The rain had already fallen for three days. The sky was torn by flashes of lightening and the wind was blowing the hardest way. Sinbad was trying to hold the tiller up to keep sailing on the way he had to, but he was nearly falling at every moment. The Nomad’s captain was alone up on deck. He had ordered to everyone to stay below deck, and ignored Doubar and Maeve's protests.

Firouz and Rongar had only nodded, knowing nothing could change Sinbad’s decision.  Now he was there with rain filling his half-closed eyes, trying to keep standing. Suddenly, he saw a figure who was moving forward him. Despite the darkness, he recognized Maeve’s fiery red hair. She hadn’t obeyed his orders, she never did it anyway.

"Sinbad! Why don’t you come back below deck?  It’s too dangerous! You’re going to be thrown overboard!"  Maeve shouted.

"Ok, but if I stop holding the tiller, can you tell me who will do it? And anyway, what are you doing THERE?  I told you to stay in your cabin!  And it was an order! But you don’t care! You never listen to me! You never obey my orders! You..."

He hadn’t the time to finish his statement, because a big wave washed over the deck and sent the beautiful sorceress and himself overboard.

"SINBAD! MAEVE!"  cried Doubar as he came up on deck to see if his brother was alright.

But it was too late. Their bodies hit the water with a big crash and then there was nothing but darkness.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Maeve slowly opened her eyes. At the beginning, she saw nothing but darkness. Then her eyes began growing used to, and she saw a body form laying near her.

"Sinbad!"  she screamed before kneeling at his side.

He was unconscious. His head seemed to be slightly hurt on the forehead and he was apparently breathing with some difficulties.

"Sinbad..."  repeated Maeve, softly this time.

She took his head in her arms and sat against the wall. She didn’t know where they were but she didn’t even care. Sinbad was hurt, and it was all that mattered. She couldn’t say any word. She gently stroked his hair as tears came in her eyes. She tried to hold them back but she couldn’t. She thought about all the moments they shared as friends. She thought about their only kiss, after Sinbad killed the Vorgon. She remembered his warm touch, and how she felt safe in his arms.

Why? Why was he hurt and not her? Would she have one day the time to tell him about her true feelings? And would she... Her thinks were hold back when she heard a loud noise the door she hadn’t notice. As she turned her head towards it, her eyes met black, cruel man’s. He was standing there, with his long black hair and his ugly smile.

"She cared so much for her captain! How it’s touching!"  said the man before laughing with an evil laugh.

Maeve held Sinbad tighter as if he was an helpless child, like a protecting mother or... girlfriend.  "Where are we? What happened to Sinbad and I? And WHO are you?" she asked with anger and tears in her voice.

"Too much questions, sorceress! But don’t worry! You’ll have your answers when you will be ready to hear them!"

With this words he spat laughed with more evil in his voice, if it was possible of course, before throwing a bowl of soup on the ground and leaving the dark room.  Maeve turned back her eyes to her captain. Sinbad slowly opened his eyes. He smiled in spite of the pain in his head hen he saw Maeve’s lovely eyes looking down on his.

"Could I ever wake up happier?"  he said in a faint voice, still smiling to the beautiful sorceress.

A little smile curved her lips before she asked, her voice filled with concern, "How do you feel?"

"Hum... I don’t really know... Am I hurt?"

"You just need some rest captain," answered Maeve, stroking his hair. "Try to sleep, now.  I’ll take good care of you."

"I’m sure about that,"  said the blue eyed man with a smile.

He was too weak to try to comfort her, even if he knew she was worried about him. He asked, "Maeve, where are we? I just remember we were on the ship and... nothing else."

"I don’t know more, Captain’. But I don’t really want to know the people who live here, I just hope we’ll get out of here easily when you will be right. Sleep now, I’m the one who give orders today."

With that she put a hand on his eyes and he closed them. He was so tired that instantly he fell asleep.

"Sleep my dear, I’m afraid we’ll soon need plenty of our strength..."  said Maeve before pulling her head against the wall and trying to sleep too, her hands rested on Sinbad’s chest.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sinbad slowly woke up.  The pain inside his head seemed to fade but it was still hurting.  His head rested on something comfortable, and he got up on his knees to see what it was. He saw with amazement that it was Maeve’s cloak.

“Maeve?” called the young captain in the darkness.

Since he didn’t get any answer, he rose to his feet and slowly walked through the room.  Maeve wasn’t there. The sea-blue eyed man observed the place.  It was, in fact, a dungeon, to judge by the bars which adorned the door. It was the only source of light.  The cell was really not a big one, and Sinbad felt like he was going to die if he wouldn’t see the sunlight soon. There was a bowl of soup on the ground, half empty.

The room made him feel uncomfortable, but soon he realized it wasn’t the room which made him feel this way, but Maeve’s abscence. Where was she? He was sure she was there when he woke up some hours ago. He could still hear her lovely voice when she told him to rest.

“What happened?” said Sinbad out loud.

He tried to remember the events on the right way: first this big storm, then the wave, Maeve and himself thrown overboard, his wakening in his dear sorceress’arms, who was strokening his hair, and when he felt asleep with a feeling of safety.  But now, he was here, alone, and he didn’t know what to do. He has no doubts now that they were trapped there, but why? Who? Rumina? That was a possibility, but not something really sure. But he didn’t really care about that. The only thing he could think  about was Maeve. Where was she?  His answer came when the door opened violently. A man was holding Maeve by the shoulders.

“Maeve!” shouted Sinbad.

She had a lot of marks from blows on her face and on her arms which could be seen through the torn sleeves of her dress. Her hair was all tangled and some locks were stuck on her forehead with dry blood. She gently moaned when the man threw her into the dungeon.  Sinbad caught her just before she touched the ground.

He turned towards the cruel man, his eyes filled with anger, “Why did you dare to strike her?  Why?”

