See Part One for Disclaimers

Chapter Five

Bryn looked at Sinbad intently.  "What happened then?"

Sinbad glanced down at the dagger still laying on the table top.  He picked it up and slipped it back into the sheath on the back of his belt.  "I'm not entirely sure," Sinbad said at length.  "Firouz woke up a short time after they left, very confused and frightened.  He had no memory of trying to kill Master Dim Dim or of anything else since we had talked earlier that night.  All he knew was Egan was calling him and he had to go.  The whole time we were able to keep him there, he kept saying he could hear Egan calling him."

"And you heard nothing," Bryn prompted.  "Like earlier today."

Sinbad nodded.  "Like today."

"And that's how you knew it was Egan?"

"That and the storm.  That night was one of the worst storms I have ever seen.  It was as if Egan drew power from the storms fury."

Rongar made a gesture to the rafters.  Sinbad nodded.  "I know.  There's a storm building now."

Bryn frowned.  "Sinbad, you don't think Egan is going to make another attempt for Firouz after all these years?"

"He's trapped in limbo without a form and suddenly the bonds holding him there are starting to loosen."

Rongar nodded his head and made a few quick gestures to Sinbad.

"Yes, that's why I went to see Robis.  I had hoped he would help us.  He has as much at stake as the rest of us."

Rongar frowned and clenched his fist.

"Right, we won't let Egan have Firouz without a fight."

Bryn looked up at Sinbad.  "What happened when Master Dim Dim confronted Egan?"

"Robis and I came into the confutation about half way through it.  Firouz managed to get by us and started for the deck.  When Robis and I got out on deck, Doubar had a hold of Firouz and Dim Dim and Egan were circling each other.

******

"Egan, release your control on the boy!"  Dim Dim shouted above the gale force winds whipping the deck.

"Never!"  Egan raged.  "You have no idea how long I searched for a child like him.  So young with keen an intellect.  How long I worked to get him.  Who I had to eliminate.  You have no idea how hard it is to arrange a house fire and the spells to trap one in it."

"No," Firouz whispered, his face paling.

"You murdered his parents?"  Loathing showed plainly on Doubar face.

"And that meddlesome uncle.  It was easy enough to manipulate him into giving me the child.  The boy is mine."

"He will never be yours Egan.  His spirit is pure.  Your evil has not yet tainted him, even with all you have done to him."   Dim Dim stepped between the alchemist and his apprentice.  Egan snarled an incantation and waved his hands.  A wave slammed into the deck knocking Dim Dim and the others off their feet.  Firouz was the only one who managed to keep his feet.

"If I cannot have him, no one will!"  Egan screamed in rage.  Black lightening shot from his outstretched hands and hit the boy square in the chest.  Black fingers of flame danced along his small frame.  The ebony tendrils licked at him greedily, but none seemed to touch him.  The amulet around his neck started to glow with an emerald cast. Sinbad shielded his eyes from the flare of the two warring powers.  Light and dark both struggling for control.  In a blaze of emerald light, the black lightening exploded backwards toward Egan.  The alchemist was flung backwards like a rag doll.  He landed in a heap on the far side of the deck.

Dim Dim struggled to his feet and managed to grab Firouz as the emerald glow receded from him.  The boy slumped into the magician's arm.  Dim Dim eased him to the deck.

Sinbad looked up and saw movement coming towards the magician.  "Master Dim Dim look out!"

Lightning reflected off the end of a long cruel knife Egan clutched in his hand.  He rushed at Dim Dim, his eyes fastened on the fallen form of the boy.

Dim Dim looked up and yelled, "No!"  His hand shot up and emerald fire sprang from it. "No more!  You shall never touch this boy again!"

Dim Dim began to chant in a low ominous voice.

"To a place as black as your evil heart.
This world no more to walk.
Be gone!"

In a deafening clap of thunder the deck under Egan's feet began to convulse and liquid blackness began to form round him.  The alchemist screamed as dark shadows began to grab at his feet pulling him in downward.

"This is not over!" Egan shrieked as he sank down into the gapping blackness.  "He will still be mine!"  The shadowed shapes tore at him as he disappeared in to the abyss.

******

Suddenly, the  Nomad lurched and Sinbad got to his feet.  "That storm is almost on us.  I'm going topside and check it out.

Rongar nodded and started after the Captain.

"Sinbad," Bryn called after them.  "Sinbad, something..."   Suddenly, a green glow bathed the room.  Bryn went rigid and her eyes took on a far away look.

Sinbad shot Rongar a worried look. The moor frowned back at him.

"Sinbad," Bryn's mouth moved, but the voice that spoke was not hers.

"Bryn?'  Understanding broke on the young captain.  "Dim Dim!"

"Sinbad, my time is short.  The gulf that separates us is widening as we speak.  I fear I may not be able to reach you again.   A great evil is building.  It is trying to upset the balance of things.  Dark shadows are starting to break through the boundaries."

"Like Egan," Sinbad said softly.  "Robis told us as much."

