive and beating. He comforted himself with that thought.
"Maeve is not dead, Rumina." Sinbad said, panting. "She's coming soon and, once she gets here, she'll kill you."
Rumina shook her head, disapprovingly.
"You are so naive, Sinbad." Rumina replied. "Maeve is never going to be able to kill me. I'm too powerful for her."
"She has four other friends with her." The captain spat. "Together, they'll reduce you to nothing."
"Four other friends?" Rumina asked, pretending to be confused. "Oh! You mean this tiny girl, that other peasant witch from the City of Mist, the wannabe sorceress and your lovely Master Dim-Dim?"
She tsked.
"My, my, Sinbad. I didn't know you had so much faith in them."
"They're my friends." Sinbad grunted. "Of course I'll have faith in them."
Rumina raised an eyebrow.
"They're your friends yet, they are not here to sabe you. These are nice friends you have there, my love."
Sinbad inhaled and winced in pain.
"That's because you locked the entrance with a spell."
Rumina feigned innocence.
"I did that? I didn't know. My bad. Here, let me open it for them."
With a wave of her hand, the stone wall blocking the entrance vanished and a hole appeared in his place. Sinbad looked up to see the Big Five standing on the other side. He sighed in relief. His crew and friends were here. He could see Maeve standing behind the group, a look of madness in her eyes, confirming his beliefs. Maeve would kill Rumina tonight.
"Well, well, look who's here." Rumina said. "Come on in, my friends. There's enough room for all of us."
The five sorcerers walked in, unsurely. Maeve glanced over in Sinbad's direction and immediately noticed the wounds on her husband's chest. She immediately began to feel nauseated. She turned her attention back to Rumina, before she lost her dinner. Rumina was looking at her, a smug expression on her face.
"You're done hurting all the people I love, Rumina." Maeve said, anger raging inside of her.
Flames flashed in her eyes and a small white ball formed in her hand. She knew that the time had finally come and that their final fight had already begun.
Maeve lifted her hand and, catching Rumina by surprise, hit the sorceress right in the face. Rumina looked up at her angrily.
"Oh so you want to play that game! Fine, suit yourself. It's been so long since I've been in a battle. I miss the feeling I get when I win."
An orange ball, similar to the one in Maeve's hand, appeared in the older sorceress' hand. She lifted it up to the same height as Maeve's. Behind the redhead, the four other sorcerers watched in excitement. The war was on.
Sinbad watched the whole scene from the table. They had only been fighting for a few seconds but Sinbad had to admit that, at this very minute, Rumina was much stronger than his love. He watched as Maeve backed up against Rumina's magic. He even thought he heard her whimper.
"Hey sailor!" Rumina yelled to Sinbad. "Who are you choosing now? Me or that peasant witch?"
Sinbad didn't hesitate, not that he would have anyway.
"I'm choosing my peasant witch!" He screamed back.
Another set of whipping was ordered.
Maeve heard the sound of Sinbad's cry and anger immediately welled up inside of her making her, for a split second, stronger than Rumina. Her sudden burst of power caused Rumina to be unbalanced and to receive Maeve's ray in the chest. Rumina felt herself become weaker and panicked slightly. This had never happened to her.
Out of nervous, she ordered another set of whipping for the captain.
"Now!" Maeve cried.
Taking a few step sideways, Maeve let Malika take her place. Rumina looked down at the child and immediately felt her confidence grow.
"I'm fighting a child?"
Her question was lost in the noise of the battle. Malika was stronger than Rumina had anticipated and she was once again taken aback. She stumbled backwards but, by luck, remained on her feet.
Maeve could see Rumina growing weaker and weaker each second. She watched as Rumina wondered how a four-year-old child could take her on and resist her like this. Maeve smiled. They were winning.
It took a few more minutes this time for Rumina to receive Malika's ray in the chest. Maeve immediately called out for the next sorcerer to step up. Dim-Dim did as he was told.