He was looking for an answer into the man’s black eyes, but he could just see indifference.  He felt tears of rage filling his sea-blue eyes. He whispered,  “You’ll pay for this, I swear that I’ll kill you for what you’ve done to her!”  His voice had grown high in the end of his statement and he thought he would do anything just to see her not hurt.

The man only laughed and left the room. Sinbad brought his attention back to Maeve.

“Maeve... What did they do to you? I promise you, they will never be able to walk after what I’ll give them...

She looked him in the eye and murmured,  “Sinbad, are you feeling all right? Does your head hurt anymore?”

“I don’t care about myself this time, but only about your safety...”he whispered with care filling his voice. “Where are you hurt? Who has trapped us? Is it Rumina?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Maeve took a long breath before going on. “I don’t know who he is but the man who struck me was an ugly one, and he wanted to know where was... Dim-Dim. But I didn’t answer, and it is why he struck me more and more. He’s sure that I’ll tell him what he wants to know if he tortures me. But I won’t tell him, Sinbad, I swear!  Never! Never!” she cried.

Then a flood of tears filled her eyes and Sinbad held her in his arms, trying to comfort her.  She put her head on his shoulder and sobbed slowly. First, she tried to regain her self-control but soon she let herself cry and focused her mind on Sinbad instead of the pain she was feeling inside her body and inside her soul. She felt relief in his strong arms, it was like if her pain had never existed. She could feel the warmth of his heart and how he cared for her. She could understand his thoughts with his embrace more than if he had told her with words.

Sinbad reminded the last months. Four months ago, Maeve had succeeded in her attempt to free her master from the alternate dimension where he was stuck with a special spell which had took a lot of her. Since this day, he had recreated the isle of Dawn and had returned to his old life with Cairpra.

He wanted Maeve to continue her apprenticeship, but she didn’t accept, and told Dim-Dim that she felt at home on the Nomad, and that she had to keep sailing with the crew if she wanted to destroy Rumina. But the true reason, the one which was hidden in the bottom of her heart, that she didn’t want to admit herself, was the fact she fell in love with her beautiful captain, and that she didn’t want to live far from him.  She also loved the entire crew, and it was like a second family for her.

Maeve started to calm herself down. Sinbad placed his hands on her cheeks and looked into her eyes. She seemed to slowly regain her self-control. He gently said,  “Don’t worry, Maeve. I’m sure we’ll find a way to go away from here without betraying Dim-Dim. Don’t cry anymore, please. You know it hurts me a lot to see you like this.”

He gently smiled and stroked her cheek. She smiled back, but it was a smile joyless.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Aboard the Nomad, Doubar and the others were busying themselves fixing the damages caused by the storm. They headed toward an island where they thought Sinbad and Maeve were. They were hoping they could have swum up to the beach from this one.

“I hope we’ll find you both over there, Little Brother...”, whispered Doubar, looking at the horizon.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

“I’m sure she will tell you, Master.” said Amir with his hoarse voice.

The short man looked up to his boss with respect. He remembered when Master first found him, in his native village. He was just a thief, stealing food to live, but Master saw some strong abilities in him for crime. He gave him enough money for his family to live comfortably, and took him with him, only telling him he was going to live an incredible life, serving a noble cause, HIS cause. He remembered how he told him about earning much more money than any human could dream of, getting all the women, the wine and the treats he wanted. But Master never told him about killing, about this blood on his hands that he would keep as long as he lives, those long nights searching for young innocent people to deprive them of their new life.

Of course Amir was strong, he was merciless ; but it didn’t mean that he never had any regret. Sometimes he just wished he could live a simple life, growing old with wife and children, spending every single day surrounded by warmth and protection of love. But this feeling of emptiness somehow made him stronger, at least this was what he thought.

“You don’t even know who you’re talking about, Amir.” Master replied, obviously annoyed by his minor. “ This woman is Dim-Dim’s apprentice, and believe me she is strong.”

The man rose of his chair and walked through the dark room. He never liked sunlight, even before his transformation. His face showed expression of strong irritation, he always hated people who resisted against him. It happened rarely, thought. But even so, this red-haired woman was beginning to seriously irritate him. He took a sword from the wall, and with a gesture of fury, he broke it in two. Amir shivered. The strengh of his Master had always scared him. Master threw the two parts of the broken sword on the ground and made his way to the door.

“So if you didn’t succeed in your attempt to make her talk, then I think it’s time to be sweet : I’ll give her a choice : either she decides to tell me where is the Isle of Dawn and how we reach it, either her dear boyfriend dies.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

When the longboat touched the sand, all faces became darker. No sign of civilization could be noticed anywhere and Maeve and Sinbad where nowhere to be seen on the beach.  Doubar looked at Rongar and Firouz, worry filling his face.

The curly-haired scientist put a hand on the big man’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, Doubar, I’m sure we’ll find them. There must be a village nearby!”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sinbad let go a loud sigh as he extended his legs on the ground. He couldn’t tell how much time had elapsed since the man brought Maeve here, because he was losing his sense of time, but it seemed like days to him. He turned his head to look at Maeve who was still asleep, covered with her coat, with Sinbad’s jacket under her head for pillow.

'Damn!'  He would kill the person who did this to her. He was accustomed to see her so strong, so stubborn, that he couldn’t even imagine seeing her weak, or crying like she did earlier. He couldn’t take it, he couldn’t take this feeling of helplessness. ‘How can I care about destroying evil, saving people from slavery or killing demons when I can’t even protect the people I love?’ he asked himself. And then he realized what he had just thought, ‘the people I love’.

He already knew he cared deeply about the sorceress, but thought this was only concern and friendship. But then he remembered the time when Vicenzo was seducing her, and how jealous he was about it ; and after that, when this damn guy turned her into marble, and when he felt so mad at him. It was exactly the same feeling forming in the captain’s heart, he wanted to kill anyone who would hurt HIS Maeve. HIS? Could this be love?

