Chapter 2 : Portal to the Past
"What a strange and lonely place-",mused Maeve to no one in particular as her eyes traced the scanty coastline of their destination. There appeared trees in a careless line as if to grudgingly satisfy the minimum requirements of an island view. Her words fell on Firouz's ears and the inventor lingered beside her to share her opinion of the unsavory scene. As the Nomad drew closer, one could see that the same trees were infected with disease. Their branches were gnarled into hideous shapes and the ground was covered in clumps of wet, dead leaves. A large brooding mountain seemed to rise just beyond an uninviting patch of forest ground.
"How does Sinbad know exactly where to look for this pirate-lord?", hissed Firouz, in a confiding whisper.
"He's been here before.", boomed out Doubar's voice causing the inventor to jump out of his skin. "That was ten to twelve years ago, the time when he thought he had ended Nazaar's evil reign for good!"
"Well I hope things will be different this time around!Just the sight of this doomed place gives me the willies!"
Maeve recounted her previous journeys with Sinbad and his crew. Had any of them even remotely resembled this ongoing tiresome yet fascinating hunt for the elusive hiding place of Nazaar? Wading through the waist-high grasses of the slopes and crawling through a snuggly fitting system of tunnels underneath the cursed forest floor! Their sole reprieve came in the form of a small rock pool replenished by the bubbling waters of an underground spring. The small party gathered around this miracle with unspoken gratitude. The sorceress stretched out her legs. She braced herself against the cool black surface of a misshapen mountain boulder. Her feet were sore and aching very badly. She felt a soft footfall beside her. It was Sinbad. "Why all this secrecy?", demanded Maeve, bluntly. "Are you expecting an ambush in these forsaken woods?"
"Not an ambush...No",replied Sinbad,uneasily.
Maeve squinted her eyes and shook her head. "I sense evil strongly here.. all around us. I can feel it!"
"I feel it too",answered Sinbad,grimly. "The reason why Nazaar is unlike any pirate to have ever terrorised the seas is because he is a practitioner of black magic-"
"Doubar told me of his incantations. You have come against Nazaar before!"
"That was many years ago, Maeve. But I remember it as if it happened just yesterday-" Sinbad's eyes wandered across the surrounding greenery as if trying to re-kindle the memories of his last visit. "We were here under the command of the terrible Captain Ghalib. In groups of five we trespassed these cursed grounds in a hunt to destroy the weakened Nazaar. You have never seen a Captain quite like Ghalib. He was a huge man, nearly seven feet tall, his face was hardened, sea-worn and half hidden in a magnificent beard. He had broad muscular shoulders and a mighty gait. When he stomped across deck in a rage, everyone.. I mean, everyone knew about it! They scrambled to get out of his way and woe betide the sailor who aroused the Captain's wrath! The poor mite was either slapped in irons in the dingiest cell or dragged on a rope through the salty sea!" Sinbad tilted his head."But brawn wasn't the only thing about Captain Ghalib, he was also a master tactician. He had a cunning mind that always kept abreast of unique opportunities to rake in the profits. He was in it for the money- something he made very clear to every merchant,Sultan or Caliph he had ever partnered with- He could be extremely ruthless,Maeve..as brutal as a battering ram!"
"You sound as though you were afraid of him",said Maeve, a smile escaping her lips.
"Oh I was", admitted Sinbad, relaxing his features, just a little,to laugh. "I was afraid of him."
"Aww",crooned the sorceress, teasingly. "And here I was thinking that you were the Captain's pet. Brave little Sinbad!"
Sinbad laughed even more and started to reply when Doubar interrupted,
"Shouldn't we keep moving, Sinbad?"
"Right! Of course!", replied Sinbad, jumping up to his feet and dusting his palms from dirt. Maeve pulled on her leather glove and called back Dermott who had flown above to stretch his wings. "I'm not sure if I would go so far as to call myself 'The Captain's pet' ",began Sinbad in modest protest.
"Ohhh, I'm sure you were", chortled Maeve, impishly. She gave Sinbad's cheek a friendly pinch and pushed past him to join the others.
"See, I was the one who eventually killed him"
"What?!" Maeve spun around, in utter astonishment. She thought the last words she'd heard were said in jest. But Sinbad looked extremely grave.
"I killed Ghalib.",he stated in simple truth. "He didn't give me any choice. He had partnered with the devil himself-Nazaar, the pirate-lord of the Seven Seas"
By sundown,Sinbad and his crew reached a steep,natural ridge-line bending in a rugged half-circle through the trees. The forest seemed to descend abruptly down from there to the mouth of a lonely cave. Sinbad flattened himself against his side of the ridge-line, his sword unsheathed in his right hand. He peered hard over the rocks. The others followed his example, except Rongar who held watch the other way to thwart any sneak attacks from behind. "Just what are we looking for?", questioned Doubar in a hoarse whisper.
"Anything - any sign of life!",hissed Sinbad. His eyes burned like gimlets in fierce determination to run Nazaar to the ground.
As they waited in bated breath, the sounds of the forest seemed to grow louder and stronger -all around them. The sudden eerie rustling of the leaves, the ghostly thud of a fallen branch or fruit, the steady rush of an animal furiously pursuing its trail.
"Why do I get this doubt if we are watching the forest or the forest is watching us?",complained Doubar, uncomfortably.