It didn't take long for Dim-Dim to overcome Rumina and he was followed by Bryn in matter of seconds. Rumina, who had grown even weaker by Dim-Dim's attack, seemed to have recovered pretty quickly and used Bryn's inexperience in magic battles to her advantage. But when Rumina was hit in the chest by the brunette, she found herself once again confused. Serendib stepped in and used the sorceress' confusion against her.
The process was almost done. It was only a matter of minute before the magic was sucked out of Rumina.
Maeve watched as Serendib took the sorceress on. Her powers might have been limited by the fact that the City of Mist still existed but she was certainly powerful. Maeve began to wonder what the young girl's life could have been if the City hadn't existed. She had so much potential, it was a shame such a curse had been casted upon her.
It didn't take long for Serendib to suck out all of the energy and magic out of Rumina. Inside two minutes, Rumina was collapsing on the floor, panting. The Big Five gathered around her and looked down. She was trembling and a few tears were sliding down her cheeks. Maeve looked at her, disgusted. She raised her hand and directed it to Rumina's heart.
"Please don't kill me, Meave." Rumina begged. "I'll do anything you want."
"You can't do much for me anymore, can you? We took all your magic out of you. You are nothing more than a human now, Rumina. But unfortunately, in my eyes, you'll never be anything more than a murderer. You killed a little girl's mother just because she got in your way. You turned my brother into a hawk for the fun of it. You can't possibly ask me to pity a murderer, can you, Rumina?"
"I am not a murderer." She pleaded, reaching out weakly to grab Maeve's shirt.
Maeve pulled away from the hands.
"Maybe not in your eyes but in mine, you are nothing more than one."
"Maeve." A voice said beside her. "It's time to give the final blow. Rumina will soon gain all of her magic back."
Maeve smiled, wickedly.
"I am so so sorry, Rumina." She said, sarcastically.
A ball of electricity formed in Maeve's palm. Directing it right at Rumina's heart, she put all of her energy on the sorceress laying in front of her. But what Maeve thought would only take ten seconds was now being to take more time. She casted a desperate look at her friends.
"What's going, Maeve?" Bryn asked, as confused as the others.
"The little witch is fighting for her life." Maeve replied.
Sensing the worry in her apprentice's voice, Dim-Dim immediately said:
"Concentrate, Maeve. Think about everything she has done to you. Think about your friends locked in the dungeon! Think about Dermott! Think about Sinbad!"
Maeve did as she was told but didn't succeed. She could feel Rumina's powers growing once more.
"I can't do it!" Maeve said.
"Yes you can, Maeve. I know you can." Dim-Dim replied. "Think about your child, Maeve. Think about your child."
Sinbad's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the word child.
What? Maeve is having a baby?
Then suddenly, everything became clear to him: the seasickness, the weight she had put on, the glow. Everything just led to her being pregnant. His eyes shifted from Maeve to Dim-Dim. His master had known all along.
For the first time in his life, Sinbad, who had never wish anybody's death, suddenly wished that Maeve actually killed her enemy. If there was really a child inside of her, his child, then Maeve had to defeat Rumina. It would be the only way for them to be happy and really start their lives together.
Maeve glanced briefly at Sinbad. She had heard him think and a small part of her felt guitly for not having told him about the baby. But now wasn't the time to think about that. She had something to accomplished. She had waited too long for that moment to just let it get away. She had to kill Rumina. If not for her, then for her child. He or she deserved to have both parents. She then thought of Dermott and the promise she had made to him long ago. He too had waited long enough.
The thought of her brother made the anger well up inside of her. Her ray became stronger. Rumina moaned under it. She was in pain.
Seconds turned into minutes. The Big Five towered over the limp body of weakened Rumina. Maeve stopped her attack. She was too tired. She collapsed on the floor, coming to lay beside Rumina.
Silence grew thicker in the room as everybody waited anxiously to see what would happen next. A sound from outside the room was heard from nobody seemed to care enough to notice. The seconds seemed to stretch out like the ocean in front of them. Finally, Rumina took her last breath.