He was always so protective with her, and maybe there was a good reason why all the crew and especially Doubar was always teasing him? Could it be possible that he hadn’t discovered yet what everyone seemed to be so sure about? Sinbad reached out a hand to touch her soft hair. She seemed so paceful when she was sleeping. He remembered clearly when, four months ago, after they celebrated Dim-Dim’s return, he had woke up in the middle of the night, a strange feeling filling his mind. Of course they had freed Master Dim-Dim, of course everyone was relieved and happy again, but still he had seen earlier in the day that Maeve was still concerned about something else, and this was beginning to drive him crazy.

He wanted so badly to know what was bothering her so much, he wondered if maybe she would feel better if she dared to tell him her secrets about Rumina and Dermott. And this night he had gone for a walk along the shore and found there the sorceress, staring at the stars, laying on the soft white sand. They had talked about this and that for hours, and finally, when he was about to ask her about her secrets, he had seen she had fallen asleep.

He couldn’t get often to see her sleeping, and he had watched her for the rest of the night. ‘Yeah, this is love’, he thought as his fingers descended to her cheek. He stroked it with the back of his hand, so gently that he barely touched her. ‘I should tell her’ he thought. ‘I should tell her how I feel, I have to tell her I love her, until it’s too late’. Too late? ‘Too late for what?’

She moved her head a bit under his hand, and dove uncounsciously in the warmth his arms and body offered to her. The young captain gently accepted her head in his embrace and she felt more comfortable. She was beginning to get aware of his presence, and thought she didn’t want to wake up, the desire to see his beautiful sea-blue eyes was stronger, and wanted her to open her eyes uncontrolably. She slowly got off of her sleep and did as she wanted to. The first thing she saw was those deep blue orbs looking at her, obviously concerned. A faint smile curved her lips and she managed to pronounce a sleepy “hi”. She watched his face’s expression change as he smiled back and stroked her hair.

“How do you feel? Better?”

She tried to get up but was strongly surrounded by his arms and she didn’t feel like arguing with him, she was too weak. So she just put her head back in its place, against his chest, where she could hear the comforting beating of his heart. “Aye. Better.” she murmured.

She felt so protected here in his strong and gentle embrace that she totally forgot where they were and what was going on. But then reality hit her with full force. She detached herself from his arms, suddenly feeling uncomfortable where she felt so protected, ashamed of feeling so good when the situation was so bad. Sinbad looked her in the eye, with his beautiful eyes, his beautiful eyes questionning her. She ignored his look and tried to get up, only to fall, unable to stand on her feet. ‘Damn!’she thought, ‘my body hurts so badly.’ Sinbad caught her in her fall before she reached the ground.

“Tell me, you really love being caught in my arms, don’t you?” he said with a tone of voice supposed to be amused but which wasn’t at all.  “You should better rest, Maeve.” he resumed, seriously, concern filling his voice. ‘I’ll tell her’, he thought, ‘I’ll tell her when we’ll get out of here.’

‘But you’ll never get out of here, Sinbad.’

Sinbad jumped. Did he imagine? He heard a voice inside his head?

“What the hell...?” he began.

Maeve looked at him with disbelief. “What’s the matter, Sinbad?”

‘Ahahahah’ This voice again, this dark, strong and sinister voice.

“Maeve, do you hear that?” he asked.

“Hear what?”

Sinbad was about to answer when the noise of the door opening was heard. They turned to see the man again, still the same, with his black eyes and expressionless face.

“Who are you?” yelled Maeve. She had had enough, she wanted to know at last who was this man and what he wanted to do with Dim-Dim.

“The name’s Amir.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

SLASH! This noise again, this loud noise. Maeve closed her eyes, trembling. Her whole body was shaking with tears, with fear, and probably with a beginning of sickness. She felt she wouldn’t be able to take this for long anymore. How she hated feeling so weak! It was so upsetting, she felt so helpless... Tears, tears again, stinging in her eyes. No, she couldn’t take this. She had been able to take pain inside her body, in every little part of her muscles, but she couldn’t take the growing pain in her heart and soul. And seeing Sinbad suffering was the most painful thing in the world.

She opened her eyes again, carefully, to see her captain’s face. As she did so, she heard the noise again, and watched the whip slashing his back, his already injured back. Sinbad let go a cry of pain. He slowly turned his eyes to look at Maeve. He caught her eyes and managed a faint smile. She shook her head, crying.

“I’m so sorry, Sinbad, so sorry...” she murmured, loud enough for him to hear. Then, in a  gesture of anger, she shook the chains that held her wrists back, hitting the wall. She couldn’t believe in him, not this time. Even if he still had this gleam in his eyes, this gleam of life, of determination, of love, she knew this time it was almost over, there was no hope left anymore.

“Maeve, calm down, believe in me, don’t tell him, please!” Sinbad managed to say, just before he was hit by another lash.

Maeve shook her head again, “ He’d kill you, Sinbad.” she said in a soft voice, pain resonant in it.

Amir looked up to the red-haired woman, an evil smile curving his lips. “So? Are you ready to talk, woman?”

Sinbad reached for Maeve’s eyes, but she avoided his gaze.  “Maeve... Don’t...Please.”

Amir approached the sorceress, a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes. She was going to tell him. Master was so right about using Sinbad to make her talk. His face was only a few inches from hers. “So...? I’m waiting!”

Maeve lifted her head to look into the dark eyes. She had stopped crying. She slowly moved her lips to answer:  “Go to hell.” She spat in his face.

“Damn witch!” yelled Amir.  He slapped her face hard. She lifted her head again, rage, anger and determination in her  look.

She spoke slowly, word after word:  “I will never betray my Master.”

Amir fulminated.  “And I will not betray mine either.”

He turned again to face Sinbad’s back. “Maybe it’s time to get a little bit nicer...”