"I'm afraid, Robis was right."  Bryn's face mirrored the sadness in Dim Dim voice.  "My power to reach across the gulf has grown too weak to help you against him, but you and Bryn have the power to break Egan's spell over Firouz.  Firouz is the key, Sinbad. You must reach him.  He is the only one who can defeat Egan."

"But how?"  Sinbad asked urgently.  The green aura of Dim Dim's presence was starting to fade.

Dim Dim did not seem to hear his question.  "My time is almost gone.  I must warn you!  Great darkness is rushing to confront you.  Ones you once thought your friends are not so.  Guard your heart, Sinbad.  One you love may not be who they seem."    Dim Dim's voice started to fade.  "Guard yourself."

Bryn's knees started to buckle and Sinbad grabbed her.

"Bryn, are you alright?"  Sinbad asked her.

Bryn brushed her hair back from her face and nodded.  "Just give me a minute to catch my breath."

Suddenly, the bands on Sinbad and Bryn's wrist flared in twin prisms of light.  They turned as they heard a muffled shout from Sinbad's cabin.  "I don't think we have a minute."

Abruptly, the door to Sinbad's cabin exploded outward.  Doubar slammed into the wall across the corridor and slumped to the floor.  Sinbad jumped past Bryn and rushed to his brother's side.  Doubar gazed up at him with dumbfounded surprise.  Out of the corner of his eye, Sinbad saw someone step through the doorway.  He turned and found himself face to face with Firouz.  Sinbad felt his blood run cold as he looked into his friend's eyes and saw the eyes of an old enemy staring out.

"So we meet again," said a voice Sinbad knew almost as well as his own, but tinged with such hate that could only be spawned of pure evil.

"Egan."

"I see you remember me."   A cruel smile twisted the inventor's face.  "Sinbad, my how you've grown.  And a captain now.  I can't say I'm surprised.  Dim Dim always had a knack for finding students with destinies."

"You won't get away with this."

"Fool!" Egan spat.  "You think you can stop me.  You denied me once of what was rightfully mine. Not again.  You don't have Dim Dim and his pitiful magic to hid behind this time.  My master has gained much power in this land since last we met."   Egan drew back his hands.  Dark power rippled on his finger tips.

"No!" The wail caught Sinbad by surprise.  Firouz dropped to his knees clutching his head.  "Not again!"  Sinbad realized that Firouz had managed to break through some of Egan's hold on him.  Firouz lurched to his feet and bolted for the door.

Sinbad glanced at Doubar who was struggling shakily to his feet.  "I'm fine.  Go after him."  Doubar gave Sinbad a push.

Sinbad was through the door at a run.  He quickly scanned the deck.  Waves lashed the deck and rain pelted down in sheets nearly blinding him.  Lightening rent the sky in blinking sheets.  Briefly, during one of the prolonged flashes, Sinbad saw a lone figure hunched over the rail near the prow of the ship.

In sickening shock, Sinbad realized what Firouz meant to do.  He would throw himself into the sea before he would let Egan use him to try to harm anyone again.

"Firouz!  No!"  Sinbad rushed across the rain slick deck as quickly as he could.

Firouz turned and Sinbad gasped.  The normal gentle face of his friend had hardened into a mask of evil glee.  In the moment Sinbad has distracted his friend, Egan had gained control, breaking down the last of Firouz's defenses.  "You're too late, he's mine."

"No."   Bryn had come up from behind Sinbad.

Suddenly, the band around Sinbad's wrist flared.  Bryn's band flared a moment later.  Twin prisms of light casting an eerie glow on the rain washed deck.

Egan snarled, "You think that pretty little light show of your's is going to stop me."  He threw back his head and raucous laughter.  "I'll show you what true power is."  Black power lanced from his hands.  The evil bolts slammed into Sinbad and Bryn throwing them to the deck.  Egan drew back his hands, the ebony wave of evil coursing around his finger tips.

Sinbad gasped in pain and grabbed for his sword.  He managed to pull it free of it's scabbard.  He pushed his way to his feet and held the sword up defiantly.

"You think you can use that against me?"  Egan gave him a stricken look.  "What of your friend?  You try to harm me, you will only be harming him."

"Firouz would rather be dead then let you free to do your dark lord's bidding."

"Such noble words, but can you really do it?"

Sinbad lunged at Egan.  Egan just laughed, waved his hand and Sinbad's sword flew out of his hand and buried itself into the mast of the ship.

"Fool!"  He could hear Egan above the howl of the storm.  His voice seemed to echo in the thunder.  The winds picked them up and amplified them.  Egan raised his hands to the sky as if reaching into the storm to set it's fury against them. Dark tendrils of power surged up from his body into the clouds swirling above.  "You still try to resist my power?"

Bryn came to stand beside Sinbad.  He could feel the reassurance of her presence.  "Always."