Firouz felt a shiver run down his spine and he glanced up to see a huge yellow and black beetle with fat antennae, slowly inching up his leg! He swallowed a yell and tried to shake it off. Dermott flew to his rescue and gulped down the beetle in a flash! "Thank you,Dermott",nodded Firouz,in relief.
Once the last rays of the sun faded completely beyond the trees, Sinbad shuffled upright and fitted his sword back in his sheath. He looked disappointed. "All right, we'll set camp here. Rongar and I will take the first watch-"
"What's your plan,little brother?",asked Doubar,anxiously.
"That cave is the entrance to Nazaar's hideaway. Unfortunately it is sealed by magic and can be opened only by a specific incantation."
"You mean like from the time when we went to rescue Jhaeel.. across the valley of the Colossus?",asked Firouz, interestedly. He nodded to Maeve who returned an attentive gaze.
"Exactly!", agreed Sinbad.
"So, how do we get inside?"
"Nazaar trusts no one but himself! So, naturally he doesn't keep an entire crew about him. Instead there are one or two low-lives who run errands for him in and out of the cave. When one of them appears, we've got to nab him and wring the spell out of him!"
"If there is any neck-wringing to be done, I'd only be too glad to do it, Sinbad!", promised Doubar empathetically. "And head-bashing too! It's been a while since I exercised these knuckles!" Firouz dissolved into muted chuckles and even Sinbad had to smile at his brother's enthusiasm for a good fight!.
That night, Maeve tossed and turned more than usual on her makeshift bed of leaves and twigs. In her troubled sleep, she had managed to roll her rug into a ball and the pointy end of a stray stick had gashed her quite painfully on her knee. She rubbed at the wound. Her face contorted with pain and irritability. The small fire had died out and through the darkness, she could make out the forms of Doubar and Firouz, fast asleep. She tried to close her eyes, but sleep just wouldn't come. She was far too excited. Her mind kept wandering over the incantations of Nazaar. No one just dabbled in the dark arts, unless they were also part-alchemist and fully familiar with the different ingredients used to make the potions. Her respect for Nazaar's abilities were on the rise. He must have been an imposing villain to come against! She got up to her feet and walked along the ridge. Sinbad saw her approaching and stiffened. "What is it?",he asked.
"I couldn't sleep",groaned Maeve, crouching down next to him. "This wait is killing me. I wish my knowledge of magic could help us just now!"
"Plenty of opportunity for that tomorrow,Maeve. Don't you worry!"
"Did you see anyone yet?"
"Not a soul!",sighed Sinbad in gloom.
"Perhaps Doubar and Firouz will have better luck during the next watch" Maeve put one hand up on Sinbad's shoulder and hoisted herself back up. She saw Rongar a few meters away and he was also in a crouching position behind a thick foliage of leaves. "I'll return to the camp now"
Maeve tried to stay light on her feet but her efforts were to no avail. Her boots still made that annoying crunching sound because of all the dead leaves. She stopped and looked back curiously. Strange! She had been walking for sometime now and the camp still didn't appear in sight. "I couldn't have lost my way now, could I?",she wondered incredulously to herself. She heard Dermott's screech and the flapping of wings. "Dermott, over here!",called Maeve in a loud whisper. She put out her arm and the hawk perched on it. "Am I glad to see you!",she mumbled, running her fingers protectively through her brother's crest. She prided herself on her common sense and independence, but there were times when she was happy to have a friend beside her. Especially in queer surroundings like this cursed forest!
The pillars of trees around her seemed like the sinewy calf muscles of giants! The face of the moon was criss-crossed with dead branches so that very few moonbeams filtered through. Maeve dutifully kept along the ridge-line, knowing full well that she should have been at their camp several moments ago! She stopped in frustration. She could hardly make out anything in the gloom. Why, oh why had she strolled out on a whim in the first place? She couldn't very well yell out her predicament. Nazaar would love that! Maeve collected herself and angrily bit her lip. She was determined to dig her way out of her troubles. She considered conjuring up a fireball.. a hopefully inconspicuous one.. hopefully. Maeve shook her head and dropped the idea. She was clearly over-thinking this. The camp would be just ahead. Maybe she had even walked past Doubar and Firouz without realizing it! With a smile, she retraced her steps down the path.
Quite suddenly that feeling of an evil presence came hard upon her senses. Maeve's foot slipped and she stumbled forward clumsily. "Who's there?",she called out at once. She grit her teeth and pulled out a fireball. "Watch out, whoever you are... I won't hesitate to use this!" A sharp wind moaned through the lowest branches of the trees and the rustling sound that followed seemed like mocking cackles. Maeve gazed up in bewilderment. It seemed like the woods were laughing at her. Suddenly she felt exactly how that Captain on the ship from Aquaba felt. A sense of impending doom. Something huge and black was fast descending upon her. To her immense astonishment, the fireball on her arm just died out as if some invisible fingers had pinched out the flame. Dermott screeched loudly and spread his wings menacingly. He was extremely agitated since he sensed danger as well!. Maeve instantly pulled out her sword and began to back up towards a tree. She looked wildly this way and that, clearly frustrated with the poor visibility! A trickle of sweat dropped down from her forehead to her cheek.
She knew that something was about to happen very soon.
She was about to deal with the enemy!
Her heart was pounding hard.
Her foot snagged on a low rising root and she fell over backwards. A large rippling pool appeared behind her as she lost her footing and swallowed her up out of sight!