With this he left the room.  Sinbad turned his head on the right, so he could look at Maeve. He was breathing hardly.  “That’s alright, Maeve. As long as we keep Dim-Dim safe, everything’s right. I mean, he’s like a father for both of us, right?” Maeve nodded. “And we can’t tell this man where he  is, we don’t even know what he wants with him.” Sinbad thought for a moment. “Don’t worry about me, Maeve. He probably knows how strong you are, and this is why he’s using your heart and feelings. He’s trying to make you crack up, but you won’t Maeve, you won’t. Do you hear me?”

Maeve held back her tears. “I do.”

Sinbad sighed. “Now you have to be even more stronger.” He paused again. “Hey, it’s not like we were married, uh?” he said, trying to joke. Maeve’s lips curved into a faint smile at the thought. “I mean, I think, and hope, that you do care a little for me, but you know that Dim-Dim’s safety is more important than my own life, okay?” the captain almost asked.

Maeve sighed loudly and was about to answer when the door opened to let Amir and another man in. Maeve froze. She suddenly wondered if she ever sensed such black magic in anyone, even in Rumina or Turok. This man... this man was the devil itself!  Master immediately felt her fear and smiled behind his black coat.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

In spite of his horrible headache, Sinbad heard the sound of a body hitting the ground. Everything was so confused inside his head, he couldn’t remember anything. Slowly, he tried to open his eyes, to clear the darkness of his mind and see where he was and what did hit the floor. But it was as if an incredible strengh remained them closed. His eyelids seemed to be stuck and it hurt so much... His hands gently reached his head and he rubbed his temples, trying to put everything back in its place inside his mind.

He remembered the whip, Maeve crying, the intense pain in his back and his muscles, but he couldn’t figure out what happened next. He had just heard the noise of the door and Maeve holding her breath. But the rest was only a black hole in his head and... soul. The captain didn’t exactly know why, but he felt as if the half of his heart and soul were being torn apart and an immense sensation of sickness was burning in his whole body.

“Aaahh!”

The captain cried loudly when he succeed in his attempt to open his eyes, at last. The light blinded him and hurt him deep like fire. This was when he became aware of his surrondings and realized he was outside, facing the sun and the sky. But why the hell couldn’t he see any...earth? He slowly turned his head and saw in horror where he was. Lying on a rock, suspended on a mountain. He gently tried to rise but found chains around his arms and legs.

“Damn it!” he said in anger. Sinbad sighed loudly and put his head back down on the stone. He closed his eyes and mentally felt each part of his body, trying to find where he was hurt the most, and grimaced when he arrived to his back. His neck was aching like hell too, but he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stand because of his back. At least if he’d live long enough to stand.

“No...”

The captain turned to the almost imperceptible moan. His heart ached at what he saw.  Maeve was looking down at him, from where she was, on the top of the mountain. The wind was blowing in her hair, hidding practically her whole face. But he could see the tears falling down from her eyes. Tears of blood.

SLASH!!!  Sinbad cried in terror and woke up. The whip had slashed his back once again. And had woken him up from his uncounscious state of mind, from this horrible nightmare. He opened his eyes wet with tears of pain and turned his look towards Amir. The man shot him his dark gaze.

“Where...Maeve...” managed to pronouce the young captain. His mouth and throat were so dry, it was almost impossible for him to speak.

To his own surprise, Amir didn’t smile. He felt uneasy because of the determination of the blue-eyed man. He couldn’t just imagine that Sinbad could care so much for the sorceress that he forgot his own pain. It made no sense to the short man. He had never loved anyone in his whole life, and had never been loved in return. Because love was a feeling he didn’t understand and he rejected. But the fire burning in Sinbad’s eyes was incredible. Amir saw in the look of his face that love didn’t make the captain weaker, but stronger. Any other man would have given up and would be dying after what he endured, but Sinbad was still fighting against this feeling of weakness, and the flame inside him was not going to die so easily.

And Amir was scared. It might be the captain who was tied there, receiving the blows, but it was Amir who was scared. Scared to death by the thought of what was missing so much in his life. Love. He dropped the whip on the ground, not able to strike him anymore.

Sinbad sighed loudly, swallowed and tried again to ask what he wanted to know:  “Where is Maeve?”

A real confusion was shining in Amir’s eyes. He suddenly felt compassion for him, a feeling he never got before for anyone. His lips moved by their own:  “She is with Master.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The dark man was walking nervously all around the place. Maeve looked up to Master with her fiery look. She was truly beginning to ask herself if he was going to say something at last or not. He hadn’t pronounce any word since he entered the room where she was helplessly watching Sinbad being slashed. Amir had told her to follow him, and when she had looked into the mysterious man’s black eyes, she had done as she was told to, as if a unknown force was leading her towards the darkness. Master had taken her to another room even more black than the whole place, place that she supposed to be a castle.

He had told her to sit down on a chair, and she had obeyed. She was still the ruler of her mind, but she couldn’t control her body. Never in the past she had met any psychical strengh as powerful as Master’s. For the hundredth time, she wondered who that man could be. She had never heard of anyone like him, Dim-Dim never taught her how to react if someone was controlling her body. Plus, she was weak, she was so weak. What could she do?

Master suddenly stopped walking. He turned towards the Celt and gently took off his coat from his head. Maeve expected to look at the most horrible thing she’d ever seen, but was surprised to see a perfect face. Her eyes showed her disbelief. Master was truly beautiful, maybe even as beautiful as... Sinbad. His eyes were black and deep, his features were fine, and his hair was brown and shiny, cut just before his shoulders.

“This guy looks like an angel” Maeve thought against herself.

He smiled.  “So...” His voice was smooth and warm. “Do you like what you see, dear Maeve?”

Maeve shuddered. “How do you know my name?” She spoke slowly but firmly. “And who are you,

“Master”?”

“It won't change a thing for you to know my name... But let’s say that I was once called Dimitri. How do I know your name? Well...” He grinned deeply. “ I am used to know a lot of things.” He paused, letting his grin fade. “ I reitarate my question : do you like what you see, sorceress?”