Egan reached out farther into the storm ebony waves of evil pouring into the leaden clouds Waves washed upon the deck in torrents.  Bryn braced against Sinbad to keep her footing.  She closed her eyes and Sinbad knew she trying to reach out to Firouz.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open.  "We need to keep him distracted.  He's trying to reach out too far with his power.  He's losing his grip on Firouz.  If we can get between him and Firouz, we may be able to send him back into the limbo Dim Dim trapped him in."

"Easier said then done."

Sinbad shook his head and took a deep breath.  "Hey, Egan!  You call this little storm of yours power?  I've seen worse rainstorms than this in droughts."

"What?"  The voice echoed in a thunderous peel.

"Yeah, I've seen waterspouts with more kick than this little cloud burst!"

Egan bellowed and the ship shook with the intensity of his fury.  A piece of the mast snapped and crashed at Sinbad's feet.

Sinbad ducked back down beside Bryn.  "I may have over done that a bit."

"It's working," Bryn said.  Sinbad looked at Firouz.  He was starting to sway on his feet.  The inky wave of dark power poured from him and had started to form a hulking form.

"We have to end this now," Sinbad said.  Rigging and sails were crashing around them.  "The Nomad can't take much more of this."

Sinbad and Bryn lunged across the heaving deck and grabbed a hold of Firouz.  The inventor writhed in agony as the bracelets flared in a blinding flash of rainbow colors.  The dark tendrils of power released their hold on him and he sagged into Sinbad's arms.

The dark power rippled in waves around the figure forming in the storm's fury.  A terrifying wail rose about the shriek of the winds.  A sudden bolt of lightening struck the black figure exploding in a flash, hurling Sinbad, Bryn, and Firouz to the deck.

The rain and wind slowly tapered off and the black clouds started to lighten.  Sinbad felt a hand weakly grip the front of his shirt.  He looked down at Firouz.

A look of peace softened the inventor's exhausted features. "He's gone."   The inventor closed his eyes and slumped in Sinbad's arms.

Sinbad shot Bryn a concerned look, but she was smiling.  "He'll be fine," she reassured Sinbad.  Sinbad slid to the floor outside his cabin and listened as Bryn helped Doubar and Rongar settle Firouz into a bunk.  In his heart, he knew Firouz would be fine, but right now he was just too exhausted to go and check on him.  He sat there, thinking of another time he sat outside a cabin like this.

Sinbad sat on desk outside Master Dim Dim's cabin, his small arms wrapped around his legs. He as been waiting there ever since Doubar and Master Dim Dim had carried Firouz's limp body in the cabin.  Sinbad's mind was still reeling from everything that happened.

He jumped to his feet as the door started to open.  Master Dim Dim stepped into the warm sunshine.  His face was pale, lined with fatigue. Sinbad shifted his feet and Dim Dim started.

"Sinbad, have you been out here all this time?"

Sinbad nodded guiltily and bit his lip.  "Master Dim Dim, how is...is he?"  His voice trailed off afraid to ask what he really wanted to know.

"Firouz will be fine," Dim Dim said ruffling Sinbad's hair.  "He'll just need time to rest.  Time to heal."

"What will happen to him now?"  Sinbad asked.  "He doesn't have anyone anymore, he's all alone."

"No, he's not alone anymore, Sinbad."  A smile lit the magician's face.   "He has someone, he's got you.  And he's got Doubar, Robis, and myself."

Sinbad started to smile.  "Yeah, he does."

Dim Dim sighed and stretched.  "And I think a know of someone who needs a new young apprentice.  A physician friend of mine.  He's one of the best physicians I've ever known, and one of the most stubborn."   Dim Dim laughed.  "He's got a scientific explanation for everything, even magic.  He claims there is not such thing."

"No such thing?"  Sinbad said in disbelief.  "But, it's all around us."

"You know that, and I know that.  But try to tell that to someone who doesn't want to believe it.  Sinbad, you will find that often those who are the loudest to claim that they don't believe something have the most reason to believe it."   Dim Dim shook his head.  "After all young Firouz has been through, Samels will be good for him."

Dim Dim clapped an arm around Sinbad.  "Let's go find us something to eat.  All this excitement has left me famished."

Epilogue

"Sinbad?"

Sinbad looked up to see Bryn standing over him, a concerned look on her face.  "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine.  How's Firouz?"

Bryn sat on the deck beside him and rested her head on the wall.  "He'll be fine.  He's sleeping.   He just needs time to rest."

"Time to rest and time to heal."

Bryn turned her head to look at him.  "What?"

Sinbad smiled thoughtfully.  "Just something Master Dim Dim once said."  He cleared his throat.  "What was that last night?"

Bryn looked up at the sunshine sifting through the cracked in the galley door.  "When Egan started to conjure up that storm, he had extended himself beyond his power to control Firouz.  Somehow, the magic of our bracelets must have helped to sever the connection he had with Firouz.  Once that connection was severed, he lost his anchor to this realm."

"And he was thrown back into the limbo that Master Dim Dim had originally sent him to."  Sinbad concluded.

Bryn nodded.  "And now he's gone and Firouz is free."

"And so are we all."

The End

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