Maeve’s eyes shot daggers. “You’re not as bad-looking as I thought you would be.”

Dimitri laughed a bit. “I don’t really look like a demon, do I?”

The fiery sorceress didn’t answered. She sighed and looked him in the eye.  “You are wasting your time, Dimitri. I will never tell you what you want to know. I will not betray my master, and I won’t give up, no matter what.” she said, determinated as usual.

“NO matter what?” Dimitri asked in an amused voice. “Well... I saw you could bare the physical pain and even seeing your captain suffering, right?” Maeve looked away, trying to keep this horrible sight of the man she loved out of her mind. “But do you think you’ll be able to resist to desire, temptation, TRUE happiness?”

The young woman lifted her eyebrows. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand how I could get true happiness under these conditions!”

“Well, you’ll see...” With this Dimitri laughed hard and walked towards the scared sorceress.
 

 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

‘By Allah! Who this “Master” might be to revere such things?’ he thought.

He turned towards Amir, looking confused. But as soon as his eyes met the man’s, he knew that he was feeling much more uneasy than he was himslef.  Indeed, a persistent fire was burning deep in Amir’s mind. He could not understand what he had done, why he had done it, and much more important, how he could have betrayed his Master. He had freed a prisonner? He, the merciless man who liked to see people suffering, he, Amir, servitor of THE Master, had found some compassion in his heart, as if he had been fascinated by the young captain, by his determination and his love for the lovely sorceress. Those two people were so amazing!

Never in his life he had met anyone who resisted as they did. And when Sinbad had simply asked him to untie the rope that was holding the his hands, he hadn’t been able to just say “no” and had obeyed to something that wasn’t an order. He couldn’t just believe it. Maybe was he starting a new life? Maybe was he cutting the bonds between Master and himslef? Could he be able to forget everything? To escape from here and learn from Sinbad and Maeve what was love?  What was real life? True happiness??? How could it be?

‘Stop it!’ a voice entered the short man’s head.

Amir froze. Master. Of course. He was so stupid that he had just forgotten, after 10 years spent beside him, that Master could read anyone’s thoughts from anyplace. He had just to concentrate on the person to hear what he was thinking.

‘You dare to challenge me?’ The voice was deep, dark and scaring. ‘IF you want to save your soul against those horribles feelings which weak men to their death, IF you don’t want me to kill you right now, and IF you wanna keep your very enviable situation, you'd better stop thinking about all this NOW and rectify your enormous fault. Take the captain back to the torture room. And KILL him. Before it’s too late.’

Amir’s eyes refleted an ocean of emotions. He was torn apart, a feeling he was learning too. He avoided the gaze of the blue-eyed man, but he was not able to do so for a long time. Damn! Those eyes were piercing right through his mind. By an incredible sixth sense, the captain immediately understood what was happening.

“He’s talking to you, Amir, right?” he asked, his voice still filled with the entire pain his body was experiencing. “You’re hearing his voice inside your head?”

Amir couldn’t lie. This man might be his only salvation, the only one who could help him to erase all the evil things he had done in the past. “Aye” he murmured.

His hoarse voice was gone, and he almost looked like a child, hesitating between getting into exciting mischief with his friends and obeing his parents and being a good boy. But damn it! This was real tentation! Getting away from it all...  No. He couldn’t. Master was too strong. He could never battle against him. He was just so weak.

“Resist, Amir, don’t let him take control of your life anymore.” Sinbad said, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Believe me. If you help me to open this door, and if we get out of here, I’ll offer you a REAL life, a life for good, and I promise you will be part of my valuable crew.”

Amir put his head down, closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Then turned to the young captain and kicked him hard in the head, knocking him out.

 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Maeve closed her eyes. Damn! It was so hard to resist to temptation. She wanted this so badly. Never in her life she had been loved by a man. Never. ‘Sinbad?’ She suddenly thought. ‘Aye, maybe this is love.’ But still... she had never been physically loved. She shook those thoughts from her head. She was supposed to accomplish a mission, she was supposed to free her brother, why the hell did she want this?

‘I’m 26 years old’. ‘I’m 26 years old and I never slept with a man.’ And so what? Why everyone on earth made THIS thing so important? Was it really a goal in life? And HOW could she even think about this?  She was a prisonner. Sinbad was being tortured and she was thinking of this. ‘Stupid sorceress...’ This voice again. Dimitri’s. It was not anymore the lovely voice that filled her hears earlier. This was a scaring voice. She could not see him. But she could feel him. He was surronding her. The warmth of his beautiful body.

“Maeve...My beautiful Maeve...” his voice as deep and soft again. “Think about this. It’s not that difficult after all. Either you die, either you give yourself to me, you enjoy some hours of TRUE happiness, and you will live as a queen.”

The soft and white smoke was surrounding her, and she couldn’t see anything. Two senses were left from the five usual ones : hearing and touch.  Slowly, the smoke disappeared. His eyes appeared from the cloud and the sorceress gasped. Two beautiful sea-blue orbs were looking deep in her eyes.

“Sinbad!” she cried in happiness. Tears formed in her eyes, tears of relief ; she threw herself into his arms.

“Maeve.” his beautiful voice whispered, filled with emotion. He held her close. “You need to know something Maeve, before it’s too late.” She was crying in his neck, letting all her fears out, forgetting about Dimitri, forgetting about the fact he had strangely disappeared and let Sinbad instead. It was Sinbad, here, holding her, it was his warmth she was able to recognize in spite of her pain, a pain that was being erased by his embrace.

“I love you.”

She stopped sobbing all of a sudden. She lifted her head and looked him in the eye.

 “Maeve, I really do.” Yeah, it was him, it was his eyes, full of warmth, full of love.

“Oh god...” she sobbed. “I love you too, Sinbad, I love you so much...” She buried her face in his chest again. Then she realized. “Sinbad... We have to het out of here. We have to.”

“Shhh...” he calmed her down, caressing her cheeks, washing her tears away. “It’s all right now, we’re safe here... All this evil is gone. This ‘Master’ is gone... Don’t worry... I’ll never let anyone harm you anymore. You are safe as long as you’re with me...” She locked eyes with him. She was so touched. Blessed indeed. “I believe you, Sinbad, I know that... I really do...” She let herself gently collapse in his embrace.

“I love you, Maeve...I really do... And I want you to love me as much as I love you.” His voice was now warm, almost sexy. “ I want to love you with every part of my heart...and with every part of my body too.” he whispered.

He gently lifted her head. She closed her eyes, enjoying his warm breath on her lips. They were so close in this moment. When his lips touched hers, she moaned so softly that he barely heard her. He smiled gently and then deepened the kiss slowly, slipping his tongue into her soft mouth.

She responded, despite of her tiredness, feeling passion sweeping through her body, knowing only him, his smooth lips, his warm tongue. She felt his hands descending on her shoulders, and she knew where they were going, just by this simple gesture. She could feel the fire burning deep inside him, and she knew he wanted her.

‘As much as I want him.’ When a kiss ended, another was beginning immediately. They wanted this for so long. When they broke gently, forehead against forehead, he whispered softly : “I’m so glad all of this is finished. Dim-Dim will be safe, and we’ll sail to the Isle of Dawn as soon as we’ll find the others and the Nomad. We just have to sail... to sail with you...”

Suddenly she broke away, gasping for air, an expression of disgust on her face. Sinbad rose his eyebrows. “What? What’s happening? Maeve?”

She looked so horrified. “You...” she managed to pronouce. “You are NOT Sinbad.”

He laughed. “What? What are you talking about?” he said, amused.

She took a step away, trying to get her balance. “You, b*****d! How did you dare to take his features? His voice? His eyes...” she whispered, disgusted of herself, of what she’d just done with this man she, in fact hated more than anyone else.

Dimitri, understanding he had lost on this try, removed his normal apparance. “Too bad, sorceress, we could have had SO much fun...” he paused, a smile curving his lips. “So I see you don’t want things to be simple. You could have just imagined I was REALLY Sinbad, and die in the softest way...after getting what you want...”

Maeve looked directly through him. “But sleeping with you is far away from what I want. You are NOT Sinbad. And even with his looks, you’ll never be him.” She had regained her strong voice.

“Well...if you see things like this... let’s talk about violence then.”

 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dimitri was beginning to lose his patience. In fact, he had never really had one, but this time, he knew he hadn’t much time left. He could feel the anger burning deep inside him, inside this body which wasn’t his. He clenched his fists and hit the wall, turning it into a dusty heap of stone. Making the whole castle shake. Amir jumped at the sound, and ran to the throne room, abandonning Sinbad, unconscious, on the ground of his dungeon.

“Master!”

Dimitri turned to face his minor, his eyes still flashing red shots of anger. Amir lowered his head, showing his respect. But inside of him he knew he was already dead, because Master could never forgive what he had done. He had doubted. And forgiveness was just a word in the dictionnary for Master.

“I’m so sorry, Master. I swear it’ll never happen again. The captain is in the dungeon, he won’t bother you anymore, Master.” The short man tried to keep his voice at its usual level, but he could feel it shake when he said the word “Master”.

“Damn it!” Dimitri yelled, kicking a chair which was on his way towards Amir.  He took him by the collar. “Do you know how many years I’ve been waiting for finding a man like DimDim? Do you?” His black eyes shot daggers. “Listen close, my dear Amir. You are nothing. You were nothing until I found you and took you under my protection. And THIS is the way you show me how grateful you are? You’re disgusting!”  He spat on the floor, before raising his eyes again to look at the now fearful face.

Amir knew everything was over. And then, the truth it him with full force: everything was already over since he had accepted to serve Master. He had to do it. He had to say it before his own end.  “Disgusting?” Amir spoke up, fighting the will to runaway from this place. “Do you know what disgusting is? Maybe I am, but I think I’ll never beat you at this.”

Dimitri was amazed by the guts of his minor. Never he had thought he would be able to say such a thing one day. He was so surprised that he did not react.

Amir went on: “You are not anything more than me, Dimitri! If you hadn’t meet this woman, seventy years ago, you would have never become what you are today. A monster!  You are the devil itself!” He paused, letting his voice and breath calm down a bit. Master was still gasping at him, obviously curious to hear what he had to say. “You steal lives from young and innocent people.You take their blood, their brains, their bodies, their hearts...” Amir grimaced, disgusted by what he was himself saying, getting the fact that he had, indeed, taken part in that slaughter. “But you’re not invincible. You need them. You need them to live. To survive. And that strengh in you will not last if you don’t find this Dim-Dim and if you don’t take his knowledge by drinking his blood. And you know that the sorceress will never tell you what to do, never. You shouldn’t count on this. You’re gonna die, demon!”

Dimitri breathed deeply and soundly. “Well, we’ll see about me. But I could tell you almost the same line.”

The once merciless man froze. His time was come. He knew it.  Dimitri rose his arm and struck Amir hard on the back of the neck, breaking his cervicals.  He hadn’t even tried to fight back. He fell on the ground almost noiselessly, his eyes still opened, expressionless for eternity. Dimitri shrugged, he could only trust himself now. He walked towards the door, crushing carelessly some bones under his foot.

 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Maeve coughed soundly, spitting some blood on the ground, where she laid half-conscious. Dimitri had left her here, after strucking her with a strengh she had never experienced in her whole life. He was gone, but she knew he was up to something. She tried to pick herself up, moaning softly from the intense pain in her head. She dragged herself to the door, she was so weak that Dimitri hadn’t care to tie her hands or legs. She had almost reached it when it opened in a creaking. She let out a slight cry of surprise and tried to hide herself behind the massive wooden door. She held her breath as she heard the soft sound of footsteps, that weren’t loud enough to be Amir’s or Dimitri’s.

“Maeve?” She heard a soft voice calling her name, obviously filled with weakness.

The sorceress froze. It couldn’t be... No, she wouldn’t let Dimitri get her in that game of his again. How could Sinbad have escaped? He was so weak when she last saw him. She tried to erase the voice in her head who was telling her to come out of her hiding-place and see him. See if it was really Dimitri, if there wasn’t truly any hope left.

“Maeve?” The call was now stronger, the voice more determinated. She saw him entering the room. He looked injured in the worst way, holding his stomach and his head bleeding.

“No!” she told herself. “He is NOT Sinbad, he is not...”

But then she saw it. His bracelet. It was shining. Shining in her direction. Sinbad suddenly noticed the way it was glowing, and slowly walked back towards the door. Maeve could not restrain herself anymore. It was probably him. It had to be him.

“Sinbad...I’m here.” she whispered. She rose slowly on her feet, her entire body hurting like hell as she did so.

“Maeve!” cried the captain in pure joy. She threw herself in his arms, sobbing uncontrolably in his neck. “Oh Maeve...” he murmured, his voice as soft as the wind, while holding her, trying to give her the warmth and the comfort she needed. They stayed in this way for a few minutes, until Sinbad realized : “Maeve, did he...” he asked, gently breaking away to look her in the eye.

“No.” she cut him. “Please don’t talk about this. Let’s find a way to get away from here, take the Nomad and sail far, far from here.” Her voice was barely audible. He nodded in approvement.

“Okay.” he whispered, caressing her hair in a simple gesture, before flashing her his killer grin she knew so well. “Do you think you can walk?”

“Yeah, I think so.” she said, taking a step from him to prove her captain that she could.  She was a little unsure, but the will in her to escape was strong enough to run for at least an hour. At least, it was what she thought.

“Ah!” she cried in pain as she fell on the ground. Sinbad hadn’t had the time to react.

“Maeve!” he exclaimed as he kneeled by her side. She slowly opened her eyes. His blue orbs were so deep...like the ocean.

“Sinbad...go away. Please. Just go. I can’t, I’m so sorry but I just can’t.” murmured the sorceress, her eyes filled with tears.

“No...I will not go anywhere without you. You’re a member of my crew, remember? I will not let you behind, as you asked so.” he said, brushing a strand of hair from her forehead.

“Well! What do we have here? Two touching lovebirds??”  Dimitri said.

“Sorry if I disturbed you, but you see, I had some other plans for you two tonight.”

“You b*****d!” Sinbad cried as he got up, anger flashing through his body. Immediately, he took a sword which was laying on the table with some other instruments of torture.  “I’m gonna kill you!”

He jumped towards the man, ready to strike.  Dimitri just shook his head, laughing at him. “What do you think you’re gonna do? Pierce my body with this sword that belongs to ME? C’mon! Go ahead!”

Sinbad did not wait for him to say it once again. With a loud cry, he charged at him, running his sword through Dimitri’s chest, before taking a step away from him. The demon hadn’t move. A big smile was still curving his lips, and under Sinbad’s horrified gaze, he took the sword by the hilt out of his body. The large bleeding wound healed up almost immediately and Dimitri burst out into laughter.

“What the hell are you?” Sinbad asked, unbeliving what his eyes were showing him.

“Well...People used to call me “the Monster”, or “the Demon”; but I do prefer Master.” he smiled, satisfied.

Maeve lifted her head, disgusted. Her heart was throbbing, her head aching, but inside of her she felt something...Something that maybe could save them. “Sinbad.”

The captain turned towards the sorceress, amazed at the fact that she was actually standing on her feet.

“Get out of the way.”

Sinbad hadn’t had the time to understand. She pushed him to the floor with a surprising strengh, her eyes flashing red shots at Dimitri. She hadn’t leave his eyes, showing her sudden determination. Then she rose her hands, throwing the man a fireball. But it just faded in the air, as if a violent gust of wind had taken it away.

Dimitri laughed again. This evil, strong, hoarse laugh. Maeve hated it, hated him for what this man - or whatever he was - was able to do. She looked around herself, feeling helpless, and then her eye was caught by something. Aye. That symbol.

Everything came back to her mind as she saw it, its golden patterns, its demon figurine. This dream had come to warn her, and she hadn’t paid any attention to it. This dream... Her mind went back a few weeks ago. The wind, the rain falling like daggers piercing her body, and this sensation of sudden emptiness... and then this demon, its bloody eyes, those so real flames...she was feeling as if her soul was burning, tearing off her heart from her chest...and then this voice, calming her soul : Sinbad. He was the one who had woken her up, shaking her, telling her she had had a nightmare...everything was clear now. She had been wondering for an hour or two what this dream could have been about. Now she knew it. This was not a dream. Just close reality.

“That was Dim-Dim, wasn’t it?” Maeve asked Dimitri, trembling. “That was him who made me dream of this...of you.”

He stopped laughing.

“No...” he managed to pronounce, not really for her to hear, but for himself, to realuze what was happening. She was going to find it, that strengh she needed so badly to defeat him, to defeat anyone who would try to harm her or the people she loved. Her strengh was him.

“Sinbad...” she turned to the captain, still on the floor, wondering what was going on between the two ennemies. He lifted his eyebrows, expecting her to say something else than his name, but somehow he knew words were useless for this moment. He slowly rose to his feet, under Dimitri’s amazed gaze. The “Master” knew too well what was going to happen, and also knew that he could do nothing to stop it. Love had always been stronger than Hate, had always been stronger than Evil, than the devil itself. And to defeat the devil, there was only one way : find true love. And this was happening under his eyes.

Sinbad slowly made his way towards her, wondering how he could actually walk, he couldn’t even feel his feet touching the ground. But, in the strangest kind of way, he wasn’t hurting anymore. Pain was gone for sure, and inside his heart, he knew it was gone forever.

The sorceress faintly smiled, as if she had completely forgotten the Demon’s presence. She put a strand of hair behind her ear, in that simple gesture that he loved so much, and walked towards him, her emotions preceding her.

“Maeve...” he murmured as he touched her fingers. His hands ran automatically to the place they belonged to, on her waist, before going back up to stroke her beautiful hair. All traces of blows, of blood, had magically disapeared and he could only see her radiant beauty, shining in her eyes.

She hadn’t hesitated any instant. As he slowly reached her cheeks she threw her arms around his neck, and leaned forward. She could feel his bracelet glowing, she could feel it deep inside her, as their lips met, not hesitating, not shy or indimidated, but already passioned. And as this fire ran through both their bodies, she opened her mouth to him, and a bright light emanated from them. Hitting Dimitri in the chest.

He cried in total pain, feeling his body, his chest burning like fire and fell on the ground, his face twisted with an eternal expression of anger and hate. But the two hadn’t notice him at all, well occupied at the moment... They only broke away, gently, when they were both breathless, to watch Dimitri’s mortal coil fading away, in a light cloud of smoke.

 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Maeve was woken up by a shy knock on the door. She slowly rose of her bed, still very tired from all those ordeals, but knowing somehow that she would feel better very soon. The door opened on Sinbad’s sheepish face, revealing an hesitating grin, which was ver surprising from him. Maeve smiled back at him, faintly first, and then even broke into a soft laughter, seeing his embarrassed expression.

“Good morning.” she whispered.

“Yeah” he said hesitantly, causing Maeve to raise an eyebrow at him.

“So...You want to come in?” she asked, smiling.

“Hmm.” he cleared his throat. “Well, in fact, if you don’t mind, I’d prefer you to come for a walk with me.”

She seemed hesitant, but finally nodded and said “ Alright, just give me a few minutes to dress myself properly.”

‘Well, you could keep that outfit, that’s very sexy’ he thought as he watched her closing the door in her long and white nightgown, which was almost transparent. He laughed a bit to himself, and then headed towards the bar, where Doubar was giving a hard time to Firouz.

“Well, actually, this is not a “little wooden ball”.” the scientist said, obviously irritated. “ I call it an anti-stress-ball. You just take it in your hands and roll it between them. It takes all your stress, your nervosity away.”

“But what the hell is the “stress”?” the giant asked, mocking his culy friend. Firouz just shook his head, vexed, before heading outside the tavern. Sinbad coughed a bit, to draw his brother attention, who hadn’t seen him yet, coming behind him. Doubar turned and smiled his largest grin, he was so happy to have found his little brother and the sorceress, nothing could spoil that day.

“Hi Little Brother! How are you doing this morning?”

“Well...very good.” the captain paused. “But I have to admit that something is still filling my mind... Who was really that“Master”? I wish he had explained us what he really wanted from us before passing away... And Amir? Maeve and I didn’t find him, not even his body. Is he dead? Did he decide to change his life? I guess we’ll never know...” He seemed confused, he wanted an explanation, he wanted to understand everything that had happened through those last days.

Doubar sighed gently. “Well, don’t let this drive you crazy, Sinbad, that Dimitri’s dead, isn’t he? So he won’t try to do any harm to anyone anymore, and you don’t have to worry about anything. Just let forget this horrible passage in your life, will you?”

“Yeah...” He looked away, watching the sun already high in the sky by the window. He blinked at the clear light and turned again to his brother, smiling. “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll set sail at the next tide, and we’ll be heading towards the isle of Dawn... It has been a long time since we last saw Dim-Dim.”

Doubar smiled, glad to see his brother was regaining his usual joyful tone of voice. “Alright, Captain’!” he exclaimed. But then he paused, a thought crossing his mind. “Little Brother? How did you kill him?” No answer ever came, because, Sinbad was walking outside, pretending no to hear him, his face as red as his headband.

 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sinbad and Maeve walked silently in the sunlight, heading towards a little beach where the sea seemed made of the most perfect blue of the world. ‘After my captain’s eyes...’ Maeve thought, watching him as he slowly took her hand in his, in a gesture that Maeve found now perfectly natural. He flashed her his killer grin and she smiled back, in a smile of pure hapiness ; everything was over now, and they could go on with their lives. Inside her heart, she almost thanked Dimitri for what he had done... Now, they would never be the same again.

They slowly sat on the white sand, still holding hands, to watch the waves caressing the shore of their intense blue. The captain breathed deeply and turned his head to the sorceress, locking eyes with her.

“Maeve... There’s something I should tell you. Something I wanted to tell you for so long now, even if I realized it only a little while ago. You...” he gently sighed and cleared his hroat, still looking her deeply in the eye...not deeply...Maeve realized...lovingly. “ You changed my life the day you came aboard. You made me laugh, you made me angry at you sometimes, when you wouldn’t just admit some things, you made me happy... I never felt that way before...I never cared so much for anyone....” He paused. She was hardly breathing, wanting him to go on. “...I never loved that much before.”

Maeve gasped at him, unbelieving he was actually saying this. She had waited to hear those words from him for so long. She couldn’t realized he was pronoucing them. “I love you.”

She wasn’t dreaming, this was not Dimitri with the looks or Sinbad, this was not any kind of hallucination... She took his head in her hands, closing the distance betweeen them a bit, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks. “I love you too, Sinbad.” She choke on a sob. “I’ve never been able to tell you that before, because there were so many things that I couldn’t tell you...that I still can’t tell you...But what I know, what I’m sure about, is that my love for you is the strongest, the greatest feeling in the world.”

He smiled gently. Nothing could break this moment. He slowly leaned closer, brushing his lips against hers.

And as dusk fell down, the moon rose high in the sky, shining down on two lovers holding each other in a passionate embrace, protecting them from whatever the future could hold.